Thursday, March 20, 2014

Here's my NEW bird sighting, maybe two

I saw this bird in a leafless tree while Katie and I were walking.  I was sure this was a Northern Cardinal - I've never seen one before, and I snapped and snapped his photo until he flew away.  As I was putting the photos into this post, I did a second search through my field guides, and - well - I guess I've still never seen a straight-on Cardinal.  I was so sure, but now I believe this bird is a Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus.  I think this is a male because the guide says the female has a buff belly, and this guy has red on his stomach. 

Later I noticed one out the kitchen window and have seen some around the campsite.  I don't know why I didn't see any Cardinals when I was here last year, but it's sure fun to spot and photograph a NEW bird.

The photos taken in the sunshine turned out pretty well, but some of them were taken in the shade, and I tried to manipulate the colors to bring out the details.  They aren't that great, but I still like them, so here they all are:














So, birders out there, am I right in my identification?  Pyrrhuloxia?  A type of Cardinal? They look pretty similar except for their beaks.   And is he a male?  He's still a new bird for me.

Next is another set of photos of another new bird.  I just found them in my guide, and they are Lark Buntings.  If I'm right, the black and white bird is an adult breeding male, and the multicolored bird is a female.   They are all over the place here, and fly in flocks low over the cactus. A bunch will land on a cactus and then all fly away at once.  In the mornings I see large flocks of 40 or 50 birds almost looking like they are swarming across the landscape. 






They all look different, but I'm thinking they are molting or changing their look due to being in their breeding season?  Are these all the same bird?  Lark Bunting?  They all flock together like they are the same kind of bird.







And look who else we found, he was snacking on the greens:




It's been really windy here, on and off during the day and night.  The best part of the day is right before dusk.  By that time the temps are warm and the wind is gone so that's when Katie and I take our longest walk of the day.  We've had some beautiful sunsets.  He's the sunset from Saturday with the sun trying to shine through the clouds of dust and sand:






This morning we woke to a gorgeous morning, no wind and lots of birds in our site. 

Next time I'm going to post more birds. I guess it's that season.  There are so many different kinds of birds here, they've been keeping me pretty busy.  Yesterday I saw a large squirrel in the site, too, but I didn't have my camera handy. 

I hope some of you will leave me comments of confirmation on my IDs of these birds.  Or if I'm wrong, hopefully you can tell me the correct names.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)