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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Your Most Recent "Life" Bird (3 Viewers)

Yesterday I returned home to California after a week-long road trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming with both my immediate and extended family. Prior to leaving I made a list of 10 possible lifers I could see in the vicinity; since this wasn't a birding-specific trip, I only managed two of them, but I'll take it!

#489: Common Nighthawk - one seen flying in the distance on the first night (7/25/15) from our hotel in Beaver, Utah, where we spent the night on the way up and down from Wyoming. Surprisingly, no other nighthawks were encountered on the trip.

#490: Trumpeter Swan - four swans seen in the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley (within the national park) on 7/28/15, a lucky bonus, since we were stopping to watch a Grizzly Bear close to the road on the opposite side. I saw the swans a second time in roughly the same place on 7/30/15 while passing through the valley again.
 
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I was reading some of your replies and I can't believe how many birds some of you have seen! I only started my list in April of this year. I didn't add birds I had seen throughout my life. I decided the list would start fresh and only add birds I've seen since the list began. That being said, my list is at 48, but I have a few more I have yet to identify.

Yesterday I added the following birds:

Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Sanderling
Common Gallinule
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ring Billed Gull
American Black Duck

I think these are pretty common but yesterday was the first time I was near the shore since I stared my list.
 
7 armchair ticks with the new Clements splits: Two swamphens, two paradise-flycatchers, two buzzards, and Chinese Blackbird.

Also wondering what the ABA will do about the "purple" swamphens in Florida. That would be another tick if they decide they're grey-headed.
 
I have a few more I have yet to identify.

Any you get completely baffled by, put a photo on the bird ID forum here, mentioning where you took the photo (preferably in the thread title!). People are always happy to help with even the commonest birds, after all we all started on 0 once...

Meanwhile, after a dry period of only 3 lifers in the first 7 months of the year, I got 3 in the last 8 days, the most recent being the stone-curlews at Weeting (one of very few UK sites where their presence is advertised, as the site's well wardened).
 
When i moved to Ireland in 04 Red Kite was still a good find away from the hotspots and i hadnt seen one, but last week on a trip thru Wales i saw my first-well chuffed:t:we then spent a week on Guernsey and saw my first Med Gull, was hoping to find a Bee Eater or Hoopoe but after contacting the RSPB there, sadly there were no recent reports.
 
Saw 9 Whooping Cranes (6 adult, 3 juvenile), 2m 1f Scarlet Tanagers, several Red Headed Woodpeckers and a black duck yesterday. Great additions to the list and a fun day birding.
 
Elegant Trogon

Four new birds so far this summer:
Elegant Trogon in Madera Canyon, Arizona, USA on July 9, 2015;
Clapper Rail in Donnelly WMA near Charleston, South Carolina on July 5, 2015;
Worm-eating Warbler in Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia, USA on July 3 2015;
Veery on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesville, North Carolina on June 26, 2015.
 

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  • Worm-eating Warbler IMG_0912.JPG
    Worm-eating Warbler IMG_0912.JPG
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  • Elegant Trogon IMG_1593.JPG
    Elegant Trogon IMG_1593.JPG
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Yes, I was thinking of the Necedah (Wisconsin) birds as well, but thought they were still being "guided" back and forth (although, I honestly have no idea of the wintering grounds). But I didn't think they'd have left the reserve yet.
 
Necedah is correct. I didn't know if we'd see them or not. Went to the observation tower where we saw a few, then went and sat in their blind for about an hour and a half. Had a whooper flying with two sandhills fly about 50 feet from us. Totally awesome sight.
 
Yes, I was thinking of the Necedah (Wisconsin) birds as well, but thought they were still being "guided" back and forth (although, I honestly have no idea of the wintering grounds). But I didn't think they'd have left the reserve yet.
Through operation migration they fly them to St. Marks and I believe Chassahowitzka in Florida. The original flock goes to Aransas in Texas, and there are 3 non-migratory flocks.

Due to black flies causing nest abandonment in Necedah, they are flying them from two different locations in Wisconsin this year. I don't know if Necedah is flying any this year.
 
but thought they were still being "guided" back and forth (although, I honestly have no idea of the wintering grounds).
They only guide the new captive-raised juveniles on their first trip (which is to Florida). After that, they're on their own, to find their own way north in spring and back again in subsequent autumns.
 

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