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More from Arizona (1 Viewer)

AdAstra09

Well-known member
Had a very full birding/ photography day. Got up early to go photograph sunrise at the Gilbert Riparian Park and then went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. My wildlife photography skills are still in the 'dismal' category, but my Id skills are growing stronger every time, I think. First, here are the birds I am positive id wise.
1) black necked stilt
2)canada goose
3)mourning dove
4)verdin
 

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Red winged blackbird
yellow rumped warbler
white crowned sparrow
 

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And now the mystery birds
pics I and II are a mystery bird. looking at the extremely blurry flight shot, I thought it reminded me of swallow, but I couldn't find any that matched the proflie

III is a bird I kept looking at but not paying attention to because I mentally cast it as a common loon, right until a common loon swum by and I realized it wasn;t even close. oops. Now, I'm thinking, male ringed neck duck? only there was a brown duck that looked exactly the same beside it that looked nothing like the female version of the ringed duck in my guide.

IV was swimming with the mallards but does not look like a female mallard to me. It's similar but too light and different from the other mallards nearby.


Last, but not least, definately not a bird, but while birding @ the arboretum, I heard a racket in the trees and looked up and what do I see but a coati mundi chowing down on pecans. Totally awesome sighting even though not bird related
 

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And now the mystery birds
pics I and II are a mystery bird. looking at the extremely blurry flight shot, I thought it reminded me of swallow, but I couldn't find any that matched the proflie

III is a bird I kept looking at but not paying attention to because I mentally cast it as a common loon, right until a common loon swum by and I realized it wasn;t even close. oops. Now, I'm thinking, male ringed neck duck? only there was a brown duck that looked exactly the same beside it that looked nothing like the female version of the ringed duck in my guide.

IV was swimming with the mallards but does not look like a female mallard to me. It's similar but too light and different from the other mallards nearby.

1.-2. Say's Phoebe
3. Ring-necked Duck
4. Domestic Mallard
 
agree with all, but i also noticed that the mystery bird is leucistic. also, immature vermilion flycatcher is more likely.
 
I would go with Say's Phoebe -- it looks a lot like one that I have seen photographed in Arizona this year. The tail doesn't seem to have any white on the outer tail feathers which is a strike against Vermilion. The bill also seems too long (and more in tune with Say's).

Carlos
 
Thanks for all the responses! I noticed the scaling on the blackbird but didn't know what it meant. I will have to notate it in my field journal. That also gave me an idea about the brown ring neck ducks and I googled juvenile instead of female. Score. I never would have gotten that say's phoebe. Winter makes it harder (for me) to identify some birds, because they fluff up their feathers and curl into themselves and obscure their body shapes. Also, for some reason I often picture the birds in my field guide as being larger than they are which throws off my perception in the wild. Thanks again for the help. For a beginning birder and amateur naturalist, this site offers a wealth of information.
 
Cool! You saw the White-nosed Coatimundi at Boyce Thompson!

Yes. This was the sighting of the day for me. I mean, I expected to see birds but the coati mundi was completely out of the blue. I've heard that bobcats have also been spotted there. That would have been awesome too.
 
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