Bird Images and Trip Reports

Barnacle Goose at Chestertown

The attached PDF document is my report of a sighting of a Barnacle Goose at Chestertown, Kent County, MD on 10 Jan 2012. (No fair laughing at my "from memory" sketch - I am not a trained artist and I should not be trying this at home!)

Note: To download this document to your computer, it is easiest to use the small "download" link at the bottom of the document frame.

 

Galapagos 2010 mockingbird images

Images of some of the "Darwin" mockingbirds from our 2010 Galapagos trip. All images (c) 2010 Phil Davis.

1 - 2    Galapagos Mockingbird

3 - 6    Hood Mockingbird

7         Chatham Mockingbird

8 - 9   Charles Mockingbird

Galapagos 2010 Darwin finch images

Images of some of the "Darwin" finches from our 2010 Galapagos trip. All images (c) 2010 Phil Davis.

1 - Gray Warbler Finch

2 - Vegetarian Finch

3 - Woodpecker Finch

4 - Medium Tree Finch

5 - Small Tree Finch

6 - Mangrove Finch

7 - Small Ground Finch (male)

8 - Small Ground Finch (female)

9 - Large Ground Finch

10 - Sharp-beaked Ground Finch

11 - Medium Ground Finch

12 - Large Cactus Finch

Northern Ecuador 2010 trip reports

Below are three trip report documents from our 2010 tour of Northern Ecuador with High Lonesome BirdTours. A few of the highlights of this tour included seeing 63 hummingbird species and 60 species of tanagers.

The three PDF documents are: 

     2010 Northern Ecuador Annotated Bird List
     2010 Northern Ecuador Trip Report
     2010 Northern Ecuador Bird Checklist

The "Trip Report" mostly covers the places we visited, while the birds we saw are addressed in the "Annotated Bird List." Note that both of these documents are rather lengthy PDF files; for any casual reader, I would suggest just downloading the PDF documents to your computer and browsing the documents to look at the photos. To download the documents, use the small blue "download" link BELOW the document frame; just ignore the Scribd links at the top of the document frame.

The full tally of all of the species we saw is summarized in the "Bird Checklist" document.

These reports cover only the northern Ecuador portion of our trip. The Galapagos portion is covered in another set of reports that can be found here ... 

     http://birdimages.posterous.com/galapagos-2010-trip-reports

Enjoy!

Phil

Galapagos Hawk images - September 2010

Images of Galapagos Hawks (Bueto galapagoensis) from September 2010

I took the first photo of an adult Galapagos Hawk, eating a small marine iguana, on Fernandina Island along the Land's End trail on 9/26. This adult was also teaching a juvenile to eat.

The image of the flock of juvenile Galapagos Hawks perched in the tree was taken on Santiago Island on 9/27. A kettle of 20-some birds flew over the caldera on Santiago Island and then dropped down and settled in the trees right next to us, affording close views and photos. I took the portraits of the young birds here, too.

We also saw Galapagos Hawks on 9/25 on Bartolome Island, on 9/29 on Espanola Island, and on 9/30 on Floreana Island.

Galapagos Islands Mangrove Finch photo

Mangrove Finch Camarhynchus heliobates, 26 Sep 2010, Playa Negra (Black Beach), Isabela Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
Photo (c) by Phil Davis 2010

Our High Lonesome BirdTours local Ecuadorian guide, Juan Carlos Calvachi (over 25 trips to the Galápagos), worked very hard with government officials to obtain access for us to Playa Negra (Black Beach) on Isabela Island, the only spot where visitors have a chance of finding this bird. Just before sailing we were granted permission to land at this normally closed, wet landing. We worked for two hours  to find this bird. Shortly after our landing, Barbara and I spotted one bird hopping from tree top to tree top but far in the distance ... clearly a Mangrove Finch by behavior and locale; however, too far away to be identified. Finally, one bird cooperatively presented itself low in a clearing in the mangroves were all in our party got excellent looks. The photo above is not stunning, but is identifiable.

Status. This species is a very rare resident, endemic to the Galápagos Islands and critically endangered. The species is considered to be monotypic (however, see next paragraph).

Demography and Population. The species has been found on the islands of Fernandina and Isabela, but recent surveys have failed to record the species on Fernandina. It has been classified as critically endangered by BirdLife International, with an estimated population of between 60 and 140 located in two large mangroves on Isabela. A study has shown that the two small populations remaining on Isabela Island have begun undergoing speciation and that one or both populations will eventually become extinct due to a lack of interbreeding.

Habitat. As its name suggests, the Mangrove Finch lives in the mangroves of the Galápagos Islands. The mangrove finch feeds upon the various insects, larvae, spiders, and vegetable matter found in the mangroves. It closely resembles the far commoner Woodpecker Finch, but is not known to utilize tools.

Addition species information: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=9612

Galapagos 2010 Trip Reports

Below are three PDF documents from our 2010 High Lonesome BirdTours trip to the Galapagos Islands. The dates were 25 Sep - 2 Oct 2010. We observed 67 species, including all 29 of the Galapagos endemic species.

 

The "Trip Report" mostly covers the places we visited, while the birds we saw are addressed in the "Annotated Bird List." Note that both of these documents are rather lengthy PDF files; for any casual reader, I would suggest just downloading the PDF documents to your computer and browsing the documents to look at the photos. To download the documents, use the small blue "download" link BELOW the document frame; just ignore the Scribd links at the top of the document frame.

 

The full tally of all of the species we saw is summarized in the "Bird Checklist" document.

 

Note: I suggest using the "download" link just beneath the document frames to download the PDF files to you computer; or use these shortcuts, below ...

 

 2010 Galapagos Annotated Bird List

 2010 Galapagos Trip Report

 2010 Galapagos Bird Checklist

 

These reports cover only the Galapagos portion of our trip. The northern Ecuador portion is covered in another set of reports that can be found here ...

  

 http://birdimages.posterous.com/northern-ecuador-2010-trip-reports

 

Enjoy!

 

Phil

 

 

The first document (below) is my annotated bird list.

 

Click here to download:

Galapagos 2010 Annotated Bird List.pdf (3.33 MB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Galapagos 2010 Annotated Bird List.pdf (3.33 MB)

The next document ((below) is my trip report, focusing primarily on our tour, the islands, and non-avian species.

Click here to download:

Galapagos 2010 Trip Report.pdf (1.51 MB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Galapagos 2010 Trip Report.pdf (1.51 MB)

This last document (below) is our final bird checklist.    

 

Click here to download:

Galapagos 2010 Bird Checklist.pdf (42 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Galapagos 2010 Bird Checklist.pdf (42 KB)

 

 

 

Staunton VA Sand-Plover images

I took these Sand-Plover images on 07 Sep 2009 behind the Day's Inn on Bell's Lane in Staunton, VA between between approximately 2-3 pm. The images were digiscoped with a Nikon Coolpix 5000 through a fixed 40x TeleView mount attached to a Swarovski STS80HD scope. I cropped the images, resized them to 120 pixel resolution with a 6.5 inch width; manually adjusted the histogram (due to the harsh lighting conditions) and then sharpen the images.

Lewes DE pelagic trip images

The images below are from a Lewes, DE pelagic trip into the Atlantic Ocean waters of MD and DE waters on 08/16/2009. Species name are included in the photo file names (however, you currently have to right click and select "properties" to see the file names).
 
The Ospreys were at the Lewes Marina. Other oceanic bird species seen and photographed include Wilson's Storm-Petrel (some authorities think this maybe one of the most abundant species in the world), Cory's Shearwater, Greater Shearwater, and Audubon's Shearwater.
 
Marine species seen and photographed include Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Pilot Whale, Common Dolphin, Leatherback Sea Turtle, and Hammerhead Shark. The Fin Whale is the second largest whale, after the Blue Whale.

Roseate Spoonbill in DE 25 Jun 2009

The following (somewhat distant) images are of the Fenwick, DE Roseate Spoonbill taken on 25 Jun 2009.