9 replies to this topic

[David Case]

Here are six more shots from my trip to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on June 20-23. These are in order of decreasing certainty. The first three I am pretty confident about but with the last three I am lost. All help is appreciated.



1. Brewer's Blackbird - what a mouth full of bugs!



2. Wilson's Phalarope - the markings on this bird do not seem as pronounced as on the one I posted before, but otherwise it looks the same.



3. Wilson's Phalarope - ditto my comment above.



4. Unknown Duck (female?) - my best guess would be a Blue-winged Teal. This duck was swimming along with the next one but they were too far apart to get them both in focus.



5. Unknown Duck (male?) - again it looks sort of like a Blue-Winged Teal but I don't see the white crescent on the face.



6. I have no idea on this one.

BTW, I put these into an album on Imagur. Is that why I cannot find the BBCode mentioned in the FAQ? I had to get creative and copy the HTML format shown in the FAQ so I hope this works.

[psweet]

Your first three are correct -- the Phalarope is duller than your last one because it's a male. The ducks are Gadwall. The last one is an amazing shot of a Black Tern.

[Liam]

Your first three are correct -- the Phalarope is duller than your last one because it's a male. The ducks are Gadwall. The last one is an amazing shot of a Black Tern.

I agree.
Your first duck is a Gadwall drake. Compare it to the hen in your second duck photo. The flanks have a rippled pattern on the drake and a chevroned pattern on the hen. The drake has a "Black Butt". Gadwalls are easily differentiated from similar species by the white speculum (wing patch).

[Photgog]

Nice Photography, What equipment are you using?

Seems to be a long reach very clear lens.

Fraser

[TheBillyPilgrim]

Your Black Tern shot is incredible!

Also, agree with all the IDs above

[David Case]

Your first three are correct -- the Phalarope is duller than your last one because it's a male. The ducks are Gadwall. The last one is an amazing shot of a Black Tern.

Thanks, psweet. My mental list of species that break the general rule that the male is more colorful than the female is now two species long. The other species is the Belted Kingfisher but there have to be more. I am a bit embarrassed that I did not recognize the Black Tern. I would have had it been flying, which is the only way I have ever seen them.

[David Case]

I agree.
Your first duck is a Gadwall drake. Compare it to the hen in your second duck photo. The flanks have a rippled pattern on the drake and a chevroned pattern on the hen. The drake has a "Black Butt". Gadwalls are easily differentiated from similar species by the white speculum (wing patch).

Thanks, Liam. I had the sexes wrong and the species wrong. I have a lot to learn about ducks still.

[David Case]

Nice Photography, What equipment are you using?

Seems to be a long reach very clear lens.

Fraser

Thanks for the compliment. I stepped up to a Canon 5D Mark III from a 50D about a month ago. All of these were shot with the 5D and the 100-400mm Canon lens. I am finding that I get more detail with the new camera despite losing the 'advantage' of the 1.6 crop factor of the 50D (on the 50D a 400mm lens behaves like a 640mm). The 5D just resolves more detail. It seems to do a much better job pulling out gradations of blacks and other dark colors which is very helpful in shots of birds like the Black Tern.

[David Case]

Your Black Tern shot is incredible!

Also, agree with all the IDs above

Thanks!

[David Case]

Thanks everyone for all of your help. I have all the birds that I shot on the trip identified now so I can get on with sorting through the photos and editing them. Also thanks for the photography compliments. What would be the best forum for posting photos, as opposed to ID requests?