10 replies to this topic

[JDA]

What kind of Gull is this? The facial pattern doesn't look like any Gull I've seen in my guide book. I hope the photo is sufficient for ID. Photo taken August 2012, over Long Island Sound, New York. Thank you!
[attachment=101256:DSC_5320 - Gull TB ID.JPG]

[TheBillyPilgrim]

That's because they aren't gulls at all, but Osprey!

[JDA]

Thanks TBP for not making fun of my ID as a Gull and thanks for the ID. We do have a family of Osprey (4 in total) living at our park that's on the LI Sound.
I wanted to add my picture of the Osprey but I can't figure out how to do it here. Sorry!

Edited by jda, 20 November 2012 - 07:22 PM.

[Eclectic Rhapsody]

Thanks TBP for not making fun of my ID as a Gull and thanks for the ID. We do have a family of Osprey (4 in total) living at our park that's on the LI Sound.
I wanted to add my picture of the Osprey but I can't figure out how to do it here. Sorry!

Are you trying to upload to the site itself or trying to add a picture you have off of a hosted site, such as Flickr?

[JDA]

Hi Ecletic Rhapsody. I was attempting to add a photo of Osprey into the reply I made to TBP. I think I figured out that I can do that by making a Gallery for myself and then adding the photo into the reply. Lets see if it worked.



I think it worked. I'm very impressed with my computer savyness. JK

[BarnSwallow]

Thanks TBP for not making fun of my ID as a Gull and thanks for the ID. We do have a family of Osprey (4 in total) living at our park that's on the LI Sound.
I wanted to add my picture of the Osprey but I can't figure out how to do it here. Sorry!

I've IDed great black-backed gulls as both bald eagles and osprey, and osprey as eagles. Everyone does it, or something similar, at one time or another!

[JimBob]

Agree with Osprey, note the facial pattern.

Don't feel bad about mis-IDing a bird. . . as barnswallow said, we all do it!

[blackburnian]

Agree with Osprey

[Eclectic Rhapsody]

Hi Ecletic Rhapsody. I was attempting to add a photo of Osprey into the reply I made to TBP. I think I figured out that I can do that by making a Gallery for myself and then adding the photo into the reply. Lets see if it worked.


I think it worked. I'm very impressed with my computer savyness. JK

Yay! It worked.

And yes, don't feel bad about mis-IDing it -- it's easy to do sometimes! Especially when some species have different patterns, etc. during certain times of the year and variances amoung the male, female and juvenile.

[BarnSwallow]

I meant to mention to not feel bad about IDing a really good bird as a mundane one, or a common bird as a rare one, or vice versa. Anyone who's looked for a snowy owl has IDed plastic bags as owls! Mourning doves try to fool me into thinking they're kestrels all the time!

[psweet]

At our hawkwatch, we have a saying. It's not misidentified until we write down the wrong species. Until then it's just a working hypothesis. We've had Bald Eagles turn into Osprey and vice-versa, we've had Merlin and Peregrines turn into Rock Pigeons, and a Herring Gull can, for a minute or so, be any hawk it want's to be!

So don't sweat the mistaken identities -- they just mean you're stretching your abilities, which is a great thing to be doing.