Thanks for the reminder!

Starts tomorrow.

Claire

Better get some more birdseed because the feeder just ran out.

Well, I just officially did the bird count. I gave the info on the Magpies, Ravens, Chickadees, Nuthatches and Pigeons.

When I tried to record the Blackpoll Warblers, it stated in 'red' that they weren't supposed to be here this time of year and that it was unusual. It also stated to try to give details on them before completing the count (which I did)..

Thank you for informing about the bird count Claire :-)

Ed

Great! They may have a local rep contact you for documentation, which you have.

That 'red' is their usual rare species check - I got that when I reported Helmeted Guineafowl but it was accepted, just a little slower.

Wait a little bit to give them time, then check the
'Explore Results'
'Range and Point Maps'
and see if they're recorded.

Did you email yourself a copy of your checklist? It's a good way to ensure that it was actually submitted.

You can submit another checklist tomorrow too.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Sun, Feb 17, 13 at 9:57

Ed: I just noticed the time on your post which was very early Sunday morning. I assume you submitted a checklist for Saturday - you can submit one for Sunday and also for Monday. It gives more credibility to your reports if you show that the warblers were there several days in a row and the numbers are consistent.

It also would be great if you can embed a still photo in your checklist. The photo should be taken the same day as the checklist.

This is the first year GBBC has supported this, but they're now merged with eBird and that feature appeared a year or so ago in eBird. You use the usual mechanism - an account at a web-hosting site - and just copy and paste the html code. That gives the skeptics something easy to look at, rather than tracking down a YouTube video. Or maybe they're not Black-poll Warblers - in that case you'll know for sure.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Sun, Feb 17, 13 at 11:48

Thanks Claire for all the info! Yeah, it accepted the warblers but was a little slow. What I found odd was when I check to see what the prior years were for the warblers, there was nothing recorded.

I didn't email myself a copy of the checklist, but I did write the confirmation number down. I didn't know you could do it consecutively for the 4 days. I recorded for Friday the 15th. I'll do another one for today and one for tomorrow too since it will verify the numbers are consistent.

Thank you for the info on submitting photos too. I was wondering if photos can be sent with the checklist. That's cool they allow that.

It'll be interesting to see if they contact me about the warblers or to find out they are a different breed- I'll give you the status if anything comes up.

Ed

Ed, blackpoll is a migratory species, like most warblers. I would expect them to all be in South America at present. I notice you also reported chickadees, the species that looks most like blackpolls in breeding plumage, so evidently you didn't confuse those two species. I suggest that pine warbler is very similar to the non-breeding plumage of blackpoll, and remains in the Southeast during the winter. I have at times seen them feeding in small flocks, on the ground.

Hi Jud, thank you for your comment and welcome to the forum!
I too have had the warblers eat off the ground where the ravens usually are. Their chirps are different than the chickadees and sounds funny at times because it sounds like they're laughing..

Here is a video showing them eating on the ground and talking in the tree when I went outside for the GBBC-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N376nLuDtS4

Here's a little extra video of a raven that wanted to talk when I was doing the GBBC. Funny what sounds they make too-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2LhPQVHoGQ

Did you hear about the record number of birds in Nebraska?-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcU_0_URHDI

Oh, and Happy Birthday too Jud!!

Take care

Ed

Thanks for the birthday wish, Ed. I looked at the video, but no chance of identifying the birds from it. Maybe some type of blackbird, based on the size. i did enjoy the raven croak on there - don't get to hear that down here in southern Tennessee.

Ed: I checked and GBBC hasn't entered your warbler counts yet. They do show one Blackpoll Warbler on Long Island, NY, and an unknown number in Panama. Your checklist is probably on the "We'll look closely at this when things get a little less crazy" list. They must be overwhelmed right now. I just checked the totals to date:

Statistics from 2013
Total Checklists Submitted: 104499

Total Species Observed: 2973

Total Individual Birds Counted: 21951597

Updated: February 19, 2013 10:30:31 AM EST

Your video with the warblers singing should be a good identification tool for those people who know bird songs.

That raven was making wonderful sounds! I wouldn't be surprised if it was playing to you for an audience. I once had a crow perched just off my deck looking out to the bay and making a call just like a fog horn. Another crow was nearby looking patient.

Claire

Hi Jud,

Yeah, it was sort of hard trying to see them with the sun in the background. I've been having problems with the camera too, the batteries are draining very quickly lately. I was outside taking still photos and the warblers where posing good but the camera kept acting up and the pics aren't clear but fuzzy- kind of odd.

I did make this video Saturday that shows the warbler better--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqzoN2DMVHU
_______

Hi Claire,

Your probably right about GBBC being overwhelmed, lol. That's much information to take in- 21 million with almost 3,000 species. They are more than likely getting info about other birds being in the wrong area as well.

I wish my camera wasn't messing up or I'd have some real good pics of them. I'll be getting a new camera, going to go shopping for one. The video I posted shows closer view of the warbler. It even turns around to show it's tall for ya. Let me know what you think and if you can identify- hopefully GBBC can too or I can show them the fuzzy pictures, lol

That raven comes by a lot. If I'm out in the yard doing something, I can hear her fly up behind me. She will usually make little noises to get my attention so that I'll say "hi" to her and then she'll watch what I'm doing. She keeps me company at least..

Ed

Ed: That video looks good - particularly from about 1:12 to 1:50 where the little guy was posing on top of the milk jug. I'm not qualified to identify it but a warbler specialist probably could.

GBBC will still be examining the checklists that are submitted late, until March 1 I think, so you may not get a response for a while. This should be really interesting for them, though, so they should respond when they get a chance.

Latest statistics:

Total Checklists Submitted: 111282

Total Species Observed: 2976

Total Individual Birds Counted: 22877342

Updated: February 19, 2013 6:26:13 PM EST

Claire

The video was enlightening, but I'm not familiar enough with these cold-weather birds to make a call. I can say with certainty that they are not warblers.

Try snow bunting (for the 1st bird), common and hoary redpoll, and maybe lapland longspur for the 2d bird. None of them seem to fit totally, especially the ring below the neck. The only one of these four I've even seen is the longspur, and they're not supposed to be there now. Field guide artwork doesn't always match reality to my eye. Let us know if one of these suggestions fits what you saw.

Ed: If any of your birds are redpolls they should clearly show the red patch on the head.

These are pics of Common Redpolls I've seen in my yard. I see them every few years, not that often:

The first bird is fluffed up in cold weather (January 14. 2009).

The flock is more sleek looking (not so cold March 9, 2011)

Here's a link to the Cornell All About Birds site.

Click on 'Typical Voice' to hear their song.

Claire

Claire, glad you posted that. That bird in the left center shows the one striking wingbar that shows up in Ed's video. That and the tiny bill were the reasons I suggested redpoll. Did you think the video showed two distinct species?

Jud: I'm not sure if there were two distinct species or not. There were certainly differences, but when you start to look at males and females, in breeding plumage or not, and then there are juveniles which usually vary from adults, I throw in the towel. Just looking at the three pics I posted (including the one below), the birds look different, yet I believe they are all Common Redpolls.

The bird on top of the milk jug did remind me of a redpoll, but the red poll should be obvious.

I just found this picture of the only redpoll I've seen this year, on February 11.

Still photos in color would help, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough to make an identification. I'm hoping that GBBC will call in one of their local Alaskan experts and make the call. Even if GBBC is too swamped, then Ed can email photos to eBird (after giving them some time since a lot of the same people are probably involved in these counts).

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 18:33

I hope the GBBC can identify them. My theory is that the light level was low for the video, reducing contrast, and making the bird on the jug look darker and more solidly colored than it really was (is). Instead of seeing all the steaks and bars (and red poll), we saw a dark solid color, with one highly contrasting white wingbar. Need a still from that video to subject to fill light from Picasa or some such.

Hi Jun and Claire, thank you both for your comments and pics. I'm like you both and can't say for sure. It doesn't appear to have any red on it and hope these pics helps identify them. These photos like I said before are blurry.
Btw, how can I put more than one photo in a post?

Ed

Here is another pic of the same bird as first pic. There are other little birds too, that are different from this one, I'll try to get pics of them also. They don't seem to be too shy either :)

Thank you for trying to figure this out. I'll try to get better pics with this camera until I get a new one.

I did have another medium size bird show up that was dark brown with a long bill (not sure what that one is either)- He was talking in the tree that the raven was in, but I only got like 20 seconds worth of video of him. I know he'll be back, probably bring the rest of the flock too, lol.

Ed

I took one of Ed's housetop photos and added fill light with Picasa. Amazing what this can do. Now I'm really thinking common redpoll.

Jud: This one looks like a common redpoll to me too, I'm just surprised that Ed doesn't see any red on the head. I just played with the other pic (Canon Image Browser).

Ed: Do you have any full face photos that would show the forehead of this bird?

RE inserting photos: If you're using GW's upload photo feature you can only put one pic/post. To insert more than one you just copy the html code found on your hosting site and paste it in your message.

From the New England Gardening Forum FAQ page:
How do I include a photo in my post?

Claire

Hi Claire and Jud, I just wanted to give an update. I took countless still pics of the unknown birds and the camera just isn't cooperating, they're coming out worst than the ones I posted. If I try to zoom in for a photo, it'll come out way too blurry. So the still shots aren't working and not coming out clear anymore.
The camera won't zoom in while recording too,

Here is a video (the best I can do right now) showing me testing the camera outside on the deck. It shows Buddy showing up plus one of the unknown birds. You can see how the camera doesn't want to come out clear like it use to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWs1_kznu1o

I'll be getting a new camera soon.

Ed

I'd say the second bird is almost certainly a redpoll. Whether it's a Common Redpoll or a Hoary Redpoll I'm not sure (Hoary is much paler than Common).

Buddy is a very talkative chickadee. I like the melodic call he/she is making on the deck, rather than the usual alarm dee-dee-dee-dee call. I've only heard that melodic call once from a chickadee following me after I'd filled the feeders.

Supposedly the number of dees is an indication of how serious the danger is. I'll sometimes have conversations with a chickadee where the bird starts off as dee-dee-dee-dee-dee and I'll say NO, dee-dee! and we'll negotiate it down to two or three dees.

Are you still seeing the birds you tentatively identified as Blackpoll Warblers?

Claire

I tried a few screen shots from your video and then enlarging them:

Not at all clear, but there seems to be red on the poll and on the breast.

Claire

Thank you Claire for all the info your giving, I appreciate it:-) Hopefully, I'll be getting a new camera within the next couple of days and be able to show the activity that's been going on around here. There has been so many different breeds here, it hard to keep track of.

It's funny too because I'll go outside thinking all is clear and quiet and as soon as I make a noise, they all start chirping and making all kinds of sounds- sometimes it gets real load- I know then that I'm caught, lol..

Buddy is a real cool chickadee. He talks/sings like that all the time when I say something to him- he like the attention. He gets along great with the magpies and will eat with them. Sometimes he will surprise me and land right next to me wanting to be fed. He flies with the other birds too and eats with them like he's wanting their company and to socialize.

He doesn't like to grab his food and go but rather stay and eat plus look at what the other birds are doing around the house. He likes to hang out here a lot and will sometimes do it with the magpies when they are hanging out.

That's great how you can talk to your chickadees there and they understand what your saying. Funny too that you have to negotiate with them, lol. That's interesting what you said about the number of dees indicates the seriousness of the situation. I can relate to that.

Yeah, I think the birds that have no red in them are still here and haven't left. It's hard to tell sometimes though.

Thank you much for the pics you posted Claire. I figured they wouldn't be clear enough to determine what type of bird it is. The still photos come out worst now than videoing which isn't saying too much.

Ed .

I brightened one of those. Still looking like a redpoll with pink upper breast.

OK, I went back to the January 20, 2013 video, ran it to 46 seconds, paused and took a screen shot.

This is with the brightness as in the video

and this is with the pic brightened a bit.

and then enlarged:

If nothing else, Jud and I are having fun with manipulating photos.

To me, this doesn't look like the redpoll - there are no streaks and only one wingbar, and the markings are in solid blocks - but it doesn't really look like a male blackpoll either, although it has a cap.

It just occurred to me that the video was made with an infrared camera, and possibly the markings look different at those wavelengths. This has only confused me more.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 17:43

A few more screen shots from the 1/30/13 video:

Claire

Hi Claire and Jud,
Thank you two for taking the time and playing with the pics to figure out what bird it is. I also wanted to give an up date on the camera status.

I went and purchased a new Samsung HD (over a week ago) and after bringing it home, I started having problems with it as far as sound not matching with picture (5-8 seconds off), the auto focus would only work when it wanted to and the auto stability was ridiculous.

When zooming in with the Samsung, the pic would go out of focus and then go round in circles uncontrollably - I would have to try and compensate for it and that wouldn't help much. It would stutter too at times. It also made funny noises.

I returned the Samsung HD and got a Sony HD camera instead, which was much better. It had some quirks with it, but I was able to work through them unlike the Samsung.

Claire, the one bird with the black cap and no stripes is the one that is throwing me off too. The IR part of the camera is only activated once the sensor indicates that it is dark inside / outside. The IR lights stay off during the day or when there is light..

I will be posting new videos soon with the new camera..

Ed

Ed: Videos are great, but a few clear still photos taken with a zoom lens would be enough for identification. The still photos can be emailed to ornithologists or posted online. Can you borrow a digital camera with a good zoom?

The photos of redpolls that I posted above were mostly taken with a Canon point-and-shoot digital camera with a 35x lens. These are much clearer than what your videos are showing. I hope your new Sony HD camera is better but so far the videos just aren't good enough to identify the birds.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Wed, Mar 13, 13 at 11:48

I think this one may be a hoary redpoll. i added some fill light, and just a smudge of red is visible on the head.

Could be, Jud. A hoary redpoll is reasonable for Alaska, particularly with the common redpolls there.

We really need a few good, clear, photos.

Claire (nagging)

Hi Claire and Jud, Yeah, you both are right about the redpolls being around a lot- been having a flock of about 20 come by frequently everyday.

I have to give an update now because I've uploaded some videos on youtube since the last time I posted here.

Can you believe I'm having problems once again now with this Sony camera. Like the other two cameras, the focus has issues, it wants to work when it wants to. Here is a recent video i did on the redpolls and you wil see what I'm talking about (otherwise it's a good camera)-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klb44uKe6Z0

Here is two redpolls that stay together all the time, away from the flock, I named them 'Sue and 'Lou'. They are a funny pair-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UelrTOoY0U

Here is the red breasted nuthatch, I named him 'Zippy" ê -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVYPQ5FpBDw

Remember I mentioned about the flock of dark birds with the long beak coming around a whole bunch? Well, I found out they are European Starlings. I have one in particular that comes by many times a day and talks- I named it 'Centra'-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-j6gXSQ9FM

I still see the ones with the black top and black going down the chest, just haven't caught a clear photo on camera yet.

I ended up naming the raven too- I named him 'Rav'. He comes by too and talks a lot. He is one cool raven and funny too-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyyaWHIN_lM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2R7k7tjle0.

I'll be posting a short video of Crooked Beak, Squeaker and baby soon.

Ed

MUCH MUCH better videos with the new camera(s)! A whole different ballpark! I like the text you insert too.

Definitely redpolls there, probably Common Redpolls but you could have a Hoary or two in with them. That's beyond my expertise.

These are the relevant pages from the Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds.

Common Redpoll (below)

Hoary Redpoll (below)

Rav is definitely a cool bird - I love the sounds he/she makes.
How do the dogs respond to the raven's talking to them?

Claire

Hi Claire. I'm glad you like the camera better and the texts I'm starting to put in the videos now.

I going to start putting more productions in the videos to make them a little more exciting (different)

Thanks for the info and pics on the redpolls, I really appreciate it Sometimes I have a hard time keeping track of them when theirs a bunch that shows up and are moving around. Very good info you provided and thanks again ê .

The dogs are good friends with Rav. When Rav is talking, the dogs just sit there and listen (they were doing it in the video). They play together all the time. Rav will do low flybys wanting them to chase him, going back and forth until they all lose interest- then Rav will hangout..lol..

There are times when Buzz and Edgar will howl for no apparent reason and none of the birds that are around mind it either, which is odd- I'll try to get it on video.

Here is a short clip I made for you to see, hope you like-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah9KVqIlxz4

Take care,

Ed

I also keep treats handy for the neighbor's dogs, Ed, and in turn two of them used to chase the woodchucks away. I'm sure they'd have done it anyway but I liked to thank them.

Rav and the dogs reminded me of The Owl and the Pussycat who really are the best of friends.

Claire