ABCs of birds - Letter S

[Patti from Kentucky]

Sandpiper

Since then, I eschew labels and enjoy them for their themselves!

Gayle

I'm pretty happy that I've gotten halfway decent at the "easy" birds, but don't even much bother with the hard ones unless I've got such a good opportunity that there is really no excuse not to try.  Hard ones meaning shorebirds, gulls, and sparrows.  For example, if I'm at the beach with a scope, and am getting consistently good, long looks at shorebirds, with perhaps other birds that I do recognize (killdeer, for example) around for size comparison, and I happen to have my field guide in front of me where I can go through the book page by laborious page, comparing the photos, behavior, and field marks with the bird clearly in front of me, only then might I make an effort at the "hard" birds.

[Patti from Kentucky]

S is for Sanderling -- these are the little shorebirds most of us have seen running just at the edge of the surf...always getting out of the way of the incoming wave seemingly just in the nick of time.

The first photo is typical...the second was an unusual sighting for me because I've rarely seen them not foraging frenetically.  Both photos were taken in Cape May, New Jersey.

[dale]

Snow Geese   Gayle

Gayle - Thank you for the incredible snow geese!!! I just love the formations in the sky in the photos - you can see those same layers in parts of the video, too - a tremendous video, including the voice yelling, "I'm SO gonna get crapped on, and it's SO gonna be worth it!"

Patti - the scarlet tanager picture is not sucky at all, if you see it not as a photo of a red bird but a photo of redness itself (that happens to need to appear in the form of a bird - it'd be too scary to see redness with nothing there).

What is SUPER EXTRA not-sucky, though, is the light in the second (not-frenetic) sanderling photo

dale

[dale]

black swans - not the one I didn't get a shot of in NZ but the ones I took scores of pictures of in the Berlin zoo.

Dale

[dale]

no introduction needed- he'll introduce himself

[anneintoronto]

S is for Sparrow -- House Sparrow, that is!

The sparrows in downtown Toronto had a good Summer -- no Starlings to hassle them!  For this one season, they were the "kings & queens", in charge of dust holes, bushes, everything!  Common as they are, they are a lovely wee bird...often overlooked!  So bright looking, so quick, so bright!  By the way, a group of sparrows is called a host or a flight.  Take your pick!  These particular sparrows were in Riverdale Farm Park -- the old site of the original Riverdale (Toronto) Zoo.  It is a nice walk from my place and there's always something interesting to see!  If you're ever in Toronto, it's a nice place to just relax, under a canope of huge, green trees!  Anne in Toronto



This little one was playing peek-a-boo with me in the bush.

Such bright looking wee birds!

These sparrows were kicking dust up a good foot, when they really got into their dusting!  They were at it for at least 1/2 hours and really seemed to be having a good time!!

[Annette]

Spotted Redshank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Redshank

[gayle]

Starling

Gayle, I'm sure you have a photo of a starling, but isn't this a grackle?

Absolutely!  Thanks for catching this Patti.  I plead tired eyes!

Gayle

[Aafke]

S is for Shoveler

The Northern Shoveler is also a duck. You can recognize him at his large spatulate bill.
In The Netherlands we have a lot of water, that's why we have lots of ducks.
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

S is for Ruddy Shelduck

And again it's a duck! It's a big kind of duck, but it looks a lot like a goose.
I only saw a Ruddy Shelduck once, it was at September 9 2008.
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

S is for Sanderling -- these are the little shorebirds most of us have seen running just at the edge of the surf...always getting out of the way of the incoming wave seemingly just in the nick of time.

The first photo is typical...the second was an unusual sighting for me because I've rarely seen them not foraging frenetically.  Both photos were taken in Cape May, New Jersey.

Patti, I want to send the Sanderling too but your pictures are so great that it will make no sense. I'm wondering how you make such a good picture of such a busy bird, thanks.
greetings Aafke

[anneintoronto]

S is for Shoveler

The Northern Shoveler is also a duck. You can recognize him at his large spatulate bill.
In The Netherlands we have a lot of water, that's why we have lots of ducks.
greetings Aafke

That's quite a bill!  What a handsomely coloured duck!  Thanks for showing it to us, Aafke!
I sure hope all that water stays behind the dikes!  I am seeing, on the news, that Holland is getting huge amounts of snow!!

Best wishes,
Anne in Toronto

[Aafke]

S is for Spoonbill

Yes the Spoonbill belongs to my top 10 of birds. It's such a fantastic bird to see. You can recognize them very well when you see them fly. On Texel you can see lots of pairs in the Spring with their babies, the young birds have pink bills.

from wikipedia: Spoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises. All Spoonbills have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly-opened bill from side to side. The moment any small aquatic creature touches the inside of the bill—an insect, crustacean, or tiny fish—it is snapped shut.
greetings Aafke

[Annette]

Surf Scoter

http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=84

[Aafke]

S is for Stork, White Stork

The White Stork is a very big bird and looks very impressive with his black and white feathers and his long red legs and bill.
We are very lucky to have a few of them in The Hague.
I visit a nest for the first time in 2004. We looked for a long time before we saw the little white pile, yes a baby in the nest!

This movie is from last year when we visit an other nest.

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

greetings Aafke