Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Eastern Phoebe

This little friend wouldn't let me get very close and yet seemed to play a game of never straying too far away. I am a little bit unsure if it's really a Mockingbird as I'm used to seeing white spots on the wings while in flight. But, it is the closest I can come with my Audubon guide book.
























Update: Gretchen has helped guide me to a better identification here. Thanks Gretchen! :-)

My research is leading me towards the Eastern Phoebe but I'm not sure. Some sources have coloring described with olive green, some with brown. One sure sign is a wiggling tail but I didn't see that behavior.

Here are a few more photos from the same outing.





















































And one of these days I will get a close shot of a Red-tailed Hawk. There were three of them circling way up there during Monday's outing.
Posted by at
Labels:

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 15, 2009 at 5:24 PM

    May I preface this with the fact that I am NOT a birder- only a wannabe- but I'm not so sure this is a mockingbird; it seems a bit too diminutive and its beak a bit too small. I'm guessing ( I stress "guessing") more along the lines of some type of flycatcher or eastern phoebe. I always call the phoebe my "squeeze me" bird as it sounds just like someone is squeezing him like a tennis ball as he screams out in his raspy voice "squeeze me... squeeze me"! All that aside, this is a gorgeous photograph- I think you should consider putting your own field guide out! ~ gretchen

    ReplyDelete
  2. JohnApril 15, 2009 at 6:06 PM

    Thanks, Gretchen--I really appreciate the help with my mystery bird. I'm going to poke around with my books and Google Images as see what develops.

    If I continue to scratch my head over this, I will post more photos. Maybe if I presented shots from differing angles. More soon on this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JohnApril 15, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    Gretchen, did the extra photos help you with identification? I am heading back out to the same location this weekend, hoping to get another look at this little one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Philippine flower deliveryApril 16, 2009 at 2:31 AM

    Amazing pics,i can't imagine how could you take some pictures of birds.Especially when the bird is flying.

    -Ava

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 16, 2009 at 10:08 AM

    Just as I sat down to type this, a little phoebe landed on my deck railing- I had only to move my eyes back and forth between him and the computer screen to compare them- I am thinking that your mystery bird might indeed be a phoebe, esp. after seeing your second to the last photo showing a bit of darker grey on the head. I still think you have a field guide in your future- your photographs are far more beautiful than any in my collection of books!! ~gretchen

    ReplyDelete
  6. JohnApril 16, 2009 at 4:48 PM

    I just love such serendipitous events! Thank you, Gretchen, for all your help and kind words with this post.

    Thanks, Ava! :-)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)