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.

6 comments:

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

    -Ava

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

    Thanks, Ava! :-)

    ReplyDelete