02 May 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 6:38 PM - 1 comments

Nikon's May Facebook Quiz

Photos with multiple species are always the most fun posts, because you need to identify a few birds along with identifying the location. Location is always key especially when coupled with the time of year and those two bits of information alone narrow the possibilities. Recently, I found myself up on the coast of Maine working the Feathers Over Freeport event with good friend, Derek Lovitch, who owns Freeport Wild Bird Supply. It was a bit early for migration, but some of the early land birds have arrived such as Blue-headed Vireo. However, the coast is the main focus for me just because there are plenty of things I will not even have a possibility of seeing in Colorado. One of these birds is represented well in this photo being a true sea diving duck. 


This photo can be blown up if need be. The one that sticks out to me is the large dark-mantled gull on the left. At this distance we can see that it dwarfs a rather large duck to the right and another gull on the right side of the island. The back is jet-black and on coastal Maine this time of year the only bird that breeds there with this description is the Great black-backed Gull. However, the smaller cousin, Lesser black-backed Gull, winters commonly on the coast. The lesser would have bright yellow legs in breeding plumage and getting closer to this bird we can clearly see that the legs are pinkish. At this size with that honking bill this is most easily identified as a Great black-backed Gull. 

The gull on the right side of the island shows a molt development that identifies it as entering third-summer plumage. The light-gray mantle is developed well with slight pink legs. The dark wing tips tells us that this is not a white-winged gull like a Glaucous Gull. The Great black-backed is a great size comparison, but since it is the largest gull in the world it is sure to tower above any other gull. Looking at those two birds tells me that the gull on the right is still pretty big with a larger bill. I suspect that one to be a third-summer Herring Gull. 


The third species in the middle of the island needs not much introduction. It is the female of this species. The Common Eider! This is a bird that never vagrants from the coast and surely is a must see when visiting Maine. My friend and guide, Derek Lovitch, joked that it is easy to keep people entertained in Maine because common birds like this are so spectacular and everyone wants to see them. The male is as stunning as they come with that light-olive forehead plate, black head, white body and black wings. They nest on the coast and can often be found covering most inlets throughout Maine. This is not to be taken lightly as this still is a declining species. It just happens to be common in Maine.


The female is just as sexy as the male, but you really need to get up close to appreciate the vast array of brown and maroon tones. The is the primary nest manager so her plumage helps her disguise the eggs for protection. This time of year they are paired up and ready to go. We certainly hope this little quiz helped jog your memory of common Maine birds. If you haven't been to Maine...........you're going to want to go! It is one of if not the most beautiful state our fine country has to offer. We wish everyone good birding and thanks so much for reading.



29 March 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 2:44 PM - 0 comments

April Facebook Quiz!

LBJs (little brown jobs) are often very confusing thus creating the aforementioned, ever-so-popular acronym. However, as always, shape and structure can easily narrow down the field even if there are just a few species left in the mix. The April quiz bird will test the knowledge one has of structure, because almost one key feature can narrow this bird down into one group. If you are using two or three features to classify this species into a group then good for you.


The head and bill shape/size is always important, but this bird also tells it's identity using it's tail. The proportions of this bird scream "FINCH." Why is that? Well, the small, round head with the short, conical bill are major clues. However, for me, the cleft in the tail is the final factor. This bird was digiscoped using a Nikon EDG VR Fieldscope, FSA-L2 adapter and a Nikon D7000 during the 2012 San Diego Bird Festival. The site was just south of Oceanside, CA adjacent to a Porsche dealership. Go figure, right? The suggestion of yellow on the breast points towards a goldfinch, but with three species that breed in the area, which one is it? 

We know that it is not a male, because even in basic plumage males would be far more colorful. Juvenile finches typically are streaked on the back and breast so at best we are looking at a young bird or a straight up female of the species. Lesser Goldfinch is a great possibility, but since we can't see the wings to determine if the wing bars are highly contrasting we will have to rely on plumage features. The Lesser Goldfinch female is pale as well but usually shows a more olive-greenish cast on the head. This looks pretty gray to me. 

The female American Goldfinch has yellow more on the throat and not the chest at least in terms of normal plumage this time of year. However, the tail is something to look at. See that unique tail pattern on the under tail coverts? The female American Goldfinch doesn't have those windows so-to-speak. Usually, there are two white blotches that extend throughout the underside of the tail, but they aren't bordered by black. This female Lawrence's Goldfinch provides an excellent example of some of the key features used to separate goldfinches. 


Someone had reported roughly 400-500 in a flock north of San Diego and these birds quickly became celebrities. The males are wonderfully striking showing a gray-backed plumage with deep yellow on the breast and a dark face mask. This species can often be difficult to find, but they obviously flock up in the winter as most finches do. Thus, when you find a flock there are plenty to look at and study. Lawrence's Goldfinches are endemic to just California and the Baja Peninsula so they are quite the specialty. They stray in the winter to southern Arizona and Nevada, but California is the best bet for a sighting. 

We certainly hope all you all get a chance to find and view these wonderful little birds in California in the future. Also, we hope this post was helpful for your future goldfinch identification. Good birding to all and we will see you on the road.

06 March 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 1:55 PM - 0 comments

Nikon March Facebook Quiz!

So with the season approaching I thought I'd post a shorebird for the likes of the quiz. Shorebirds migrate for the longest periods and in some cases, never truly stop. Un-mated birds can be found moving on their southward mission in June or July though much of the Great Plains. This contestant movement is what causes so many rare shorebirds to show up out of the blue and in strange places. A number of years back a rare shorebird had shown up at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge just prior to the World Series of Birding. A friend and I took the ferry out of Lewes, DE to go check it out. Of course, when we got there a hoard of birders had already surrounded the area which was a tell-tale sign as to the bird's locality. It unfortunately, was terribly anti-climatic!


I give much credit to those who were close or got it because honestly, this photo stinks. The light was gray all day and the bird was constantly moving around in between foliage. At first glance, this a yellowlegs looking-type-kinda-sorta thing! We can see the legs have a greenish/yellow cast and the lengthy nature of the bird puts it in that category. Solitary Sandpiper could be in the mix, bit the contrasting white supercilium and dark eyeline exclude that species. For that matter, it does Lesser Yellowlegs as well. Lesser Yellowlegs has a paler face in comparison. The bills looks extremely fine in comparison to the Lesser Yellowlegs, but that is hard to distinguish in the photo.

Honestly, the real key was the actual movements of this bird along with the feeding habits. The bird moved fast like a Spotted or Solitary Sandpiper. I mean, real fast. Much faster than a Lesser Yellowlegs. All of these things put together are why experts deemed this bird to be a rare visitor from Europe called a Wood Sandpiper. 

Funny story about that day is that a friend of mine was doing a Delaware big day with another birder on that day and stopped at Prime Hook. They were viewing a Reeve at the same location when my friend turned to his partner and said, "Hey, come here and look at this weird Lesser Yellowlegs!" They were so much in a rush that they had a Reeve and a Wood Sandpiper in the same view and missed it. My friend, an excellent birder, was shocked to find out they could have gotten the bird that would have gave them the record since their final tally was a tie with the previous record. Well, another day I guess!

Good luck this spring looking for early shorebird migrants and thanks so much for reading!

08 February 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 11:34 AM - 1 comments

Nikon EDG VR Digiscoping!

Digiscoping used to be a tough task. You need the good light and a ultra-steady hand to pull off desirable shots, but Nikon's latest and greatest have proved differently. We have been gifted with our EDG Fieldscope acquiring the vibration-reduction technology that our camera systems show off.

Bill Schmoker, Nikon Birding ProStaff, and I spent January 7th in the field testing these beauties that claim to stabilized 88 percent of the vibrations. This number is nearly too good to be true, but some videos and stills we had taken might change a skeptical birder's mind.

Here are some recent shots taken down at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival.


The winter offers a plethora of seasonal species like this Dunlin. However, there are thousands more around that just this one guy. Notice how this species is front-heavy given the larger head and long, decurved bill? When side-by-side with a Western Sandpiper there really is no comparison.


One particular pool on Black Point Wildlife Drive hosted most of the Hooded Mergansers on location. The males are striking with that black and white head pattern. The females show a light colored bill (at least the basal portion), rufous (box-shaped) head and browner flanks. Always voice the shorter bill (when compared to other mergs) as well as the steep forehead slope. I was not the only photographer on these birds. There must have been a dozen people around at that point in time. They seem to attract a lot of attention.


The highlight of the week for me was certainly tracking down both species of Sharp-tailed Sparrows. This Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow popped up quite nicely for our group. I learned beforehand that Salties are typically a bit more showy. It is the Nelson's that really like to confine themselves to thicker vegetation. That was further proven when I went after the Nelson's and they kept fleeing into the mangroves that straddled the brackish marsh. The large bill of the Saltmarsh sets it aside from Leconte's and Nelson's, but it is the contrast on the face that is also just as easily noticeable. Leconte's and Nelson's would show much more orange and less of the dark auriculars that this Salty shows.

It is amazing what this EDG VR Fieldscope does in periods of high-winds or low light. I am achieving better photos on a more consistent basis. Hopefully, you all can take your Nikon camera to a local dealer to try one out soon. Thanks for reading and good birding!



02 February 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 7:32 PM - 0 comments

Nikon's February Facebook Quiz!

With the invention of the new Nikon EDG VR Fieldscope, digiscoping has been the latest craze on the Nikon side. The VR has the ability to allow steady shooting at lower shutter speeds which creates a much more versatile situation for digiscoping. The Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival is home to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge which is literally a photographer's dream. The birds are close and easily reached with basic photography equipment. The Pumphouse Loop is a known dirt road that leads to large mudflats where many species of shorebirds gather to feed. Some birds are close and others are far away, but a strong scope has the ability to reach them. As always, the heat distortion created by water vapor in the air can distort images that otherwise would be sharp, but that will happen regardless of the equipment you are using.


The two species in our quiz photo are expected species in central Florida in the winter, but these late morning photos were certainly effected by heat distortion. However, the necessary field marks are viewable to allow for proper identification. These two birds are relatively similar in size but very obviously different in plumage. Given the farthest bird's plumage it looks to be most likely a peep sp. In that size range there are only two birds that would show up with bright orange legs in the winter. Those are Semipalmated and Piping Plovers. What else can you see about the bird that is noticeable?

The darker back of the close bird is a huge key and that coupled with the orange legs narrows it down to Semipalmated Plover. A Piping Plover would show a light gray back with less contrast between the ventral and dorsal sides of the bird. 

The far bird however is a bit different and can be close in plumage to numerous other species. Let's assume this is a peep, because well, it is! A Least Sandpiper would show yellow legs but even mud can make their legs look black. Overall, we can eliminate Least by the light body color of this bird and lack of heavy streaking on the upper breast. White-rumped and Baird's would show a more elongated body with longer wing extension past the tail. Also, White-rumped has a light color to the base of the bill. The bill looks to taper towards the tip which doesn't stand well for Semipalmated Sandpiper even though Semipalms are rare in FL in winter. The Semipalmated Sandpiper has a short, thick, black bill that is of even width throughout the length for the most part. This looks like to be a Western Sandpiper with the streaking coming down the sides of the neck, white eyebrow and light coloration.


A closer look at this bird further shows a slight droop at the end of the bill as well so Western Sandpiper is the correct ID. Let's look at a Dunlin up close below.


There is really no comparison when a Western Sandpiper is standing next to the Dunlin as the Dunlin is far larger. However, when not given a side by side comparison they are superficially similar. Notice how brown the Dunlin looks as opposed to the gray of the Western Sandpiper? How about the difference in the shape and length of the eyebrow? These are the key features one should focus on for these birds in winter plumage. They will always be a bit confusing, but with a "bear-down," mentality to focusing on the smaller ID features they can positively be separated. 

Nikon Birding would like to thank everyone who participated in this quiz and we congratulate all who learned a little something. Good Birding!

26 January 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 8:46 PM - 0 comments

Killer Digiscoping with the Nikon EDG VR Fieldscope

The Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival in Titusville, FL has drawn a record number of registrants already this year and will surely attract more though out the weekend. This isn't too surprising since this festival seems to get bigger every year. With the multitude of field trips, seminars, workshops, vendors, etc. this place is buzzing all the time. Not to mention the world-class birding all over central Florida. None more impressive, however, than the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. This is Titusville's claim to fame. The birder friendly Black Point Wildlife Drive is usually the first stop on the list. It is certainly a must see for anyone traveling to the area.

Fellow Nikon Birding Prostaffer, Tom Dunkerton, had tipped me off to some productive spots locally and I went out this morning to churn some more images out of my new Nikon 85mm EDG VR Fieldscope. Check out some of these.....


While we were there our group had spotted two American Bitterns within 10 feet of the road. Truly amazing given the secretive nature this species exhibits.


Although, I am technically around this species often, I rarely actually see it. Thus, I took about 15 minutes to hang out, photograph and observe this marvel. Their methodical way of fishing shows more patience then I have ever witnessed in the animal kingdom. Truly a stalker, this species can hold a dead-still pose for  hours if necessary. I know I can't do that. 


A little bit of minor pishing brought a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow above grass height. These skulkers are very cryptic but can be brought up to the surface with some prompting. Even though the angle is tough it was the extremely large bill and darker auriculars that helped separate this species from it's cousin, the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow which was also present in the marsh. Nelson's are far more secretive and fled to the mangroves every time I got a quick eyeball on one. 


This is more of a typical view of a Sharp-tailed Sparrow, but they are gorgeous once out in the open.


This deep-water diver was relaxing in the relatively shallow pools of the refuge actively fishing. Notice the ripples in the water behind it? Female Red-breasted Mergansers usually would show a shaggy crest (males too), but this chica was water-logged which certainly changed her shape. The only other merganser present in a Florida winter would be the Hooded Merganser. Those birds have much shorter, darker bills and a steeper forehead slope. 

Birds like the American Bittern and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow were very unique for me as I don't see them often, however, if all the birds I saw were regular for me it would have still been a treat. This is mainly because central Florida offers ridiculously close encounters with these birds making this place an avian wonderland. I hope you all can get to Brevard Co. soon for some of this crazy birding. See some birds everyone!

04 January 2012 Posted by Mike Freiberg | 4:09 PM - 0 comments

Nikon January Facebook Quiz!


I know, I know, your first thought is probably cursing me for putting a bird in here with water streaming all over it. Yes, natural elements like water and wind can certainly change the perception of how a bird looks and make the ID even more confusing. Nevertheless, some key characteristics in the photo can drastically narrow down the field of options.

First off, this photo was digiscoped with a Nikon 85mm EDG Fieldscope at Estero Llano Grande State Park in the Rio Grande Valley, TX. Good friend and Nikon ProStaffer, Shawneen Finnegan, was standing next to me as we watched a host of birds come in and out of the water drip. This bird is actually a common wintering resident in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The smaller body and long tail with a cleft tells us that this bird is mostly likely in the warbler/finch category when talking about size. Finches tend to have tails with sharp clefts, but the tails are often not so long. This tail looks long to me, given the photograph has been taken from a head-on perspective. As always, the bill is vital for ID with any winged creature we are looking at. This bird has a rather long, thin and pointed bill. Finches of all kinds have thicker, conical bills. I think with those few attributes alone we can safely call this bird a warbler.


This bird photographed above is not the same bird and most likely a different race, but certainly the same species in question. Orange-crowned Warblers are all over Texas in winter and these birds can be found foraging for insects in variety of habitats. Females and juveniles are grayer in appearance which puts this bottom photo in that category. The actual quiz bird is probably a male because he was bright green throughout his body and the ventral streaking was faint.

Often enough, Tennessee Warblers can look near identical for those who are not accustomed to both species. One easy trick will help you separate these species. The largest key is that Orange-crowned Warblers have a green/yellow vent and Tennessee Warblers have a white vent area. This holds true for both sexes and all ages for both species.

Tennessee Warblers migrate heavily through the middle part of the United States and Orange-crowneds can be found all over the US in migration. Best of luck out there and be safe as the new year turns over. Good Birding!

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