Everybody loves last week's quiz bird, the Roseate Spoonbill. What a great bird . . . have seen a few on this brief trip to Florida (which wraps up today and I return to Utah tomorrow).
This week's bird was found lurking in the shadows of some mangroves out on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive (Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge) during this morning's photography workshop. Have fun, good luck, and great birding!
Our bird last week was a Great-crested Flycatcher. This week we have a bird that you will almost certainly see if you are at this month's Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville. Good luck and good birding!
And so we begin a new year of quizzes. Since it is January and the annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is this month (Jan. 23-27), all of our quizzes will be birds you might see elsewhere, but I know them from Florida. The answer to last week's quiz was Heermann's Gull. Good luck and good birding!
Last week's flock of birds in flight were Cedar Waxwings; still looking for them around here along with their Bohemian cousin's. Since it has been a long time since we had a member of this family in the weekly quiz, it just felt right to pick one for this week. Good luck and great birding!
The raptor getting all fluffed up in last week's quiz was a Red-shouldered Hawk. If you're out (or have been out already) on a Christmas Bird Count, you rarely - if ever - the this week's species alone. They are almost always in large flocks going from tree to tree, stripping them of berries or other fruits. Have fun and good birding counting!
As it turns out, last week's quiz bird was a repeat from way back at Quiz #5 and was a Mountain Chickadee. One of the review methods I use is a search of all the quizzes for family name (like "Chickadee") to see if I had used it before. Except, for some reason, I never gave the answer to Quiz #5 so "Chickadee" didn't come up in the search. Oops.
I am pretty certain that we've never quizzed this raptor giving itself a good shake after a round of preening. It's primarily an Eastern bird that you might also find in parts of the West. Good luck and good birding!
Last week's puzzler was a closeup image of a Golden-fronted Woodpecker from down in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. For this week our bird is from closer to "home" here at Bryce and, arguably, the bird I see most frequently in my wanderings around the park this time of year. Good luck and good birding!
The youngster in last week's round was a Wood Stork photographed on the nest in Lakeland, Florida. For this week I'm not giving you much to go on, but there should be enough information to make an identification. Have fun and good birding!
Last week's bird in (your choice: Winter/non-breeding/basic) plumage was a Black-bellied Plover. For this week a face that only a mother could love . . . (eh, not true; I always like - or liked, I guess, since we don't have any of these in Utah - seeing members of this species).
Good luck and great birding!
Last week's (kind of tricky) female was a Hooded Oriole. If I had to list the things I miss living out here shorebirds would be at or near the top of that list, so here's a member of that group for this week's quiz.
Last week's member of the flycatcher family was an Eastern Wood-pewee. For this week we'll give the upper hand to residents of the western part of the U.S. with a species that would be quite lost if it were seen "back East". Have fun and good birding!
Last week's duck was a Blue-winged Teal; congrats to those who answered correctly. This week we have a bird from the Eastern forests - have fun and good luck!
The modem for my satellite internet finally arrived and we're back up and running. I have been leading a workshop the past few days and will try to put together a report about that over the next couple of days. This workshop was all about the beautiful scenery in the area (plus a visit to a dinosaur track site out in the Grand Staircase) and we had some great weather for it. Of course we're really here for the quiz and here is our bird for the week - good luck!
Well I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but since the twits at my ISP can't seem to ship a modem in less than 5 days in this modern era (let alone the time it will actually take to get from them to me) I am going to skip the quiz this week (I'm typing this now from a motel parking lot). Last week's answer is Hooded Warbler.
If I'm lucky I'll have a modem Wednesday and I can get back to business as usual.
Now that I have had a chance to vent about that, my anger at the ISP is at least tempered by the fact that I was offered the winter position here at Bryce that I had applied for - and that makes me very happy!
I still subscribe to one of the Florida email lists for bird sightings and know that birds have been migrating through the past couple of weeks. Some people I know reported seeing this week's quiz bird in one of the places I used to go birding. Last week's mystery bird was a female Indigo Bunting.
Have fun and I hope you see some great birds this week!
The bird in last week's quiz was a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow (a recent addition to my Bryce area list). For this week we have a bird that occasionally finds its way to Utah but is really more of an Eastern species. Have fun and happy birding!
Our bird last week was an Inca Dove; for this week a bird from what may be one of the most difficult families of all (at least for me). Have fun, lots of luck, and good birding!
Last week's mystery bird was a non-breeding Eared Grebe (maybe 1st fall?) photographed last year at Great Salt Lake. For this week we have another bird of the southwest and, I think, the first from this family we've quizzed. Have fun and good luck!
Our bird last week was a godwit but not the flavor that I had been writing about- it was a Marbled Godwit. This time around we'll have a go at a species that is probably on the move south right now. Best of luck!
Last week's bird was from Arizona: Bridled Titmouse. For this time I just had to choose a shorebird since that is what I have been chatting about all week. This bird is not one of those that all the fuss is about, just a relative. Good luck!
Last week's bird was an Eastern Kingbird; for this week we'll come back to the western part of the country to test your skills. Have fun!
Last week's bird was a member of the Nightjar family: Common Nighthawk. For this week we have another bird noted for the number of insects that it eats. While you work on that it's back to the grindstone for me preparing another evening ranger program (I have to be ready Tuesday) about something totally unrelated to birds - the Moon.
Last week's quiz was a little tough, I admit. The problem with white geese is they are all so similar and with this one you had to look very closely at the image to detect the lack of a "grin patch" to identify it as a Ross's Goose. The other major differences are a more rounded head and smaller, both tough to see from that angle. This week we have a species I have only heard since arriving here but last week a couple on the bird walk mentioned seeing them the previous day just outside Bryce.
Our mystery bird last week was a resident of the Southwestern Deserts: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. For this week we have another interesting challenge - have fun and good luck!
The bird in last week's quiz was a bit of a toughie: Lesser Goldfinch. Difficult to tell from the American Goldfinch, the biggest difference to look for is the paler (or fainter) wing bars on the Lesser. For this week we have another species of the American Southwest (wish they were here at Bryce). Good luck!
Congratulations if your answer to last week's quiz was "Whimbrel"! This week's bird of the southwest is listed as a rare breeder here at Bryce - I haven't seen one here yet, but will keep looking. Good luck and have fun!
One of the facts I like to point out in the talk of give on avian migration is the fact that during almost any month of the year birds are on the move somewhere in North America. Our quiz bird this week is one that is a northern breeder and yet they have already been sighted in Florida this month. Last week's bird was a juvenile male Black-throated Gray Warbler.
It's time one again for our weekly quiz, but first the answer to last week's edition: Pine Siskin. This week's bird had me puzzled for a while and I was trying to make it into a couple of different birds before I magically turned right to the page it was on in the book. Good luck and have fun!
Last week's tricky fledgling was a Townsend's Solitaire. Heavily spotted (camouflage?), the strong eyering serves as a fieldmark shared with the adult's plumage. For this week we have a new visitor to my birdbath. Have fun!
Last week's quiz was a stumper for a few folks - note the weak supercilium stripe (just above the eye) and pale throat telling us our bird is a House Wren. I shot this week's bird at the seep in front of Bryce Canyon Lodge and, while I had my suspicions, it had me going for a few minutes until I saw one a little later being fed by an adult. Nothing like a juvenile to test your ID skills - have fun!
Last week's bird was a Barn Swallow (f); this week we've got a bird not to be found around Bryce but still a widespread species. Have a go at it!
Okay, we're back after a week off with the Friday Quiz! Not a species I have seen within the park boundaries here at Bryce Canyon but they are pretty common outside. Good luck and have fun!
This has been the week from hell where I have been spending most of my non-working waking hours with my computer preparing last night's Ranger Talk. Other than a short session with ground-squirrels and chipmunks outside my trailer on Tuesday, I have been immersed in creating that PowerPoint presentation. My brain is just fried and since I've slacked on this and two days late we'll skip this quiz for this week and get going again next Friday. The last quiz was a Red Knot, a species that I am quite fond of and that I found out a few days later is still having serious problems with a shrinking population. Hopefully we'll see another attempt to get listed as endangered - though I doubt it considering the criminals in the current administration that are doing such a bang-up job these days.
The "Ranger Talk" last night that I spent so much time on was Birdwatching Basics and I'll be getting ready here in a couple of minutes to take some folks on a birdwatching hike here at the park. This will be my third in the last 8 days; the birding is tough here at times, but Friday morning we had a Plumbeous Vireo foraging and singing in a small Ponderosa Pine at eye level and "no binoculars necessary" close range. It was pretty cool.
We haven't done a shorebird in a while and there's been a lot of chatter on one of the bird lists I subscribe to about this species so I thought "why not?". Last week's bird - and it was noted by one astute observer that I forgot to strip the bird banding code from the file's name - was a Say's Phoebe.
Congratulations to those who answered Cassin's Finch to last week's quiz. I think we have to go all the way back to the first quiz since we had a member of this family represented. Good luck and have fun!
(I noticed last night that I had skipped Quiz #39 so if you think you have seen a quiz #49 before - you have. I renumbered them all so this week is also #49 . . . when did I learn to count?)
The bird in last week's quiz was a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. Members of the species in this week's round have become regular visitors to the dripper lately. Have at it!
The answer to last week's quiz is Western Scrub-jay. This week's bird may prove to be a challenge, so good luck and have fun!
Last week's migrant was a female American Redstart and for this week we are back to Utah for a species that I am seeing more and more of around the park. Enjoy!
Uh-oh, I missed posting this week's quiz by a day . . .
The little bird from last week was a Pygmy Nuthatch from just a few feet from my trailer here at Bryce. This week's quiz bird is one you might be seeing about now in the Southeastern portion of the U.S. as they are making the journey north. Extra credit for gender . . .
Last week's bird was a Northern Flicker (red-shafted or Western race); for this week we have a little bird that seems to run in packs and none of them stay in one place for long. Have fun!
