Tyrant Flycatchers

Eastern Kingbird sitting on the fence at Mount Comfort Airport

Eastern Wood-Pewee on a hunting perch at Schramm Woods

Great Crested Flycatcher along the Wabash River in SW Indiana showing off its yellow belly.

It is not typical to see these guys down low, especially out in the open of an agricultural field.

Our presence did not seem to bother this tyranid, letting us walk right past.

November Phoebe

An Eastern Phoebe stops for a rest along the north shore of Geist Reservoir.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, near Cimarron, Kansas

What a showy bird! I am glad I got to see him and that now I can cross him off the list. Not in the sense that I never want to see them again and I am moving on to the next species, but now that I have seen one, I am sure I will see them more frequently.

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge

A Northern Harrier watches the sunrise from his roost in the marsh.

Greater Roadrunner on top of a bluff.

Western Kingbirds were everywhere, and fairly noisy as well. Cassin's Kingbirds show up at the refuge, so I had to keep my eye on them.

A gorgeous Bullock's Oriole shows off briefly. I could hear orioles in several different trees, but I had very little luck catching glimpses of them. Of course I was also looking for Hooded Orioles.

Rock Wren

Black Phoebe

Taking my siesta in the shade beside Upper Pahranagat Lake. The day got up into the nineties, and I had gotten on the road by three, so it was nice to relax.

Last Saturday I visited Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge near Alamo, Nevada. The refuge is located in a valley on the edge of the Great Basin and Mohave Desert. The variety of habitats, including lake and wetlands attract many birds. I struck out on several birds (Verdin, Phainopepla, several different Thrashers), so I might have to go again if I get a chance.

Great Basin Birds part 1

Here is an assorted collection of bird photos from my travels in Nevada (and just across the border in Utah).

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
I hold kinglet pictures to a different standard than other bird pictures. Kinglets are shy, but they never sit still on an exposed perch. I was very happy to get one that actually captured its ruby crown.

Horned Lark
Horned Larks might be the most common bird in the valley right now. They certainly had that distinction in March and April. Now Brewer's Sparrows might have edged them out. This lark posed for me with the mountains for a backdrop.

Western Kingbird
This guy was sitting on the fence that marked the border between Nevada and Utah. I still haven't seen a kingbird entirely in Nevada. There were several in Garrison, UT, on the way back.

Western Grebe
I managed to get pretty close to a flotilla of grebes on Pruess Lake, south of Garrison, UT.

Long-billed Curlew
This was one bird species I really wanted to see while out in Nevada. One flew overhead on my first trip out, but I did not get good looks until this trip. Many were feeding in a cattle pasture near Ruby Lake. This lone bird was feeding in an upland field just outside of the national park.

Great Basin Wildlife

We visited the Cleve Creek lek again. Seven males and three females this time. We could act hear them this time. They kind of sounded like racquetballs bouncing.



This Say's Phoebe was sitting on the visitors center roof. He either had a nest up under the eaves, or was thinking about building one. This is an attractive western phoebe.

This Pronghorn was staring off into the sunset outside in the Snake Valley.

Whenever we go through the Connors Pass early in the morning or later in the evening, we usually see the elk herd. Not actually at the pass, but in the valley right near the pass.

This adult male Northern Harrier flew right along side of us while we were driving on US50. He was cruising at 20 mph, and still could stop on a dime to dive for prey.

Dominican Republic Birds

Black-crowned Palm-Tanager - Common in the countryside. There is quite a variety of tanagers in the DR.

Palmchat - the national bird of the DR. These guys were fairly common, even throughout Jarabacoa. Not only are they endemic, they are the only bird in their family.

Least Grebe - This guy was swimming in the lagoon on La Isla Saona. This grebe made a Pied-billed Grebe seem to be as large as a Mallard.

Common Moorhen - in the lagoon at Saona.

Greater Antillean Grackle - Not too different from our Grackles.

Brown Booby - the birding highlight of the catamaran ride.

Gray Kingbird - the tyrant of the Dominican. These guys were the most common flycatcher. They sound like Eastern Kingbirds, too.

Tricolored Heron - This guy was hunting the area below a dam on the south coast. He was a very small heron.

A hunting technique.

Nutmeg Mannikin - at Tres Ojos.

Hispaniolan Woodpecker - They sound roughly like our Red-bellies. Very common and often in flocks. I had to work to get a picture that wasn't backlit.

Black-whiskered Vireo - I was hearing the song everywhere I went. I was sure it had to be a vireo, but I couldn't find the singer for several days.

Magnificent Frigatebird - These 'pirate birds' were everywhere along the coast.

Narrow-billed Tody - on the trail to Pico Duarte. There are two todies in the DR, the Narrow-billed in the mountains and the Broad-billed everywhere else. They are in the kingfisher family.

Broad-billed Tody - near Jarabacoa.

Bananaquit - These colorful little birds were very common, especially once their song became familiar. They are fairly tiny.

Yellow-faced Grassquit - cute, sparrow-like birds.

Antillean Mango - a very large hummingbird.

Vervain Hummingbird - the second smallest bird in the world. Very tiny, but very noisy, common, and bold.

I got to see 46 bird species in the DR. Other DR bird highlight and thoughts:

• Cattle Egret - might not be the most common bird, but surely is the most visible bird. There is always one or more flying overhead.
• Common Ground Dove - I had seen these guys in SC before, but they were in decent numbers around Jarabacoa. They are tiny, cute little doves that have nice rusty patches on their wings.
• Hispaniolan Parrot - at the headquarters for the National Park in La Ciagna, I looked up and saw a flock of parrots winging across the valley.
• Hispaniolan Lizard-cuckoo - I got to see two of these gorgeous cuckoos on the trail to Pico Duarte.
• Smooth-billed Ani - These cuckoos were decently common around Jarabacoa. Massive bills and round tails.
• Antillean Palm-swift - These small swifts were abundant, but I didn't even try to take a picture of them.
• Hispaniolan Pewee - The only other flycatcher I saw. I was a little surprised by this.
• Caribbean Martin - a pretty martin.
• Red-legged Thrush - I saw this attractive thrush about 10 times around Jarabacoa.
• Hispaniolan Spindalis - Just a brief look while driving.
• Hispaniolan Oriole - A very attractive bird.
  

Gray Kingbird

Tyrannus dominicensis
Kelly spotted the kingbird while we were on Santa Rosa island the first day we were there. We got some good looks as he was flycatching from the powerlines right over head.

Great Crested Flycatcher

I heard my first Great Crested Flycatcher of the season on Thursday. Usually I just hear them in the top of a tree and don't get a good look at them. This morning, there was a pair in a very open field, hawking insects from little cottonwood saplings.