Mokka mit Schlag » Birding

I visited Brooklyn this past weekend. Despite jet lag, rain, and wind, I managed to spend a few hours in Prospect Park and picked up 39 species including 15 year birds:

• American Coot
• American Goldfinch
• White-throated Sparrow
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Song Sparrow
• Ruddy Duck
• Rock Pigeon
• Ring-billed Gull
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• American Robin
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Blue Jay
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Canada Goose
• Common Grackle
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Downy Woodpecker
• Eastern Phoebe
• European Starling
• Herring Gull
• House Finch
• House Sparrow
• Mallard
• Mourning Dove
• Northern Shoveler
• Tufted Titmouse
• Ring-necked Duck
• Northern Flicker
• Hermit Thrush
• Northern Cardinal
• Wood Duck
• Great Egret
• Fox Sparrow
• Swamp Sparrow
• Eastern Towhee
• Brown Creeper

However, I did not find the Red-necked Grebe or the White-winged Crossbills that were reported earlier in the year.

Details and pictures to follow but here’s the day list:

• Mallard
• Northern Shoveler
• Horned Grebe
• Eared Grebe
• Western Grebe
• American White Pelican
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• White-faced Ibis
• Common Moorhen
• American Coot
• Black-bellied Plover
• Killdeer
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Willet
• Least Sandpiper
• Bonaparte’s Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• California Gull
• Herring Gull
• Glaucous-winged Gull
• Caspian Tern
• Forster’s Tern
• White-winged Dove
• Mourning Dove
• Black Phoebe
• Say’s Phoebe
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Violet-green Swallow
• Verdin
• Northern Mockingbird
• European Starling
• Phainopepla
• Common Yellowthroat
• Abert’s Towhee
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Brewer’s Blackbird
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• House Finch
• House Sparrow
• American Wigeon
• Cinnamon Teal
• Green-winged Teal
• Ruddy Duck
• Gambel’s Quail
• Brown Pelican
• Cattle Egret
• Northern Harrier
• American Kestrel
• Peregrine Falcon
• Long-billed Curlew
• Marbled Godwit
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Rock Pigeon
• Common Ground-Dove
• Barn Owl
• Northern Flicker
• Western Kingbird
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Chipping Sparrow
• Red-winged Blackbird

(more…)

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, 2009-03-08

San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, 2009-02-26

My photography is definitely improving. Just compare to this shot from a little over a year ago. Of course that was a cloudy winter day in Brooklyn, and this was a bright sunny day in southern California, but still the difference is remarkable. I still have a long way to go before Arthur Morris has anything to worry about.

One thing I still have to figure out is proper gamma adjustment. This picture looks great on my Mac but is much too dark on my Ubuntu/Gnome desktop. Haven’t checked Windows yet. Is it possible to make a photo like this actually work across all platforms? I know the Mac gamma is about 1.8 and the PC gamma is about 2.2. Not sure about Linux.

Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna
Irvine, CA, 2009-02-20

American Pipit, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, 2009-01-29
(more…)