Field guides can be misleading, can be inaccurate, can be confusing (especially when comparing field guides). If you have trouble identifying birds, you should peruse at least 3 field guides or better yet, 6 field guides. Also, you should dig a little more deeply that what a field guide will present.
Here is an example, non birding, of the latter subject. My neighbor says, “ Go to this local nursery for your roses. They have been in roses for many years. They have hundreds of different roses. Some of the roses are hundreds of years old. The signs say so.”
Okay- the roses are from out of state. They are shipped in bare rooted. Then they are potted. The sign “ one hundred years” means— the species were developed (hybridized) one hundred years ago. Those individual roses were all probably 3 years old.
You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say, “call it.” You say— Accipiter. I say— probably Cooper’s hawk, right? You say — Right. I say because of range maps and habitat, right? You say “right.” I say emphatically “ wrong.”
Explanation: Birders are too “habitat conscious” and are too “ range map dependent.” The first thing to take into account is the season. Then next should be the bird at hand. Then the habitat and the range maps. This is what I mean by the pitfalls of field guides.
You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say “name it.” You say — Accipiter. I say probably a Cooper’s, right. You say— Right. I say “ Why are you leaving Goshawk out of the equation, you should never leave Goshawk out of the equation.”
The real take- away from this story is that there was zero discussion on what was actually observed! NB.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Friday, October 11, 2019
More on size
I recently read — Size lies. And for the first time. I like that statement. It goes along with my profound statement- Tails do not nail. If tails don’t nail, then certainly tail tip structure and design do not nail. We are talking about accipiters here.
What does it mean when you take the length of the bird as a number? What does it mean when you take the measurement of the wing span? Mainly it means that you are working in two dimensions. You are not working with the contours of the bird! Therefore, you do not get a feel for the chest and belly of the hawk. You may not think this is important, and as a birder, I assure you, you are only interested in the “coating” of the bird- that is the general color, or the distinct color and pattern— in other words — only the coating of the bird. You are not at all interested in the various structures and movement of the bird. You are not interested in the silhouette of the bird... only the field marks. And the silhouette is the easiest way to identify raptors.
So the wingspan is a line which has no thickness or width, so you are working in only one dimension.
Wing span has very little meaning, until we compare it with the length of the hawk. So now what we are dealing with is shape and proportions, not the actual size of the hawk. Therefore, within this blog— size of the raptor does not matter, as we are talking of the raptors of Puget Sound and the North Eastern states. But of course size will come into play, but that is when you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors, perched and in flight, at distances of 1 mile and more. And we can only use size in conjunction with many other factors and relating to a very few species. Size is always there. It is a part of our thoughts and mentality. You just have to have the concept to keep size “ under control.”
In the field: A raptor is first observed very near the bright sun, then disappears in the sun.
A raptor is circling over head in a thick fog.
A raptor is heading toward your position, at about 50 feet altitude, and is now overhead and behind your position. However, the sky is dark, such as when the sun is below the horizon.
In all 3 cases, general and specific color is absent. Therefore, field marks are absent. However, if the area is Puget Sound, probably every raptor can be identified by: wing beats, wing holding, shape and proportions, especially the structure of the wing. In all cases—size is not important— if size is used it will be misleading.
I have a made-up story concerning size... however not now, as I want to get into the meaty part of this web site.NB.
What does it mean when you take the length of the bird as a number? What does it mean when you take the measurement of the wing span? Mainly it means that you are working in two dimensions. You are not working with the contours of the bird! Therefore, you do not get a feel for the chest and belly of the hawk. You may not think this is important, and as a birder, I assure you, you are only interested in the “coating” of the bird- that is the general color, or the distinct color and pattern— in other words — only the coating of the bird. You are not at all interested in the various structures and movement of the bird. You are not interested in the silhouette of the bird... only the field marks. And the silhouette is the easiest way to identify raptors.
So the wingspan is a line which has no thickness or width, so you are working in only one dimension.
Wing span has very little meaning, until we compare it with the length of the hawk. So now what we are dealing with is shape and proportions, not the actual size of the hawk. Therefore, within this blog— size of the raptor does not matter, as we are talking of the raptors of Puget Sound and the North Eastern states. But of course size will come into play, but that is when you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors, perched and in flight, at distances of 1 mile and more. And we can only use size in conjunction with many other factors and relating to a very few species. Size is always there. It is a part of our thoughts and mentality. You just have to have the concept to keep size “ under control.”
In the field: A raptor is first observed very near the bright sun, then disappears in the sun.
A raptor is circling over head in a thick fog.
A raptor is heading toward your position, at about 50 feet altitude, and is now overhead and behind your position. However, the sky is dark, such as when the sun is below the horizon.
In all 3 cases, general and specific color is absent. Therefore, field marks are absent. However, if the area is Puget Sound, probably every raptor can be identified by: wing beats, wing holding, shape and proportions, especially the structure of the wing. In all cases—size is not important— if size is used it will be misleading.
I have a made-up story concerning size... however not now, as I want to get into the meaty part of this web site.NB.
Birding Hayton Farms - Fir Island - WA
Went to Hayton Preserve today. The first time. The dirt road to the many Snow Geese was wet, slimy, dirty, and very uneven. And a large dump truck was coming through. Possibly I was to park and walk out to the prime spot. My take- away — Been there done that. You will notice when entering near the farm house, there is a large copse of Japanese Knot Weed. To make myself clear — first time there, last time there.NB.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Kayak Point, WA
August 25- 2019
We were walking the beach and the pier, for the first time. Then we came upon 3 signs blocking our way that said— No trespassing Private Beach. There was a young man, probably a summer high school worker. His was up- hill from us.
He was working with small shears on Japanese Knot Weed. I asked him if he had told the weeds to — Go back were you came from. But the kid was not interested in conversation. He grabbed some cuttings and walked away from us toward the wheelbarrow. As he returned I shouted — Did you tell them to go back to Japan. He said “ I don’t know what these weeds are. I only know that I was told to cut them out”. Then a man came out of the closest house and went to the edge of his lawn and shouted “ I’m glad somebody is getting rid of those Knot Weeds. They are a noxious weed!” The poor kid was getting it from both angles. NB.
We were walking the beach and the pier, for the first time. Then we came upon 3 signs blocking our way that said— No trespassing Private Beach. There was a young man, probably a summer high school worker. His was up- hill from us.
He was working with small shears on Japanese Knot Weed. I asked him if he had told the weeds to — Go back were you came from. But the kid was not interested in conversation. He grabbed some cuttings and walked away from us toward the wheelbarrow. As he returned I shouted — Did you tell them to go back to Japan. He said “ I don’t know what these weeds are. I only know that I was told to cut them out”. Then a man came out of the closest house and went to the edge of his lawn and shouted “ I’m glad somebody is getting rid of those Knot Weeds. They are a noxious weed!” The poor kid was getting it from both angles. NB.
Sunday, September 8, 2019
A good exercise
This exercise will help you to try and size a bird. I would think your primary target would be gulls. Or crows. Observe the hawk naked eye, then of course raise your binos. Then lower the binos and go back to naked eye. Do this over and over again. Then you will get a better feel for the size of the bird.
Another exercise is to practice looking deep into the sky. Many of you will say- If I cannot identify raptors at one- half mile away, why should I try and observe a raptor at one mile away? Or more. Do you know that it takes practice to look deep into the sky? In other words, it does not come naturally. But that dot or speck or mote might show projections, meaning wing and tail. Most of time that is all it takes to form an opinion or an identity. So practice looking at all raptors at all distances — naked eye and with optics. Try and understand that you do not have to name a raptor— just enjoy being outside with nature and enjoy. Act as if you were a child again and just observe. Also, pay a lot attention to raptors in flight naked eye. Because most of the time you will not have your binos, as when you go to a ball game or on the tennis court or driving your car. And with practice you can observe raptors perched and in flight while driving car. NB.
Another exercise is to practice looking deep into the sky. Many of you will say- If I cannot identify raptors at one- half mile away, why should I try and observe a raptor at one mile away? Or more. Do you know that it takes practice to look deep into the sky? In other words, it does not come naturally. But that dot or speck or mote might show projections, meaning wing and tail. Most of time that is all it takes to form an opinion or an identity. So practice looking at all raptors at all distances — naked eye and with optics. Try and understand that you do not have to name a raptor— just enjoy being outside with nature and enjoy. Act as if you were a child again and just observe. Also, pay a lot attention to raptors in flight naked eye. Because most of the time you will not have your binos, as when you go to a ball game or on the tennis court or driving your car. And with practice you can observe raptors perched and in flight while driving car. NB.
Saturday, September 7, 2019
More on size
When you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors and perched raptors and raptors in flight, then you can play- around with the word SIZE. The size of a raptor is important to the raptor and the scientist— it is not important to you. Yet it is very difficult to not take into account the size of a raptor. Why this is I do not know.
If you think it is important to size a raptor, then go ahead and use your calipers and rulers and place the specimen on the road side or in the bed of your truck and document with pen and paper. That is after you learn to take accurate measurements. But, don’t get caught at it! And, I just learned a better way to identify accipiters and it is quicker than using a ruler and calipers, or whatever instruments the scientists use. I will get into this subject on another essay- post.
You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say Goshawk. You reply - The bird is too big for a Goshawk. But, you are not going to to get away with that. You must add more to the conversation. You cannot just get away with - The bird is too big, or the bird is too small. I have evaluated the hawk, you must have also evaluated the hawk. So what is your evaluation other that the bird is too small or too large?
Here might be an axiom- You cannot tell the size of a bird until you know the distance to the bird. I say this is a false statement. It might be doubly false, or even false to the triple degree. Even if you know the distance to the raptor perched or in flight, let us say one- half mile away, you cannot tell the size of the raptor. But, with years of practice you can place a bird or a raptor within a bracket of size. However, it also depends on the direction and the intensity of light. It also depends upon the background, the texture and color, of the background.
I have more to say and demonstrate, but will add just a little more for this post. Hawking is not about size. It is about shape, proportion, wing movement ( many aspects) and wing holding (how a bird holds it wing in a soar or in a glide.) When a raptor moves its wings it gives up its species, that and the wing holding. That is in accordance with this web- site which concerns a set- group of raptors: residing in the Puget Sound Area and in the East - areas such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Also concerning the three species that invade from the North in winter.
You should get yourself a “marker bird” pertaining to sparrows, some sets of shore birds, and raptors. Then classify the size of the marker bird. You are trying to get a feel for the size of that sparrow. So, you can have a large marker bird which for sparrows should be a Song Sparrow. Then become familiar with a medium size sparrow. Any other size sparrow will of course be a small sparrow. There are three sets of sizes for raptors. I say there are only three large raptors. But that is my classification. Your bracket system might be different from mine, might be more complicated. NB.
If you think it is important to size a raptor, then go ahead and use your calipers and rulers and place the specimen on the road side or in the bed of your truck and document with pen and paper. That is after you learn to take accurate measurements. But, don’t get caught at it! And, I just learned a better way to identify accipiters and it is quicker than using a ruler and calipers, or whatever instruments the scientists use. I will get into this subject on another essay- post.
You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say Goshawk. You reply - The bird is too big for a Goshawk. But, you are not going to to get away with that. You must add more to the conversation. You cannot just get away with - The bird is too big, or the bird is too small. I have evaluated the hawk, you must have also evaluated the hawk. So what is your evaluation other that the bird is too small or too large?
Here might be an axiom- You cannot tell the size of a bird until you know the distance to the bird. I say this is a false statement. It might be doubly false, or even false to the triple degree. Even if you know the distance to the raptor perched or in flight, let us say one- half mile away, you cannot tell the size of the raptor. But, with years of practice you can place a bird or a raptor within a bracket of size. However, it also depends on the direction and the intensity of light. It also depends upon the background, the texture and color, of the background.
I have more to say and demonstrate, but will add just a little more for this post. Hawking is not about size. It is about shape, proportion, wing movement ( many aspects) and wing holding (how a bird holds it wing in a soar or in a glide.) When a raptor moves its wings it gives up its species, that and the wing holding. That is in accordance with this web- site which concerns a set- group of raptors: residing in the Puget Sound Area and in the East - areas such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Also concerning the three species that invade from the North in winter.
You should get yourself a “marker bird” pertaining to sparrows, some sets of shore birds, and raptors. Then classify the size of the marker bird. You are trying to get a feel for the size of that sparrow. So, you can have a large marker bird which for sparrows should be a Song Sparrow. Then become familiar with a medium size sparrow. Any other size sparrow will of course be a small sparrow. There are three sets of sizes for raptors. I say there are only three large raptors. But that is my classification. Your bracket system might be different from mine, might be more complicated. NB.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Goshawk female — Memorial Hwy Mount Vernon WA
Dear observers— I still have more to say concerning size, while birding and hawking, probably three more posts on the subject.
Today around noon I had a very quick look at a female NG as she was near the sun then into the sun. Sept. 6 2019. Location — Research Extension Center on Memorial Hwy, Mt. Vernon, WA. I clump this area with the Skagit Regional Airport. It is up to you on how you rate this area. I went to the Extension Center to gather info on roses. I carried my camera- not to photograph roses, but in order to capture a Goshawk.
Here are my sightings of NG in this area over the last fifteen years. At the airport— female doubles; doubles male and female; a male; a female that went to perch and perch again, then flew away. A female soaring over the highway. A female soaring over the Extension Center. And the female today, disappearing into the sun. All NG were in flight but not in migration.
My experience with a raptor that is in the sun — ninety per cent of the time this is what happens. I can move my position, I can wait- out the hawk, I can observe the areas all around the sun, I can block some of the sun with my hand or a brochure: but I will never see that hawk again!
Also discovered on the edge of the Extension Center — a scattered heap of bird feathers. NB.
Today around noon I had a very quick look at a female NG as she was near the sun then into the sun. Sept. 6 2019. Location — Research Extension Center on Memorial Hwy, Mt. Vernon, WA. I clump this area with the Skagit Regional Airport. It is up to you on how you rate this area. I went to the Extension Center to gather info on roses. I carried my camera- not to photograph roses, but in order to capture a Goshawk.
Here are my sightings of NG in this area over the last fifteen years. At the airport— female doubles; doubles male and female; a male; a female that went to perch and perch again, then flew away. A female soaring over the highway. A female soaring over the Extension Center. And the female today, disappearing into the sun. All NG were in flight but not in migration.
My experience with a raptor that is in the sun — ninety per cent of the time this is what happens. I can move my position, I can wait- out the hawk, I can observe the areas all around the sun, I can block some of the sun with my hand or a brochure: but I will never see that hawk again!
Also discovered on the edge of the Extension Center — a scattered heap of bird feathers. NB.
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