Kevin S. Lucas
Sandhill Cranes new yardbird 2018-04-25 ©Kevin S Lucas
Sandhill Crane
Antigone canadensis
[Edit: see photo two to the left in my photostream for a better view of the white crane.]
Today's new yardbird isn't like the others. This one probably wasn't called in by the singing of the scores of White-crowned Sparrows. I was in disbelief when I heard them, thinking they must be dogs or ravens or something. Then they flew into view, forty-five of them. None of my photos are good, the first ones with the power pole top and lines, but they're priceless to me. The bird thirteen up from the bottom is much lighter than the rest, showing in all the photos. Maybe it's leucistic; probably not a Whooper ;-) It's a good morning.
My digiscoped & DSLR photos have embedded GPS data in the original file EXIF metadata. For rare and uncommon birds I also often take photos showing the bird(s) in a broader scene. Someone wanting to check the veracity of my claims could see without much effort that I don't deceive. I make the effort to provide such evidence because it became obvious that some local sighting claims were false, and one longtime lister even sneakily swapped out photos of accipiters rather than admit his identification error (in the Caliope Crier Audubon newsletter. He was caught, but not busted.) That's bird listing in Yakima County with several local "experts", and I suspect it happens elsewhere too. I make mistakes. I don't lie or trespass, and don't try to hide my mistakes.
See Something -- Say Something: Don't enable illegal and unethical birders -- poachers. Help break their habits. Call them as you see them.
Stop pishing and using playback on rare and sensitive birds and in heavily birded areas.
Please Follow this Code and Distribute and Teach it to Others ABA Code of Birding Ethics.
Sandhill Cranes new yardbird 2018-04-25 ©Kevin S Lucas
Sandhill Crane
Antigone canadensis
[Edit: see photo two to the left in my photostream for a better view of the white crane.]
Today's new yardbird isn't like the others. This one probably wasn't called in by the singing of the scores of White-crowned Sparrows. I was in disbelief when I heard them, thinking they must be dogs or ravens or something. Then they flew into view, forty-five of them. None of my photos are good, the first ones with the power pole top and lines, but they're priceless to me. The bird thirteen up from the bottom is much lighter than the rest, showing in all the photos. Maybe it's leucistic; probably not a Whooper ;-) It's a good morning.
My digiscoped & DSLR photos have embedded GPS data in the original file EXIF metadata. For rare and uncommon birds I also often take photos showing the bird(s) in a broader scene. Someone wanting to check the veracity of my claims could see without much effort that I don't deceive. I make the effort to provide such evidence because it became obvious that some local sighting claims were false, and one longtime lister even sneakily swapped out photos of accipiters rather than admit his identification error (in the Caliope Crier Audubon newsletter. He was caught, but not busted.) That's bird listing in Yakima County with several local "experts", and I suspect it happens elsewhere too. I make mistakes. I don't lie or trespass, and don't try to hide my mistakes.
See Something -- Say Something: Don't enable illegal and unethical birders -- poachers. Help break their habits. Call them as you see them.
Stop pishing and using playback on rare and sensitive birds and in heavily birded areas.
Please Follow this Code and Distribute and Teach it to Others ABA Code of Birding Ethics.