CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE (POECILE RUFESCENS)(RECOVERED PHOTO), MCINNIS COUNTY PARK,SAN RAFAEL,CA, 11/16/2017

      In spite of the not so great photos,  we can ID this chickadee as a Chestnut-backed Chickadee as follows:

• The bird in the third photo has the profile of a chickadee: dark crown and face from about the eye up; rest of face is light; dark throat; white collar and medium underparts.
• Blackish crown
• White collar
• Rufous back
• Rufous flank
• Gray underparts

      The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 907.

MALE WESTERN BLUEBIRD (STALIA MEXICANA)(RECOVERED PHOTO), MCINNIS COUNTY PARK,SAN RAFAEL,CA, 11/16/2017

      Because this is a recovered photo, part of another photo got into it at the bottom.  This seems to happen sometimes with recovered photos.
      We can ID this bird as a male Western Bluebird as follows:

• Bright blue upperparts and head, with brownish patch on back
• Orange breast and flanks
• Gray belly
• Long, blue tail

      The Western Bluebird is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 906.

NONBREEDING GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW (ZONOTRICHIA ATRICAPILLA)(RECOVERED PHOTO), MCINNIS COUNTY PARK,SAN RAFAEL,CA, 11/16/2017

       We can ID this Sparrow as a nonbreeding Golden-crowned Sparrow as follows:

• Yellow patch atop and towards front of black crown.  You can see this on the third and fourth photos, even though the Sparrow was moving in the fourth photo.
• Black eyestripe.
• Gray underparts.
• Gray neck, including nape.
• Brownish and streaked upperparts with two whitish wingbars (you can see them in second photo).

      The Golden-crowned Sparrow is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 905.

BLACK PHOEBE (RECOVERED PHOTO), MCINNIS COUNTY PARK, SAN RAFAEL, CA, 11/16/2017

    During our trip to Panama I inadvertently erased many of the photos I had took, including the photos from May 24 and 26, when we were out birding with our birding guide.  When we got back to Toronto I tried to recover the photos using several recovery apps that I downloaded from Google Play. None of them worked.
   In a panic I went to Henry's Camera Store at Kennedy Commons in Scarborough to see if their recovery software could recover these photos. Luckily, it did recover them and I have since posted them on this birding blog, birdrap.com.   Because of this recovery I added fifty new species to our Photographic Life List.
   Low and behold, it also recovered photos I thought I had lost, that I took over 1 1/2 years ago in the San Francisco area, when we were also birding with a birding guide. These photos included bird species new to our Photographic Life List, which I never took credit for, since I didn't have a photo.  I now am adding these photos to the blog and taking credit for them.  Also, I am adding photos to the blog where we have photographed the birds before, but not in the ABA area (U.S. & Canada).
   This recovered photo of the Black Phoebe is the first one we are adding; it was new to the ABA area.   Other recovered photos will follow.

BARN OWL IN FLIGHT & ON GROUND (TYTO ALBA), HOTEL RIU PLAYA BLANCA AREA,FARALLON,COCLE PROVINCE,PANAMA, 5/29/2019

      We can ID this owl as a Barn Owl (also called Common Barn Owl) as follows:

• Distinctive heart-faced, pale, outlined face with black eyes
• Short tail
• Wing pattern from above is that of a Barn Owl

      The Barn Owl is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 904.

TROPICAL KINGBIRD EATING, HOTEL RIU PLAYA BLANCA AREA,FARALLON,COCLE PROVINCE,PANAMA, 5/29/2019 PANAMA, 5/29/2019

CLAY-COLORED THRUSH, HOTEL RIU PLAYA BLANCA AREA,FARALLON,COCLE PROVINCE,PANAMA, 5/29/2019