Bird, Travel & Art Photos, Birding Sites, Bird Information

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

SCAUPS, WEST LAKE, EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, FL

These photos show a large group of male and female scaups. It is difficult to differentiate between Greater Scaups and Lesser Scaups, however we believe these scaups are probably Lesser Scaups for the following reasons:

This is a freshwater lake and generally Lesser Scaups like freshwater lakes, while Greater Scaups like saltwater marine environments. But you do find each in the others environment.
The black of the nail (a bump) at the end of the upper mandible of the bill seems to be confined to the nail, rather than extending past it, as in the Greater Scaup.
Where you can view the scaup in profile, you can see a notch toward the back of the head This is a field mark of the Lesser Scaup.

ROSEATE SPOONBILLS ON TREE, EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, FL

BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, ROAD TO NIKE MISSILE HISTORIC SITE, EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, FL

We can ID this bird as a Brown-headed Nuthatch as follows:

Nuthatches climb trees down on the tree trunk; this behavior can be seen in the first photo.
Plain gray above and whitish, grayish or buffy below.
Short tail.
Head and bill are relatively large. The bill is black and sharp.
The crown is brown. You can make this out in the second photo.
Dark eye-line.

The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 277.

PINE WARBLER, ROAD TO NIKE MISSILE HISTORIC SITE, EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, FL

We can ID these two different warblers as Pine Warblers as follows:

Two wide white wingbars.
Relatively long tails.
Eye-arcs.
The head of a Pine Warbler can vary from yellow to more olive. You can see this variation in the two birds.
Short eyeline.
Unstreaked back and faint streaking in front.

The Pine Warbler is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 276.