Subject: [Tweeters] mystery birds and more (links)
Date: Nov 24 00:26:34 2008
From: Devorah Bennu - birdologist at yahoo.com


Moikka tweeties,

i have been somewhat preoccupied with seeing and doing things in Helsinki (which is seven hours ahead of NYC and ten hours ahead of Seattle), so i have not posted my email notices to you for the mystery birds in a timely way, and i even posted one of the daily mystery birds a bit late. please accept my apologies.

the most recently demystified mystery birds include a Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, which all of you successfully identified;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/11/todays_mystery_bird_for_you_to_86.php

this image includes a really interesting essay (as usual) for how to identify this species by Rick Wright.

and another recently demystified mystery bird, which all of you sharp-eyed bird lovers identified as a Pied-billed Grebe chick, Podilymbus podiceps;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/11/todays_mystery_bird_for_you_to_85.php

along with an interesting essay by Rick Wright as well as the "backstory" of this particular individual bird, courtesy of the photographer, John del Rio.

and last but not least, this demystified mystery bird was correctly identified by all of you as a male Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/11/todays_mystery_bird_for_you_to_24.php

this was a gorgeous image that i had to share with you, even if it was an easy mystery bird (don't forget that everyone likes to be correct at least once in awhile, and beginners especially can become discouraged if they are always wrong!)

yesterday's mystery bird;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/11/todays_mystery_bird_for_you_to_87.php

this is a video instead of an image.

i went out into the countryside with several grad students from the University of Helsinki on Saturday, and got some gorgeous images of the areas we visited. Unfortunately, a big snowstorm moved in a day earlier than predicted, so the birds (unlike the birders) widely moved into more sheltered areas where they could stay warm. but here's a couple images of what i saw on saturday, with a few more to come (the "image of the day" appears at 3pm ET);

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/11/kirkkonummi_1.php

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/11/kirkkonummi_2.php

keep in mind that these are all raw (unedited, uncropped) images, which will give you an idea of the stark beauty of the southern Finnish landscape in early winter.

tervesin,

GrrlScientist
Devorah
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/
Roosting high up a tree somewhere in Central Park, NYC