There's no way I was letting this bird get away..... I'd already done it 3 times... I was up by 7am and watching - with my camera ready. At 7:44am, it all went down...
Thankfully it was directly within a flock of DCCO's today - meaning there was no confusion about how it compared to them (unlike yesterday where it was on its own). It was causing a ruckus in the flock though - perhaps it has a hard time keeping pace with the big boys - which is (maybe) why it was on its own yesterday... Anyways..
I put a red dot below the subject bird in each photo...
Impossible to see any difference from the rest.
ReplyDeleteoh ya?
DeleteIt figures that a critic wouldn't use his / her real name.
DeleteGood comparison Brandon, thanks for sharing.
Norm Murr
ReplyDeleteNot sure how no name could not see the great differance in size!
Mike Williamson
Yeah,,, methinks it's just someone trying to cause a ruckus! Thanks for the comment Mike (and Norm)
DeleteHey Brandon- This is Jim P. (not the above anon). Second day bird looks clearly like Neo Corm, but I don't even think the first day bird is the same bird and figure based on size its not a Neo Corm. It does have a long tail no doubt (appearing longer than 2nd day corm), but this seems to be the only feature. The bird does not look nearly as small as the 2nd day bird, and its even more distant than the other birds, hence I would figure its a slim/slender DCCO.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya Jim... But based on my in-the-field observations - they're the same bird... I figured I looked pretty crazy claiming the photos from yesterday, but there was something messed up about them. (Some sort of optical illusion?)... I picked out todays sighting in the exact same manner/style as yesterday - a very dramatically different bird based on GISS.
DeleteI decided last night it would probably just make me look even crazier to start trying to theorize on why it looks so big in the first day photos, but that definitely was not my "in the field" experience. I think it may be a good case of how misleading photos can really be at times. (Perhaps a good discussion to have in person - in the field - sometime) - not an easy topic to type out.
Anyways - just throwing my opinion out there. Thanks for the message!
Your persistence and determination are lessons that we can all learn from. Some of this I learned from the late Don Shanahan from Brighton. Taking the time to look for detail, even with common species. Thank you for sharing this sighting with us and your work to confirm and document this exceptionally rare event.
ReplyDeleteWell Brandon further to my previous post I sure wouldn't want no name at my Hawk Watch, not able to tell the differance from a Sharpie & a Gos. If you get the chance drop into Iroquois Shoreline it would be a pleasure to have you check out the site. The week of Sept. 16th is Broad Wing time!
ReplyDeleteMike Williamson
If I'm ever in the area, I'll be sure to stop by! Although who knows when that might be... I have a pretty busy schedule lined up for work this fall already. Many thanks for the comments!
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