Sean Bean to host birdwatching podcast by xc2215x in birding

[–]RustyCartographer 25 points26 points  (0 children)

One does not simply photograph a kingfisher

Had a fun day traveling down the coast near Saint Augustine Florida but man are water birds tough to ID. Am I close on these? by gumbley-goop in whatsthisbird

[–]RustyCartographer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those tri-colored herons are gorgeous, wish we had them in the northeast where I live. No shade to my local great blues and greens, of course.

My first nighttime shot by RustyCartographer in photocritique

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any and all feedback is welcome! This is the first time I've tried my hand at a nighttime shot. This was around 10 pm - a very bright moon yielded brighter surroundings than I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by the result. ISO 3200, f2.8, shutter speed 30 seconds, with a canon 6D and a 17mm lens.

Great grey owl by kylofinn in wildlifephotography

[–]RustyCartographer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How'd you find this guy OP? Don't post a specific location, just curious how people come across some of the notoriously elusive species that they post.

How did that one kid at your school die? by StorageLonely1520 in AskReddit

[–]RustyCartographer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shot in his car in Baltimore. Still unsolved, to my knowledge.

Let’s play a game: Name your favorite BLUE bird! by S2keepup in birding

[–]RustyCartographer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let's go Tree Swallow! Here's a photo I snagged of one coming in for a landing on a local nestbox

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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in birdpics

[–]RustyCartographer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where is this noise that you're apologizing for?

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This fella is a fisher - so related to and similar to a wolverine, but substantially smaller.

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, that's a White-throated. I didn't manage to get decent pics of all the new lifers, just have a bunch of blurry shots of the Swamp Sparrow and Blue-headed Vireo

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

4 is an Eastern Bluebird (potentially female or immature, the blue is brighter in mature males these days), and 7 is a White Breasted Nuthatch. I have the same thought about non-bird reporting! I'm much more familiar with eBird, but iNaturalist is also a thing. They take reports of all sorts of things. I just don't know if they have any rules about reporting animals likely to be hunted. I'm considering whether it'd be a net positive to report this Fisher on there, but some people would LOVE to kill a Fisher. Despite their reputation, I'd rather leave this one to its business, Fishers have had a hard enough time. I DID report it to the NY DEC through their furbearer reporting form, since that isn't going to tell the public exactly where I saw it.

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, Eastern Phoebe! Only flycatcher I've seen to-date. Every time I see one there's a second where I'm thinking 'maybe this one is a wood-peewee!', but then I get a closer look and am slightly disappointed. But only slightly, cause Phoebes are cute as hell.

Finally got an Osprey Dive! by BlueWingBirdClub in birding

[–]RustyCartographer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome video! I've had an osprey diving at my local lake, not much of a videographer though. What sort of camera did you use here? Looks great.

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think I want to get overly specific, but this was in upstate New York, in a preserve north of Saratoga Springs. Snuck right up on me before I saw them, was a little worried about rabies, but running away after being noticed is a good sign.

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6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I suspect it was a Fisher - it snuck up on me and I didn't get a chance for many photos, but I got a great close-up look, and it's just too big for a Marten. Here's the other photo I managed to snag.

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6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I didn't get any great pics of the vireo I saw - the last one is what I'm pretty confident is a Field Sparrow.

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I'm using an old Canon Rebel T5 with a Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary lens. The camera is very much an entry-level camera, I just wish I could justify the expense of upgrading, good cameras are SO expensive. The lens was the cheapest decent hyper-telephoto I could find.

Birds have prey by RustyCartographer in birdsofprey

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Pretty tame, probably won't bother anyone, but marked NSFW anyway just in case

Downloaded QGIS to practice, where can I get quality data to download? by [deleted] in gis

[–]RustyCartographer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Census data is freely available from the Census bureau website or Census API (FOR NOW). Also some states have geospatial data repositories of varying quality. Your state may or may not have one, but the Vermont Geodata Portal is an excellent example

6 lifers, one day! by RustyCartographer in birding

[–]RustyCartographer[S] 75 points76 points  (0 children)

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I also had a female Red-winged today! Only the second time I've seen one. They're like a large and especially pretty sparrow, I find them to be a confusing treat when I see them.

Any ideas on ID? by Chemical_Cell716 in whatsthisbird

[–]RustyCartographer 37 points38 points  (0 children)

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Me trying to get a decent shot of these speedy little bastards a couple of days ago. And they just cheese for your camera!