Happy Easter!

Eastern Cottontail

Happy Easter Everyone!

Pileated Woodpecker Wow Factor!

Pileated Woodpecker, male, head shot, Canon SX 50 HS

Av, 1/50, f 6.5, ISO 400, +1 1/3, 400% digital zoom ratio

This was shot on Auto, 1/100 sec., f6.5, 400% digital zoom ratio, not cropped

Here are the pair

Here is the female, she has a darker eye and no red coming off base of bill.

AV, 1/40 sec., f/6.5, +1, ISO 400, 195% digital zoom ratio

Pileated Woodpeckers were active in our yard this morning. They convened on a dead stub of a palm tree we had deliberately not cut down, it was left for the woodpeckers. A great chance for photography. I used my Canon SX 50 HS camera, the powerful little point-and-shoot superzoom. I tried many different things in terms of shooting with this camera, including Auto setting, Av setting, using standard digital zoom pushed to the 400% limit (the equivalent of 4800mm) and the digital zoom with the 2x teleconverter, as well as adding exposure compensation for this back-lit situation.
What is so addictive about this camera is getting these intimate, close, eyeball shots that give you such an appreciation for the bird. The Wow factor.
P.S. If you want my tips for using this camera, email me. Email address link is at the top right of this blog.
Lillian

Stokes Guides Migration Madness, Prothonotary Warblers now!

Beautiful Prothonotary Warblers are entering the Gulf States now. One was seen this morning on Sanibel, FL. We will bring you Migration Madness updates on who is migrating when, sponsored by our just published, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and Western Regions. Stayed tuned here and Like our Don and Lillian Stokes facebook page to see updates on migration.

Happiness Is... If You're An Author - New Stokes Guides!

Stokes Field Guides

Here is a display of our just published, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region, as well as our national guide, published in 2010, The Stokes Field Guide To The Birds of North America, that was in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge bookstore yesterday where we did a book signing. We signed so many books! It is so fun to meet people and know our books will help birders identify and enjoy birds more! Our new regional guides are based on our national guide and contain all the latest information on birds and over 2,000 photos each. They are now available nationwide. Hope you get a copy and enjoy them!

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region getting 5 Star Reviews!

We're already getting 5 star reviews!
"Don and Lillian Stokes hit it out of the park with their new... guide"
(Thermal Birding)
"The new Stokes regional guides are a must-have for serious birders"
(Amazon)
"This book suits my needs perfectly"
"Jam-packed with some of the best bird photography out there"
"Written and created with Intelligence and exacting care... I highly recommend trying one"
(10,000 Birds)

We have a book Signing today 10 am to 12 noon at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel, FL. Come see us! Our The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region were just published and are available now nationwide at stores and online!

Order Now!

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

Announcing The Winners of The New Stokes East/West Field Guides and Answers to Quiz

And the 10 winners of autographed sets of The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are:

Claude Morgan

Jesse Yannes

Lauren Leon

Ron Ezetta

Ryan O'Donnell

Charlotte Wasylik

Eric Wilhite

Chloe Walker

Janine Martin

Kimmo Heiskanen

Congratulations to the winners, if you are a winner, please send us your mailing address here.

Note: Tomorrow we are doing a book signing from 10 am to 12 noon at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge bookstore on Sanibel Island, FL. Be sure and catch us on May 10th for our book signing and keynote address at The Biggest Week in American Birding, OH.

Below are the photos and answers to the Stokes Big Countdown Bird Quiz. Thanks to all for participating! If you didn't win, we hope you will all still get the guides, they will really help you with your bird ID skills!

Order Now:

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

Pine Warbler, female

Here's another view of the Pine Warbler

 Bobolink. winter plumage

Hermit Thrush

Blue-winged Teal, female

Savannah Sparrow

Northern Harrier, juv., faded 

Red Knot, winter

Cerulean Warbler, female

Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3rd winter

Yeah!! They're here! The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern & Western Just Published!

Jumping up and down with excitement, our The Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are now available for birders to purchase! Here we are holding the eastern region guide.

Order Now!

The Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

Guess This Bird and Win! Tomorrow The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds:Eastern & Western Region Will Be Published!

OK, Who is this? Guess correctly and you can win our new guides The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, which will be published tomorrow!

At the end of the day tomorrow at 5 pm EST, we will post the winners names and tell you the answers to the Stokes Big Countdown Bird Quiz!

Contest Rules

1. Identify the bird by 12 noon EST tomorrow. Send us your answer here.

2. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day and announce the winners. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

3. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books. You can go to our blog here, and look at the past mystery bird quizzes and guess them also.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands (over 2,200 in the east and over 2,400 in the west) of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996 which are going out of print.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

New Mystery Bird Quiz, can you guess and win a field guide?

Mystery bird quiz for today, can you guess? You are all doing well on the Stokes Big Countdown Bird Quiz, (mostly). Only 2 more days until The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region will be published!!

Contest Rules

1. Each day, for the next 2 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day and announce the winners. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books. You can go to our blog here, and look at the past mystery bird quizzes and guess them also.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands (over 2,200 in the east and over 2,400 in the west) of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996 which are going out of print.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

Today's Mystery Bird for the Stokes Big Countdown Bird Quiz,

Only 3 more days left until our new guides are published. Identify this bird and enter the contest to win a set of The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds:Western Region.

Contest Rules

1. Each day, for the next 3 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

Birding Contest: Mystery Bird of the Day, who is it? Guess correctly and win a new Stokes Field Guide

Today's quiz bird, can you guess who this is? Guess correctly and win The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. Only 4 more days left in our countdown bird quiz.

Contest Rules

1. Each day, for the next 4 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands (over 2,200 in the east and over 2,400 in the west) of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996 which are going out of print.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

Today's Mystery Bird for the Stokes Big Countdown Bird Quiz.

Here is the mystery bird for you to ID for today. Guess the answer and enter the Big Countdown Bird Quiz! Only 5 more days until The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region is published!

Contest Rules

1. Each day, for the next 5 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.
Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

Here's a peek inside the book. Look at all the photos of Cape May Warbler and the extensive text. We include more photos for the difficult to identify birds or birds with multiple plumages due to age, sex, morph and subspecies.

"The photos are just downright amazing. Even the LBJs, oh, I mean the drab sparrows are easily identifiable using The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds..." says the review on Thermal Birding Blog.

"The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region continues and expands on their record of excellent books about birds. I was... impressed by the depth and authority of the species descriptions... If you have not yet used a Stokes photographic guide, I highly recommend trying one" says the review of our new guides on 10,000 Birds Blog.

Mystery Bird Quiz! Win a new Stokes East/West Field Guide

Can you identify this bird? Win our new field guides!

Answer correctly and you can win a brand new The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. This is day 7 of our big countdown bird quiz that ends on March, 26th, the publication day our new field guides will be available.

Contest Rules

1. Each day, for the next 7 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands (over 2,200 in the east and over 2,400 in the west) of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996 which are going out of print.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

Today's Bird Quiz, Win a New Stokes East/West Field Guide!

Mystery bird of the day. What is this bird? Answer correctly and you can win a brand new The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. This is day 8 of our big countdown bird quiz that ends on March, 26th, the publication day our new field guides will be available.

Contest Rules

1. Each day, for the next 8 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands (over 2,200 in the east and over 2,400 in the west) of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996 which are going out of print.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

Bird ID Quiz Countdown Contest, Win a New Stokes East/West Regional Guide! Guess This Bird!

Can you identify this bird? If so you could win our new regional field guides. We are having a 10 day countdown bird quiz contest that started on March 17th.

Contest Rules:

1. Each day, for the next 9 days we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat at the end of the day. The winners will each be sent an autographed set of our new guides, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996 which are going out of print.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

Review from Thermal Birding Blog says,
Donald and Lillian Stokes "knock it out of the park with the new Eastern Region guide."

10 Day Big Countdown Bird Quiz! Prize - 10 Autographed Sets New Stokes East/West Guides!

Can you identify this bird?

In 10 days our all new, The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region will be published on March 26th. Enter this 10 day countdown quiz to 

win your set of The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds, Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. 

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region

Contest Rules:

!. Each day, for the next 10 days, we will post a bird quiz on our blog.

2. Identify the bird. Send us your answer here.

3. If you get the correct answer, your name will be put in a raffle. On March 26th, the publication date of our new guides, we will pull 10 names out of the raffle hat and send each of the winners an autographed copy of both the New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region and The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. We will also post the correct answers to the quizzes on March 26th.

4. You can enter the contest each day, but you will only win one set of books.

Remember to send your answers by filling out the email form here.

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region are the most complete photographic guides to the birds of eastern and western North America ever written. These lighter weight, portable editions are based on our best-selling national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They feature thousands of stunningly beautiful photos showing all the field marks and every significant plumage of each species and they include the most up-to-date and extensive identification information of any field guide. (Note, these are entirely new books and not the same as the former Stokes Field Guide to Birds eastern and western regions published in 1996.) We are so excited to bring to you these all new, lighter, more portable field guides, just in time for spring migration.

Short-tailed Hawk, Yes!

Short-tailed Hawk, dark morph, adult. We saw this one recently in Ft. Myers, FL. Lucky us!

Here's a Short-tailed Hawk, light morph.

Short-tailed Hawk, light morph adult. We have seen two of these together this year over Bailey Tract, Sanibel, FL. double lucky us!

Saw the above Short-tailed Hawk, dark morph adult, soaring over a park in Ft. Myers, FL a few days ago when I was photographing the Least Bittern. 

Short-tailed Hawk, is a sought-after Florida speciality for birders and not easy to see. This bird breeds primarily in southern and central Florida and a little in southern AZ and south TX. 

The Short-tailed Hawk comes in two morphs, a light morph, shown here, and a dark morph. Dark-morphs are dark below with blackish brown body and wing coverts, paler flight feathers and tail, and dark trailing edge to wings. Short-tailed Hawks mostly soar and may hang in one spot for a time. We almost always see them in flight when we encounter them.

The Least Cooperative Bird: Least Bittern

Least Bittern

When you least expect it you might get a chance to see a rather hard to find bird, as we did when Don and I heard of a Least Bittern on our local FL birding listserve. Least Bitterns are widespread breeders throughout the eastern part of the country and into parts of the West, but they are secretive. So I went to photograph this Least Bittern in a park in Ft. Myers, FL. I had seen some beautiful shots of this bird, out in full sun, taken by other photographers. Of course, when I got there, the Least Bittern did not cooperate, photographically speaking. It stayed hidden in its chosen place in the cattails.

I used the Canon SX 50 HS (a superzoom bridge camera) to get these intimate shots of the Least Bittern in its world. You can see its red tongue here.

Here's Don looking down into the cattails to find the elusive Least Bittern.

Can you find it? There it is in the red circle. Great photo op? not. However with a little

zooming in close with the camera and adjusting for the contrasting light, I got some photos. The Least Bittern was hunting for little fish in the true bittern style of wait-quietly-and-strike.

I love the way this Least Bittern so beautifully blends in with its habitat. Its plumage colors and patterns are just like the browns and shadows of the cattails.

Though its body often remained still, you can see the look of anticipation of a tasty fish in its eyes.

Sometimes it would slowly extend its long neck to peer into the water, ready to grab an unsuspecting fish. 

Sometimes photography is not about the perfect, front-lit, no obstructing vegetation, catch light in the eye, perfect reflection in the water photo. It is about using your knowledge of your camera's abilities and your own skill to enter the world of a bird and capture that in photographs. I learned a lot about how a Least Bittern goes about its life of getting food on a cool, March day and how it hunts, reacts and rests, all the time oblivious to the photographers on the boardwalk above, hunting for their own photo ops. Yes, the Least Bittern was the least cooperative bird I photographed that day. But at the very least, I gained a new appreciation for this little bird and how it lives, and what the Canon SX 50 can do in capturing its world.