Black-billed Cuckoo, Sanibel Lighthouse park, FL a Wow Migrant for here!

Black-billed Cuckoo

There are slender white tail markings, very different than the bold white tail spots of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Birders went cuckoo today over the sighting of a migrant Black-billed Cuckoo at the Sanibel Lighthouse park, Sanibel, FL. This is a rare bird for here and many birders and tourists lined up to get a view or photograph while keeping a respectful distance from the bird. The cuckoo put on a show and posed in the shrubs, a few times going down into the grass to grab a small lizard for a snack. 

We see Black-billed Cuckoos on our NH property although not very frequently. Here in Sanibel, where they have Mangrove Cuckoos in Ding Darling NWR, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos as migrants, the Black-billed Cuckoo is the one that steals the show.

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

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

We just got a great review of our all new, portable regional field guides, The Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region. Birdfreak.com calls them, "Jam-packed with some of the best bird photography out there... (they) provide the most current and up-to-date information on birds... Both guides follow the same format with the western boasting 2,400 photos to the eastern's 2,200... The best part of the guides, other than the superb photo quality, is the display of birds in various plumages and ages. When applicable, differing male and female plumages are shown as well as age cycles of gulls and other obvious plumage variances among specific bird species."

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern and Western Region will be published March, 26, 2013, just in time for birders and spring migration! These are entirely new guides and based on our best-selling, national guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, published in 2010.

Order now,

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region

The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

We hope you enjoy our new guides and Good Birding!

PAINTED BUNTINGS from every angle, eye candy

Painted Buntings are my favorite bird. That's why a Painted Bunting is cover image of our best-seller The Stokes Field Guide to Birds of North America. They're just an "Oh Wow!" wonder.

They're one of the most sought-after species for birders coming to Florida in winter.

We're lucky in that we have attracted them to our yard there. There a number of places where they can reliably be seen in winter, most notably at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, FL.

Here's a female Painted Bunting.

Painted Buntings can be attracted to bird feeders filled with white millet, a seed they favor. Here's a photography tip. Set up some perches near a bird feeder in good light with a background at a distance. Use a long telephoto lens and stay back quite a bit so as not to spook the buntings, or set up a photo blind. Then wait for the bunting to land on your perch.

Painted Buntings winter in the southern half of Florida and Cuba, Mexico and Central America. During spring migration, Painted Buntings may be seen at coastal southeast migration hotspots. The breeding range includes coastal southeast states, Gulf Coast states and up into OK,  KS, AR and MO. Occasionally they wander out of this area and have even been seen in New england. Wherever you see them you're lucky.

Unfortunately the eastern population of Painted Buntings has been in decline for several decades most likely due to habitat loss. A group of scientists are studying this population. You can help if you live in NC, SC, GA or FL by reporting your Painted Bunting sightings to the Painted Bunting Observer Team website.

Tall Tales (Tails) of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are cool little birds!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The undertail is completely white and white extends through the undertail coverts.

What's faster than a speeding warbler? That would be this little bird, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a very hyperactive bird found in winter in far southern areas of the country, including FL. Here in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, FL, birders can see them flitting through the mangroves, hunting for small insects in the leaves.

"The adult male in summer has a thin black eyebrow, mostly in front of eye and extending to forehead" (SFG) but not in winter. In summer their breeding range extends throughout much of the country.

I love the way the top photograph shows the full tail fanned, something they do often. The outer tail feathers are mostly white. In the bottom photo you can see how, when they close their tail, it's like a fan closing. The two outer tail feather come together and when the tail is fully closed it would appear all white from underneath. On this bird, there is white extending all the way from the tail feathers continuing down through the fluffy white undertail coverts. This may help ID it as to subspecies.

According to our best-selling The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America,

There are 3 subspecies, "caerula (KS-cent. TX and east); m. back bluish gray, undertail white through undertail coverts"... obscura (w. TX-WY and west); m. back darker undertail mostly white but black just before the undertail coverts... deppei (s. TX) like caerula but smaller" 

In today's world of digital photography, where many a birder carries a digital camera, it becomes possible to see intimate details of a bird's plumage and tell things about it never before possible. Look closely at your digital photos, blow them up on your screen. Our new Stokes field guide will help you discover new things about the birds you are seeing.

As to getting a photo of this hyper species, moving through mangroves, well, that's a topic for another blog post.

Red-breasted Nuthatches are irrupting too! Are you seeing them?

Red-breasted Nuthatch, female, has a gray cap

Red-breasted Nuthatch, male, has a black cap

Another bird we are getting at our feeders is Red-breasted Nuthatch. Very cute bird! We are hearing reports that they are being seen far down from their usual winter range, a sign that they, like Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeak,s and others, are irrupting, or leaving their usual winter range because of food scarcity there. We are in the permanent range of this bird, so we do see them regularly, but we heard from birders that they are being seen as far south as GA.
Though I would share these photos.
Tell us if you are seeing any Red-breasted Nuthatches
For information on where to see the most updated winter, summer, year-round ranges and migration routes of all the bird species see our new The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

Wood Sandpiper rarity fun plus video with Canon SX 40 HS

Wood Sandpiper 1

Wood Sandpiper 2

This is how far we were away from it when viewed through the camera.

Wood Sandpiper 3 same photo, cropped so you can see the bird.

Wood Sandpiper 4

Here we are standing out in the marsh with scopes, cameras and binos, in muddy water. (Thanks to Chris Powell for taking this photo of us.)

Wood Sandpiper 5

This video (shot at 140x hand held) of the Wood Sandpiper I took shows its interesting bobbing behavior. (Once it plays, click on the lower left return arrow to replay the video and do not click on the other images that show up, they are other youtube videos)

We went to see the rare Wood Sandpiper that showed up at Marsh Meadows Wildlife Preserve in Jamestown, Rhode Island and first discovered on Oct. 13th by Carlos Pedro. Although it is found somewhat regularly in western Alaska, this was a first state record of that bird for RI and only the seventh record for the lower 48 states. So there was much excitement and many other birders went to see it.
We were thrilled to have made the drive from NH and then actually gotten to see it, which is not always the case when you chase a rarity!! It could have flown off by the time we got there! Thanks to Chris Powell who led us out into the marsh and helped us and the other birders locate the bird.

When we were there the Wood Sandpiper was quite a distance from us and backlit. So for me this was a photographic challenge. For other lucky photographers at other times, evidently the bird came quite close and in excellent light. So, many people have great photos, much better than mine.
I had my Canon 1D Mark IV with the 300 mm lens and 1.4 teleconverter. I also took my Canon SX 40 HS, a little point-and-shoot superzoom camera that has an amazing 35x optical range and can even go beyond that into the 4x digital zoom, which adds up to 140x!!

Some of these photos were shot with the Canon 1D Mark IV and some with the Canon SX 40 HS, at the 140x digital zoom, can you tell which is which? Answers at end of post. Given that the Mark IV costs more than ten times what the SX 40 does, in this situation, the SX 40 did pretty well given I had pushed it to its limit. I like to experiment with my different cameras and see how far I can push them in challenging situations to see what I can get.

In terms of the video, it was shot at the 140x zoom and hand held, so it's ridiculous that I got any viewable video whatsoever. Tip: I was holding the camera as steady as I could, holding my breath, and had my elbows braced against my body.

Photos of the Wood Sandpiper 1, 2, 3 were shot with the Canon ID Mark IV and photos 4 and 5 were shot with the Canon SX 40 HS.

Have fun chasing rarities, and, if you are a photographer, when the photo situation is less than ideal (i.e. it sucks), try pushing your gear. Most of all, have fun!

For more info on the Wood Sandpiper, see our The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

The Nighthawks are coming!!

Common Nighthawk

They maneuver to catch aerial insects, especially ants dispersing on wings.

Look for the tell-tale white patches on outer wings.

We eat dinner with binoculars in hand while searching for nighthawks.

The scene from our deck looks out over a river and we watch until dusk.

Common Nighthawk migration is starting and birders have already seen nighthawks in New England. Each year at this time we get excited by the prospect of nighthawk migration, and look for and record our sightings. We are lucky to live on a river corridor (actually a dammed up portion of the river which creates a large pond) because river corridors are good migration routes for nighthawks who eat the flying insects often found over water.

There is an official nighthawk count that comprises southern NH and the upper two-thirds of MA. If you live in these areas, try and watch for the nighthawks and enter your data at their website, click here. The more we learn about the migration routes, numbers, and breeding habitat of these wonderful birds, the better the chance for protecting them.

Here are some tips for seeing migrating Common Nighthawks:

1. Look during the later afternoon to early evening hours, from about 4 pm to 7:30 pm.
2. Look north, as they generally move from north to south.
3. Get comfortable, use a chair if you can, you will be looking for quite a while. Tuck your elbows in, it is less tiring and steadier to hold binos that way.
4. Nighthawks often move along river corridors
5. Note if there is an ant hatch. Nighthawks are attracted to, and eat, dispersing ants who rise up in clouds.
6. Study the photos above, to learn nighthawk shape. Often you will only see distant birds with long pointed wings, flapping rather slowly. When feeding, nighthawks fly erratically. When migrating, they move more directly and may even rise up on a thermal sometimes.

Happy Common Nighthawk watching!