[Leica] IMG: a few birdies

[Doug Herr]

Last week I visited Marin County California where I found a few birds:

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), a widespread raptor in North America. Its plumage is highly variable, western birds being typically darker than eastern ones.
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/accipitridae/buteo/rthawk22.html

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), another widespread species with some geographic plumage variation
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/melospiza/sospar02.html

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens), a west coast specialty.  Chickadees found in much of the rest of the continent are the Black-capped Chickadee; other Chickadees species are the Boreal Chickadee, Carolina Chickadee and Mountain Chickadee.  These birds are related to old world Tits (I didn't name them!) and the western Titmouse species.
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/paridae/poecile/cbchic00.html


Closer to home (much closer!) is another member of the Chickadee family, the Oak Titmouse.  This is another west coast species; similar birds are the Juniper Titmouse and the Tufted Titmouse.
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/paridae/baeolophus/oatitm12.html

Golden-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia atricapilla), like the closely-related White-crowned Sparrow, are migrants who breed in the far north.  There song is one of the reminders that winter is coming.
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/zonotrichia/gcspar12.html

For comparison, an adult White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophyrs) from last winter
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/passerellidae/zonotrichia/wcspar29.html

all photos: off-topic equipment

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com
http://doug-herr.fineartamerica.com