March 2019
This post has a split personality. There's a few shots from early March taken in Delta. Then, there are a number of shots of birds seen in Italy during our four week vacation in that country.
After returning home I didn't do much birding so there's only three photos from April that made the grade.
The first shot was taken through a window from inside our home. We have House Finches all year round as long as we keep the seed feeder full.
House Finch - Backyard, North Delta BC - March 2, 2019
My last outing before leaving for Italy was at Reifel Bird Sanctuary, now much warmer than it was in February. The ducks were out on open water again. The Hooded Merganser is a very interesting looking bird. The male gets all the attention for his colours, but the female is very striking as well.
Hooded Merganser (F) - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - March 10, 2019
This shot of a pair together shows the contrast in plumage.
Hooded Merganser - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - March 10, 2019
The last North American photo for this post shows how the Ring-necked Duck gets its name. The ring around the bill seems much more noticeable, but the name chosen was Ring-necked.
Ring-necked Duck - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - March 10, 2019
Birds Seen in Italy - March 2019
Edith and I traveled to Italy in March. We covered a good part of the country in three weeks. Birds were common in certain areas, and most of them were World list lifers for me.
All the details of our trip are in my 2019 Italy Vacation Blog .
All the details of our trip are in my 2019 Italy Vacation Blog .
The first bird seen was this one in Tuscany... It was a world lifer.
Common Blackbird - Montecatini, Italy - March 14, 2019
World Species #6
On the same day I saw this Yellow-footed Gull, another world lifer. This one was in the village of Vernazza in Cinque Terre
Yellow-footed Gull - Cinque Terre, Italy - March 14, 2019 - World Species #7
The following day I saw my first Hooded Crow, a distant relative our our North American Crows.
Hooded Crow - Pisa Italy, March 15, 2019 - World Species #8
I really like this next shot of a Female Common Blackbird, taken in Florence.
Yellow-footed Gull - Cinque Terre, Italy - March 14, 2019 - World Species #7
The following day I saw my first Hooded Crow, a distant relative our our North American Crows.
Hooded Crow - Pisa Italy, March 15, 2019 - World Species #8
I really like this next shot of a Female Common Blackbird, taken in Florence.
Common Blackbird (F) - Florence Italy, March 17, 2019
It's hard to tell if this next bird is a lifer or not. It is called an Italian Sparrow, which is considered to be either a subspecies of the House Sparrow or the Spanish Sparrow. I haven't counted it on my World list as it is not a full species in either case. I think this bird is a female.
Italian Sparrow (F) - Florence Italy, March 17, 2019
It's hard to tell if this next bird is a lifer or not. It is called an Italian Sparrow, which is considered to be either a subspecies of the House Sparrow or the Spanish Sparrow. I haven't counted it on my World list as it is not a full species in either case. I think this bird is a female.
Italian Sparrow (F) - Florence Italy, March 17, 2019
No such problems with the next bird, this was a world lifer for me.This was taken on the Isle of Capri in the village of Anicapri.
A few days later we were in Rome, staying across the street from the Borghese Park. This park had a good number of birds including these Geese.
Greylag Geese - Borghese Park, Rome, Italy, March 23, 2019 - World Species #10
Another bird seen in the park were these Parakeets. they are uncountable according to the American Birding Association, but this applies to the USA and Canada only. They're probably introduced in Italy as well. But they sure are a pretty bird to see in the "wild".
Rose-ringed Parakeet - Borghese Park, Rome - March 23 2019
The next bird I'd seen in France in 2009, but was happy to see one again. You can see the resemblance between the European Tits and our Chickadees.
Great Tit - Borghese Park, Rome - March 26, 2019
The next bird was another world lifer, a Chaffinch in the same park.
The last bird seen in Italy is one that I've seen in Paris in 2009 and in Canada in 2016.
Black-headed Gull - Venice Italy - March 27, 2019
That was the last bird seen in Italy. We flew back to New York, and then to Toronto and Vancouver.
April 2019
After returning home, I didn't get too many opportunities for birding. Only three shots from April were worth posting.
Brant Geese are another species that I see only once or twice in a year. They usually appear in numbers, and seem to like salt water as much as fresh.
Brant - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - April 7, 2019
Also seen on this day was a colourful male Merganser. The crest on the male makes him easy to distinguish from the larger Common Merganser.
Red-breasted Merganser - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - April 7, 2019
And finally, one shot from Reifel of a colourful sparrow in his breeding plumage.
Golden-crowned Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Ladner BC - April 14, 2019
The next post features an abundance of birds as I traveled into Washington, Idaho and Montana with a birding buddy.
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