Comparing Purples

immature Purple Gallinule digiscoped with Leica APO Televid scope and C-Lux 2 camera

On a recent birding expedition here in Florida, I had the unique opportunity to compare Purple Gallinules side by side with the recently introduced Purple Swamphen. In direct comparison to the Swamphen (originally from Africa), the native Purple Gallinule shows the unique "candy corn" bi-colored beak and blue bill shield (above the beak) in adult plumage. The birds are both considerably smaller and slighter than the larger Swamphens as well.

adult Purple Gallinule, digiscoped at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Florida 10/20/07

Note also the bright yellow legs on the adult Purple Gallinule adult above. In comparison the superficially similar Purple Swamphen adult (below) has a stout pinkish bill with a darker base and red "bill-shield" on the forehead, and fleshy pink legs. Unfortunately, I was never able to get the two in the same image even though I was able to observe both from the same location at the same time. If I had, the extreme difference in size would be extremely apparent! Various sources list the birds' respective length and weight as follows:

Species Length Weight

P. Gallinule 36 cm 208 - 288 grams

P. Swamphen 46 cm 460 - 860 grams

Purple Swamphen adult digiscoped 10/20/07, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, FL

Part of the reason I didn't observe the species together stems from their varying styles of feeding in the marsh. The Purple Gallinules spend a lot of time high in the brush feeding on emerging flower buds as you see in the image below. This adult Gallinule had just reached out and plucked one of the missing buds, and is just beginning to lean in for another.

Purple Gallinule digiscoped w/Leica APO Televid scope and C-lux 2 camera 10/20/07

Purple Swamphens pluck the stalks of succulent emergent vegetation and nibble on these while holding these firmly in their foot. I was able to capture this behavior in the short video clip below! Even though these Swamphens are yet another introduced exotic it is still interesting to watch their behaviors.

A trip to the cloud forest

On a recent October birding trip, I woke to find large numbers of familiar birds. Red-eyed Vireos and Swainson's Thrushes actively fed in fruiting trees all around, while Wilson's Warblers gave squeaky calls from the surrounding brush. Normally, I'd be thrilled by the spectacle of dozens of each of these birds in and around a sigle yard, but this morning I was in Costa Rica and yearned to see something fully "tropical" bird species.

Social Flycatcher, Santa Elana, Costa Rica

I'd get my wish soon enough when I spotted a Yellow-green Vireo mixing with the Red-eyeds in the lodge gardens. The appearance of a boisterous group of Social Flycatchers reminded me that I was indeed once again in the tropics. Then there were more: Keel-billed Toucans, Masked Tityra, Long-tailed Manakin... yep I was in the tropics despite views of Townsend's, Black-throated Green, and Kentucky Warblers (plus other neotropical migrants) which had reached the wintering grounds safely.

Blue & White Swallow, digiscoped in Santa Elana, Costa Rica

After some tasty local coffee, it was time to hit the road. Brown-hooded Parrots squealed from a roadside tree top while Blue & white Swallows watched their noisy antics from a nearby eve.

Brown-hooded Parrot, digiscoped with Leica APO Televid and C-Lux 2 camera

My destination this morning though was the wonderful Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Cloud forests are aptly named due to the fact that these high elevation forests are often draped in misty clouds. Monteverde sits near 4600 feet in elevation.

Sun streams through the canopy and light mist

The weather was kind this AM though and the forest air was uncharacteristically dry and clear. Our guide pointed out specialty birds as we hiked the trails: Silver-throated and Spangle-cheeked Tanagers, Gray-throated Leaf-Tosser, Red-faced Spinetail, and Golden-crowned Warblers showed themselves as we passed.

Silver-throated Tanager, male

We had a specific bird in mind though as we moved through the forest looking and listening.

Monteverde area guides train their scopes on a "canopy gem"

After a short while our guide stopped and trained his attention toward the sounds coming from the Avocado tree just off the trail. "Here's one", he said as he deftly trained his scope on our quarry.

Resplendant Quetzal, male, Monteverde 10/5/07

Moments later I was staring once again in the amazing Resplendant Quetzal... seven visits to Monteverde Reserve and I've seen this bird each time! My streak was still alive.

Fun on Jekyll's beaches

Jekyll Island is a beautiful natural island off the coast of southern Georgia. I just returned from my annual October trek here for the Colonial Coast Bird & Wildlife Festival. Coming from Florida there is a bit of a "been there done that" feel to this fest as so many of the birds and sites are familiar, but still walking out of your hotel and right out on to the beach each morning is spectacular. Particularly when there are good birds around.

assorted gulls and tern on Jekyll Island

One nice part about Jekyll though is that there is a lot of pressure to not let it become overly commercialized as a result, I find the scenery much more natural than a lot of east coast beach fronts. The result for me is a very relaxed view of the many migrants sailing over, flitting through the oaks and pines, or even resting on the beaches. Since the vendors spend so much time inside at our respective booths, I always enjoy my morning strolls and have to admit I enjoy being on the water.

adult Lesser Black-Backed Gull digiscoped on Jekyll Island

There is limited time and too many things to do so I usually find my way to the southern end of the island where I can get a good mix of migrating raptors & songbirds along the brushy trails which wind to the beach. By scanning through the large flocks of gulls and terns I see all of the more common species like Caspian, Royal, Forster's, and Sandwich Terns, Black Skimmers, and Laughing, Ring-billed, and Herring Gulls, but with persistence you inevitably see other species like Lesser Black-backed Gulls (above) or a rare Franklin's Gull (below) joining the many similar Laughing Gulls.

1st winter Franklin's Gull, digiscoped Jekyll Island, GA 10/14/07

Shorebirds are found in scattered flocks as well. Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, Western Sandpipers, and Sanderling are the norm, but here again you will find others mixed in: Black-bellied, Semipalmated, and Piping Plovers; Dowitcher or Dunlin.

Red Knots digiscoped with Leica C-Lux 2 through APO Televid spotting scope, JI 10/12/07

Two Red Knots in their drab gray basic (winter) plumage dropped in front of a group of digiscopers on Friday morning before the vendor area opened. The following AM we returned to the same area to lead a digiscoping field trip and had spectacular views of some wonderful subjects.

digiscoped with LeicaC-Lux 2 camera & APO Televid 77 spotting scope

All of the typical subjects were there and we had a few bonuses to boot, including a nice young Reddish Egret (above) and a group of American Oystercatchers (below) that sat in perfect light.

American Oystercatchers digiscoped Jekyll Island, GA 10/13/07

We didn't just shoot the birds though as usual there were hoards of migrating butterflies like Gulf Fritillaries, Monarchs, and Common Buckeyes. I was also amused by the antics of the ghost crabs scurrying across the sands like the one captured below.

Ghost Crab - digiscoped on Colonial Coast digiscoping workshop 10/13/07

As usual while standing out there migrating raptors could be seen and at any given time the gulls and terns would burst into the air as a Peregrine Falcon sailed past. I enjoyed my time there and look forward to my next trip to this lovely, relaxing destination which offers fantastic birding!

More than just stills!

One advantage of digiscoping with many of today's modern point and shoot cameras is that you have the ability to shoot fairly high resolution videos as well as capture publishable stills! This versatility in the field is fantastic for being able to document not only a bird's field marks, but also capture odd behaviors. Check the sample video I attached below:

I "videoscoped" this Emerald (Blue-throated) Toucanet at Mirador La Paz, Costa Rica on October 7th. While no earth shattering behaviors are being displayed, you can clearly see the detail and potential fun you can have using this technique.

I took this little clip using a Leica APO Televid 77, through the zoom eyepiece, with the tiny Leica C-Lux2 camera (shown below) mounted with the Digital Adapter 2.

Leica C-Lux 2 camera

Once I have the subject (in this case the bird) in the scope, I pull the camera and adapter (already coupled together) out of my trusty hip bag and slide it over the scope eyepiece. In this way I move from viewing to imaging and back in mere seconds. Moving from video to still imaging is even easier. All it requires is turning the handy thumb dial two positions from standard imaging.

Now in the "Movie" mode, I double check my focus and simply press the shutter release button. The little C-Lux 2 records at 30 frames per second (VGA quality) until I depress the shutter release a second time or run out of memory. A 2 gig SD card, for example, will hold a continuous 25 minutes of video stream! Of course, I want to have my cake and eat it too, so with a video clip "in the bag", I flip back to photo mode and within 2 seconds of stopping the video, I have a high quality still image as well!

"Blue-throated" Emerald Toucanet now thoroughly documented!

All of this versatility and fun in the plam of your hand under 6 ounces! ;p

For more info on the fantastic little C-Lux 2 visit the Leica Camera website at:

http://www.leica-camera.us/photography/compact_cameras/c-lux_2/

Shorebirds from Two Hemispheres

Northern Lapwing takes off from Rutland Waters pool

One of the highlights of my summer was having opportunities to visit both Panama and England within a month of one another. As you've seen in recent posts, I saw and digiscoped a lot of cool critters. I could never begin to pick a favorite out of these, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed the opportunity to get great views and photos of two of the members of the Lapwing family. I'd never been fortunate enough to run into either of these birds prior to this, and even though neither is an uncommon bird in their respective ranges, both are great to see in the wild!

Northern Lapwing digiscoped with Leica APO Televid 77 scope and C-Lux 2 camera

The Northern Lapwing breeds across a wide front from Northern Europe all the way across Asia, wintering throughout southern Europe and northern Africa and across the southern portions of Asia. They are noisy and gregarious and a lot of fun to watch with their flashy wing displays. Strong flyers, Northern Lapwings regularly show up as vagrants in North America, with as many as 25 accepted records in many states and provinces.

Southern Lapwing digiscoped near Gamboa, Panama July 2007

The lovely bird above is the Southern Lapwing, it is a widespread species that breeds across most of South America. While considered non-migratory, in recent years, the Southern Lapwing has steadily spread it's range through Panama, to Costa Rica, and through the Caribbean to the Lesser Antilles. Extralimital reports have come from Mexico and Belize as well. So clearly this resident has some migratory tendencies.

Southern Lapwing poses for author, July 2007

There have been some controversial sightings of Southern Lapwing in the US, mostly in Florida, that have caused a stir in the birding community. Nearly all of these reports, come from late spring - early summer in the Northern hemisphere (28 April, 21 May, 1 June, 2 June, 17-25 June, and 23 July). Many experienced tropical birders speculate that this is a time when other southern hemisphere (austral) breeders would be moving North for the Austral winter. Further, when coupled with the aforementioned range expansion, many (myself included) feel that some of these birds are likely true wild vagrants that are overshooting their winter range and finding their way to North America on their own. However, the Florida record committee, continues to maintain that all (so far) have to be written off as escapees from captivity since the primary literature suggests these are non-migratory birds. Debating origin on birds outside their normal range is always fun, but whether acccepted as wild or not, it is possible that before long this lovely shorebird could have a foothold in southern North America as well!