Dunlin

A basic plumaged individual resting on rocks at Barnegat Inlet in NJ

Northern Mockingbird immature

This Northern Mockingbird that was one of several at Cove Island Park in CT on my second visit to the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. Mockingbirds were harassing the FTFL quite a lot that day - I've had a persistent problem with winter-territorial mockingbirds in my back yard as they can be quite belligerent. This individual was a little tamer and often this is seen with immature birds. Correspondingly the somewhat sharper tail feather profile suggests first winter age, as does the gray iris. Pyle's ID book warns that eye color is not definitive and that some adults can show green or even gray, but in this case it's nicely consistent with the tail profile. This bird is also a little browner than most around the throat and shows quite a bit of yellow in the gape.

Hermit Warbler

The first Hermit Warbler on the NY state list, this first fall female was at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island, spending most of its time feeding on the grass. The previous bird, in 2002, was judged to be a Townsend's X Hermit hybrid.

White-throated Sparrow

This popped up in some colorful foliage while I was waiting for a Varied Thrush to be more cooperative. At the time the lighting was overcast, which made for subdued lighting with strong saturation. I believe this is an immature based on the flank streaking, rather than an adult tan stripe morph. Shot with an 800mm f5.6/L-IS on a 1D Mark IV.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher showing yellow crown stripe

This is another picture of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Stamford CT from my second visit to the Cove Island Park site. I particularly like this picture because of the yellow crown stripe - I think many Tyrant flycatchers have this sort of thing, including Eastern Kingbird and Couch's Kingbird from my personal experience - but like an Orange-crowned Warbler or Ruby-crowned Kinglet it's usually hidden. The FTFL was being harassed by Mockingbirds on this morning, and a couple of times had flared the yellow crown patch out of irritation, and in this photo it still shows partially (it's larger than this in display) even though it's not being chased by Mockingbirds right at this moment.

Loggerhead Shrike immature

The bottom shot gives a sense of how windy it was at Jones Beach SP when I took these photos, although it wasn't that cold and compared to conditions Northern Shrike is found in in winter it's probably not especially challenging. The faint barring on the breast indicates a first winter bird, which after all are the individuals that tend to come south the furthest during winter.

Update: careful reconsideration of the ID by many birders has ended up with the consensus being strongly tilted towards an atypical Loggerhead Shrike, as opposed to an atypical Northern Shrike.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Some of the first images shot in anger with the new 800mm lens, which worked out well. Of course, any day when you can take pictures of a vagrant Fork-tailed Flycatcher with any hardware at all is a good one. I haven't figured out age/race yet although from the bluntness of the primaries I'm leaning toward adult, perhaps female. This bird was a multi-day special in Stamford CT.