Additions to Ocean Wanderers (up to end of 2001)
New York State Rarities
I have added photos of New York's first
Hammond's
Flycatcher (pending acceptance by NYSARC), and also pictures of Wood
Storks from Clyde, NY and a Great White Heron
from Staten Island, NY (Added 6 Nov 2001)
New York State Rarities
An Northern Wheatear
at Smith's Point County Park, Suffolk County, New York on 18 September
2001. (Added 19 Sept 2001)
Shorebird Identification
A probable Pacific Golden-Plover
from the Johnson Sod Farm in southern New Jersey on 8 September 2001. (Added
10 Sept 2001)
New York State Rarities
An adult Black Brant
at Jamaica Bay NWR, Queens County, New York on 19 May 2001. (Added 19 May
2001)
Shorebird Identification
The occurrence of New York State's first Black-tailed
Godwit has stimulated a discussion of the field identification of the three
recognized subspecies: limosa, islandica and melanuroides. Photographs
of the New York bird and a review of North American records is presented
here.
I have also put together a page of photos showing melanuroides
taken in Hong Kong (Added 2 May 2001).
New York State Rarities
Here as some video captures of a first-basic
Thick-billed
Murre taken at Montauk Point, Suffolk County, New York on 4 Feb 2001.
(Added 5 Feb 2001)
Gull Identification
I have put together a light-hearted review of
the 1st North American Gull Conference hosted by
the premier Canadian birding magazine 'Birders Journal' in Niagara, Ontario
at the end of November 2000. (Added 5 Dec 2000)
Important Conservation News
BirdLife
International has just launched an important new book entitled Threatened
Birds of the World. The book reviews the number of bird species
threatened with global extinction and finding a dramatic rise. Some 1,111
species were categorized as threatened in 1994 and this number has rise
to 1,186 in 2000. A shocking 12% of all bird species! Seabirds,
most notably albatrosses and petrels, are under particular threat from
indiscriminate illegal fisheries in the Southern Ocean. Thankfully, the
book is not all "doom-and-gloom" as a few species have been downgraded.
For example, Short-tailed Albatross has been
shifted from "Endangered" in 1994 to "Vulnerable" in 2000 due to intense
conservation efforts on the Torishima and Senkaku breeding islands. Likewise,
the Rarotonga Monarch and Black-faced Spoonbill, both of
which were classified as "Critical", are now listed as merely "Endangered"
thanks to a combination of predator control and community conservation
work in Rarotonga, and habitat protection legislation in China, Taiwan,
North Korea, South Korea and Japan.
Bermuda Petrel or Cahow Each of the species
discussed in Threatened Birds of the World is accompanied
by a photograph or painting. This really wonderful plate by Hilary Burn
shows the Cahow or Bermuda Petrel (Pterodroma
cahow), once an abundant nesting seabird throughout Bermuda but now classified
as "Endangered". The species was thought extinct for three centuries until
18 pairs were rediscovered in 1951. Intensive management has increase this
number to to an estimated 180 birds in 1997. In the past Bermuda Petrels
nested in soil burrows throughout the main islands. However, it is now
restricted to islands in which such habitat is not available, and thus
nests in non-optimal conditions in natural erosion crevices in limestone
and artificial burrows. Its drastic decline is attributed to habitat loss,
exploitation and predation. Its recovery has been hampered by a number
of factors, including competition from White-tailed
Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) for nest-sites, increasing egg failure
perhaps due to contaminants, light pollution from a nearby airport and
NASA tracking station which adversely affect nocturnal aerial courtship,
and the threat of sea-level rise and increased storm activity. Threatened
Birds of the World will be published in collaboration with Lynx
Edicions. (Added 12 October 2000)
Images of New York State Rarities
On Saturday 7th October 2000, Tom Burke discovered
an adult Cassin's Sparrow at Jones Beach which is on the southshore
of Long Island, New York. If accepted by NYSARC, this will represent the
first record of this southwestern/Mexican species for the state. A few
images captured from video on separate days by Seth Ausubel and
myself can be found here. (Added 11 Oct 2000)
Recommended Web Sites
Mitch
Heindel has posted a number of seabird photos take off southern California.
The shots of aberrant (leucistic) Black-vented
Shearwaters are particularly interesting. (Added 10 Oct 2000)
Recommended Web Sites
The Norwegian
Gull Site has been revamped. Check out the very attractive new the
layout as well as the latest photo additions. (Added 6 Oct
2000)
Recommended Web Sites
The enormous popularity of bird watching in Japan
seems to be a well kept secret due, no doubt, to the language barrier and
the fact that few western birders can afford the considerable expense of
a visit to the Japanese archipelago. Bird photography is especially popular
(perhaps more so than in Europe or North America), and there are now masses
of web sites and magazine that publish bird photos. Below I provide links
to three particularly noteworthy sites that focus on gulls and shorebirds.
First the Japanese
Gull Site Home of Osao Ujihara and Michiaki Ujihara,
author/artists of the excellent but hard to obtain, "Japanese Gull Guide".
Unfortunately the main text of this extensive web site is in Japanese,
however, photograph captions are generally in English with dates and locality.
In summary, this site represents the most comprehensive collection of asiatic
gull photos on the web and includes an amazing number of outstanding rarities
for Japan. (Added 29 September 2000)
Second StintFan
- Homepage for shorebirders An excellent Japanese-based site dedicated
to calidrid shorebirds. Superb photos of asiatic and North American species,
many as rarities to Japan. Includes such delights as Spoon-billed Sandpiper.
Unfortunately limited use of English text at the moment, however the photos
themselves are labeled with species location and date. This site should
prove an extremely useful reference source. (Added 29 September 2000)
And thirdly, Gallinago@web
This curious name says it all! An unparalleled collection of photos of
various snipe species occuring in Japan. Given the secretive and wary nature
of this group, the consistent quality of the photos is astounding! (Added
29 September 2000)
New York State Rarities
Rex Stanford has generously supplied a series
of photographs of an alternate-plumaged Little Stint
photographed on 16 July 2000 at Pike's Beach on the south shore of Long
Island, New York, USA. These provide interesting comparison to the Red-necked
Stint photographed at the same location the day before! (Added 12 August
2000).
Albatross Photos
Murray Lord has generously provided a couple
of excellent in-flight photos of a first-year
Grey-headed
Albatross taken off Sydney, Australia, earlier this month. (Added 27
July 2000).
New York State Rarities
A small number of videograbs of an alternate-plumaged
Red-necked
Stint found three days earlier by John Fritz at the beach community
of Cupsogue on the south shore of Long Island, NY. (Added 15 July 2000).
Recommended Web Sites
Check out Surfbird.com,
an exciting new birding web site created by Martin Birch, Ken
Arber,
Andy Birch, Cin-Ty Lee and Brian Small.
This fledgling site is already packed with interesting features on bird
idenfication, European and North American rarities, original artwork etc.
(Added 10 July 2000)
The New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)
web
site now has a gallery of rare birds photographed in New York State.
Check back regularly as many new additions are planned. This site is part
of the larger
Federation
of New York State Bird Clubs site. (Added 10 July 2000).
Shorebird Identification
Continuing debate on the very interesting calidrid
sandpiper photographed in Texas in April. I have added comments from
birders in both North America and Europe as well as several photos of Curlew
Sandpipers including a series taken at Cley in England by Richard Millington.
(Added 10 July 2000)
Shorebird Identification
Brian Small send me a photograph of a rather
interesting calidrid sandpiper photographed
in Texas in April. There is some debate as to the age and species.
Annotated List of Seabirds
Fabio Olmos has generously supplied photos
of Wandering Albatross (possibly Tristan Albatross),
Spectacled
Petrel and White-chinned Petrel, taken
at sea off Brazil. (Added 1 May 2000)
Gull Identification
Addedtwo
additional photos of the Newlyn Harbour UK Herring Gull taken by Mashuq
Ahmed, showing useful detail of the spread tail. (Added 26 March 2000)
Gull Identification
Pictures
of a possible 2nd-year American Herring Gull photographed in England
by Jim Willson together with a series of comparison shots from the day
before taken in New York, USA. (Added 24 March 2000)
Seabird Literature
I have added an on-line
review of the two major photoguides to seabirds: Peter Harrison's (1997)
"Seabirds of the World - A Photographic Guide" and Jim Enticott and David
Tipling's (1997) "Seabirds of the World: the Complete Reference". This
review was originally published in the January and February 1998 editions
of the Linnaean Society of New York News-Letter.
Gulls from a European perspective!
Norwegian
Gull page A growing collection of predominantly European species. Most
images are from Norway or neighbouring Scandinavian countries. Includes
some nice shots of birds in the hand (e.g. nominate Iceland Gull), showing
specific feather details. This well-designed site has been put together
by Frode Falkenberg, using work by various photographers.
Rudy
Offereins' Gullindex Dutch site with a good collection of Pontic Gull
(L. cachinnans) and Yellow-legged Gull (L. michahellis) photos.
Large
Gull and Small
Gull colour-ringing projects. Very interesting database of current
tracking projects (colour rings and satellite tags). Lots of facts and
figures with useful contact addresses for reporting sightings or recoveries.
A large variety of gull species are covered by specific projects and this
will hopefully yield a tremendous amount of useful information. So keep
your eyes peeled! Created and maintained by Dirk Raes. Links from the home
page to many other colour-ringing projects. The site is sponsored by
AVES (Soci*t* d'*tudes ornithologiques) and by Euring. (Added 21 Feb 00)
Books on seabirds, gulls and other marine
wildlife
Quite a few additions to the section on books
and videos about seabirds, gulls, terns, skuas, marine mammals etc.
Direct links to Amazon.com and A2Z4Birders.com. (Added 12th Feb 00)
Recommended Web sites - Marine Mammals
in Chile
Rodrigo
Hucke-Gaete's Marine Mammal web page has many links to seal and cetacean
related material. Rodrigo is a student at the Universidad Austral de Chile,
Valdivia, Chile. The Conservation
Status of Small Cetaceans in Southern South America web page for example,
reviews the problems faced by small cetaceans with special emphasis on
Chile. Text is accompanied by a number of illustrations. (Added 22 Jan
00)
Recommended Web sites - Alaskan seabirds
and marine ecosystems
The Seabird
and Forage Fish Research in Alaska web site is jam packed with interesting
information and photos. There are a number of on-line essays introducing
the basics of marine ecology; forage fish (prey base for many marine mammals
and birds) biology; seabirds found in Alaskan waters and so on. There is
also an extensive collection of links to other sites dealing with seabirds,
oceanography and marine weather. The site is maintained by John Piatt of
the USGS. Check it out! (Added 6th Jan 2000)
Recommended Web sites - Marine Mammals
Check out the cool Center
for Cetacean Research and Conservation web site. This new site includes
some fantastic underwater digital video images of Densebeaked Whales
(Mesoplodon densirostris) taken off the Bahamas.
Marine mammal fans will also want to check out
the Marine Mammal Net, a growing
family of websites dedicated to providing accurate, up-to-date information
about the science and conservation of marine mammals. Here are some of
the member sites:
The International
Marine Mammal Association (IMMA) web site. Full of information and
links about marine mammal conservation.
The oddly named @phocoena.org,
an internet site dedicated to conservation of porpoises and other small
cetaceans. The article by Heather Koopman on the physiology and
function of blubber is well worth reading.
The 'marinemammal.net' 'guide
to books' site. An on-line guide to current literature about marine
mammals. They expect to add book reviews in the near future. The are links
to Amazon.com and !ndigo.ca for easy purchase of recommended titles. (Added
21 Dec 99)
Shearwater Identification
I have compiled various postings to ID-Frontiers discussing
the identification of the boydi subspecies
of Little Shearwater, focusing in particular on separation from Audubon's
Shearwater. (Added 21 Dec 99)
Shearwater Identification
Opinions differ on the identification of this
shearwater,
photographed on the edge of the Gulf Stream off Manteo, North Carolina.
Comments are collected from the Pelagics newsgroup. (Added 12/9/99)
Annotated Guide to Seabirds
Added more photolinks to the Greater
Shearwater and Northern Fulmar pages.
(Added 12/3/99)
Photo Archive
I have added single images of adult Lava
Gull and Swallow-tailed Gull, both
taken in the Galapagos Islands. (Added 11/22/99)
Problem Gulls
'Problem Gulls' - possibly
a redundant statement! I have added three more interesting individuals
to this section.
American
Herring Gull with dark tertial markings.
American
Herring Gull. Strange short-legged individual.
Small
Ring-billed Gull with retarded molt. (Added 11/20/99)
Photo Archive
I have added a number of small gull images including:
Common Black-headed
Gull, adults,
Common Black-headed
Gull, first-years,
Black-legged
Kittiwake,
Mew Gull. (Added 11
Nov 99)
Photo Archive
I have reorganized the "Photo
Archive Page". This is essentially a page of quick links to the many
bird and marine mammal photographs scattered across the Ocean Wanderers
Web Site. Over the last few weeks a number of new seabird and gull
images have been added, including Bridled Tern,
Northern
Gannet, Sabine's Gull, Buller's
Shearwater, Waved Albatross, Fork-tailed
Storm-petrel,
Nazca Booby and others.
Please take a look! (Added 3 Nov 99)
Rarebird Gallery
Series of pictures of a second-basic
Franklin's Gull from Stamford Connecticut. Taken on 31 Oct 1999. (Added
2 Nov 99)
Recommended Web sites - Update
Martin Reid has moved his superb identification web
site to a new server. The gull section continues to expand. So check it
out and change your bookmarks!!
Martin
Reid's Gull Pages Very cool site, with a lot of gulls! Perhaps the
most extensive collection of original material on the web. Detailed analysis
to accompany many of the pictures and creative use of high-resolution zooms.
Keep checking back for updates, as Martin is continuously adding new material.
His home page with non-gull bird identification links (e.g. South American
species, Masked Booby, Martin's local patch in Fort Worth, Texas, etc.
etc.) is here. (Added
10/19/99)
Recommended Web sites - Pelagic Sharks
Added a couple of very good links: Ian
Fergusson's Great White Shark Page, which provides a very detailed
and thoughtful review of Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) biology
and conservation. Fergusson ends by saying "This is not a fish to be underestimated.
It is neither a bloodthirsty, mindless killer nor a playful, good-natured
puppy-dog. It is a sentient, intelligent predator deserving of our rational
respect like any other potentially lethal animal. For confirmation of this,
ask any fur seal...". (Added 10/11/99)
Also, added the Mediterranean
Shark Site Packed with very current information about sharks. Includes
discussion of identification, reports of rare species and all the latest
news about shark conservation. Includes links to The Shark Trust. (Added
10/11/99)
Seabirds
Click here to see
a whole page of images of the adult Shy Albatross seen during a
Shearwater
Journeys pelagic trip off Northern California on 24 August 1999. If
accepted this will be the third record for North America and first for
California. (Added 9/2/99)
Also check out the images
of a White-faced Storm-petrel found by Brian
Patteson on a 29 August 1999 pelagic out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.
(Added 9/2/99)
Best pelagics
Illustrated account of a voyage aboard the 'World
Discoverer' through the
Aleutian islands from
Seward, Alaska to Petropavlosk in Kamchatka. (Added 8/8/99)
Annotated List to Seabirds of the World
More additions to the procellariform
(albatrosses, petrels and kin) sections. (Added 8/8/99)
Recommended Web Sites
Added link to the Environmental
Research Unit Home Page. An independent organisation run by Mike Bingham,
conducting seabird surveys in the Falkland Islands, focusing on Penguins
and Black-browed Albatross. The site includes a very comprehensive bibliography
of penguin literature and useful maps of the breeding ranges for a number
of Penguin species. (Added 7/22/99)
Identification Issues
Little Egret in Delaware
USA. Separation from Snowy Egret. (Added 7/21/99)
Identification Quiz
New
identification quiz (#6). Possibly the hardest yet! Have a look and
e-mail your answers.
Annotated List to Seabirds of the World
Many additions to the procellariform
(albatrosses, petrels and kin) sections. (Added 6/27/99)
Books on oceanic seabirds and mammals
New section providing information on useful
books dealing with pelagic bird and mammal watching. (Added 6/27/99)
Where to Watch Seabirds
A new feature, exploring the best
locations of the planet to study and enjoy marine birds and mammals.
Not all of the links are open yet as several pages are still in preparation
- so check back regularly. I hope this section will grow to cover many
more localities and treat the hot spots in even more depth. Any help with
up-to-date information and donations of photographs will be greatly appreciated.
Just email me: (wilsoa02@endeavor.med.nyu.edu)
Annotated List to Seabirds of the World
A number of additions to various procellariform
(albatrosses, petrels and kin) sections.
Seabird News
The June 1999 issue of Birdwatch Magazine (issue
84) reports that the recent elevation of Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus
mauretanicus) to full species status has highlighted the rarity and endangered
status of this new species. Breeding only within the Balearic Island group
off southeastern Spain, there are an estimated 3,300 breeding breeding
pairs, 75% of which are restricted to the well-known holiday ('disco')
island of Ibiza. A number of Iberian conservation groups, together
with the Balearic Islands Department of the Environment, have drawn up
a six point-plan, involving a census of oiled birds; breeding numbers and
success rates; removal of rats and cats from breeding areas; reducing poaching
(in some areas locals consider the shearwaters a delicacy), generating
new colonies and study of migration including the identification of wintering
areas. A number of birds have been wing-tagged. Sightings are requested
(Andy Paterson, Edificio San Gabriel 2-4-A, Escritor Adolfo Reyes, E-29620
Torremolinos). Check out the Balearic
Shearwater web site.
New York State Rarities
Black-necked Stilts at Jamaica
Bay NWR near New York City and Spruce Grouse
in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York.
Recommended Web Sites
Check out trans-Gulf
migration page. A great site run by Bob Russell of the Louisiana State
University's Museum of Natural Science (LSUMNS), under the sponsorship
of the Minerals Management Service. Dedicated to the study of bird migration
across the Gulf of Mexio, focusing on observations made from oil platforms.
There is a lot of migration data including dramatic accounts of major migration
days as well as photos of the oil platforms, exhausted migrants, even the
official counters themselves. Many links to other migration related sites.
Check back for weekly summaries of the up-coming fall migration. (Added
5/25/99)
You might also want to take a look at the new shorebird
Quiz on Dick and Jean Hoffman's The Shorebird Watcher site.
(Added 5/25/99)
More Gull Photos
Some more pictures of first
and second year Kumlien's Iceland Gull by
Patrick Comins. (Added 5/8/99)
Identification Challenge
Probable adult Herring X Great
Black-back Gull hybrid from Virginia (photo by Ned Brinkley) Added
4/24/99
Is this a leucistic Iceland
Gull? (Added 4/20/99)
New York State Rarities
Harris's Sparrow Additional
photos of this long-staying but elusive bird. (Added 4/20/99)
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