~May 2, 2009
                                                                                                                                   Manhattan Beach, CA

 

I am now taking photos with my new 300mm f/4 stop telephoto lens.  Well, I am learning not only about how to take photographs of birds, but also how to identify them.  I spend lots of time checking my bird books and on the internet looking at images and web sites with information on how to identify them.  I try to get it right, but even with this process mistakes are made. 

 

A beautiful orange colored bird appeared in my backyard several weeks after I saw a a hooded oriole in the Anza Borrego Desert and another in Palos Verdes, CA.  So when I saw an orange bird with a similar shape and size, I thought it was an oriole with a black head.  The closest one that fit that description was a Baltimore Oriole.  It is not usually seen in Southern California, but there have been some sightings.  My bad!  I have now found another bird that matches the bird that I saw more closely - the black-headed grosbeak!  Please use my identifications with caution!

 

From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology I read that on occasion a female may sing the full male song which tricks her mate into thinking that intruders are nearby and causes him to spend more time at the nest!.