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Post by brownrexx on Dec 5, 2016 13:48:41 GMT -5
Mumsey if you are sure that they are not seagulls then I would think of some other kind of shorebird
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 5, 2016 15:35:54 GMT -5
davidjp That's not it. I saw them a few minutes ago, this time heading the opposite direction. I see no color whatsoever on them. They remind me of the gulls I see in Illinois, you begin seeing them about 80 miles from Lake Michigan. Just odd they would be here.
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Post by davidjp on Dec 5, 2016 20:41:38 GMT -5
They remind me of the gulls I see in Illinois But you don't think they are gulls. Terns possibly, or do they look like small finch type birds.
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 6, 2016 4:59:21 GMT -5
davidjp They look the size of pigeons. My best guess is gulls. I will ask neighbor, he might know. I have never seen them at the quarry. We don't have much water near us, just a small stream.
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Post by davidjp on Dec 6, 2016 13:27:40 GMT -5
Its probably gulls then. Lots of gulls spend time inland, here in California one species actually mostly breeds on a lake inland thats several hundred miles from the ocean. If you have a quarry that might be an area they would hang out at and also the possibility of a nearby landfill that could provide food. Seems like different times of year gulls move around to different areas as well
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Post by James on Dec 20, 2016 13:05:37 GMT -5
You say smaller? Smaller than a Snow Goose or do you mean like Robin sized? Sparrow sized?
A Cattle Egret is a white bird and even though it has a rather long neck you don't see the long neck when it is in flight because the tuck it in.
The cattle Egret has a wing span of 36 inches, where a Great Blue Heron has a wingspan of 72 inches, so the cattle egret in flight will appear much smaller.
There are also occasional white morphs in many species. These are rare though and if such there would only be one.
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 20, 2016 18:51:58 GMT -5
James In flight they look to be pigeon size. I'm thinking gulls, are they taking up new residence? Always thought they were near very large bodies of water, like the Great Lakes. I know what herons look like in flight, we see them at the quarry, along with geese and ducks. <object type="application/x-KPMPlugin" id="kpm_plugin"></object>
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Post by brownrexx on Dec 20, 2016 19:55:27 GMT -5
I live inland and I always see gulls on the farm fields in the winter
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 20, 2016 20:20:50 GMT -5
We are at least 350 miles (as the crow flies) from the really large water! I have yet to talk to neighbor, keep forgetting!
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Post by davidjp on Dec 20, 2016 21:09:04 GMT -5
There's a site run by I think the Cornell lab of Ornithology called ebird where birdwatchers are encouraged to submit their sightings. Its run as a citizen science project with the idea that over time you might be able to look at changing distributions of species etc as a result of climate change or land use change. You can check out the reports for Iowa and see what species are reported at different times of year. Here's the link for Iowa ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?cmd=decisionPage&getLocations=states&states=US-IA&yr=cur&m=Hope that works, it shows there are quite a few sightings for ring billed and herring gull at this time of year, Nov-Dec. You can also check for reports for your area of Iowa as well by clicking on the map link for each species. Gulls are fairly far down on the list so have to scroll down. Its all dependent on how many sightings are reported though and I see the figure for Iowa is only 16,000, its nearly 300,000 for California so the data will not be so good but gives a good indication of what species are being seen
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Post by James on Dec 21, 2016 12:53:25 GMT -5
Gulls, most are larger than pigeons. Most have a black marking on the wing feather tips, or perhaps a dark back, and a strip through the eye, or at least some marking on the head.
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 21, 2016 13:50:22 GMT -5
In flight it's hard to see all that!
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Post by James on Dec 22, 2016 17:30:47 GMT -5
I live about 5 miles from the reservoir where the gulls hang out, but I see them out this way all the time hunting. Yes, they hunt the fields and farm ground for whatever happens to be there, from rodents to grasshoppers.
There are quite a few species of gulls found in this country. Some have a very limited range, where others, such as Bonaparte's or Ring-billed are found all over the country. As you say, "hard to see all that". Yes sometimes the details are lacking.
Do you make a bird list? When you can't get a positive species ID it is OK to say something like "Big White Bird".
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Post by James on Dec 24, 2016 12:03:41 GMT -5
Dec 24, on the bird feeder this morning: Magpie, Junco, Eu Dove, E. Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Starling.
Juncos are down in numbers, getting 4 where in the past usually had 20 - 30.
Only one Tree Sparrow.
Eu doves numerous. 40 or more.
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Post by James on Jan 31, 2017 12:34:13 GMT -5
davidjp, thanks for the link. Interesting.
I have a few Juncos and one red headed finch coming to my bird feeder. A small number compared to what I usually have. I suspect some farmer put out poison grain to kill the Starlings that come to rob the cows of their grain. Who knows?
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