ML74075131

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

While walking the shoreline of Lake Tamarisk we came across a phoebe that was perched quietly on a chair atop a barge in the western corner of the lake. We soon realized that it was an Eastern Phoebe and then spent a short time observing this bird and taking photos as it moved about structures along the shore, the stalks of a small stand of bulrushes, the shoreline, and a few nearby trees. I did not think I ever heard this bird call, but I did hear a Black Phoebe calling nearby. This bird typically perched low and in the open between its flights so it was easily observed, but it did not permit an overly close approach. I think I saw this bird dip its tail a few times, but it did not do this extensively. This was a small to medium-sized flycatcher that was typical of a phoebe in its size and structure. The bill was slim and relatively short, in that it would have extended backward on the face to a point just behind the eye. The head was unremarkable size with a sloping forehead, a gently rounded crown, and seemingly a weakly peaked appearance to the rear part of the crown. The neck was short and inconspicuous, and the body was relatively plump, full-chested, and with an upright posture. The wings were relatively short, with a primary projection that was about one-third the length of the exposed secondaries and the wingtips reaching to the tips of the uppertail coverts. I counted the tips of five primaries exposed beyond the longest secondary in the rounded wingtip. The tail was almost as long as the head and body combined, it was slightly flared, and with a weakly notched tip. I further thought the rectrices visible from below that pointed tips. The legs were short and of unremarkable mass. This was a subtly marked bird with relatively dull patterns. The head was dark, but I am now less sure about the precise color. If pressed, I would have thought the head was dark brownish, possibly with a grayish or olive cast and with the face appearing more sooty in coloration. I noted no suggestion of either an eyeing or supercilium. The solidly dark coloration of the face appeared to extend down to the lower edge of the moustachial and auricular regions, but below this the submoustachial region was clouded darker, which resulted in some degree of blending between the dark face and the cream-colored throat. The creamy-whitish color of the throat contrasted with a dusky wash at the sides of the breast and foreflanks that nearly pinched off the pale color in the center, below which the belly, rear flanks, and undertail coverts were a pale yellow in color. I think the underside of the tail was uniformly dark, but I did not see it all that well. The back and sides of the neck were dusky in coloration, but the back and scapulars were a medium, grayish-olive in color and without pattern. The wings contrasted as darker than the back given sooty centers to the coverts and remiges. The greater and median coverts were each fringed with a light, olive-gray color that produced a scaly upper wingbar and a more diffuse lower wingbar that combined a narrow edge and a somewhat broader tip to each feather. The remiges were also edges paler. I thought the innermost secondaries had well-defined edges of white, but the edges on the remaining feathers were more grayish to yellowish-olive and seemingly narrower and less conspicuous. I cannot now recall if the edges were less conspicuous on the primaries and I have no recollection about seeing the primary coverts. The exposed primary tips were sooty to blackish I color and without conspicuous fringing. I am not sure I ever saw the rump or uppertail coverts, but the upperside of the tail was sooty in coloration and without obvious fringes. The bill, legs, and feet appeared to be entirely black. The eyes, were dark, but I was unable to discern any color.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

2390 pixels x 1563 pixels

Original file size

1.09 MB