I'm off to Bangor for the next week, to partake in the festivities of the American Birding Association's Convention. On Monday and Tuesday, I will be in the convention center, working at the booth for St. Paul Island Tours (where I worked for three seasons). Wednesday through Friday is the Youth Track, where we will be visiting Baxter State Park, Machias Seal Island, and Reid and Popham Beach State Parks. I'm very much looking forward to the events of the week, and seeing many old friends. I also hope to see many of YOU out there, and even if you haven't registered for the convention workshops, field trips, and speakers, I certainly suggest taking a look around through the vendors at the Convention Center. Hope to see you there!

I leave you with this photo quiz. This incubating bird was on its nest at Yarmouth's Royal River Park during yesterday's Wild Bird Center of Yarmouth Birdwalk. The nest was about 5 feet off the ground, in a dense streamside tangle, about 4-5 feet from the path.

For some reason, this bird's identification gave us fits. I called it everything else before we decided on the conclusion. In retrospect, it's identification is fairly obvious, and I may have been guilty of overanalysis. But, we worked through the ID, and eventually came to the conclusion that I later confirmed with a photo as it stood up to turn the eggs.

The lessons here are that 1)everyone makes mistakes (I made a couple of big ones in "calling" this bird!). 2) Everyone is always learning, and especially: 3)the need to study various details of our more common birds. Jim Danzenbaker, the Naturalist Manager of Brunton Optics, who joined us on our walk suggested cutting a small hole in a piece of paper, and laying it over a bird photograph. From just what you can see through that hole - can you identify the bird?

So, can you identify this bird - just from the top half of it's head?

Use the "Post a Comment" field below to make your guess. I'll work through the identification next weekend.