Just for fun.
Find and identify the bird(s) in this picture. It was taken in my backyard a couple of days ago.
Find and Identify the backyard bird(s) in the image.
Puzzler #12 Backyard Bird(s)
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Category Archives: Fun
Puzzler #7 (New and Improved): Rename that Hawk
Puzzlers were meant to be fun first and a challenge second. I realized that all of that decoding to get to the answer in the original Puzzler #7 – A Hawk by Any Other Name… may have discouraged some. So, here is a modified, more user friendly version of puzzler #7 with no decoding. Instead, I split the post into 2 pages with the answers in ungarbled English on page 2. So, without further ado, I present the new and improved puzzler #7.
In the table below there are some ‘old’ historical bird names for North American raptors that are no longer in common use and which you probably won’t find in modern bird books except perhaps as a historical aside.
In case you are not a bird nut, raptors include hawks, falcons, eagles, vultures and the like. You may have heard of some of these ‘old’ names and know what they refer to. I probably would have got 3 maybe 4 out of 10 had I had to solve this myself.
| OLD NAME |
| Marsh Hawk |
| Pigeon Hawk |
| Sparrow Hawk or Sparrowhawk |
| Chicken Hawk or Chickenhawk |
| Grouse Hawk |
| Goose Hawk |
| Duck Hawk |
| Fish Hawk |
| Squirrel Hawk or Squirrelhawk |
| Starling Hawk |
Puzzler #7 – A Hawk by Any Other Name…
Note: My original puzzler #7 required a lot of decoding to get to the answers. I have posted a new and improved version that you might want to look at instead: Puzzler #7 (New and Improved): Rename that Hawk.
Here’s something a little different.
In the table below there are two columns. In the left column are some ‘old’ historical bird names that are no longer in common use and which you probably won’t find in modern bird books except perhaps as a historical aside. In the right column is the encoded answer based on the ROT13 cipher (see the Puzzlers Page for instructions). To prevent guessing by looking at the size of the answer I have added a few extra filler word to each answer.
You may have heard of some of these. I probably would have got 3 maybe 4 out of 10 had I had to solve this without the advantage of being the puzzler author. Feel free to post your scores but no spoilers please unless you use ROT13 to encode them.
| OLD NAME | ANSWER (ROT13 ENCODED) |
| Marsh Hawk | abegurea abgznefu uneevre |
| Pigeon Hawk | zreyva gur zntvpvna |
| Sparrow Hawk | grrafl nzrevpna xrfgery |
| Chicken Hawk | nalbs pbbcre funecvr erqgnvy unjxf |
| Grouse Hawk | abegurea yvtugf tbfunjx |
| Goose Hawk | xjnufbt aerugeba ernq onpxjneqf |
| Duck Hawk | ybbxfyvxr-ryivf crertevar snypba |
| Fish Hawk | juvgr-naq-oynpx bfcerl |
| Squirrel Hawk | sreehtvabhf Unjx benal ebhtu-yrttrq |
| Starling Hawk | abcrohg jbhyqag gungoravpr |
Here is the ROT13 table that might make decoding easier:
Puzzler Clue/Answer Decoder: find a coded letter in the table and replace it with the letter above or below it in the same column. For instance “Hello” becomes “Uryyb”. Numbers, punctuation and symbols don’t change.
PS: If you don’t feel like manually decoding each clue just go to www.rot13.com, copy the clue into the box and click the “Cypher” button.
Ersreraprf
uggc://jjj.gbjurr.arg/uvfgbel/nepunvp.ugzy
uggc://jjj.fragvaryfbhepr.pbz/bcvavba/pbyhzavfgf/fgnss/obfnx/n-unjx-ol-nal-bgure-anzr-znl-or-n-xrfgery/negvpyr_rs45138q-n734-5340-9758-5r7n9or4q2q7.ugzy
uggc://oveqabgr.bet/fubj/ubj-oveqf-anzrf-punatr
River Otter Snacking (Video)
I finally got around to putting together the following river otter video from a short video clip that I captured last spring:
What reminded me of the video clip was a wonderful sequence of river otter pictures recently posted by a fellow member of the Fraser Valley Birding forum who is also a great photographer.
I also created the following YouTube version of the River Otter video.
The footage for the video was taken in Town Centre Park in Coquitlam, BC. We’re not sure how the otter got into “Lafarge Lake” (the name for the glorified pond on the site of an old quarry) however we do have a pretty good idea why he liked it there. Except during the hottest months of the year, the pond is stocked with fish for anyone to come and try to catch. For the otter, it’s a free buffet in addition to all of the yummy things that occur naturally in the pond such as the crunchy morsel with claws that it is eating in the video.
River Otter in Lafarge Lake, Town-Centre Park, Coquitlam, April 2013. Copyright 2013, Kevin H Hood, all rights reserved.
The camera was hand-held during the recording and Adobe Premiere Elements Video Editor (version 11) was used to touch up the original footage and to publish it to YouTube. The original sound-track was filtered to reduce background noise but was otherwise left untouched and consists of background (city) noise, a crow calling and, if you listen carefully, something that might be the sound of the otter crunching on its snack.
River Otter in Lafarge Lake, Town-Centre Park, Coquitlam, April 2013. Copyright 2013, Kevin H Hood, all rights reserved.
Puzzler #5: Camouflage 101
When I first looked at the picture, I thought that I had totally botched the shot. The bird that I had seen seconds earlier appeared to have disappeared. A careful inspection of the entire image confirmed that I had captured enough of the bird to make an ID.
Now its your turn to find and identify the bird.
Clues
(See Puzzlers Page for Instructions)
Clue #1: Gur oveq vf uvqqra va cynva fvtug.
Clue #2: Guvf cvpgher jnf gnxra ng gur Gfnjjnffra Sreel Qbpx va Oevgvfu Pbyhzovn, Pnanqn ba Whyl 20 bs guvf lrne.
Answer
Vg vf n Ehqql Gheafgbar naq vg vf “uvqvat” whfg nobir gur jngre yvar n yvggyr gb gur yrsg bs prager.
Bird Puzzler #4: Family Affair
The fledgling bird in the following picture along with a sibling (not shown) and an adult (also not shown) were seen flitting around in some cottonwoods somewhere in Canada during the summer of 2013.
Your goal is to guess the species.
Clues
(See Puzzlers Page for Instructions on decoding clues)
Clue #1: Here is a recording of the begging calls (the continuous clicking sounds) made by the 2 young birds as they chased an adult bird through the cottonwoods.
Clue #2: Gur cvpgher jnf gnxra jvguva jnyxvat qvfgnapr bs bhe ubhfr va Pbdhvgynz, OP ba Pnanqn Qnl, 2013.
Clue #3: Lrf, vg vf n jneoyre.
ANSWER
The answer including a picture of all three birds can be found on the next page …
Bird Puzzler #3: Hide and Seek
I was surprised when I learned this fact about this bird-species that breeds in BC and that is seen fairly regularly in the lower mainland. This puzzler has no pictures, videos or sound recordings – just the following piece of information:
This is the only North American migratory species that, at the turn of the twenty-first century, had not yet revealed the location of its wintering grounds.
These wintering grounds were only finally discovered in 2010 and how it was done is very cool!
Identify that bird!
Clues
(See Puzzlers Page for Instructions)
Clue #1: Gurl bsgra unat bhg arne jngresnyyf.
Clue #2: Qb abg zvfgnxr gurz sbe ynetr, qnex-pbybherq fjnyybjf.
Clue and Answer Decoder
Answer
Gur zlfgrel oveq vf gur Oynpx Fjvsg. N tebhc bs Pbybenqb erfrnepuref gnttrq 4 oveqf jvgu trbybpngbef va 2009 naq, jura 3 bs gurz jrer erpncgherq va gur fhzzre bs 2010, gur frperg bs gurve jvagrevat tebhaqf va gur Nznmba Onfva va gur jrfg bs Oenmvy jnf erirnyrq.
Zl bevtvany fbhepr jnf gur Rneoveqvat.pbz oybt negvpyr ol Anguna Cvrcybj: Oynpx Fjvsg Jvagrevat Tebhaqf Qvfpbirerq (uggc://rneoveqvat.pbz/oybt/nepuvirf/3602).
Bird Puzzler #2: Sounds Like a (Rubber) Duck?
James Yardley [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Name the bird making the ‘squeaky toy’ call.
Some people will recognize the call immediately though I probably wouldn’t have guessed the species had I not actually witnessed the bird making it from a few feet away.
Clues
(See Puzzlers Page for Instructions)
Clue #1: Lbh zvtug svaq guvf oveq unatvat bhg va gur fnzr arvtuobheubbq nf gur nafjre-oveq sebz gur svefg chmmyre.
Clue #2: Guvf oveq vf jvqrfcernq npebff Abegu Nzrevpn.
Clue #3: Gur pnyy jvyy bayl or urneq qhevat oerrqvat frnfba.
Clue #4: N cvpgher bs gur orttvat syrqtyvat oveq pna or sbhaq ng gur sbyybjvat yvax: uggc://syvpxe.pbz/tc/94309556@A05/6vSaoz
Clue and Answer Decoder
Answer
Gur oveq vf n syrqtyvat Erq-jvatrq Oynpxoveq.
Urer vf n yvax gb gur shyy erpbeqvat fnirq ba Krab-Pnagb: uggc://jjj.krab-pnagb.bet/137659
The back-story
V jnf jngpuvat oveqf nebhaq gur cbaq ng gur Pbybal Snez jura V abgvprq n whiravyr syrqtyvat Erq-jvatrq oynpxoveq sbyybjvat na nqhyg znyr sebz gur gbc bs n ohfu qbja gb n cynpr va gur ohyehfurf (arfgvat fvgr creuncf) naq onpx ntnva. V fnj gurz ercrng gur onpx-naq-sbegu plpyr gjvpr. Gur znyr nccrnerq gb or whfg n onolfvggre jub jnf abg, ubjrire, srrqvat gur whiravyr. Jura gur whiravyr jnf orttvat sebz gur ohfu-gbc, vg jnf va snpg cbvagrq njnl sebz gur nqhyg znyr. Va gur erpbeqvat lbh pna urne gur znyr fbat frireny gvzrf nf jryy nf gur pbagvahbhf “fdhrnxl” orttvat bs gur whiravyr. Arne gur raq bs gur erpbeqvat, gur nqhyg znyr yrnirf gur ohfu-gbc sbe gur ohyehfurf naq gur whiravyr vzzrqvngryl punatrf gb n 3-flyynoyr “jnvg-sbe-zr” pnyy naq sbyybjf pybfr oruvaq.
Bird Puzzler #1: From Trash to Treasure
[Based on the ‘Puzzler I’, originally posted to the Fraser Valley Birding forums on June 1, 2013] See the Puzzlers Page for more information.
I know that many birders enjoy puzzles associated with bird identification so I thought that I might be able to salvage an otherwise botched photo attempt that I almost deleted, resurrecting it as a challenging bird identification puzzler.
So take a look at the picture below and try to answer the following questions:
Question 1: Can you find the bird in this image?
Question 2: Can you identify the bird?
The only clue that I will provide now is that this picture was taken somewhere in the province of Ontario, Canada on May 24, 2013. I believe that there is enough information for you to make a stab at an identification.
Here’s the image:
Hint
Check out a higher resolution image. Click on the picture to get to the source picture on Flickr, look for and click on the three-dot icon and select the “View all sizes” option.
Clues
(See Puzzlers Page for Instructions)
Clue #1: Guvf cvpgher jnf gnxra arne Tnanabdhr, Bagnevb.
Clue #2: Vs lbh ghearq nebhaq naq ybbxrq va gur bccbfvgr qverpgvba lbh jbhyq frr gur sbyybjvat:
Clue #3: Gur oveq vf whfg orybj naq gb gur yrsg bs gur zvqcbvag bs gur vzntr. Vf sylvat njnl sebz gur pnzren (vg jnf fbzrjurer va gur frpbaq cvpgher nern jura V syhfurq vg naq vg gbbx bss).
Clue #4: Lbh fubhyq or noyr gb frr whfg n uvag bs gur oveqf yrt/sbbg pbybhe va gur shyy vzntr.).
Clue #5: Gur yrtf/srrg ner oevtug benatr (ng gung gvzr bs lrne).
Answer
Vg jnf n Terra Ureba va shyy oerrqvat pbybhef. V vavgvnyyl syhfurq vg juvyr zbivat guebhtu gur haqretebjgu gb trg n orggre ybbx ng gur ornire cbaq (uvag: znefu oveq). Gur ureba syrj ol ng rlr yriry 40 – 50 srrg njnl jvgu vaperqvoyl benatr yrtf naq n evpu qnex znagyr – na hasbetrggnoyr naq tbetrbhf fvtug. Vg frrzrq gb frggyr qbja fb V gevrq gb dhvrgyl svaq vg ntnva ohg bayl znantrq gb syhfu vg bapr zber (gbb zhpu bs n uheel V thrff). Gung jnf jura V znqr gur svany ynfg qvgpu ‘fubg-va-gur-qnex’ rssbeg gung erfhygrq va guvf cvpgher. V jnf fhecevfrq jura V mbbzrq va naq npghnyyl sbhaq vg vapyhqvat (vs lbh fdhvag) n srj benatrl-lryybj cvkryf jurer gur yrtf jrer.
Five Harlequin Ducks Video
My second outing with the Ken ‘s Birding Photography class took place August 31, 2013 and started in the same place as the first, at the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. This time it ended at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal along the South side of the spit. One of our last sightings was a small group of 5 Harlequin Ducks that were slowly working their way down the length of the spit.
Besides lots of pictures, I took a minute long video with my camera that was sufficiently entertaining that I dressed it up using Microsoft Movie Maker, added some music (to replace the sounds of automobile traffic and birder chit-chat) and made it available for general consumption in the video window below and on both Flickr and YouTube (my first ever YouTube video).
So, without further ado, here are ‘5 Harlequin Ducks’:
Here are the other links:
5 Harlequin Ducks (Flickr: small 484 x 272)
5 Harlequin Ducks (Flickr: medium 854 x 480)
The streaming from Flickr and/or Youtube may not be very smooth so downloading a copy from the ‘Share’ menu or from one of the versions on Flickr and watching locally should lead to a noticeably better experience.
Enjoy!
Kevin's Nature Blog 