Mondys, Ugh

 Pretty cool today, at least cooler than it has been.  And wet.  Make that wet, wet, wet.  Anyway, we noticed this scruffy bird at the feeder.  At first I wondered if it was some kind of sparrow, but what kind of sparrow?  It hung out on the feeder long enough for me to grabbed my camera and snap a few photos.  And then it continued to hand around while I opened the window and grabbed a few more, cleared shots.

Checking with Merlin photo ID, and several photos, it couldn't figure out a good guess.  I even tried Seek, which suggested something in the finch family.  So I went for the big guns:  Facebook and Reddit.  And the consensus is clear for Goldfinch.  Perhaps molting, perhaps having dunked its head in something....  But definitely looking worn.

Here's some photos.  It had just fluffed/shaken before that last one.:

Bad Bird Photos - Northern Flicker

 Sometimes a crappy photo is better than nothing.  Especially when trying to do identifications.

One of my favorite birds is the Northern Flicker.  And while my Merlin ap has heard them frequently, I haven't seen (or been able to photograph one since January 2024.  But I saw this guy in the back corner of my yard.  I knew it was too far away for a decent photo, but grabbed my camera to confirm the sighting. (I uve a zoom lens on my camera that I can use like binoculars).  

Anyway, yes it was a Northern Flicker, no doubt about it.  I thought I'd share anyway.

September Winners, BetterPhoto.com

 Better Photo has announced the winners of their August contest, and I had a second place, along with several Finalists, etc.  Always fun to get some recognition!

2nd Place winner:

Straight Lines - Post Techniques and Toy Camera Photography

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Finalists:

Carolina Wren

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Rattlesnake Master

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Against The Odds

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End Of The Day

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Staff Favorites:

St. Louis Skyline

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So, that's 1x Second Place, 4x Finalist and 1x Staff Favorite.  I also had 18x Editor's Picks, too many to post here.

Check out my photos HERE.  

Bad Bird Photos - Name that Hawk!

 Sometimes a crappy photo is better than nothing.  Especially when trying to do identifications.

This one is a Red Shouldered Hawk, taken during a neighborhood walk.  Actually, Merlin wasn't about to identify from this photo, giving 3-5 options.  But Red Shouldered was one of the top choices (Top choice for 1 photo, #2 for the other).  That said, I had previously used Merlin's sound-ID to positively identify it, so that's enough for me.

Tufted Titmouse

 I noticed this summer that the "little" birds (like chickadees and Tufted Titmouse) like to drink out of the ant-cup on our hummingbird feeder. So I left the cup out when I brought in the feeder. Here's a Tufted Titmouse drinking from the cup