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Belted Kingfisher at Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas CA today.

Townsend's Warbler today on the suet.

I can't seem to figure this one out, but I'd guess Savannah Sparrow. Maybe someone can straighten me out.

Bufflehead in Huntington Beach CA several days ago.

White-breasted Nuthatch heading back to the feeder.

Not with the strong eye arcs, the overall gray appearance, and the fairly white tails. Blue-winged is correct. 1 -- American Wigeon -- no internal markings on side feathering and few pale markings on scaps 2 -- Gadwall -- Mallard has the orange of the bill on the ends, not on the sides; the black forms a saddle, not a central stripe as on Gadwall PP Lee would have benefited from the In The Scope column that I just finished writing yesterday, so it won't see online life for a year or more. It's on brown-plumaged dabbling ducks.

More Cedar Waxwings. They seem to be migrating with the Robins.

Two most asked questions and Whatbird: 1 Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk? 2 What dose sniped mean?

Or Peregrine?

All are Commons, unless the orange-billed female is a hybrid, which is a distinct possibility. See https://cobirds.org/Publications/ColoradoBirds/InTheScope/16.pdf. The head coloration is the warmer, more-orange tone of Common, rather than the colder, darker-brown color of Barrow's. The head shape seems intermediate, but it's a young bird (eye not crisply golden as on the first female), and juvenile/immature diving ducks' head shapes are often funky, particularly when worn. If it were me and I were entering these birds into eBird, I'd go with 2 COGO and one Common/Barrow's Goldeneye, unless I had a lot more pix that included different postures and, preferably, open wing shots. Edit: I'm changing my mind, somewhat. Immature female Barrow's should still have extensive dark on the bill, some still have wholly black bills in November. This must be a female, then, so the hybrid possibility jumps a fair bit higher in probability, in my mind.

Black Scoter

As someone with zero experience with stilts, I wouldn't know what one sounded like. I do not recognize the sound that you are asking an ID for, but I think that it is a reasonable guess that it is a stilt. As a sound guy, I remember bird calls by comparisons. For example, American goldfinch, American Pipits, and Pine Grosbeaks are a group, since they all have similar pitched and rhythmic calls. However, the tone and nuances of the calls are different. Pipits have a higher pitched and snappier call in my mind, and the PIGR have piercing, drawn out calls. LALO has a call note like a cardinal's song. Carolina wrens call sounds like a frog. For this call, it is on the same level on the graph (can;t remember the technical name of that graph) as the other black-necked stilts (presumably, if that is what the main sounds in the recording are of), and has basically the same tonal quality. I would say that that call was made by a stilt. However, I could be completely wrong, and the sound could be coming from another bird I have no experience with that has a similar voice. Also, birds are weird. Soooooo many times I have followed a song sparrow around, trying to figure out what species was making this weird sounding song, that was similar to a song sparrow's "typical" song. You can find a recording of a song sparrow on my eBird profile that I thought was particularly different and inventive. Youg birds are also a culprit of many weird sounds. I have had the pleasure of listening to a young robin learning to sing. It started "singing", and it sounded like something was dying. But, it started gradually changing little things over time, until, after about a minute, it sounded like any other robin was singing. For this sound, I think it is probably just a stint that is just doing a weird call. So, that's my tangent for the day!

? ? ? ? @Connor Cochraneand @Tony Leukering, I posted that crop on a photography web site to support my position that a photo doesn't have to be 'great' or 'sharp' to be 'identifiable', that a lousy photo can still be useful for tagging a lifer. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64542294 After several skeptical replies doubting my ID (see the posts between the one above and the one below), I encouraged those questioning to post to a bird ID site and see what others said. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64545293 https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64545985 FYI, here's my original, uncropped photo. For the record, it was Jan. of 2018, Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, near Augusta GA; here's the checklist with the attached photo: https://ebird.org/checklist/S42124158

I thought this one I took last month was really interesting. The backlighting, the hovering hummingbird, the different shades of green in the background...

Nice pics

@Kevin wins. The Groove-billed Ani is heaviest.

With the noticeable nostrils on a pale bill base, these are Greater Yellowlegs.

I don't see a bird in the first photo; maybe crop and circle it? (Crop? Circle? Crop circle! I made a funny!) I think the two inversions could be cormorants; I see them standing around in groups on floating objects a lot in the winter Double-crested are the likely ones but I wouldn't swear to it in court (or on eBird), and I don't see how we can completely rule out Anhingas based solely on these photos. I ain't touching the raptor.

Hermit Thrush-Red in wings and tail Orange Crowned Warbler on the left, and Yellow-Rumped Warbler on the right. And pretty sure that’s a Cooper’s, but wait for more opinion.

Ruddy duck I believe with the dark line going through the pale cheek, and tail pointed straight up. Edit: Sniped by Avery!

Agreed, 2 is definitely a Gadwall.

Yup, and the hab is correct

And provides one of the umpteen bazillion reasons to know more than just the one or two standard field marks for species.

lets see how about a subspecies of bird that is not the normal subspecies where you live (of any species)

Agreed.

Yes! Swamp is rare but regular in the desert southwest

Agreed. See the pale cheek that contrasts with the dark nape and cap, and the all dark bill that a Black Duck would not have.

thanks @Avery

Grasshopper sparrow but I am so not sure?

Y'all outside the South do get the 'Duke of Mayonnaise' reference, right?

That makes even more since. It’s Swinhoe’s White Eye.

@Charlie Spencer I think you gave the wrong link. https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=wooduc&q=Wood Duck - Aix sponsa

Northern pygmy owl

Lincolns

American White Pelican yesterday at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach CA

White-rumped Sandpiper from today.

And also a Little Gull! Second county record!

It looks like the new forum doesn't allow BBCode anymore. ☹️ Here is one way you can embed a photo from Flickr: 1. Get the BBCode from Flickr and copy it into the comment box. This is the BBCode for my Swainson's Thrush photo: [url=https://flic.kr/p/2jFBviF][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50331385213_67a00a30d2_k.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2jFBviF]Swainson's Thrush[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/birdnuts/]The Bird Nuts[/url], on Flickr 2. Copy the portion in between the img tags (in bold letters above). 3. Click the Other Media button at the bottom right of the comment box, select Insert Image From URL, then paste the URL in there. From there you can double click on the photo to resize it and add a link, etc. Like so:

Iv always liked to include some background in bird photoing. Think it makes a better photo. Ibis Anahuc NWR 7-20 by johnd1964, on Flickr feeder fight Black Chin Hummer and Gila Woodpecker by johnd1964, on Flickr

"Rolling...rolling....rolling down the river..." IMG_7444-001 by Wayne J Smith, on Flickr

So you figure we’re hard to tell apart? How’s this for you?