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Today, Cactus Wren, Mojave Desert.

If I'm reading eBird correctly, 21. It took me a few seconds to find it because I don't track multiple lists - county, state, month, year, astrological house, vehicle driven, home / away games, how my eggs were cooked, etc. Life list is the only one I pay attention to; any others are too much like work. I check the count for one hot spot regularly to see the total species count for the site, not what I've notched there. I look at another couple of hot spots and yard count maybe a couple of times a year, if / when I remember.

American Robin

Ok, all you rubberneckers, settle down ? Just a garden variety spammer posting inappropriate stuff on the forums.

Did you have some Wild Turkey before you took the photos? ? Pour me a glass and I should be able to ID the bird for you. ?

I'm very far from being an expert, but here are my heuristics for the non-gulls. For the downies, for my eyes the shorter beak makes the poof of feathers above the bill really noticeable, which jumps out in the first two pictures. For separating siskins from finches/others, I find the forked tail to be really distinctive when looking at the birds in the tree, along with the heavier streakiness. There are more precise ways to do this, but as a more novice birder those are the marks that I've learned to see for a relatively quick ID.

Got within 1-2 feet of this guy!

Y'all stop feeling the Pintails, please. They don't like it.

8 x 42 is the “standard” birding binocular - 8x magnification, with a 42 millimeter diameter objective lens. The larger the objective lens, the more light that is let in. So, 8 x 42 binoculars will work better in low light than 8 x 30, for example. Some people prefer 10 x 42 - with slightly more powerful magnification - but they are often heavier, and do not perform as well in low light conditions as a lower magnification binocular with the same objective lens diameter. There are also 10 x 50 binoculars, which have both stronger magnification, and a larger objective lens (letting in more light, so they perform well in low light conditions), but these will be larger and heavier. Ultimately, it is really personal preference (8x or 10x). But 8 x 42 is often considered standard.

You do it after you get back home, of course! I still eBird with a pencil and notepad.

@Charlie Spencera little update on the Scaup situation...my ebird reviewer flagged it, got in touch with me, I sent all of my original video media to them, and they said lesser for all...they sounded like quite the expert on the matter, pointing out that it was a common practice for them in this particular area to be scanning through all of the (rather common) lessers in the hopes of finding a rare greater in the mix, often to no avail. Just wanted to give you props for having reservations on those; you are clearly not alone and I've changed my list accordingly (I don't want any trouble with my local reviewer this early on in my career, lol).

Fish; "If this crazy Osprey tries to take me out, I'll just sock him with this here stick I'm hidin' under."

I vote for the Purple-spotted Snorklewhacker.

Brant! Eurasian Wigeon!

I'm surprised I don't have a better one.

Hey! Those were half of my Lifers!!

Yes. Best looks it has given me yet.

From yesterday

Gods, woman, aren't I screwed up enough for you when I'm sober?

Thanks to everyone who reported the spammer's posts. That gets my full attention!

Agreed

It’s a gray catbird on the right. The slate gray back with the rusty under tail coverts are distinctive.

But... I can't think of any good Bobcat puns! ???

"This will make a great profile picture for my dating website account!"

I'd recommend the 8x if you don't have much experience using binoculars (or anything with a long lens) as the more magnification you have the more difficult it will be to find the bird. I personally think the standard 42mm is too heavy to carry around with all my other birding equipment, so I have bins that are half the size and I do just fine.

Yes, Swamp Sparrow - photo seems identifiable to me (at least the cropped brightened one)

Sounds about right. Birders on the east coast - or pretty much anywhere away from the west coast - have it much easier.

Looks Mexican-ish but the tail looks pretty whitish - so maybe a hybrid? No curled tail feathers. Either Mexican or hybrid, I guess. You are probably more familiar with Mexican Ducks than I am, living in New Mexico and all, what are your thoughts? I feel like this could be a pure Mexican but I don’t know enough about those Mallard-like species to say for sure.

I agree with Coop. Flat-topped head that doesn't look small, big bill with the top edge continuing the line of the forehead instead of jutting out, Neandertal brow ridge. By the way, its two middle tail feather are supposed to be the longest, so maybe these haven't finished growing in yet.

No clue for the first four. I agree with Adian B... # 5 a/b/c Downy...sharp pointed bill. # 6 a/b are Pine Siskins. ?

How do you report all your rare birds?

https://ebird.org/media/catalog?taxonCode=musduc2&q=Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) - Cairina moschata (Domestic type)

Young Red-tailed is correct. The bulky build, short tail, and white "V" on the scapulars rule out Cooper's The very pale eyes, indistinct barring on the secondaries, and pale cere point away from Red-shouldered And the very thin dark tail bands rule out Coop and Red-shouldered.

White-winged Scoter and Mountain Bluebird

I agree

I strongly considered the P1000 but the weight is more than I'm willing to carry, especially in the field for several hours.

The first pic is perfectly identifiable, as Magnolia has a distinctive tail pattern.