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Finally got a Sora to make itself seen in the County. First one for our eBird Illustrated Checklist.

Mt Hood and Trillium Lake a week ago at daylight.

Great Egret and Double-crested Cormorant by hbvol50, on Flickr

Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) by hbvol50, on Flickr Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) by hbvol50, on Flickr

MN, 8-4-19 Wood Duck :

Indigo Bunting

Prothonotary Warbler, inviting a spider to lunch by hbvol50, on Flickr Prothonotary Warbler by hbvol50, on Flickr

😇

Well, Einstein said that time is relative, and I'm beginning to believe that. The older I get the faster time seems to go, so I must be getting older and older faster and faster. My oldest son will be 50 in Oct, so what does that make me??!!!??? He should still be in his teens!

Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) by hbvol50, on Flickr

Maintenance was done; looks like everything is fine now... Let me know if there are more problems.

American Avocet - and a study in symmetry DuPage Co., IL P.S. I love all the photos on this thread - even trying to be judicious I keep running out of 💗s!! 🙃

A few of my Butterfly pictures - Summer 2019 (the name of each Butterfly is reflected in the file name) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail by Johnny, on Flickr American Lady by Johnny, on Flickr Painted Lady by Johnny, on Flickr Red Admiral by Johnny, on Flickr Spicebrush Swallowtail by Johnny, on Flickr Monarch by Johnny, on Flickr

Red-shouldred Hawk.

You're x years older than me, and 2x years younger than @Bird Brain, so you're 13 years old.

Yeah, I'm ten years younger than @Bird Brain but somehow his formula makes me only six months younger 😞 😭

You bet!! If I reverse the numbers in my age and divide them by 2 I'm only 13-1/2 yrs old!!! 😁 Unfortunately that will only work for 10 more days, though. Then if I do that I'll be 18-1/2. See how much faster you age the older you get!!??!!

These are two completely different, and quite interesting, behaviors. Herons and egrets do this "canopy feeding" behavior when they kind of turn into an umbrella to help them fish. There are many theories, including creating shade to attract the fish while they are hunting, letting them better see their prey in the water (like wearing sunglasses), and to camouflage themselves so that the fish think they are just a dark mass (not a predator). A very good example of this behavior is the Black Heron: https://vimeo.com/303166907. Other herons do variations of this technique, including the confusing, outstreched-wing dance of the Reddish Egret and the bright yellow feet of Black Herons, Little Egrets, Snowy Egrets, etc. help attract their prey while they sometimes spread their wings in ambush. Anhingas and cormorants, on the other hand, spread their wings due to their biological and behavioral needs. Since they do not have oil glands to keep their feathers waterproof like most birds do (they need to be able to dive into the water), they need to spread their wings to dry them and to absorb heat. Of course, herons and egrets also sun themselves by exposing the undersides of their wings, too. Sources: https://www.audubon.org/news/watch-black-heron-fool-fish-turning-umbrella https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhinga

It works for me. That is a Great Blue Heron. One indicator is the stature of the bird... the body is diagonal while the neck is very curved. Cranes hold their bodies more straight up and down and rarely curve their necks as much as herons.

Painted Bunting 2019/05/28.

Blue Grosbeak by Mark Goodwin, on Flickr

I had this one posted on the old site before the crash. Thought I'd put it here since I'm sure a lot of people have trouble with these two, and it's very rare to see them together. This is a once-in-a-lifetime shot!!! Hope it helps distinguish them for y'all who have been having trouble when you see one or the other and can't decide which it is. Common Gallinule (foreground) and American Alligator 1-Fla Trip Nov 2013 096 by Wayne J Smith, on Flickr

Ok, I agree with Sean but really want to help you understand why, at least for these adult terns: Royal Tern: Breeding: Adults are large, have pointed wings, a full black, shaggy crest, a bright orange bill, and a long forked tail. Caspians have heavier, redder bills with black tips, are bigger overall, and have darker primaries. Elegants have a thinner, longer bill. Commons/Forster’s are smaller, have a thinner, shorter, dark-tipped bill, and have orange (not black) legs. Nonbreeding: Similar to breeding but have a narrow shaggy black band (not a full crest) at the back of the head. Caspians have a heavier, dark-tipped bill with a fuller black crown. Elegants have a longer, thinner bill and wider black crest patch. Common/Forster's are smaller and have a blacker, thinner bill. Forster's Tern: Breeding: Adults are medium-sized, have pointed wings, full black cap, long, forked tail, a black-tipped orange, thin bill, orange legs, and have white underparts with pale primaries. Roseates are slimmer, have a longer, whiter tail, and lack the black trailing edge. Artics have shorter legs and a redder, shorter beak. Commons have a darker belly and darker wings. Nonbreeding: Have a black eyepatch, white nape, thin, black bill, and orange feet. Roseates/Arctics have black feet and have a black nape. Common Terns have a black nape and blacker wings. Sandwich Tern: Breeding: Adults have a full black shaggy crest, a black, thin bill with a pale tip, and black legs. Elegants have longer orange bills. Gull-billed have shorter, thicker, full black bills. Royals have bigger orange bills. Nonbreeding: Similar to breeding but only have a partial rear black crown patch. Hope that helped you clear up things a little. Terns are not hard birds to identify, at least compared to gulls! 😊

Eastern WA

Lot of green herons on this page Green Heron by johnd1964, on Flickr

You know you're an Old Birder if the first entry on your life list is an Archaeopteryx.

Told you so.

Do young'uns do that? (I think they just can't count past 20 LOL! Running away as fast as these old legs can carry me...

So you're x years younger than me, and 3x years younger than @Bird Brain. It's all a matter of how long you've been in your current decade, young man! (Wait till the young birders find out we'll be grading them on this...😅

If I gotta get old I'm taking as many people with me as possible!!

MN, It seems the younger crowd is wearing spiked hair again. :

Head east on the trail and you'll get there!

Black-chinned hummingbird

Rio Grand River gorge between Espanola and Taos

Heres a few pics of Black crowned second year bird another second year bird and a recent fledged one, note the eye color of them and here are a few yellow crowned second year recent fledged and a one about to fledge, biggest thing to notice is beak shape,the YCNH is much blunter compared to the sharp BCNH hope these pics help...

Well If I reverse the numbers in my age and multiply by 2 I am 62.😀

With the relatively fine spots on the wings, and the heavy, somewhat blunt bill, this is a Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

They're not as good as @HamRHead's Swallow-Tailed Kite photos, but they're the only other ones in this forum!

MN, Juv. Warbling Vireo. :

Birding has been very light around here lately, but the moths haven't. Nearly 4.5" wide Imperial Moth Dark Marathyssa Moth Tufted Bird-dropping Moth I think this is my first Angle Shade - Olive Angle Shade Four-toothed Mason Wasp More here - https://www.balancethechaos.com/birding

I don't think I like your math theory, @Bird Brain. According to your formula, you start aging 1 year for every 2 days at your age. I always thought it just felt like that, I didn't want to see a math formula that supports that theory.

I photographed these terns this morning, 07-19-2019 at Bombay Hook NWR, Smyrna, Delaware, USA. I'm thinking Forster's Terns but want to make sure before I post the shot on Facebook. Thanks in advance, ...Jerry