Jerry Friedman

What if the following word is "Goose" or "Bunting" or "y Owl"?

I'd say it's "Them are ducks," etc. There's another version of this that I heard in my youth. Maybe it's the one with "C M B D Is?" (See them beady eyes?)

Or maybe it grew two aberrant long white feathers from its lower back or something?

Maine Remote Ducks?

I now see the Illinois tag.

By the way, where was this? Sharp-shinned are more northern than Cooper's, though there's lots of overlap.

The broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped look and the rather light-colored streaking suggest Sharpie to me.

The tips of the uninflated stems might have seeds. Though I think the problem is getting the seeds after they're ripe but before they get lost in the soil.

Desert Trumpet or Bottle Stopper, Eriogonum inflatum. Those are actually inflated stems.

I agree with both. There's not much doubt about a Halloween Pennant.

Couldn't edit fast enough. That'll teach me to put all my flowers in one basket. Bog orchid, Platanthera sp. (maybe aquilonis) Elephant's Head (a lousewort), Pedicularis groenlandica American Bistort, Bistorta bistortoides Orange Sneezeweed, Helenium hoopesii Parrot's Beak (another lousewort), Pedicularis racemosa Landscaping idea, California Corn Lily or False Hellebore, Veratrum californicum, and Blue Spruce, Picea pungens Potentilla, Dasiphora fruticosa (two shots). The slope isn't quite as steep as it looks, but close.' Minuartia obtusiloba (white) and Tetraneuris acaulis var. caespitosa (yellow). Thanks to the good folks on the NM plants list for ID.

The botanists say "DYC" for "damn yellow composite". I've heard even harsher words. There's no hope to identify most daisy-like flowers unless you get more shots--whole plant, leaves, and often a side view of the flowerhead showing the phyllaries, leaf-like structures around the base. Seeds can be helpful too. For experts, not for me.

Were they looking at something dead?