Connor Cochrane

Blue Grosbeak don't live in my area, so all the photos I have of them is from when I was on trips or a rare one showed up around me.

It gets hot over there in the desert. I’ve been In 119 over there, not fun.

Haven’t done this in awhile birdie 🦉 #36: 🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛ https://birdiegame.net/

Not yet. I got the free trial a few months back and was really pleased with the results. The only problem is use a fairly old laptop to edit photos, and it took around 10 minutes for a single photo to process through dxo. I'm going to wait till I get a slightly newer computer in a year or so before I make the switch. I'm still using Topaz De-noise which only takes 2-3 minutes to process.

Yeah, I actually got really lucky with this one. Most of the European warblers are pretty secretive, and I had been trying to get one of the Cisticolas to come out in the open. I pished, which I haven't had much success with in europe, and this bird flew in to a branch right in front of me. I only got this one frame before it flew away so I consider myself lucky with this one.

American White Pelican and Wood Stork are two possibilities.

A Zitting Cisticola from Spain today https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/462237321

From yesterday, Common Swift

I brought an almost 20 year old lens to Europe with me as I didn't want my main gear to get stolen. This means no good pictures. I'm surprised I was even able to get a slightly focused photo in flight of this Common Swift.

Yeah, I think I got three lifers on that list.

First day birding in Europe this trip. https://ebird.org/checklist/S113505997

Got an unexpected bird at during a layover in Germany, a Red Kite.

Sounds like a Pileated Woodpecker in everything but size. Are you sure it was eight feet? Size is extremely hard to judge in the field, especially if a bird is flying up in the sky. There really is no bird that matches your description.

You got a lot better photo of it than I did

I’m going to be in the Barcelona area. While definitely not as good as central and southern Spain, there’s still a few decent spots in the area. I just don’t know how much I’ll be able to get out of the busiest part of the city.