GracesWarbler

I was birding a couple days ago (October 6) in Flagstaff, AZ, and I saw a tiny fledgling bird on the ground (first two photos). I saw a Lesser Goldfinch nearby (third photo), which I thought might be a parent. Two questions: 1) Is the little bird a Lesser Goldfinch? 2) Is it normal for a bird this young to be on the ground? It could flutter a little, but only fly a foot or so in the air. It hopped around a little, seemed unsure of what to do (but didn't seem too afraid of me), and chirped loudly. Do the parents come and feed birds in this situation? It was such a tiny little bird, so I was a little concerned for it.

Went out to my favorite birding spot last weekend. Here's a hummingbird. Is it a Broad-tailed (this is in Flagstaff, Arizona)? Here's a female Yellow-headed Blackbird. I've seen a bunch of males (to be fair, they are quite distinctive), but this is my first time noticing one of the females. I'd never seen one of these before. It's a Sora, and it ran off into the reeds practically as soon as I took this picture.

A Yellow-headed Blackbird! Just when I feel like I'm getting a hang on identifying some common birds, the lady-birds throw me off. Thanks. Actually, I'd never heard of a Sora before, before I went looking through the bird book for this one.

Hi all. I went out to a pond near Flagstaff, Arizona yesterday morning. The sunflowers were blooming and I saw a lot of birds. 1) This one was clinging to some of the sunflowers. A Brewer's Sparrow? 2) This one was hanging out in the cat-tails near the water. 3) I spotted this one running through the reeds. I only got a quick look at it, and it ran off. Is it a Sora? 4) There were a few of these hanging out in the sunflowers. Is it a lesser goldfinch? 5) This one was also in the sunflowers, but I saw it earlier than the one above. It looks like the same species as 4, but 4 looks yellowish while I don't see as much yellow here, but maybe that's just me. Is it also a Lesser Goldfinch? Thanks!

That is a magnificent and stately bird.

Thanks! I'll definitely keep working on it. For now, how about some yellow! (Yellow is one of my favorite colors, so I'm glad some of the birds decided to hang out near the flowers.) More yellow, for good measure:

P. S. In regard to the Osprey photos above, does anyone have tips for keeping flying birds in focus? I really wish I hadn't missed the focus on the bird above, but I took about ten photos of it and none of them are completely sharp. I'm using Nikon's auto servo autofocus, which is supposed to switch between single-servo and continuous-servo as appropriate. I've also been using a single autofocus point and trying to keep it centered on the bird. My aperture is wide open, which I guess isn't helping either. Should I be trying a different focusing technique (e.g. continuous-servo, dynamic-area instead of single-point, and/or smaller aperture)? I've seen some fantastically sharp flying birds in this thread!

I've recently been enjoying watching Osprey fish. They slowly circle overhead and, once they see something, they stop circling and begin descending. Slowly at first, then quickly into the water. It's interesting because you can tell when they see something, just by the way they fly. This one seemed interested in me too. I wonder what it was thinking as it flew by, watching a person on the ground staring up at it.

How close did you manage to get for this shot? After wanting to see one for nearly a year, I finally got a look at some Black-crowned Night Herons! This was in the evening, but there's a lot of grain. Anyone have tips? The first one was shot at 1/200 second, wide open (f/6.3) and 6400 iso. That's a very high iso, but I feel like the shutter speed was already a bit low as it is. The second was 1/60 second, but that was after I'd gotten my tripod out. Is the best solution just to go out when there's more light?

Hi all. Here are some hummingbird photos I took on May 13 this year in northern Arizona (Flagstaff). These are all from the same location, near some woods, a pond, and some hummingbird feeders. They look like Black-chinned Hummingbirds to me, but I'm a little colorblind so I wanted a second opinion. Photos 2 and 3 show the same individual, but the others might be other birds (possibly other species?). Opinions? Are any/all of them Black-chinned, or some other species, such as Broad-tailed? 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Thanks! (Say's Phoebe, of course!) Here's another look at the Wren. It was closer to the size of a Rock Wren than a House Wren, if I recall correctly.

Hi all. Two months ago, on May 13, I went birding in high-elevation Arizona (near Flagstaff). Any idea what these birds are? 1) Is this some sort of sparrow? It was on the ground in an open area: 2) This one was sitting in a tree, then on top of a building, with nest supplies in its beak. Someone mentioned what it was, and I think it had something like "mom" or "mother" in it's name, but that might be completely wrong: 3) This one was hanging out in the brush near a small pond: Any ideas? I have more photos of each of these, if it would help.

A very cooperative (and majestic) Raven. Note the tiny white feathers above the eye. Do white feathers indicate anything, or do they just happen sometimes?

Some photos from May. I especially like Red-winged Blackbirds, since they are so obvious and easy to identify. Red-winged Blackbird (female). A Plumbeous Vireo (?). Some sort of puffy bird ball. (A kind of sparrow?) Lots of Red-winged Blackbirds were trying to advertise for themselves. I love the colors on the Red-winged Blackbirds.