lonestranger

Someone posted a work around to the photo limit and it seems that others are taking advantage of it and ignoring the upload limits.

A pheasant surprise yesterday.

I think there's one element that hasn't been mentioned yet regarding ebird's photo rating system, only the BEST photos deserve 5 star ratings. I don't think anyone should start off rating their own photo as a 5 star image unless they honestly believe it is amongst the BEST photos they have ever rated. The idea of the rating system is to find the BEST photos, if you believe your photo belongs with the BEST photos, then rate it accordingly. On the other hand, if you know that there are better photos than yours of any particular species, then you have to ask yourself, if your photo is not of the same quality as some of the best photos, do your photos deserve 5 star ratings? My point is, I believe that only exceptional photos should get top ratings, putting 5 star ratings on good photos makes it harder to find the great photos if they both have the same 5 star rating. I think that applies to everyone and is not directed at any one person. Having said that, I'd like to point out to @IKLland that photography is an art form or craft that takes time to master, I hope to get there one day myself. I think you're expecting a little too much for a new photographer with a new camera. Give yourself time to learn some of the basics like lighting, composition, and learn the camera's different settings for different situations, like when to use exposure compensation, etc., etc. I suggest checking out a few photography tutorial websites, some of the lessons are essential to understanding how to take better photos. Don't forget that it takes time to understand what it takes to make a great photo, but once you start to understand what you're doing, your photos will just get better and better. Don't get frustrated, you'll get there if you keep at it.

I think everyone has been allowing roughly 48 hours to add a caption.

There's a second Coot on the shore.

Does that mean that ONLY females have this type of plumage variation due to hormone imbalances, or can a male mallard take on female characteristics including bill patterns?

He'd chuck more wood if could chuck wood. A heck of lot more than if he couldn't chuck wood.

One difference is the use of old photos in this contest. TBN photo challenge has to be a new photo taken after the challenge is posted.

Thanks @Candydez12. I'm going to let @Aidan B choose the next category.

Ovenbird?

Veery?

You have got to be kidding me. Did they really think they could cage me up with bars like these?

It usually takes me a while to find photos of specific species since most of my photos aren't tagged or organized other than by date. My choice of photo was easy to find this time, I knew one of my earliest photos was still one of my best so I just jumped right to the beginning of my gallery and there it was just a few rows down from the start. Taken back in 2009.

There's already a discussion on the go for spring migration, @tclarkwood.

I'm not sure of the bird's orientation either. I question whether the obvious wing is the top of the far wing or the underside of the closer wing. Maybe I've been looking at too many optical illusions lately, but I can see this bird from both perspectives.

I'm not sure where would be the best spot to include a suggestion like that. Is there already a pinned thread for how to reply to an ID request? I thought there was one that explained about providing field marks when suggesting a different ID, etc., but I can't find it. Perhaps @Charlie Spencer could incorporate it into one of his existing pinned posts.

This pretty much sums up my view on a good reply to a request for an ID. It's the simple explanations that are included in the reply that separate a good reply from an okay or bad reply, in my opinion. Including information that explains the field marks is very handy, but if that explanation is in complex terms that some people don't understand, then it's only handy to some people. While many birders here might know that R5 and R6 are referring to tail feathers, a reply that links R5 and R6 to specific tail feathers is more useful to those that don't know that much about birds yet and therefore handy/helpful to everyone. Yeah it takes a bit longer to type things out, but it saves the other person from having to look it up themselves, or dismissing it because that's not where their research interest lies.

I was referring to exceptions such as Canada Goose and Cackling Goose that don't fit the normal shorthand you're referring to, an exception beginners might not know about when CAGO is used. I have picked up a lot from reading the forums but many new members may find the jargon confusing, I know I did and sometimes still do.

I think it's a hummingbird so I'll GUESS Anna's Hummingbird.

*builds a soapbox big enough to pin things from* ?

I think this is something that should be emphasized throughout the website, maybe even pinned somewhere. *hint hint @Aveschapines, @Charlie Spencer...tries not to be obvious...fails* While codes are helpful to those that know them, and know all the exceptions associated with them, codes are totally useless and often confusing if you don't know EVERYTHING there is to know about them. Strictly speaking for myself of course. ?