lonestranger

MJ's seven year old granddaughter gave this to MJ today for her birthday tomorrow. Talented young girl that knows how much MJ enjoys the birds, which put a big birthday smile on her face.

To my eyes, green herons always seem more blue than green but there is usually a greenish tint to the blue I see.

I just want to point out, as a former moderator on a different chat forum, the mods usually have very little control/input, if any, over the construction or function of the website. Aveschapines does a GREAT job of moderating. I am not sure if she has the IT skills to change the forum setup, I am not sure if she is allowed access to the programming itself to make any changes, and I am not sure if she has anymore influence with Admin than us members do in persuading changes.. I am quite sure though that the crashes, and any faults we find in the current layout of the forums, should not be be dumped on her shoulders. Moderating is a thankless job, and as frustrated as we may be with the current function and layout of the website, Aveschapines deserves our thanks for her efforts, not our criticism.

Vireo, blue-headed IMG_0047 by lonestranger102, on Flickr

Is there enough of the dark patagial markings to call this a young red-tailed, as the OP suggested? I think so, but....

It's probably not what you want to hear, but this article says it hard to tell the difference based on plumage. Tail feathers seem to be the key separator. https://fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/rufous-vs-allens/

Sorry about the size of that one, and any others I may have goofed on. I like filling the viewing area with my photos, but not to the extent where you're forced to see it in pieces while you scroll through the image. *sigh* *BLAMES IT ON THE LIMITED EDITING TIME.... EVEN THOUGH I KNOW IT WAS A BRAINFART ON MY PART*

Owl, Barred

I think the humour fail was mine, not yours.

Oh quit acting like a bunch of seedlings and just grow up.

Insectivore (House Wren) 0C3A0022 by lonestranger102, on Flickr

Dove, Mourning

Just out of curiosity, how many of you noticed that there's two different birds the first time around? Did I sneak that one past anyone?

Brown Creeper IMG_3700 by lonestranger102, on Flickr

Red-tailed hawks are quite variable in their appearance, including the visibility and brightness/darkness of their belly band. Some jump right out at you and look solid brown on a white belly, some show just faint flecks that barely show up on the white belly, and then there's the dark morphs that are dark overall and the belly band matches the same colour as the rest of the bird making the belly band even harder to pick up on. That's just a few of the variables. Isn't IDing birds fun?

Isn't that a WITCH owl?

Is it possible to have two best sides?

You wasted a perfectly good Y and O on your House Finch, lonesome55dove. I would have saved the variants for further down the alphabet, but I'm a cheater like that.

Green Heron

Yellow Warbler I didn't even have to cheat on that one. 😁

How about a Wooden-legged Goose?

Vireo Red-eyed Too slow

Hmmm, I'm not sure ours has ever lasted long enough to have to throw it away. As I said, the squirrels and chipmunks like the jelly too and they do a good job to make sure there's no waste. We only put out a big tablespoon or two at a time, which becomes a daily thing later in the season when the young start showing up. We don't see much of the orioles during nesting season though, they must be eating the same insects they're feeding their young and ignoring the fruit table.

We have pretty good luck with the jelly here in Ontario. All we do is use a plastic lid, usually from a plastic peanut butter jar, as a dish and secure it to our fruit table with a small screw. We use grape jelly and it's often just the cheap no name stuff. It does attract ants, squirrels, chipmunks, etc., so don't set it up right at your front door. The orioles are probably attracted as much by the orange halves we put out but they dive right into the jelly when they find it. The adults have fed the young ones jelly but the young are usually feeding themselves by the time we see them on the fruit table. Not only do the orioles here love the grape jelly but the cardinals, catbirds, and grosbeaks enjoy it too. I highly recommend a fruit table/station with any combination of grape jelly and assorted fruits, orange halves and watermelon slices work great for us. The orioles also like the sugar water mix we feed the hummers, we don't have an actual oriole feeder but they get their fill easy enough from the hummingbird feeders. I'm not sure if this link will work, but page 13 of my flickr photo stream has some pics of orioles at the fruit table from our old place. https://www.flickr.com/photos/27232701@N04/with/20420995539/

Sometimes you just get the urge to do silly stuff with your photos. 🎬