lonestranger

Welcome to WhatBird @Kathleen. If the bird can fly, even short distances, you're best to leave it where you found it. It may still be relying on it's parents for food and while you may not see them around, they'll be looking out for their young. Give the bird lots of space so it's parents won't feel threatened and keep any cats indoors, watch from a distance. This link is very helpful when dealing with young and/or injured birds. https://forums.whatbird.com/index.php?/announcement/3-what-to-do-if-you-find-a-baby-or-injured-bird/ As for the identity of the bird, a photo would definitely

Looks like a hybrid between a hummingbird and the bat signal.

When I had a long lens to carry, I used to rotate the tripod collar so the foot was right on top of the lens out of the way of all controls, and then I could use the tripod foot as a handle for carrying the camera. When the tripod foot was too small to use as a handle, I used a 4 or 5 inch extension plate lengthening the holding/mounting area. When I used a camera strap, attached to the camera, it was a wide deluxe model that I would swing off to the side and then help support the lens with my hand. I prefer the strap attached to the tripod foot, but haven't always been able to connect them th

I think Rose-breasted Grosbeak fits better for being at a feeder though, and their song is similar to that of an American Robin. I agree that it's probably a long shot, but we'll see what else @Dave Roper has to say.

My first thought was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Edit: I admit it doesn't match up perfectly but it was a first impression comment.

Perhaps you're hearing young owls still in the nest who are just learning to use their voice and haven't quite got it right yet?

So you DO think that we should all learn the same method as you use. Read a field guide and memorize everything in it, range maps, subtle plumage variations, behaviour, etc. Thanks for your input but I think I will learn from those that include an answer with their helpful tips. You should try it sometime, an answer and how they got it seems to work for most everyone else.

Are these types of responses suppose to be helpful?...Or is it just an opportunity for you to frustrate those of us without your knowledge, and/or those of us that don't have the desire to become as knowledgable as you? Seriously though, do you feel ALL birders should have to learn how to ID birds to the same extent as you before they're worthy of a direct answer?

Just for the sake of discussion, is it possible this is a leucistic Gray Catbird? The dark eyes and tail shape seem like a possible match to these untrained eyes.

Maybe it was named after a romantic encounter???? 😉

I suspect that the Barred Owls you're hearing, @tclarkwood, have already taken up a nest and are possibly already raising their young. All About Birds has live nest cams from Indiana with two chicks just hatched on April 11, 2020. With incubation being 28-33 days, that means these eggs were laid sometime back towards the beginning-middle of March. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/barred-owls/ Keep your eyes, and ears, open, you may be able to get a glimpse of the adults flying to and from the nest as they feed any young they might have.

Feeling left out, Melierax? Seriously now, and don't take this personally, but I'd rather not welcome you into the unanswered club, although I think it's inevitable.

After me joking about you getting her gender wrong, yeah you're suppose to know ...before that, well, never mind.

I doubt that @Aveschapines would leave over some silliness arising from accidental hiccups in the forum, but SHE might leave if SHE keeps getting called a he. 😉

That sounds awfully Adult like for a young birder's forum. Are you sure you're young enough to still act like a kid? Oh wait, that's exactly what we're doing here, isn't it? 😁

Hiccups????....😉

@Aveschapines, this is what happens when someone quotes from a quote instead of quoting the original content.

Okay, I admit that I might have exaggerated a bit there. The theory is to set a base exposure using a mid-tone subject, something that's not bright or dark. When you change your aim to something that is brighter or darker than your base line, it will appear brighter or darker in your photo but hopefully still look natural, mostly, and not too far on either end of the baseline. You didn't end up taking more photos of black cats in a coal mine, did you? 😁 If you want your dark areas to be as bright as the the baseline shot, which admittedly you'll want to do at times, you just have to turn the

It sounds like the meter has tricked the photographer similar to the way it tricks the camera into reading the lighting wrong. When you change directions the background changes and the meter will reflect that by going up and/or down, even though the lighting hasn't changed. Manual photography is almost a set it and forget it adjustment, if you take a few test shots and find the right exposure, you can pretty much ignore the meter and just leave your settings alone. It'll need to be reset when the lighting changes but if the lighting stays the same, set it and forget it. Try this Charlie.

I think Tony already answered your question.

I know that the Sunny 16 rule is not really necessary to know about with today's cameras but I think it's worth reading about. This short article might make setting your camera up for manual exposure a little easier and shows charts for suggested settings under various lighting conditions. https://www.slrlounge.com/photography-essentials-the-sunny-16-rule/

I suspected that the UFO in the first photo was an artifact of sorts showing the wings separated from the body, but I had never heard of rolling shutter effect before and had no idea how the artifact/UFO came to be until reading this thread. Thanks for enlightening me. *smears @Charlie Spencer with offal and stakes him out for the vultures knowing that he has opened this thread yet again* 😀

I think it's a cactus wren @DC064 but I'm not familiar with birds in your area so wait for someone else to confirm that there's not something similar looking.

Whether you're learning or not, an outdoor classroom is always preferable. 😉 While you're indoors though, here's a link to an online source of tips and tutorials that might be helpful. I found the author to be easy to read and understand and the topics are pretty much anything you could think of and some topics you may not have thought about. I took the liberty of finding a short lesson on Manual mode because of the relevance, but if you look up top you'll see links to the Tips and Tutorials and the How do I? sections where you can find all kinds of topics in a similar format as this. https:

That's the sad part about getting better at photography, there is a lot to learn and it can become overwhelming at times. I started out much like @Charlie Spencer and struggled to understand what other people took for granted. I'd read the camera's manual and saw how to change settings without knowing why I would want to change them or how that would affect the end results. There's still settings I have never explored and don't know why I would need them, but they're there if I ever get around to learning them. I would read online resources and see that so-and-so used this mode and took stunni