lonestranger

Depending on your editing software there should be a Selection Tool to do that for you. It might work intelligently on its own, or you may need to tweak it a bit as you go. Basically you want to select the bird and then Invert Selection so it includes everything except the bird and then Cut the selected background out of the photo. Without actually seeing the Pileated Woodpecker and how entwined the background is to the bird, it's hard to coach you on what all needs to be done, especially if I'm not familiar with your editing software. I'd be willing to try and do it for you, which would probably be easier than me trying to explain how to do it. If you just want results, I might be able to help, I'll PM you my email if that works for you. If you want the education so you can do it yourself, YouTube tutorials for your specific editing software would probably serve you better.

I could see that as a real possibility. I am now using a shipping container as a storage shed and have already had to chase birds out on three occasions in the first two months. I'm not sure if they were looking for nesting sites or just curious, but they could have easily been closed in if I didn't see them flush deeper into the container when I approached to close the doors. I now do a walk through everytime I close the doors just to be safe, shipping companies might not always take that added precaution though.

I find it interesting how you sounded so confident, at least to me, with your ID in your first post to even suggest the sex of the bird, but after seeing the cropped and brightened photos with so much more detail you seem to lack the confidence to make the call beyond Falcon sp. Perhaps it's how I'm reading it, but you sounded so authoritative in your first post where detail in the photos is questionable, and you come across as challenging the suggestion of Merlin after the cropped images appear to better support that ID. I am curious what makes the bird harder to ID from the cropped photos?

birdie ? #29: ????⬛⬛ https://birdiegame.net/

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I can't tell if there is white barring on the tail or if the white stripe in the first three photos is just a stick that is oriented differently in the 4th and fifth photo. Trying to view these photos on my phone doesn't help but I do get a "Falcon thing" kind of feeling from these images.

Northern Harrier

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birdie ? #28: ????⬛⬛ https://birdiegame.net/

birdie ? #27: ?????? https://birdiegame.net/ Too lazy to check a guide for a bird I'll probably never see.

I thought of those but thought they'd be a bit ambiguous since many woodpeckers have a red crown and/or a red nape and many have a ladder-backed pattern of sorts. Maybe Northern Red-crowned Woodpecker since they sure look the same.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers seldom show their red belly but I'm drawing a blank for a better name. I guess a number system is out of the question? Red-white and Black Woodpecker #1, Red-white and Black Woodpecker #2, Red-white and Black Woodpecker #3,..... Red-white and Black Woodpecker #11, .Red-white and Black Woodpecker #12, etc., is probably not an option, eh?

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Common Loon

Hooded Mergansers

I spotted the Strawberry Moon rising over the trees last night so I grabbed the camera, which was sitting right there beside me. I cranked and cranked the shutter speed down until it gave me a decent exposure and started taking hand held shots at 1/30's shutter speed. If I get the chance tonight I will try again with the tripod stabilizing things so that I can try lowering my ISO below 3200.

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birdie ? #26: ?⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ https://birdiegame.net/

I wonder if @Aaron's Kite is a juvenile. ?

I don't think 'Common' birds are as common as their names imply but it'd be fun to see how many of the birds with 'Common' in their name that we have photographed. There's 37 birds listed on the ABA Checklist with common in their name, and more beyond the ABA list, so let's see how many Common Birds we have photographed. Share individual photos or your complete collection of Birds with Common in their name. I'll start with my most common Common bird, the Common Grackle.

Just to be clear, I wasn't challenging the previous guesses, I was simply adding my guess to the list and trying to make it clear that I didn't know what I was talking about.

I don't know the required frequency, but the way it's worded on https://www.aba.org/aba-checklist/, I think they have to show up in the Americas at one point or another to make the list. So I guess it's already happened. "The ABA Checklist includes species found in the ABA Area which are breeding species, regular visitors, casual and accidental species from other regions that are believed to have strayed here unrestrained by humans, and well-established introduced species that are now part of our avifauna. Species Total: 1128"

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birdie ? #25: ?????⬛ https://birdiegame.net/

I'm not a fisherman but my first thought was speckled trout, or brook trout, which I think is the same thing, but like I said, I am not a fisherman.