MarkG

I saw four of these ducks on one of the smaller retention ponds in the neighborhood this morning. (Chapel Hill, NC) I couldn't ID them when I saw them, but got a few OK long range photos. I went through a few of my bird books without and luck and then used the ID feature on Merlin. It had some initial problems identifying the bird as well, but I finally found a decent image of the duck and Merlin ID'd it as a Ring-necked Duck. Merlin also ID's it as a rare bird for around here, so I'd really like a second opinion before I post it on my eBird checklist. Thanks!

I found this Pine Warbler this morning and gently stalked it for about 20 minutes. It was a bit of a treat to have it low and not have to take photos looking up. I ended up taking well over a hundred photos and ended up with a pretty decent ratio of good photos. I'm posting two because I just can't select one that I think is best.

If I thought about my best or favorite photo for much more than a few seconds having to choose would be difficult. But as soon as I thought about it this photo was the first photo that popped into my head. It's a Mangrove Swallow, the photo was taken while on a river tour of the Frio River in the northern part of Costa Rica. It was taken last year in January, a few months before the pandemic kicked in.

Not my favorite bird, but I took this photo a few days ago and thought it was a nice shot.

Hello, Seen a few days ago in Chapel Hill, NC. This is the season of the sparrow around here. Mostly I see White-throated and Song Sparrows, but I'm always looking for the different sparrow in the crowd. I do see Swamp's and occasionally a Fox or Savannah. I'm not sure if the two photos are of the same bird, but I thought these were Swamp Sparrow's although I thought I'd ask for another opinion or two. Thanks!