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@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 10, 2026, 3:34 PM

Harrier and kite

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/55581010910/in/album-72177720336070465

Belated
#OTD 10/9/2026 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

It was a very grey day. And I felt like the company I was in did not much appreciate me.

The photo is also very grey. There in a single frame is - a grey ghost (a Northern harrier) flying in from the left, and near the center of the frame is a lovely white-and-grey kite perched on a bushy but bare bush atop a drab green hillock.

In the background are waves of drab green grass interspersed with barren grey ground below a blotchy grey sky.

And yet. A harrier! A kite! Doing what they do best. Eating up the landscape.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 8, 2026, 5:08 PM

Snowy egret with lunch

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/10165763193/in/album-72157636345248354/

Snowy egret doing a jig

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/10165776683/in/album-72157636345248354/

#OTD 10/8/2013 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

Whenever we see a gorgeously feathered white bird poking around the tidepools here, it's either a great egret or a snowy egret. If it's a photo from a while ago and we don't see an additional gorgeously feathered white bird of a different size, well for me it's hard to tell what kind of bird I'm looking at.

UNLESS I can see the bird's feet. Because if the feet are yellow, that bird is a fan of yellow SNOW (ew. I know. right?) and so then we know that even though there is never snow around here, not to mention yellow snow, that bird with the yellow feet is a SNOWY egret. This one is showing us both of its yellow feet, and its toes are splayed out on the dark rock upon which it is standing.

Also, it is showing us the fish it is eating for lunch.

And this gorgeously feathered white bird is doing some kind of a joyous dance. Its wings are spread and its yellow feet are up in the air a little. Perhaps it's just coming in for a landing, but it looks like a dance for me.

These were both taken on one of those days at Mavericks where everything was as it should be. We are not getting many of those lately.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 7, 2026, 5:07 PM

Wood duck reflecting at Neary Lagoon

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/29570523714/in/album-72157671493456473/

#OTD 10/07/2016 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

I have not had many opportunities to photograph wood ducks; am grateful that I got to see this one, as well as his lovely reflection, at Neary Lagoon.

He was swimming by with the female, his mate, I assume.

The male is a striking, deep-blue-colored duck with an oval patch of gold outlined with elegant white slashes at its midsection. His beak is a bright deep orange, with a white slash and a black tip. His eye is bright red. He's got white slashes around his neck and pointing up to his eye. The reflection in the water shows all these as well as the weeds we don't see in the frame.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 6, 2026, 5:06 PM

Acorn woodpecker all upside down at the food bank

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/30252731037/in/album-72157696360955370/

#OTD 10/6/2018 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

In the photo we see the substantial trunk of a bare tree and two of its thick branches, all three pockmarked with a huge number of storage holes for acorns.

At the very bottom left of the photograph, we see a little male acorn woodpecker, upside down, attached to one of the branches. We know that it is male because it is wearing a bright red cap.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 5, 2026, 5:05 PM

Cormorants silhouetted

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/10111611553/in/album-72157636236804724/

#OTD 10/5/2013 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

We see cormorants pretty much every time we go to Mavericks.

They are not showy birds. When they fly, it looks like they are working hard to make progress. Their wings move slowly up and down. Their plump bodies move forward jerkily.

In this photo, we see two cormorants in flight. Their bodies are silhouetted against the darkening sky. Their wings are blurred because at the time, I did not have a fancy camera and my camera too had to work hard to deal with the darkening sky.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 4, 2026, 5:04 PM

Scrubjay posing

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/54833227459/in/album-72177720329456881/

#OTD 10/4/2025 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

The scrubjay in the photo is looking right at me from its left eye. Its beak is facing to the left. It has a beautiful sky-blue head, wears a small (Zero-style), dark-blue mask over its eye, has a dashing white eyebrow, white chest mottled with a little blue, and a white tail tipped with blue.

The bird is wedged between two thin, light-colored twigs and is holding on to them, one claw wrapped around each twig. The bird is leaning against the twig that curves up and away from the bird's left side. The other twig is curving away from the bird's right side and intersects with a third elegantly curved twig. A thin, branching branch is leaning in toward the bird from the left side.

A very pale blue sky forms the background.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 3, 2026, 5:03 PM

Hummingbird and no more.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/54078570320/in/album-72177720321327075/

#OTD 10/3/2024 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

Just one perfect bright sparkling green hummingbird in a solid sky blue sky.

Enough is as good as a feast, right?

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 2, 2026, 5:02 PM

Looking down (in a positive way) on a juvenile red-tailed hawk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/36857968743/in/album-72157687629984263/

#OTD 10/2/2017 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

At Hawk's Hill, the juvenile red-tailed hawks fly underneath you as you scan the horizon for birds. We know they are juveniles because their tails show no sign of the red coloration of adult red-tailed hawks.

In this photo, we see the entire length of the top side of the bird - beak to brown head to lovely brown tail (with bright white edging), its stippled brown wings both extended and the "fingers" spread.

This child is full-on riding that wind!

We also see the blurry contours of the land and vegetation below.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 1, 2026, 5:01 PM

Hummingbird sticking its tongue out (not at us)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/21863570182/in/album-72157659289104756/

#OTD 10/1/2015 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

Anna's hummingbird - probably a female - sitting on a bare patch of a bottlebrush. To the far left of the bird is a bottlebrush flower. Perhaps that is why the bird's tongue is fully extended and is arching toward the flower. We can nearly see where the tongue attaches in the inside of the bird's mouth. Behind the bird are a number of bottlebrush branches with leaves extending in many directions.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 30, 2026, 4:30 PM

Family of sandhill cranes in Kissimmee Florida

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/48888550171/in/album-72157711310631881/

#OTD 9/30/2019 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

In the photo are 4 sandhill cranes, heads-down, feeding on grass. The bird on the right is wearing blue armbands, so I reported it to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Got this reply:
"Cranes are trying to eke out a living among us in urbanized areas, so we are color-banding &/or attaching a radio-transmitter to a few throughout central Florida to help us understand how they are using developed habitats. This crane is part of our study, we banded it on 7/11/19; it’s a female & she’s missing her left eye!"

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 30, 2026, 4:30 PM

Osprey rated 10 by the lamppost

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/49019710658/in/album-72157711656446027/

#OTD 9/30/2019 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

I photographed this osprey at the Lake Marian Paradise. The osprey is standing facing left atop a post with its tail overhanging a lamp attached to the right side of the post. On the post itself is a tag with the number 8 on it. But the 8 is looking weathered and the tag with the number 10 on the lampshade itself is clearly the judges' final ruling.

And we agree. This is a fine specimen of an osprey. The top of its head is bright white, as is the lower part of its face and the white outlines the bird's breast all the way down to its very sturdy-looking yellow feet. The bird wears a brown mask around its eyes and its down-curved beak looks powerful. The wind has ruffled the bird's breast feathers but the osprey is standing firm. Its brown wings are folded and its tail is aiming downward. Its left eye is yellowish and is looking at me as if to let me know it sees me but it knows I pose no threat.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 30, 2026, 4:30 PM

Grackle telling a snail kite to get off its lawn

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/48927158543/in/album-72157711414994527/

#OTD 9/30/19 #birds #birding #birdsOfMastodon #aBirdAday (or more)

In this photograph taken at the Joe Overstreet Boat Landing, a boat-tailed grackle, its mouth wide open, is letting a snail kite know exactly how miffed it is that the kite is on the piling in front of it. The kite seems to be ignoring the grackle. The water behind the two birds is a blue-grey blur.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 29, 2026, 4:29 PM

Lesser goldfinch fitting in with the dead weeds on the prairie

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/54043860382/in/album-72177720320902691/

#OTD 9/29/2024 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

In the photo, we see a stand of very dry-looking - Queen Anne's lace?, maybe - weeds, about 2 1/2 feet tall. Perched with its feet clutched around one of the stems in the middle of this congregation, we see a lesser goldfinch. Its back is to us, but its beak is facing to the left, so we can clearly see the bird's left eye and the left side of its beak. The black-and-white embellishments on the feathers of the bird's yellowish back provide camouflage - they make the bird look like the droopy leaves on the sides of the stems. The bird's yellow head helps it blend in to the blurry background of the prairie.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 28, 2026, 4:28 PM

Juvenile sharp-shinned hawk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/37146389350/in/album-72157685699741472/

#OTD 9/28/2017 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

Just like us to plan a trip up to Hawk Hill during Fleet Week. Not only can't you get up to the hill, but the traffic stymies all movement and also, the noise of the planes must affect the birds.

In any case, it's not often that I see a sharp-shinned hawk. This is not a great photo of one, but you can see its lovely droop wings and its long tail.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 27, 2026, 4:27 PM

Baleful great horned owl looking down on us

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/10063389686/in/album-72177720329304042/

#OTD 9/27/2013 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

In the good old days before we had to take the trees out of the back yard, the birds would sit high in their branches and look way, way down on us.

Given that it was dark, this owl was far away, and I did not yet have my magical telephoto, this is not the worst photo in my library.

At least the camera is as focused on the owl's yellow eyes as its eyes are focused on us. Also, its bright white bib stands out nicely.

It's a great horned owl, by the way. We can clearly see the horns.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 25, 2026, 4:25 PM

Spotted sandpiper

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/51528605223/in/album-72157720109440818/

#OTD 9/25/2021 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

The great thing about bird walks is that you are with a group of people who know more than you do about - birds. Even if the walk is in a place you have visited many, many times, you will still learn - more.

I am told that this is a spotted sandpiper. It is standing with both feet planted on the left side of a rock. In front of the bird are some other rocks. Behind the rocks is the expanse of the ocean.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 24, 2026, 4:24 PM

Black-bellied plover

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/15401127506/in/album-72157648311571815

#OTD 9/24/2014 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

Ta, ta, ta. Another lovely visit to Mavericks. I think this is a black-bellied plover. What a beauty. Just look at its shiny eye. Not a flashy suit of feathers. But elegant. You can barely see the black belly. The bird is on the shore, looking out at the ocean. I have only one photo of it. It's a pretty good photo.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 23, 2026, 4:23 PM

Great blue heron, king of the mountain

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/37040844680/in/album-72157689543000385/

#OTD 09/23/2017 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

The sun is shining on the face of the great blue heron. The rest of its body is in shadow. The bird is sitting atop the curve of a leafy conifer. The sky behind them is blue and cloudless.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 22, 2026, 4:22 PM

One of the condors we got to see at Bitter Creek.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/44846876492/in/album-72157701702009105

#OTD 9/22/2018 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

It was a magical visit to Bitter Creek. We saw many condors. Most of them are tagged at this point. This one's tag is red and bears the number 1. It is flying alone in this photograph, in a deep blue sky.

@armadillosoft.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Sep 21, 2026, 4:21 PM

A willet, I think.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armadillosoft/15421480851/in/album-72157648248637776/

#OTD 9/21/2014 #birding #birdsOfMastodon #birds #aBirdAday (or more)

A subtle bird, the willet. It's mostly beige, with a single dashing white stripe coming down its face from between its eyes to the top of its beak. It wears a hat of a slightly more reddish color than the rest of its body on the top of its head. It has long dark-colored legs with knobby knees. It seems to be walking on the tips of the three toes on each foot. The bird is standing on a sandy spit. Its beak is facing to the left. Behind the bird is a calm blue-streaked ocean.