These are boat-tailed grackles at Holly Beach, Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico. They look busy doing grackle stuff, though there is one in the background that looks like it's just enjoying the view.
"When you smell saltwater on the East Coast, it’s time to look out for Boat-tailed Grackles. The glossy blue-black males are hard to miss as they haul their ridiculously long tails around or display from marsh grasses or telephone wires. The rich, dark-brown females are half the size of males and look almost like a different species. Boat-tailed Grackles take advantage of human activity along our increasingly developed coast, scavenging trash and hanging out in busy urban areas away from predators." - allaboutbirds.org
Albatrossity pointed out that this is a yellow rumped warbler. After doing more research I agree that it is likely a warbler. Which is not new to me, I've seen one other.
I thought this was ruby-crowned kinglet, a new bird for me. Like the house finch a posted a few minutes ago, this bird was at the top of the same tree on the same day. So, it took some work to get a halfway decent picture out of the small noisy original. But here it is.
This is a Phaon crescent butterfly. You can see just how small by comparing to the clover. I saw the butterfly yesterday in my backyard.
"Phaon Crescent Phyciodes phaon - Wingspan: 1 - 1½ inches (2.5 - 3.8 cm). The forewing is dark orange and black with a pale cream band. The underside of the hindwing is cream to yellowish; spring and fall butterflies have a gray hindwing." - alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu
Here's a female ruby throated hummingbird guarding my hummingbird feeders against intruders. This photo is from September 2022. I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet this year.
"The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping. The best it can do is shuffle along a perch. Nevertheless, it scratches its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing." - allaboutbirds.org
"Like other doves and pigeons, White-winged Doves have some unusual abilities. They can suck and swallow water without moving their heads. And they use a secretion from the esophagus, known as crop milk, to feed nestlings. Both parents may consume snails and bone fragments to help their bodies create the nutritious fluid." - allaboutbirds.org
Look at this northern cardinal. Despite being in the center of a thick tight tangle of branches it moves with relative ease. Any acrobat would be envious. The bird is making its way to one of my bird feeders. In this photo, I'm not sure whether he's flying to his next perch or simply jumping. I suppose it's probably a combination of both, because he will need to right himself from the dive. Don't you think so?
"The female cardinal sings duets with her mate during courtship and while she's on the nest. During that time, her singing tells her mate when to bring food — and also when to stay away. This warning keeps the more conspicuous male's visits to a minimum, lest his flashy color expose the nest to predators." - abcbirds.org
I swear I didn't look at the collared dove Martha.
These two mourning doves have been hanging around for a while, usually in the same tree. I applied human body language to this scene in my head and it's pretty comical.
Here's a red bellied woodpecker hanging from what looks like a small green apple in a white oak tree. I mentioned this a couple days ago and promised to post a picture. Here it is.
I got curious and did just a little bit of research. Apparently the little balls are called an oak apple gall. They're deformed leaves caused by wingless wasp eggs/larva.
"Oak apple gall information tells us that galls are formed when a female oak apple gall wasp lays eggs in the central vein on an oak leaf. When the larvae hatch, chemical and hormone interaction between the wasp eggs and the oak causes the tree to grow the round gall." - gardeningknowhow.com
Here is a goldfinch flying toward one of my feeders. I took this photo about three weeks ago. I cropped this a lot; the original photo had a tree on the left and a bird feeder on the right. with a whole lot of space below. The bird probably took up 1/100th of the original photograph. My camera resolution is 32.5 Mpi; I wish it was higher there'd be more detail. Regardless, I still like the photo.
I'm a little bit excited to share this photo. It's one of the better photos of a black vulture in flight that I've taken.
Two of these birds rose out of the forest near my house while we were out walking and caught me completely off guard. I think they may have a roost close by.
I believe there is a turkey vulture roost close by as well. Years ago I used to run right by them every morning. But that road has since been paved and they probably moved deeper into the forest away from the road.
"One-on-one at a carcass, Black Vultures lose out to the slightly larger Turkey Vulture. But flocks of Black Vultures can quickly take over a carcass and drive the more solitary Turkey Vultures away." - allaboutbirds.org
This is a good photo of a tufted titmouse flying. I have a whole sequence of the bird approaching the feeder, taking off again, and landing in a tree. There are a lot of goo photos in the sequence, but this is the best.
"The Tufted Titmouse's name derives from the Old English words "tit" and "mase," basically meaning "small bird." The word "mase" eventually became obsolete and this part of the name morphed into the familiar word "mouse," a convenient switch because the quick-moving little gray bird probably reminded people of the small rodent." - abcbirds.org
This photo is slightly out of focus. The bird flew off as I was trying to photograph it and I just managed to capture its image in the bottom left corner of the frame.
Even out of focus, it's a pretty photo of a blue jay in flight.
{"In comparison to other birds, Blue Jays fly quite slowly at 20 to 25 miles per hour. Ducks can fly at about 60 miles per hour, so in comparison, Blue Jays’ flight is leisurely." - birdfeederhub.com
This is Ben during our walk about a week ago. He had been to Miss Millie's (groomer). He always gets a neckerchief when he goes there. Ben will be 14 in March.
This little chickadee was dashing in and out of the feeder yesterday. I caught up with it in an oak tree using the limb to break a seed that it made off with.
"The Black-capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items to eat later. Each item is placed in a different spot and the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding places." - allaboutbirds.org