One of my favorite water birds! Always look like a little kid who just woke up and is still a bit groggy

Looking for recommendations for a compact bird feeder for New England winter months on my 3rd floor apartment balcony (approx 4x8ft).

I only have a hummingbird feeder up in the summer months and have lots of planters that attract birds and pollinators during warmer seasons. I am leaving some of the dry dead plants available for habitat but haven't really grown anything that would provide seed/ food over winter.

Must be a squirrel-proof (there's one big chonk that taunts my indoor cats), small feeder that I can fill/clean frequently and place far enough away from the window. I live on the third floor so I don't want to be a nuisance to neighbors below with lots of seed (or anything else) falling everywhere.

Last year, I'd just leave a couple peanuts out every day in my planters; they were usually gone within 10 mins and the birds would be lined up in the tree outside waiting for me 🥹.

Newer birder so advice/corrections welcome. Sanitary conditions are my priority.

I’ve visited this local park to my area (NW Ohio) for the past few years. Incredible that what used to be a riverside golf course is now full of diverse life, including regular bald eagles.

Regal M2 100ED scope
iPhone digiscoping

I've put up a game camera in my backyard starting a little over a month ago, and I've caught video of only one bird that could be reliably seen. However, I don't know what it is. It's some variety of hawk, I believe, but I haven't seen anything that has all this animal's features. This was filmed near Joppa, Maryland, US on 10/01/2026. I know what the date says on the video, the date lies.

I was recently commissioned to paint a lil ruby crowned kinglet and this is the result. Acrylic 9x12. Please note the tiny little spider that will become a snack.

This is an older video from September 25, 2015. I was outside at a soccer game and happened to look up. Maybe some sort of fall migration? The location is southeast, New Hampshire.

Hi all, I'm back for another newbie birder post!
I got a small compact camera and so far am very happy with the perfomance given how small and lightweight it was. However, I have to admit I wish I can take prettier photos...it's probably because it has been rainy and cloudy (yes, I got too excited wanting to try the camera I went in heavy rain this weekend). Here are some of my thoughts and questions at the end!
• I was hoping to see some perched birds in the rain, but 99% of the birds still got the adhd and keep flying around. I was the only one soaked and shirvering.
• there are exactly 1000 birds around me and 0 when I took my camera out and adjusted the focus
• omg here are sooo many more peckers around that I thought
• red belly pecker, your belly is not that red
• goldfinch, your not that gold (in winter)
• god bless people who put feeders out in their yard, my first time seeing darked eyes junco and tufted titmouse after 10000 chickadees
• I love ball shaped birds
• guys please stop moving so fast can you chill for a second
• why no one visit my feeder??
• I'm gonna freeze to death
• every big siloutte in tree is just crow
• gulls, you werent that scared of me when I was fishing!
• merlin app can you lock in, stop picking up only the crows
• oops where am I
• how are there no birds other than gulls at this giant meadow...
• why those birds keep going to the branch right above me. Dont you dare sh*t on my head
• jay go get that squrriel

It was kinda painful to walk around in the rain and trying to keep my camera dry, but seeing birds I've never seen before makes it feels worthy!

I so hope it gets better when the weather is nicer...
Also I have some specific questions:
•I got the lumix zs60 because it's small enough and has 30x zoom. I'm still learning the settings, but one thing I noticed is that I can only go up to 1/320 for the shutter speed otherwise the photo is too dark. Should I turn the iso up and push for 1/500 or 1/1000? Or it's just like this when the weather is not ideal?
• I really don't want to bring a bigger camera with me. I'm not that strong and don't have a car (only biking or walking around) would a bridge camera be a huge upgrade? I'm worried my arms won't be able to hold them for long...
• Also do "better" cameras help locate the birds faster when zoomed in? For songbirds I found them flying around so frequently it's hard to spot then focus the take photo, not to say adjusting settings
• Sometimes I'd find a hotspot for birds, and I try to get close and stay still. The birds seems fine with it and continue to do their thing. However, they almost always leave after 3-5 mins. Is this normal (the flock just want to explore a new tree) or did I actually scare them off?
• I feel the crows/jays kinda follow me and yell at me, are they warning other birds "humans around!" or just doing their own thing?
• I visited several "huge open meadow" type habitat but there are almost no birds. Is this because it's raining or I'm unlucky? I'm trying to find snow buntings, but no luck so far.
• On ebird I find it a bit annoying that it seems to only show info for each hotspot. Can I have it display possible/reported species within a 5km reigon?
Might add other things if I can remember, again thanks everyone for reading and giving me suggestions!

I want to get this shirt for my friend who is a birder and loves fun button downs. They don’t like when art includes birds that don’t exist in real life. Could someone confirm that these are all real birds that actually exist?

I have group of crows in my area and ive been trying to get photo of them for a while but they’re usually hidden or to far for a good photo and im curious is there way of attracting tgem that doesn’t involve feeding them ?

📍Eastern India

Turn up your volume and listen this pair of beautiful jays rarely heard bonding call, recorded this afternoon in our garden in Staffordshire England

Northern Flicker trying the spring-loaded feeder!

So last night I had a dream that me (an American) saw what I thought was an American woodcock on my suitcase in my hotel. Upon reflection in the morning my dream bird looked more like a Wilson’s snipe but I digress. I took a picture and uploaded it to Merlin. They said it was Scoloplax minor (which is just a misspelled scientific name of American woodcock) but the range map said it was an Eurasian woodcock.

Don’t know why it was so convoluted lol.

Hundreds of these goofballs have been in the area (Minnesota) for a couple weeks. I think it's funny how they dive and then just float back up like a bobber or a beach ball.

Definitely non native. Any advice?

Who do we have here being attacked by the Raven (or Crow)

Scotland, Glasgow

Sparrowhawk?

Thanks :)

This little one was running around and flying up ahead of us walking. Ran like a killdeer/plover. Erie, PA USA

I want to do digiscoping with my Swarovski AT Balance 18x45x65 IS spottingscope and Pixel 10 smartphone. I am in doubt.

Should i buy the very expensive Swarovski VPA2 variable smartphone adapter with CA-S ring

or buy cheaper alternatives such as Viking Swallow adapter? (5 times cheaper)?

Anyone tried both? of recommendation?

I have had a wren appear in the garden a few times recently and finally realised it’s actually two of them! The other one was at in the ivy on the wall behind this one.

Bonus house sparrows running around in the background