Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is apropos, because the tree in our front yard has the #PerfectPerch. I call it the posing perch and have photos of so many birds on that branch. Raptors especially love it. This is a red-tailed hawk striking a pose in 2022. #birds #raptors #hawks

I visited a local flood basin on Wednesday, swollen after the recent rains. Most of the birds were too far away to shoot well, apart from this coot. But then I came across these tracks. I'm no expert, but sure looks like a mountain lion... #birds #mountainlion

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme, #ShortBeak, is a 3fer: a house finch, a white-crowned sparrow and a yellow-rumped warbler splashing about in a rain puddle. #birds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Raptors. In March 2023, about 100 Swainson's hawks circled high above our house for about 15 minutes. More memorably, one October morning in 2024, a dozen of them landed in the trees next to our house. Here's five of them. #birds #hawks

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #LongBeaks. This American avocet fits the "bill" (ha, ha!). Which reminds me; I should check out this occasional lake after our recent rains and see who's hanging out. #birds

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Solitude. Sunset spotlights a lonely killdeer. #birds

Today's #BirdoftheDay theme is #BirdsinFlight. Anna's hummingbird v. desert willow blossom. #birds #hummingbirds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is birds in their #natural habitat. Here's a California thrasher, thrashing about under our eucalyptus tree a couple of years ago. #birds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #MoodyFaces. This Costa's hummingbird was grumpy because he was having a bad hair day. #birds #hummingbirds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Feathers&Form. Here's Handsome, Ojai Raptor Center's renowned ambassador turkey vulture. He was just a nestling when he was handed over to the rehab center in 2005. #birds #vultures

Today is my Bluesky one-year anniversary. The first photo I posted was of Hoppy (left) and her partner, Not-Hoppy. To celebrate, here's a recent shot of them following their daily early morning grooming schedule. #birds #ravens

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #FoodFinds. When I first saw Bullock's orioles in our trees I thought they were after the blossoms. But no, they were looking for bees. #birds

Today's #BirdoftheDay theme is #BlackandWhite birds. Until recently this female Nuttall's woodpecker was a regular visitor in the early morning and late afternoon. #birds

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #speckles&spots. Shout it from the rooftops! #birds #starlings

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #snowy. Snow is a rarity around here, so let's go back to Nov. 2019 and this Anna's hummingbird. #birds #hummingbirds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay themes are #CaughtInMotion and #BirdsOfPrey, so... A Cooper's hawk. #birds #hawks

At Cottontail Acres: This adult Cooper's hawk turned up three days ago and it seems like every time I go outside it's in the tree in our front yard. These were all shot from our front door, today (overcast) and yesterday (sunny). #birds #raptors #hawks

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #GoodLight. I shot this mountain bluebird on our fence just minutes before the sun disappeared behind the trees last Monday. They go bug hunting starting a little after 4 p.m. It took a few minutes to sneak up close to them. #birds #bluebirds

The first #BirdOfTheDay theme of 2026 is #b&w. I shot this during the Christmas Eve rain storm. #birds #ravens

Thank you to Black Box Gallery in Portland, Oregon (blackboxgallery.com), for including my photo in its Focus: Shadow and Light exhibition. The show opens today and runs through Jan. 25, 2026. Halal Food Cart, New York City (2014) #streetphotography #classicmono #urbangaze #humansofbluesky

Very pleased to have made all y'all's acquaintance in the 51 weeks that I've been on Bluesky. (Well, two of you - only two?! - I've known for decades, of course.) Skirkle.me has generated a chart of the 49 of us who interact the most. Happy New Year to you all!

This year's final #BirdoftheDay theme is #Reflections. Here's something you don't see every day - an Allen's hummingbird (a) on the ground and (b) knee-deep in water. #birds #hummingbirds

It's the year's last #twosday. These rock dove flying in formation over our house earlier this year amused me. #birds #doves

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BranchingOut. The tree in our front yard is a popular perching spot. This dark morph red-tailed hawk sat and posed for a few minutes a couple of years ago. #birds #hawk

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BirdButts. Here's a red-tailed hawk butt, um, in action. #birds #raptors #hawks

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #serenity. Serene above the water, paddling like crazy below. #birds

It's #caturday

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Outstretched - birds with their wings fully stretched out. So here's a turkey vulture at sunrise. #birds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #MostRecent. Here are four taken this week in our yard: A damp raven in the rain, ruby-crowned kinglet, female flicker, female Nuttall's woodpecker. #birds

The #BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #faceoff - birds facing the camera. This Cooper's hawk has been dropping by in the morning looking for bird snacks recently. It probably won't be coming by today because it's pouring down. #birds #hawks #raptors

Here's a twofer of a twofer for #twosday that also fits today's #BirdOfTheDay theme, #SideProfiles, taken this past weekend. #birds #doves

Today's #BirdOfTheDay main theme is #grounded. This is one of two red-tailed hawk fledglings at the side of a rural road a few years ago. An internet search suggests they were around 10 weeks old. Its sibling eventually managed to fly a few yards but barely got off the ground. #birds

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #HolidaySeason. Mountain bluebirds only show up at this time of year for us. The neighbors moved on Saturday so I can now visit the fence on that side of our property, where this bluebird regularly hangs out, without their dogs terrorizing me. #birds #bluebird

Today's #BirdOfTheDay is all #AboutTheKids. House finches have the cutest little eyebrows when they're young. #birds

Here's one of my first photos of Ricky for #caturday. He didn't want much to do with us when he took up residency on our property a few years ago. He still rarely misses an opportunity to hiss at me, even when I'm putting food out for him and his pals. #cats #feralcats #ferals

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #QuietMoments. Shhh! Birds are still sleeping... #birds #goose #duck

Another flashback for today's #scape: the Novoarbatsky bridge across the Moskva River, with the banners out for May Day. (April 1988) #landscape #cityscape #streetphotography #urbangaze #moscow #USSR

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alternative theme is #BirdsOnFeeders. Mayhem at the bird seed box. #birds #FlyDay

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alternate theme is any bird not flying but with #OpenWings. I caught this Anna's hummingbird against a reflected sunrise. #birds #hummingbirds

I recently licensed this shot of the Marlboro Man and the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Blvd through #Alamy. The billboard was taken down just weeks later per California's 1998 anti-tobacco advertising law. #urbangaze #throwbackthursday #streetphotography #urbanphotography #scape

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #groups of four or more birds. Tis the season for mountain bluebirds. #birds #bluebirds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #NaturesPantry. Western tanager versus mulberry. #birds #tanagers

It's #twosday! I spotted these two red-tailed hawks about a mile from the house on my way to run an errand. They were still there when I returned, so I drove home and got my camera. Dark morph, light morph, sitting in a tree... #birds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #ScratchersAndPruners. This dove seemed to have no idea what to do with the feather once it had pulled it out. It sat there for several minutes with the feather in its beak. #birds #doves

A Cooper's hawk came looking for breakfast at sunrise and I followed it around the yard for about 10 minutes. It didn't catch anything. #birds #hawks

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #HeronsandEgrets. Here's a snowy egret in the reeds. #birds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #finches, so let's turn the spotlight on our goldfinches: male and female lesser goldfinch, male and female Lawrence's goldfinch. #birds #goldfinches

The #BirdOfTheDay theme is #splashes. Here's an Anna's hummingbird taking a bath and flinging water in all directions. #birds

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #pigeons (or, out here in the wilds, rock doves) so here's a happy chappy flying by. #birds

For today's #urbangaze theme let's go to the 1988 Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC and meet a vendor selling stuffies personalized with kids' faces. Not at all weird. But at least your prom photo isn't on a dishcloth calendar. #humansofbluesky #urbanphotography #streetphotography #travel