This gallery has some recent shots taken at home and on a hike near home. One highlight was finally getting a photo of a Bewick's Wren in the yard!

I also got my best-ever shots of a Turkey Vulture in flight. I've taken many photos of Turkey Vultures in flight and they're usually too dark or soft. These photos are sharp and the bird's even making eye contact with the camera!

I also stopped to watch some Western Bluebirds hunting for insects. I watched one fly to a perch on a tree, look around for a couple minutes, then sally off to catch an insect, and return to another perch. He'd fly well more than 30 or 40 feet either toward another tree, or toward the ground! He repeated this again and again, apparently looking for the movement of distant insects both on tree branches and along the walking path. It was surprising to see how effective a hunter he was, and how far away his prey was!

These photos are © 2023 Phil Thompson, all rights reserved.

My "birds in review" collages can be found here.