Happy New Year: Bird Photos and A New Bird Identifying App

Welcome back and Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all.  In this post I will share more of the photos taken during my participation in Project FeederWatch.  I will also discuss the latest version of Merlin, a bird identification app with real-time offline bird identification for 650 species.

I previously wrote a post regarding Merlin and other birding apps, and also the various birding research projects available to participate in including the Christmas Bird count, which is now ongoing.  This post can be found in the right hand margin under 'Featured Post".


First, Enjoy The Bird Photos:

Downy Woodpecker

Blue Jay

White Throated Sparrow

Black-Capped Chickadee

Dark-Eyed Junco

American Tree Sparrow

Black-Capped Chickadee

White Breasted Nuthatch

Merlin Bird App Now With Photo ID:


This latest update is simply fascinating.  In the past, the Merlin app could help identify a bird by entering parameters such as size, shape, colors, location, etc.  Now, this app can identify the bird species from the photos you take on your smartphone or digital camera.  And as mentioned above, the app can identify 650 different species.

Merlin App Depiction

You can choose a photo that you just took, one from your photo library, or even take a photo of another photo, for example, one on your digital camera.  The app uses computer vision models developed from over 1.85 million photos.

For a full description of the Merlin app, which is free and available for both IOS and Android, click on the this link from the E-Bird website.

With all of the excitement surrounding this app (yes, this is exciting for bird watchers!), I thought I would put it to the test.

I tested it by identifying three of my photos, it correctly identified a Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, but incorrectly ID'd the White-Throated Sparrow, but that photo was a little dark.  I think that's good results for a first try.  I will continue to test the app and report my results in future posts.

Until next time.

Simply Photos - Project FeederWatch/Fall Garden Cleanup

Welcome back.  It's hard to believe that this weekend is the 5th week of Project FeederWatch.  I have enjoyed it as always.  This fall has seen a wide range of weather conditions, including the days leading up to Thanksgiving during which the weather changed from 65 degrees to 18 inches of snow over a two day period.

In this post I will share a few photos I have captured thus far.  It's a challenge to get good photos, as it requires a great deal of patience at times.  The different weather conditions have, however, provided varying backdrops for the photos.

In case you missed my last post regarding project FeederWatch, it can be viewed in the right hand margin of this post as a "Featured Post".  That post will give you all the specifics you would need if your want to participate in this great project.

Female Northern Cardinal

Blue Jay

House Sparrows

European Starling

Hungry Blue Jay

Dark-Eyed Junco

Fall Garden Cleanup

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Even though Winter is settling in, I am sharing a few photos and information from the fall garden cleanup process that I promised in my last post.

It is important to care for your garden in the Fall, so that in the Spring it will be easier to get it ready for planting.  It will also help to ensure that next year's garden will be a success.

The main chore in the fall is obviously to remove the remaining plants and to till the soil.

It is OK to leave a few decomposing plants to till into the soil as the organic matter is generally good for the garden with one notable exception.  If you had plants affected by blight, it is recommended to dispose of those plants completely to help prevent it's return next season.  For more information about early and late blight, refer to this post from 2014.

 Another important aspect is to amend the soil.  If you compost kitchen scraps and other organic matter, that is excellent to use to enhance your soil,  Since I don't currently compost, I use chopped leaves and grass clippings, which also add nutrients and character to the soil.  As a rule, organic matter not only adds nutrients, but also improves the soil consistency in a way that allows it to retain moisture better and to prevent it from hardening in harsh conditions during the summer.

Amending Garden Soil

Cold Hearty Vegetables Still Thriving

Adding Layer of Leaves/Grass Clippings

Late Season Vegetables

As you can see from the photos above, I had quite a few late season, cold hardy vegetables including Swiss chard, kale, and leeks   These veggies can survive late into the Fall season and can withstand temperatures down to the mid twenties.  Some actually improve with frost, such as leeks.

As always, thanks for visiting.  Stay tuned for more bird photos from my Project FeederWatch participation.  Also, in my next post, my first attempt at a terrarium,