Fooling around with a composite of some of the birds that have posed on the calibrated fence. It’s not perfect but gives an idea of size variation. It’s a wide photo so you may have to click to see all the #birds - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

watchinthesky.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Fooling around with a composite of some of the birds that have posed on the calibrated fence. It’s not perfect but gives an idea of size variation.
It’s a wide photo so you may have to click to see all the #birds

Comments

drtwillett.medsky.social•6 hours ago

What a neat idea! And wow those birds!

colouredwilde.bsky.social•1 day ago

The hummer is sooooooo teeny

cageyratfish.bsky.social•1 day ago

this is such a cool and fun picture! i think my favourite bit is the bluebird next to the roadrunner, they look like they're having an earnest conversation

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

It does!

doctorscience.bsky.social•1 day ago

ohgod, the accipiters. I guess female Sharpie & male Coop? what a PITA

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Seems likely since they look about the same size. Good thing there are other tells! Unless juveniles, then trickier ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

marinamueller935.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is great! I'd like to guess the species 🙏 Sharpie, Red-tail. Scrub Jay, Ruby-throat, Cooper's, Eastern Bluebird, Roadrunner & I can't see the bird on the far right 🧐

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

That’s pretty close! Only one off if you say hummingbird for Ruby and bluebird for Eastern bluebird 😊

Since I’m in Southern California, no Rubies - it’s an Allen’s hummingbird. Bluebird yes, but Western bluebird. The last bird is a male House finch with a red blush ☺️
1st is Cooper’s, sharpie is 5th

marinamueller935.bsky.social•19 hours ago

Oh duh *commences walk of shame* but I'm not ashamed for trying! 🤓 And thank you for indulging me 🙂

watchinthesky.bsky.social•9 hours ago

😄 You actually did quite well, Sharpies and Cooper’s are mixed all the time! And a bluebird by any name 😊

marinamueller935.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Well, I took a shot & knew you'd be kind & helpful 🙂

watchinthesky.bsky.social•9 hours ago

🤗

gettoknownature.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is SO COOL!! I love the tiny hummer in the center and wow that hawk is big in comparison

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks! That is a big size difference between those two. A fun little project

glengrambo.bsky.social•1 day ago

That’s great Patrick! And that hummer is fabulous!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

He is, and center stage!

glengrambo.bsky.social•1 day ago

Where he deserves to be!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Absolutely! But I see he lost a lot of sharpness in the process. I may have to redo him.

glengrambo.bsky.social•1 day ago

He will probably be a bit peeved about that, redoing him is probably safest!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

That’s what I’m thinking!

elfndragon.bsky.social•1 day ago

I had to do a double-take on the house finch, because at first I was like, "WHOA, look at that guy's TAIL! ....oh, wait, that's part of the fence, derp." 😄

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

😄 Yeah, that would be quite a tail for a little guy!

nurjenniii.bsky.social•1 day ago

Wow !

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

😊

crawlieswithcri.bsky.social•9 hours ago

Fun!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•9 hours ago

It is! I need to go back and fine tune it. Most of those photos are pre big cam.

heather147.bsky.social•1 day ago

Wow! This is fantastic!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks, Heather!

marygemignani.bsky.social•1 day ago

👏❤️

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks, Mary! It’s a work in progress 🙂

marygemignani.bsky.social•1 day ago

I’ve never tried one, looks like fun!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

It is! Obviously they don’t all land in the same spot and I’m not always in the same place, hence the various backgrounds. And not always at the same zoom so scaling happens. I try to get the top fence bar the same size , some are off a minoot 🤏 bit 😊

marygemignani.bsky.social•1 day ago

It’s great and the fence anchors them all telling a story of all the beautiful visitors!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

I can’t believe I don’t have a Hooded oriole in there yet! They will be here soon and I’ll get a pic if I don’t already have one I can use.

twignest.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hey, that's pretty neat!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks! I thought it was a cool idea. It’s not perfect, I try to get the top bar of the fence to be the same height for each bird.

milosmom.bsky.social•1 day ago

WHOAAA!
This is fabulous!

milosmom.bsky.social•1 day ago

Red tailed hawk looks like they are considering bluebird for their next meal (or snack!!)

milosmom.bsky.social•1 day ago

SCRUB JAY!
not bluebird!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks! I’ve got a couple more birds I’d like to get in there :-)

spooniechels.bsky.social•1 day ago

Second from left- golden eagle?

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

That would be super awesome but no. Pretty sure it’s a Red-tailed hawk. I’ll have to look it up but Golden Eagle would be significantly bigger.

spooniechels.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hmmm, don't see a red tail, but that could be light. I'm guessing Swainson's.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

That would be a first for me, at least that I know of. I think most of the red shows on the other side of the tail. That’s what I see when they are soaring here, rare to have one land on the fence.

spooniechels.bsky.social•1 day ago

Oh ok. I'm sure you're right. 😊

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

🤷‍♂️ Another possibility is Red-shoulder hawk. They are a little more slender I think. I flipped thru images on allaboutbirds . com, not positive but I’m thinking Redtail until someone convinces me otherwise 😁

elizabethh.bsky.social•1 day ago

What a fun idea. Mr. Hummer is the boss of all of them too. 🤩

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

He’s keeping them in line!

tziva.bsky.social•1 day ago

That's great! I love the Sharpie's goofy face. I guess Gary is male then based on size.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yes on both.

katherine920.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is amazing! I've always enjoyed your roadrunner photos, but I never had a sense of just how big they are before now. It's great to be able to compare them to some of the more familiar birds from around my area.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks! The roadrunners are not small, and in this lineup, their long legs and neck give them a tall stance!

fantasyfan13.bsky.social•1 day ago

Very cool!

bronymike.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think the blue one's about to become a meal, better look out

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Somebirdy seems to be eyeing the blue Scrub jay

gabrownie.bsky.social•1 day ago

Love the composite, Patrick!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks! It’s a fun project. Hoping for a few more to add.

gabrownie.bsky.social•1 day ago

I have trouble gauging sizes of birds and your composite is a perfect visualization.

yam368.bsky.social•1 day ago

I clicked but I was able to see all the birds w/o doing it. But I am glad I did. I feel was clearer view and I got a better idea of the size. Thanks Patrick.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yes, and for those on small screens, it allows for zooming in if needed.

davebspain.bsky.social•1 day ago

That hummer though! Minoot 🤏🤣
Very clever Patrick.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

The minootest 🤏 in that lineup 🤣 The only minoot 🤏 !
Thanks 😊

heather147.bsky.social•1 day ago

Minootest 🥰

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

😁

davebspain.bsky.social•1 day ago

🤣

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

😁

gwen4braves.bsky.social•1 day ago

This helps! I've tried to guess a few hawks that weren't calling when my app was handy. One recently landed under the feeder close to where I sat, looked around and took off low to the ground. It wasn't huge and the guess was a Cooper's.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks! Sometimes the Cooper’s and Sharpies are tricky. A female Sharpie can be as big as a male Cooper’s!

thundergoose.bsky.social•1 day ago

What a great way to give a sense of scale

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

That’s what I thought! And how the calibrated fence came to be

androidgenious.bsky.social•1 day ago

Very nice, and most interesting, but I do see one glaring error in that Mr. Allen's appears to be tiny, when in actuality, it has been established that he is huge. Perhaps you entered an incorrect number while scaling. Please correct this at your earliest convenience.

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hmm, you’re right. There was a lot scaling factors to get the 18 inch pipe the hummer was on to match the smaller fence pipe that everybirdy else was on ;-)

androidgenious.bsky.social•1 day ago

Everybirdy. 🤣 May I use that?

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Sure, after all, it wasn’t everybirdy™️ 😄

jlwcpa2.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is awesome!

watchinthesky.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thanks!