have learned to look for these field marks by drawing them over and over again. I am secretly proud when I make the correct ID of a bird in front of others. I hope I don’t ever come across as a smart ass. I have a long way to go before I am qualified to be one. I am still in a newbie stage, often wrong, often surprised, often puzzled. I know too little to know what’s ordinary. But I have heard experienced birders call the Lesser Goldfinch a “trash bird” because it is so common and numerous. I heard others call a House Sparrow a “junk” bird, an invasive, like the European Starling. I understand
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