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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Reflections, here's a Black-Necked Stilt. Longest legs to body size apart from flamingos.

Black and white bird with long beak and legs in blue water.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Sandhill Cranes. #birdoftheday#texture

Large birds grouped together in a field.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

I've shared other images of this little immature oak titmouse. I guess I just can't get enough. #BirdOfTheDay #StaringRightAtYou #photography #BirdPhotography

Small fuzzy bird on a limb.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SingForYourSupper. This California Towhee is happy to oblige.

Somewhat nondescript bird with long tail and open beak.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #WingsWideOpen. Here's a gull soaring over the canals of Venice, Italy.

Gull in clear blue sky.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

The theme of this week's #BlueSkyArtShow is #Morning. This photo was taken somewhere in Florida.

Light emerging through clouds on overcast day.

Photo: T. Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme is #FeathersInFoliage. Here's a wee immature oak titmouse (I think). I previously shared a similar shot with a different view, but he is irresistible from any angle. #birds #photography

Fuzzy little bird on branch amid green foliage.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I have a gardening joke, but it's a little dirty.

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

I don't know exactly where this photo was taken. Somewhere in the Ithaca area. Great colors and reflections. Anyone recognize the location? #AlphabetChallenge #WeekRForReflections #FallColors #Ithaca #FingerLakes

Trees with fall colors reflected in still lake water.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Today's #birdoftheday theme is #raptors. I think this pair of birds that just decided to hang out on our fence for a bit might be immature Cooper's Hawks. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Two raptors on a fence.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme‬ is #EFGH, birds who have any of these letters at the beginning of any part of their name. So here's a hummingbird (of the Anna's persuasion) exploring iochroma flowers. #birds #photography

Hummingbird midair with wings spread, near red tubular flowers.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

I think this little guy is an immature oak titmouse. What a cutey! #SmallbirdSaturday #LittleBirds #BlueSkyArtShow #soft

Small fuzzy birrd looking at camera with its mouth open.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

For #WaterfallWednesday, here's a view of the gorge at Watkins Glen. #FingerLakes

Hikers on stone steps by waterfall and pedestrian bridge.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

The alt theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #LowFlying. Here's a robust Greater White-fronted Goose that appears to be struggling to get airborn.

Goose with wings outstretched just taking off.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Pairs. Here are a couple of colorful macaws. Seen in Antigua, #Guatemala.

Large, colorful, parrot-like birds seeming to cuddle.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Reposted by Tom Xensen

ContempraInn 🌹 @contemprainn.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Baby Doormouse! This image won first place in the Wildlife Comedy Awards, London.

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

View from Queen's House, Greenwich. Named for Queen Anne of Denmark, who commissioned the building from architect Inigo Jones, it introduced classical architecture in England. #alphabetchallenge #WeekQforQueen #Greenwich #photography

View from Queen's House entrance through manicured lawns & historic buildings to the City of London, across the Thames.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Parenthood, so here's a nice #swan family group seen on the Saône River in Lyon, France. #birds #photography

Two adult and four chick swans near the river bank.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

First #watercolor in a while. Western Bluebird. Planning a series of four in this style. #ArtYear

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #PassportPhoto. I think this White-crowned Sparrow will get by passport control easily.

Close-up of sparrow with orange beak and white stripes on head.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Petals&Perches -- birds and flowers. I don't have a lot of photos that fit this theme, but I do have an American Robin in a bottlebrush plant. Have had trouble uploading this post for some reason.

Red-breasted songbird amid green leaves and magenta and white, brushlike flowers.

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme is #ABCD, so here's a Cathartes aura (Turkey Vulture). These large birds have amazing scent organs and can smell decaying meat at a great distance. This one had detected a dead opossum, half buried under leaves.

Strongly patterned wings, strange neck collar, red head, downturned beak, funereal demeanor -- yep, it's a turkey vulture.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #FeederFriends -- birds you might see at your feeder. Google thinks this is an American Goldfinch, but I think it might be a Lesser Goldfinch. Would anyone like to weigh in?

Small yellow bird with black and white wing patterning, on a shepherd's crook.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #LeafandLight. I think this is an immature Lesser Goldfinch, perching on a Pineapple Guave (feijoa) tree in my back yard.

Small, plump, largely yellow-feathered bird on a small branch with light green leaves.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Macro photo of emerging Buddha-hand Citron fruits. #MacroMonday

Macro close-up of strange-looking Buddha-hand Citron fruits emerging from buds.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Today I have a couple of Northern Pintails for your enjoyment. That's because the #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #JKLMNOP, any bird that has any of these letters at the beginning of their first or second names. Such a handsome couple!

Two ducks, a male and a female, swimming in blue water.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is ##LongNecks. So here's a mellow snow goose, just hanging out.

White bird with black tail feathers and orange bill, swimming peacefully.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

A Western Bluebird seen at Point Pinole in the San Francisco Bay Area. I think it meets the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Woodlands.

Blue and orange bird on a bare branch.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BirdButt. So here's a dabbling duck doing its thing. #birds

Dabbling duck half underwater searching for delectable morsels.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Saw these handsome plants at Blake Garden in Berkeley the other day. I think they are Leucadendron discolor 'Pom Pom', also known as the Pom Pom Conebush. I like them. #flowers #gardens #bloomscrolling

Beautiful bright red cone-shaped flowers on long yellow-green stems.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Red&Black. Maybe this ‪Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) qualifies. It's got a lot going on -- but there's some red and black there. #Birds #BirdPhotography #photography #duck

Colorful duck swimming in water.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

For the #birdoftheday theme of the #riverbank, here's an Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), seen on the banks of the Thames at Eton. Despite its name it's a kind of duck, not a goose. It was introduced into England as an ornamental bird for parks and estates in the 17th century.

Colorful large bird with red ring around eye, standing at the edge of a river.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

The #BirdofTheDay theme is #snacks (birds eating). I like the long tongue on this Anna's Hummingbird, enjoying some native baccharis. #NorthernCalifornia #hummingbird #baccharis #photography

Green hummingbird with long tongue among scraggly green branches.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

‪The #BirdOfTheDay theme for today is #BestOfTheMonth, but I was not especially active in March for health reasons. I guess I would go with this Red-Tailed Hawk. #bird #birdphotography #hawk

Stern-looking hawk staring at the photographer from a pine branch.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

The #ColorADay color for today is #PinkMon. This is a magnolia flower, seen at the #SanFrancisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park.

Close-up of a pretty pink and white flower.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Does this bird have #ruffledfeathers? Let's say it does, because that's todays' #BirdOfTheDay theme. It's a Chinese silk chicken, seen at the departed and lamented Annie's Annuals in Richmond, #NorthernCalifornia. #birds #photography #chicken

Head shot of a kind of crazy looking chicked with bright folliage and a downturned beak.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

I think this dramatic flower is a kind of tulip. Seen at Kew Gardens, #London. #flowers #bloomscrolling #tulip #photography #ColorADay #OrangeSun

Bright red, orange, and yellow flower, seen in close-up from above.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Another one for #BirdOfTheDay the alt theme is #oneleg -- any bird standing on one leg. So here are some flamingos at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.

Large group of flamingos in shallow water.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #OpenBeak. Here's a House Finch with something to say.

Rosy open-beaked bird on a branch.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #tricolor. Maybe this Northern Shoveler Duck qualifies. Maybe.

Green, brown, and red uck with long platula-shaped bill, floating in water.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

El Drac, ink, watercolor, and gouache. El Drac is the mosaic lizard at the main entrance to Park Guell in Barcelona. Can you see it? Its open mouth is on the right. #AnimalArtTuesday #Barcelona #watercolor #ArtByThomasChristensen

Brightly colored detail of lizard made from small irregular pieces of ceramic tile.

Artwork: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Preeners&Scratchers, and I didn't think I had anything for that. Then I found this Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), which I saw in Hong Kong in 2003.

Bird with a large pink bill and white plumage with black wing tips.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Pretty cat. He notices the camera, studies it, & decides it's not aggressive.

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Reposted by Tom Xensen

Natscute @bluesky2020.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Flor Garduño, photographe mexicaine renommée pour ses images poétiques et oniriques, mêlant traditions indigènes, nature et symbolisme, notamment à travers ses séries emblématiques comme Bestiaire et Tristes Tropiques. #photographie #FlorGarduño

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Migratory. Like these snow geese, seen Jan. 14 at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. They leave #California in late February or early March for their Arctic breeding grounds. #birds #BirdPhotography #geese

Large number of orange-billed white birds floating on reedy lack.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme for today is #lookingatme. A couple of days ago, this male Red-tailed Hawk, preparing to nest, was checking me out. #birdphotography #birds #hawk #photography #stern

Fierce looking hawk on a branch, staring at the camera.

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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Tom Xensen @txensen.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

"To the Issei," basalt sculpture by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) at the Japanese-American Cultural and Community Center Plaza in Los Angeles. Issei ("first generation") are Japanese immigrants to countries in the Americas. #BlueSkyArtShow #Stone #scupture #Issei #IsamuNoguchi #LosAngeles

Large sculpture made of two pieces of Basalt

Photo: Thomas Christensen (rightreading.com)

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