GROUNDED - Fledgling Grackle huddles in the undergrowth. It could only manage to get a foot off the ground flying...and rested in the brush to get more altitude later.
THANK YOU? - A male Baltimore Oriole gobbles grape jelly - and is caught in an open-mouthed pose as if he might be saying thank you.
BEAVER GROOMING - I don't shoot much video, even though my camera does it with the push of a button - more than 50 years as a still photographer, may be the reason? - but this beaver grooming on the beaver pond made me think a video would be a good POTD today. We mostly see the beavers swimming - so it is always nice to see them out of the water.
THE BETTER TO SEE YOU WITH - A Hermit Thrush on the trail to the beaver pond. Thrushes have unusually large eyes, an adaptation to their preferred habitat in the shady understory.
IT RAINED ;-) - After a bit of a dry spell - it rained on the Lupine leaves which also caught a maple tree whirligig (technically known as a samaras).