Winged Wednesday 5.27.2026: Best Photos of the Week

[Eric Gofreed]

It’s Winged Wednesday—where feathers, flutters, and flight steal the show! Whether they’re soaring, skimming, stalking, or striking a pose… birds, bugs, bats, insects, or even airplanes—if it has wings, we want to see it. If it’s got wings, it belongs here.

Open theme every week — all winged photos welcome.

My contributions this week: Best Photos of the Week.
These are a few of my favorite winged moments from the past week—birds that caught the light just right, landed where they were supposed to, or cooperated briefly before returning to their usual policy of doing whatever they please.

Some were planned. Some were luck. A few were probably the birds taking pity on the photographer. That’s part of the fun.

Gambel’s Quail Chick
Freshly assembled, lightly feathered, and already walking around like he owns the desert.

Hooded Oriole
A flying burst of sunshine, balanced on red yucca like he planned the whole color scheme himself.

Northern Cardinal
Every landing is dramatic. Every feather says, “Yes, I meant to do that.”

Juniper Stink Bug
Nature occasionally designs something that looks hand-painted… and then gives it opinions.

Great Horned Owl Chick
He wasn’t photographed this week… but from his cactus throne he insisted on being included anyway.

 

[Trent Watts]

These are great Eric. That GHO chick is so good.
I also had a good week of birding. It finally warmed up and migrants appeared, nesting started and birds everywhere sang their own songs.

A male Yellow-headed Blackbird.

You really have to admire the colour choices of the male Ruddy duck. He even managed to get the blue sky reflected in the ripples created when he surfaced from a dive.

Another iconic spring migrant. The male Red-winged blackbird.

The female Red-winged Blackbird has a more subtle beauty.

A Horned Grebe, maybe waiting for a mate.

I was able to get a few seconds of a Brown Thrasher singing. They are reported to have the largest repertoire of any bird in North America. (Not sure how accurate that is but they sure can sing in any event).
Here is a short video on YouTube.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

These are great Eric. That GHO chick is so good.
I also had a good week of birding. It finally warmed up and migrants appeared, nesting started and birds everywhere sang their own songs.

A male Yellow-headed Blackbird.
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You really have to admire the colour choices of the male Ruddy duck. He even managed to get the blue sky reflected in the ripples created when he surfaced from a dive.
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Another iconic spring migrant. The male Red-winged blackbird.
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The female Red-winged Blackbird has a more subtle beauty.
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A Horned Grebe, maybe waiting for a mate.
View attachment 89324
I was able to get a few seconds of a Brown Thrasher singing. They are reported to have the largest repertoire of any bird in North America. (Not sure how accurate that is but they sure can sing in any event).
Here is a short video on YouTube.

You are a bird photographer extraordinaire, Trent!!!