Jeremy's Birds (and More)

Common Raven. Rounding out the "black" bird theme, here's a raven. As in "quoth the raven, nevermore." Similar to crows, but I really have no idea how to tell the two apart, unless are standing next to each other which never happens. However, everywhere I have lived there really haven't been any crows, so the safer default around here is that its a raven 

Common Grackle. I continue on with my "black" bird theme. You can distinguish the Grackel by its iridescent head (a rather blue to purple color) and the black-brown body along with the stout beak and the yellow eye. These photos show all of these features quite well. The grackle is slightly taller then a robin and has a relatively long tail as seen in both pics.

Double Crested Cormorant. I first saw one of these in Boston, but managed to get a shot of a couple here in Denver. Apparently they were migrating through so I got a little lucky. I almost got a shot of one that had just caught a fish and was preparing to eat it, but unfortunately my camera wasn't in focus and I missed the moment. Regardless, here are two great shots. Its sunning itself in the second shot! looks pretty cool to me! 

Lesser Scaup... much like the Greater Scaup (which is why I misidentified it last time). The unique shape of the head (the sharper angle downward on the backside of the head) is what really sets the Lesser Scaup from the greater). Also the body is shorter and more compact as well. The female is shown here as well. Note the blue colored bill and the little black tip on the end. (I like the blue bill rather unique I think).