Thank you so much!! I will do that. First I better tell you the area we're in. We live in Illinois between the Mississippi River and Rock River in the Quad Cities (Ever hear of the Rock Island lines or John Deere of Moline, Illinois?...well, we're from the Rock Island/Moline area.) Here is the wading bird that's so dark looking. I'm so sorry these photos are so small and hard to see...there was a huge marshy area between me and the birds. I'm in the market for a better zoom lens, but WOW have you seen the price of them?? This is the swooper...some sort of plover or sandpiper maybe? At first I thought it was a swallow of some sort...then when I saw the photo I thought maybe a killdeer, but I don't think so. Sorry these are poor photos too...it flashed by me so quickly, I just snapped away as a spur of the moment thing! Would someone please confirm that this is a female redwing blackbird? This one was from a different day in the woods. There were lots of orioles, bluebirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, and a myriad of other birds in this area. I was wondering if it could be a female oriole...the tail doesn't seem long enough. Again, sorry for the quality, it was a long way away from me. I did unspeakable things to this photo to get it to even show any markings but the color is just not there. Thanks so much for any help! Ginni (the bird challenged)

Correct on both ID's & yes, many birds' bills change color as they mature. Also some bills are different color in breeding season vs. non-breeding season & there are some male vs. female bill differences also.

peregrines have a larger "mask" on their faces and paler breasts, and shorter tails Cooper's hawk: http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/gallery/coopers_hawk.jpg

Hi Konrad. Yep, you've got an immature Red-tailed Hawk there! Immature red-tails have heavy barring on the tail (which you can see in the top photo) and the eyes are a pale whitish-yellow instead of dark brown. Gorgeous hawk and nice pictures!