Bird of the Day — Bald Eagle, Kansas 2025
#Birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Winter #Raptors
Bird of the Day — Lesser Violetear, Costa Rica 2025
#Birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #CostaRica #Hummingbirds #PuraVida
Bird of the Day — Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, Kansas 2025
#Birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Winter #Warblers
Bird of the Day — Barred Owl, Kansas 2018
Three minutes of zen, on a day when you might need it.
#Birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Winter #Owls
Bird of the Day — Horned Lark, Kansas 2025
#Birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Winter #Larks
Bird of the Day — Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Kansas 2024
Flasher
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Hummingbirds
Bird of the Day — Wing-barred Seedeater, Brazil 2011
Caqueta
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #Brazil #Seedeaters
Hummingbirds may look fragile and delicate, but this one is here to tell you that she is tough as nails. I photographed her this morning at Wildcat Park between Manhattan and Keats KS. She seemed to be flying normally and feeding. When I got home and looked at the pictures I was shocked to see that she has a very deformed bill and seems to be missing her left eye. I had a virtual conversation with a hummingbird expert, and she thinks that this must be some sort of developmental problem; if so, that means that this Ruby-throated Hummingbird came out of the nest looking like this.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry
Bird of the Day — Short-billed Dowitcher (with cameo by Lesser Yellowlegs), Kansas 2023
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Shorebirds #QuiviraNWR
Bird of the Day — American Avocet, Kansas 2023
Scything the water
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Shorebirds
Bird of the Day — Blue-headed Vireo, Kansas 2023
Prickly perch
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry
#SilentSunday #flyoverCountry
Windmill in fog, west Texas 2006
Bird of the Day — Indigo Bunting, Kansas 2023
Ain't no cure for the summertime blues
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Sunflower
Yesterday I got my Medicare Summary Notice, a quarterly report documenting services and supplies that Medicare has paid for on my behalf. I usually glance at these to see if there might be an impending bill for me, for something that Medicare and/or the secondary insurance did not fully cover. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Medicare had been billed for two batches of urinary catheters (total of 400 units) that were supplied to me last April and May by a home-care provider based in Bethel, Connecticut. Grand total for these was $3800, and after Medicare paid what Medicare allowed, I might still be on the hook for almost $700.
So I called the Medicare fraud number, waited on hold and provided copious amounts of information to “verify my identity”, and pointed out that I did not remember getting these catheters in Connecticut, and I was pretty sure that catheterization would have been memorable, at least according to what I have read and heard. The lady on the other end of the line agreed that it probably would be something that I remembered, and initiated a “fraud investigation” process that would get to the bottom of this. So far, so good.
I asked if I should contact the secondary insurance folks, since they had probably been billed for the $700 remainder, and was told that I should definitely do that. Another phone call, another wait on hold, another reciting of information to verify my identity, and the outcome of this one was that the company who allegedly delivered the catheters to me was already known to them as fraudsters. Dunno why the Medicare folks did not have the same information, but apparently, they did not, since they paid most of the bill submitted by the fraudsters. I hope that they can get it back before the GOP accuses Hunter Biden's laptop as a co-conspirator.
So pay attention to your mail, fellow oldsters, and you too could get hours of entertainment like this!
#Medicare #Fraud
Bird of the Day — Blue-footed Booby, Galápagos 2016
Protective mama
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #Galápagos #Parenting
Bird of the Day — Violet-tailed Sylph, Ecuador 2017
Jewel in the shadows
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #Ecuador #Andes #Hummingbird
Bird of the Day - Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Kansas 2016
Pollen-crowned
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Hummingbird #Pollination
Bird of the Day — Hepatic Tanager, Arizona 2023
Gray-cheeked Redbird
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #Arizona #SkyIslands
Bird of the Day — Summer Tanager, Kansas 2023
Cooling off
#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #FlyoverCountry #Hot