Nice pictures... I had to look that one up since we have the Oak Titmouse in Oregon and you have the Tufted Titmouse in LA.

Here are locations where the cuckoo has been seen in RI and reported on eBird:

Very cool seeing a Common Cuckoo in RI. I checked eBird for the US sightings and looks like very few: 1981 Martha's Vineyard, several around 2017 in the Aleutian Islands, 1999 Anchorage, 2012 Watsonville, CA. Alex Lamoreaux has a write-up on his eBird report and offers some ideas on how it showed up in RI (basically, thrown off course while migrating from Europe to Africa). Congrats on a nice sighting and photos!

For smaller birds, the ability to do major crops is amazing with the 61 mp of the A7Riv... noise can be handled with Topaz Denoise AI.

Dark-eyed Junco is correct.

PS almost 100% of the time after organizing and basic adjustments in LR.
PS: layers = control
Once you figure out layers (and masks, selections, brush, etc.) layers are great for precision, non-destructive editing, and any future adjustments.

Hey Marty, we met at Hyatt Reservoir while photographing a White-headed Woodpecker nest. Sorry, but I only have Canon and Sony gear... good luck with the charger and your trip... great shorebirds where you are now.

I didn't read through all of the replies so this may have been mentioned earlier. I agree with the realism issues and some of these are addressed in a Phlearn video. I noticed the sky that shows through the lighthouse near the top is still blue in the sky replacement version. Looks to me like the selection missed that part and that may be something that needs to be checked in some photos.

My DIY conversion: smallest Sprinter van with a bed in back and storage below, sink, 12V/110V frig, solar panels, inverter, Li-ion batteries. Cabinet frames made with 80/20 aluminum extrusions. Took me a while to build up the courage to do the solar/electrical since I knew nothing about electricity, and thankfully, the internet has plenty of info. Next year we plan on doing a cross-country trip from Oregon to Nova Scotia and back.

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Try +2 exposure compensation if the bird has a blue sky background... also depends on where the sun is.

"For BIF it's another matter. There is such a thing as "too long" a telephoto. Focus performance, camera and lens ability to maintain focus on a fast moving subject, are additional concerns. A larger aperture lens might allow AF to work better and faster shutter speeds to be used to freeze movement."

That's what I was thinking... f/2.8 would AF faster and you could always add a TC if you needed more reach (and lose a stop or two in the process).

Not answering what you asked but I think the "perfect" BIF setup would be the Sony a9ii + Sony 400 2.8... seems like that would be blazingly fast with AF locking... anybody want to loan me some money?

Here is a picture from this morning of the Violet-green Swallows nesting in my yard.
Must be a brain fart because I can't attach the photo... chose file, checked store original, and clicked Add Attachment, then Send.
Try this instead: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136435824@N03/50160235707/in/dateposted/

Thanks again, Paul. What happened to my retirement? I thought I was going to have lots of time to do all my hobbies and catch up on all the projects I put off. Your post looks intriguing and when I have a few hours and my mind is fresh to take it all in, I know I'll get a lot of great info. I'm spending most of my time trying to learn the features of LR from videos by Steve Perry. Before that, I tackled PS layers and that was a huge task for me. I pretty much understand layers now after many videos and hours. I'm a smart enough guy so it really bugged me that it took so long for me to wrap my brain around layers. Hopefully, file sizing will be a bit easier... I'll find out soon.