SpyderJan: Thanks for your ID. Regarding that wall, I agree with you 100%.
To all who helped me with that bird: It seemed red on the wings and back also. Thank you!
ED

Very good photo; colors really stand out. This may not be the best place to cross the river, though!

Thanks to you all for your answers. My location is central Texas, photo taken last Spring.

Slightly out of focus. Bird would not sit still, and there is almost no depth of field. Taken with a Nikon 5100 using f/13.8 90mm telescope as lens. What kind of bird is it?

fossgood11---Thank you for identifying the bird.

The photo looks greatto me, being as I am inexperienced in composition. What's wrong with the composition, and what should be done to improve it?

It made me think of a raccoon, although it was clearly not. But Linda came to the rescue.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is the big machine in the first shot?

The woman standing out in the very first photo seems furious at someone or something. Was any hint given as to what's wrong?

Amazing! Getting a picture like that is surely a once-in-a-lifetime event, if you are very lucky, and patient enough. Surely how you got it would make a fascinating story.

I've been trying for years to learn German, and often use it on my cat. The cat doesn't seem to mind as long as I hold her and pet her.
There are times when I think she understands me, but the language I use seems not to matter; it's the tone and rhythm of voice that seems to affect her. I've tried French and Spanish on her also, but none seem to work any better than English.

The heron is indeed beautiful. Looking at that yellow eye, it seems to peer right into the camera. I wonder if the bird's brain interprets the image of you and the camera anything like we would.

Focusing on the moon can be difficult, in part because of the contrasts. I suggest focusing on the smallest distinct surface feature you can see---a small crater is very good for this, also the shadow lines of mountains. Get that in the best focus you can (using manual focus) then everything else on the lunar surface will be in focus also. [Obviously, features on the limbs (edges) will be slightly farther away than those in the middle of the disc, but at an average of 238,857 miles distance it won't matter at all.] Exposure is another matter, and needs to take contrast between lighter areas and darker parts of the vast landscape into account. Shorter exposure will give greater contrast at any given aperture, but you will lose some features partly in shadow at the terminator (zone of sunrise or sunset).

All mammals have hair. In armadillos it's mostly on the underside, as shown in your very good photo. If you look between the scales on the sides and back, you can see little hairs protruding between them. Actually, the scales themselves are modified hairs. Two "diagnostic" characters for mammals are that they all have (1) hair and (2) mammary glands. No other animals have either of these traits. Just a little biology!

What a fantastic piece of art. Clearly Jen is an artist!