The rock wren and Google Lens

A rock wren, photographed in Palm Springs, October, 2023.

I like to photograph wildlife and then identify it.  Both aspects have their own set of challenges, vastly different but they can be nonetheless daunting.  It's the identification part I want to talk about today.

I recently discovered an app that helps with that process.  Available for Android or IOS platforms, the Google Lens app offers a unique way of identifying stuff.  Not just wildlife, mind you, much more than that, but I want to focus on the app's ability to determine species.

We have been in Palm Springs this week.  It has been a welcome change of pace from the busy world of regular day-to-day living and I have had a chance to dust off my cameras.  Morning walks have been rewarded with the chance to photograph bird and lizard species I don't normally get a chance to see.  Once I capture an image, I like to take it back to my computer and identify exactly what it was I shot.  That is not always easy.

One bird in particular was giving me quite a challenge in revealing its taxonomic designation.  There were no outstanding characteristics to provide a clue as to its species and the Internet was becoming increasingly fruitless as I searched through endless images.  I turned to one of the groups I belong to for help.

I posted the image in my British Columbia Birds group, apologizing for the fact the depicted photo wasn't taken in BC.  There were a few helpful suggestions, but the one that really caught my eye involved using an app called Google Lens (thank you, Martin Gregorian).  I had never heard of it before and decided to give it a try. I downloaded the program onto my Android device and submitted the image.  Seconds later, it gave me an answer.  It suggested the bird was a rock wren.

As I read through the rest of the feed from my post, it seems that others agreed with the program's conclusion.  This was a rock wren, a new species for me, and one that comes with a story to boot.  A new bird, a new app, and a great story.  Ah, I love being on vacation.

Thanks for reading.  

Eric Svendsen      www.ericspix.com

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