Arguably the light wasn’t very good - these are ISO8000-10000 photos as the patch of thistles was in the shade of the tree. But as you say, enough directional light light make the photos more interesting.

Oh yes, if I see thistles gone to seed, I always look closely for these.

Carduelis Carduelis in the UK case :)

I believe their plumage remains pretty much the same through their adult life, and males and females are really quite similar (with hints as to sex but not enough to be sure).

Just for amusement in the associations with the name/similarities of intent, see the History section of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_Caves

Also created in the 1740’s

The Latin in question would probably make a Roman cry, but the language remained important as long as it was the common language of the Catholic Church and remained a shared language for scholars across Europe until the 18th Century or so. It was still a requirement to get into many Universities until the 20th.

While I’ve forgotten much of it, I have a Latin O-Level from my school days in England, because of the history of that requirement (and hating French).

I really feel “Ancient Egyptian” should really be reserved for the times before the Ptolemies - I was excited by the title until I realised it’s all Greek to me.