Barbara Krasnoff

The IRS has begun opening up its new free online tax filing service to the public for limited windows of time, and apparently this is one. Direct File became available to new users today at 9 a.m. ET and was still available when last we checked. Keep in mind that there are a number of criteria you have to meet — you have to live in one of 12 states, and only report certain types of income — but if you do qualify, it’s worth a try.

As a very amateur birder, I’ve had times when I spent over half an hour paging through a book or working with an app trying to identify a bird sitting on a branch or in a marsh several yards away.