birding, photography and living with pet birds
Posted in Costa Rica, finch on Mar 31st, 2012
Turning back to Costa Rica birds, the Spot-crowned Euphonia is one of the more interesting species because the males and females both have interesting plumage. The female is easier to distinguish among euphonias because she has a rufous-colored crown and a rufous-colored underbelly. Here’s the underbelly. The male Spot-crowned Euphonia looks a lot like other [...]
Posted in cockatiel on Mar 28th, 2012
Look at these birds. They’re so innocent when they eat. What I can’t get a picture of, because it happens so fast, is that when Conner and Trevor are done eating they will push the food dishes over the edge. Seriously! I’ve watched Conner use his head to push the dish off the side. Then [...]
Posted in manakin on Mar 25th, 2012
In Costa Rica the visitors went wild for the manakins. They had three different kinds at the lodge. The cutest was the Blue-crowned Manakin. This is the male: The female was a lot shyer and I’m lucky to have gotten this shot. I like it, though, because you can make out her chestnut-colored eye. The [...]
Posted in sparrow on Mar 24th, 2012
You know what’s a weird sign to see when you’re birding? Fort Huachuaca (pronounced wa-chuke-a) in Arizona is close enough to the Mexican border that people will try and get into the United States through that area. Another thing you can find at Fort Huachuca and everywhere else in southern Arizona is the Chipping Sparrow. [...]
Posted in cockatiel on Mar 21st, 2012
I’ve always loved how the cockatiels enjoy exploring. The cockatiels have a really sweet setup because they have four cockatiel cages to run on and a built-in shelf filled with boxes and books for them to chew. I can’t get a picture of it because Trevor is too quick but he likes to sneak behind [...]
Did you know that squirrels eat flowers? Me neither, but now I have proof. He has such lovely fingers. I spent about 20 minutes taking pictures of him. The squirrels in Golden Gate Park are very tame. People must feed them because they’ll walk up to you and wait until you get within two feet [...]
Posted in tanager on Mar 17th, 2012
Costa Rica has a lot of bright birds. One is the Summer Tanager. Now I know what you’re thinking, I’ve already shown you one of these birds after we went to Arizona. But that one is a Hepatic Tanager. They have more dark red in their face. Summer Hepatic We saw the Summer Tanager several [...]
Trevor is not a dainty bird. When he wants something he will walk over objects, birds, whatever to get there. He also eats strangely. Conner eats from the edge of the bowl like a proper respectable bird. Audrey did that too. But Trevor gets inside the bowl and eats. See the picture below. Conner is [...]
Posted in random on Mar 13th, 2012
For the past year, I’ve been trying to get healthier. At a minimum, on Tuesdays I spend an hour at the gym doing weights, on Thursday I spend 20 minutes doing weights and 40 minutes running at the gym and on Sunday I use the elliptical machine at home for an hour. I just [...]
Posted in Costa Rica on Mar 11th, 2012
Costa Rica had a variety of frogs and the cutest one is the Granular poison frog. This tiny little guy is only 3/4 to one inch long. photo by Jon Our guide called him the green jeans frog. There are also blue jeans frogs in the area. The red color indicates to predators that he’s [...]