Hello! I’m writing this in the Los Angeles Airport after a twelve-day trip to China! I should be doing work because our flight was delayed an extra day in Beijing and I have things to do, but the twelve hour flight back where I barely slept combined with the 15 hour time difference has left […]
Monthly Archive for January, 2013
Eurasian Collared Doves
Posted in dove on Jan 26th, 2013
Eurasian Collared Doves are crazy. These guys were trying to mate in January when the weather was 10 degrees. At first I thought they were just flapping around and one was trying to steal the other’s perch. But no, this is pretty definitive. I guess you have to […]
Top 20 Albums of All Time – Part I
Posted in random on Jan 23rd, 2013
Do you have music that you’re passionate about? I know everyone probably feels this way about music that was made when they were a teenager, but some of the best music ever made was in the 90’s. It’s hard to compete, but there’s a lot of fantastic music that has been made in the last […]
Coots are not afraid of the cold. They do, however, dislike it when you sneak up on them. I cannot go to Farmington Bay without finding a coot; they’re everywhere. 10,000 Birds has a great aerial picture of possibly thousands of coots. The best part of coots is […]
Black-hooded Antshrike
Posted in Costa Rica on Jan 18th, 2013
The Black-hooded Antshrike is a very secretive bird. I saw them all the time in Costa Rica but there were usually inside the forest or in bushes. This is the male. He looks very black, but the male has some black spots on the back of his head. You can […]
I caught the cockatiels in a rare moment where they were all near each other and not fighting. If it weren’t for the blurriness of Trevor’s wings, I would frame it. And look at the yellow on Stonewall’s head! He’s such a yellow bird now. I had the body of my lens […]
Great-tailed Grackle
Posted in Costa Rica on Jan 12th, 2013
If you’re in parts of the country where it recently snowed, then you can take in these pictures from Costa Rica and imagine the warmth. These grackles know how to live right on the ocean. This guy was singing his heart out. I always admire an enthusiastic bird. Even when many people […]
Barn Owl at Farmington Bay
Posted in owl on Jan 11th, 2013
I was taking pictures of Coots at Farmington Bay when I saw what looked like a fluffy red top on a pole, I focused in. Once you view it through the 500mm, it’s clear that I was viewing a Barn Owl. She is really beautiful, especially in flight: This […]
Conner Tries the Mist
Posted in cockatiel on Jan 8th, 2013
I tried the misting the cockatiels again with partial success. This time Stonewall thought Trevor was being crazy. what is he doing? But Conner thought it was worth trying. He’s such a sweet bird, my Conner. After this Conner got some water up his nose and we had to stop. It must have really […]
Northern Shoveler
Posted in duck on Jan 6th, 2013
Yesterday was a busy day for birds at Farmington Bay. One hunter was trying to talk to me and he said it was so cold that nothing was moving. But he’s not observant because I saw almost twenty different bird species. One species was the male Northern Shoveler: The easiest way to identify […]