The Closed Strand Movie Theater

(100 views)
by Bryan Costales

The downtown Strand Theater in San Francisco had been closed down. Its movie theater role had been replaced by a multi-plex at 4th and Mission.

White-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis senegalensis)

(63 views)
by Terry Costales

I was quite taken with this two foot tall, chicken-turkey-like bird. It's a ground dwelling native of eastern Africa.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

(63 views)
by Denver Welte

Bald Eagles are very numerous in Dutch Harbor, where they live year round. They are used to people and you see them perched on dumpsters and piers, looking for an easy meal. Bald comes from the Old English "pie-bald", which means partially white.

Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

(62 views)
by Terry Costales

Earlier this year the cliff swallows were busy feeding their young under the eaves of the Lucy Evans Interpretive Center.

Cormorant

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

This bird is resting on an urn placed next to a reflecting pool inside the Stuttgart Zoo. It isn't caged and flew in on its own. I witnessed many herons, storks and cormorants fly into various enclosures to take advantage of the plentiful food supply.

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

Anhingas look a lot like cormorants. They differ in that they have straight not hooked bills, longer tails and necks, and have silver-white markings on their wings. This was a female. A male would have had a black neck.

Mourning Dove

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

The shy Mourning Dove reveals some lovely colors.

Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

A very understated but beautiful duck. There is also an American Wigeon but I haven't personally seen one yet.

Black Crowned Crane

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

This photo was taken Sept 29, 2007. The Black Crowned Crane is an African bird and endangered by loss of habitat.

Canvasback female

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

Here is the mate of yesterday's male Canvasback. She is in almost the exact same pose that he, but here you can see her paler, gentler colors.

Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

Although a large and very stately bird, this is actually the smallest variety of crane.

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

Yesterday's posting showed storks nesting in a tree. Here is a photo showing storks nesting on top of a building that was in the Stuttgart Zoo.

Crow

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

This is not my typical bird photo. I usually prefer a close-up that reveals identifying marks of the species. But sometimes, you just get a cool shot.

Semiplumbeous Hawk (Leucopternis semiplumbeus)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

On my way breakfast I happened upon a hawk hunting near our room at the lodge. He had taken some small prey, yet he looked at me with little concern. A few seconds later he flew off. The word plumbeous means leaden, dull. The hawk is half grey thereby clearly earning its name.

Bar-headed Geese

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

There is a small flock of these beautiful geese living on the small lake inside the zoo. Bar-headed geese were featured in the nature documentary "Winged Migration" which I highly reccomend.

Long-nosed bat

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

On a tour of the Canal of Palms, this was the first animal spotted by our guide. There were three of these tiny bats on the underside of a dead branch. How the guide even saw them was a mystery because they were perfectly camouflaged. The guide identified them as long-nosed bats.

Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

The mangrove tour's pilot and guide were very supportive of our photographic efforts. This little bird either flew away as soon as the boat moved close, or hid invisibly in the bushes. Near the tours end, one bird thankfully stayed still long enough for me to get this photo.

Grey Heron

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

The Grey Heron is the European version of our Great Blue Heron and quite plentiful in the city of Stuttgart. I saw this one in a large city park where I was lucky to get this in-flight shot. When we got to the Zoo, we discovered dozens of them perched in the trees. Others were perched on buildings ledges, while several were already nesting.

Gray-necked Wood-Rail (aramides cajanea)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

We saw many wood rails and like the clapper rails, they are quite shy and quickly melt into the background as soon as they realize they are being noticed.

Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

This was the first Toucan I saw in Costa Rica. A keel-billed or Fruit Loops Toucan.

Goldeneye

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

This is a female Goldeneye showing how differently the genders appear. No flashy white duds for this lady.

Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

When the Jacanas fly they display bright yellow patches on their wings. Despite there being so many of them, we never got a shot of one flying They are known for "walking on water", because their very long toes allow them to walk on floating vegetation. Unfortunately, the ones we saw were in the mud the whole time and so we never witnessed this behavior.

Black and White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata variegata)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

The lemurs at the zoo have a large natural exhibit that gives them many opportunities to climb, relax and relate to one another.

Bare-Throated Tiger Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

We saw a lot of these solitary herons on the trip. Although it's called bare throated, you can't see that detail in this flying shot.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

This pair of woodpeckers stayed in the tops of very tall trees making them very hard to photograph. This shot has been cropped about 75%. The Great Spotted is larger, with a longer bill than the Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Yes, there is a Lesser Spotted but I never saw one.