Loaded With Blooms

(171 views)
by Bryan Costales

Our hydrangea plant was loaded with new blooms.

Vertical

(167 views)
by Bryan Costales

The flower stalks ran vertically over the Heuchera plant next to our first pond.

American White Pelican

(118 views)
by Terry Costales

There was this one lone white pelican at the nature center that day. It was probably an injured bird being nursed back to health, or it just knew a good hand-out when it saw one.

White-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis senegalensis)

(117 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.

Canvasback female

(115 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.

Lesser Scaup

(115 views)
by Terry Costales

The male lesser scaup is almost identical to the male greater scaup. The head of the lesser gleams purple whereas the greater gleams green. Supposedly the lesser is also smaller than the greater, but I haven't found that to be so.

Rufous Motmot (Baryphthengus martii)

(115 views)
by Terry Costales

The only motmot seen on this trip appeared just after dawn. The tree in which it was perched was a favorite of several species. Unfortunately, the motmot's gorgeous colors were not visible from this angle, but the unique tail feathers were.

White-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis senegalensis)

(115 views)
by Terry Costales

Here is a close up of yesterdays' subject.

Grey Heron

(115 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.

Bufflehead

(115 views)
by Terry Costales

This is a photo of a female Bufflehead. She definitely has a quieter look than her handsome but flashy mate.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

(115 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.

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

(115 views)
by Terry Costales

There were many male and female Goldeneyes out on the lake that day. This is a very handsome male. Goldeneyes are closely related to Buffleheads and are also found in Scotland and Great Britain.

Western Grebe

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

There were many Western Grebes on the lake. They were more wary of people than the ducks and kept their distance.

Black-crowned Night Heron (nycticorax nicticorax)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

At the sanctuary, there is a group of palm trees next to the large pond that provides prime nesting spots. It is fenced off to ensure the breeding birds are not disturbed. In late March, this was one of many night herons nesting amongst the snowy and great egrets. Its usually yellow legs are pink because it's breeding season.

Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa)

(114 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.

Flamingos

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

Maybe I should have posted this on Valentines Day. It's either affection or defense of territory.

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

This female Killdeer is standing over eggs in its "nest." Three eggs are actually present but only one is clearly visible. Even the clearly visible one is very well camouflaged. It is reputed their call sounds like "kill deer" and thus the name. I don't hear it myself but maybe that's just me.

Black Crowned Crane

(114 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.

Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

Of course England has it's fair share of "flying rats". For some reason this one in Hyde Park seemed more like an actual bird to me than just feathered vermin. I'm sure if I was there long enough they would become just as annoying as pigeons are here at home.

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

(114 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.

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

Here is a shot of the male from yesterday's posting which shows the unusual feather formation over his back.

Long-nosed bat

(114 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.

Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

The Little Blue was the prettiest heron I saw in Costa Rica. Its body was blue, the neck a purplish color and it always appeared very graceful. We saw them in every region we visited.

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

This is a male Canvasback duck resting in the water. You can't see the long red neck in this photo but I like the pose anyway.

Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo)

(114 views)
by Terry Costales

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