These gorgeous little cliff swallows were nesting in the rafters near the Anthropology Museum at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico yesterday. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) are a friendly, brave little passeriforme that builds gourd-shaped nests from mud and straw. They tuck them up under cliffs, bridges and the edges of buildings. These two let me get within [...]
Tag Archives | wildlife
Ruby Throated Hummingbird – My Shot of the Day – May 6, 2013
It doesn’t seem to matter much that many of the habitat maps for the little Ruby throated hummingbird puts Taos well outside of thier range. We’ve had loads of them. The males, like this one above, showed up early and fought amongst themselves for access to the solitary feeder we put out this year. Just [...]
Twenty-One Beautiful Birds of Panama – Birdgasm!
Panama has more species of birds than the United States and Canada combined. I awoke on my first morning in Panama to the sound of all those birds of Panama. I up and stumbled out onto the balcony of my friend Maria Elena overlooking the Bridge of the Americas, grabbed a cup of the most [...]
Whooper Swans Heading North – My Shot of the Day – March 5, 2013
My shot for today is actually a year old. One year old exactly in fact. These Whooper swans passed over the kids and I on March 5, 2012 while we played on the ice in the Gulf of Bothnia next to Vasa, Finland. The Whooper swans (the national bird of Finland) were heading north into [...]
Spectacled Caiman – My Shot of the Day – January 18, 2013
Wildlife in Panama Plowing into the jungle near the Rio Obispo looking for birds, I immediatly saw a Crimson-bellied woodpecker, a sirystes and a type of trogon showing off a small butterfly he had taken. A green iguana crossed the path, far too fast for me to take a picture and I made a made [...]
Gulf Coast Birding – The Best Five Birding Sites in Mississippi
Gulf Coast birding hits a high point in Mississippi. Somewhere around 350 species of birds are known to inhabit or move through the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Not only are the rich coastal environments vital for migratory species as they move north from South America in the spring or return south in the fall but the [...]
Peregrine Falcon – MY Shot of the Day – October 3, 2012
I met this beautiful Peregrine Falcon at an event hosted by the Peregrine Fund, an incredibly successful organization that works to protect raptors from extinction. They have been instrumental in bringing the gorgeous Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) back from the brink of extinction. The Peregrine is an amazing being. Peregrines hunt from above and, after [...]
“Do you ne’er think what wondrous beings these?” 8 Awesome Bird Photos
“Do you ne’er think what wondrous beings these? Do you ne’er think who made them, and who taught The dialect they speak, where melodies Alone are the interpreters of thought? Whose household words are songs in many keys, Sweeter than instrument of man e’er caught!” – from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s ‘Tales of a Wayside Inn’ – [...]
A Short Guide to The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
I’m a sucker for a hot sea of sand. There is this image of myself I hold in the recesses of my mind. I’m wrapped head to ankle in a dirty, torn, sand-filled blue darra’a. My mouth is dry and sticky. The harmattan swirls at my bare feet. A camel grunts over the dune behind [...]
My Shot of the Day: Little Blue Butterfly
I’ll say straight up that I’m not totally happy with this little blue butterfly picture. There is too much movement, its a bit out of focus and yet it still narrows in on these little, tiny creatures that were never still. Pictures of butterflies can be spectacular – if you can catch them. I’ve gotten [...]
My Shot of the Day – American Coot
An American Coot (Fulica americana) in central New Mexico. The coot is not a duck, because it lacks webbed feet. Instead, it gets around with some rather large toes. The coot is also known as a mud hen. Typically, you’ll find them in very large flocks. This guy was all alone. american coot [...]
My Shot of the Day: White Headed Buffalo Weaver
White Headed Buffalo Weaver I really loved this shot but could not squeeze it in before I left for Europe in March. So, here it is. A passerine native to East Africa, the ‘buffalo’ part of its name comes from its habit of trailing the African Buffalo and feeding on disturbed insects in the soil behind [...]
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Twenty-One Beautiful Birds of Panama – Birdgasm!
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Spring Rainstorm Pictures – My Shot of the Day – April 1, 2013
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Seeking Some Sassy Ceviche at the Fish Market in Panama City
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Arabian Sea Sunset
