Sunday, February 24, 2019

Belize birds

Although the main purpose of our trip to Belize was scuba diving (photos to come), I'm always on the lookout for whatever creatures I can find. Despite being on a very small island (Blackbird Caye), a long way from the mainland, we still saw quite a few birds. I'm not a serious birder, so these were just what we noticed wandering around.

The most common bird we saw was the Great-tailed grackle. They are very noisy birds, especially when they roost overnight in large numbers in the trees around your hotel! (the Raddison in Belize City) But at least they have a varied repertoire of screeches, squawks, croaks, and whistles. (iBird describes it as a "loud cacophony")

Great-tailed grackle

The brown pelicans were another common sight. They are graceful when they are flying, but not so much when they crash dive into the water after fish, or awkwardly take off.

Brown Pelican

Of course, there were lots of small shore birds, which I struggled to identify, mostly unsuccessfully. This might be a Least Sandpiper.

Least Sandpiper ?

I'm not sure about this one.

shore bird

These were always in a group. I think they are Ruddy Turnstones in non-breeding colors. Although their colors didn't really match the sargasso weed on the beach, they still managed to blend in.

Ruddy Turnstone (non-breeding) ?

Ruddy Turnstone (non-breeding) ?

The terns were also hard to identify. I think this is a Royal tern.

Royal Tern ?

There were bigger shore birds as well. This Little blue heron hung around the beach and the dock the whole time we were there.

Little blue heron

I also saw a Green heron and a Yellow-crowned night heron, although only from a long distance so not great photos.

Green Heron

Yellow-crowned night heron

The yellow legs on this egret threw me off, but I think it's an immature Snowy egret. (another long distance shot)

Snowy Egret (immature) ?

I was surprised there weren't more cormorants, but I only noticed the occasional one. They spread their wings like this to dry them out, since they have less oil on their feathers than other water birds so they can dive easier.

Double-crested Cormorant

The king/queen of the island was the osprey. There was a nest in a dead tree but we only ever saw a single bird, not a pair.

Osprey

On a day trip to the Great Blue Hole we stopped at Half Moon Caye where there is a bird sanctuary with nesting Red-footed boobies and Magnificent Frigatebirds.

Red-footed booby on nest with chick

The frigatebirds are a common sight soaring around with their distinctive wings and forked tail. They seldom land, feeding off fish (often flying fish) that they catch in flight. When they are courting, the males inflate their bright red gular sacs to attract the females.

Male Magnificant Frigatebird courtship display

There were also some land birds. The Tropical mockingbirds were fairly common. This one had caught some kind of bug.

Tropical Mockingbird

The Tropical kingbirds were pretty with their yellow chests, but quite skittish.

Tropical Kingbird ?

The most colorful were the Hooded orioles. They were not very cooperative for photographs, but I managed a couple of lucky shots.

Hooded Oriole (male)

The Cinnamon hummingbirds were also hard to catch.

Cinnamon Hummingbird

The Yucatan woodpeckers were a little more cooperative.

Yucatan woodpecker

There was also a kingfisher that I would have liked to photograph, but I only caught a glimpse of it.

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Thursday, February 21, 2019

Clouds

When I fly, I always try to get a window seat. I don't necessarily take photographs, but I always enjoy the view.

Despite the title, this first shot has no clouds, just the texture of the sunlight shining on the ocean. As usual, it looks better on a big screen.

ocean texture

I originally thought I'd take photos of the ocean and the coast, but that idea didn't work out. Instead I got clouds. And when you get lemons, you make lemonade.

clouds

The back light made for more dramatic photos.

clouds

Usually I like to boost the contrast and detail, but occasionally a softer look seems like the way to go.

clouds

I'm curious how these would look as large prints.

clouds

clouds

I have no idea what the rectangular looking shapes at the bottom of this one are. They seem too straight edged to be clouds. Possibly the shore of a lake? I think they're too big to be buildings.

clouds

One last shot before the sun went down.

clouds

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