Monthly Archives: August 2016
Glass-winged Butterflies
Glass-winged Butterflies, MOU trains overlooking Bocas del Toro Panama.
These might just be my favorite butterflies in the whole world…and they are even more special in that I only see them when visiting the highlands of Central America…in this case the mountains just below the continental divide overlooking Bocas del Toro, Panama. This is both of the species possible in these mountains. We are at Tranquilo Bay Lodge for a week of birding and photography in this amazing corner of the tropics.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. Program Mode. Processed and cropped for scale in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Tranquilo Bay Lodge Official Greeter
As we got out of the boats and walked the boardwalk through the mangroves toward the stairs up to the Lodge at Tranquilo Bay we were greeted by the official greeter, just like at Walmart 🙂 This is a Three-fold Sloth.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. Program Mode. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Nest Building Verdin
Verdin. Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson AZ
Though I am in Panama for a short night’s sleep before a 5am pick-up for our flight to Bocas Del Toro and Tranquilo Bay Lodge, I will take a moment to post this shot from the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson. There are, of course, a lot of wild Desert birds who call the grounds of the ASDM home. This Verdin, building a nest, is one of them.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
God’s Dog
Coyote, Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson AZ
I am up early tomorrow and headed for the airport for the first leg of my flights to Panama…I will get to Panama City by 7:30PM tomorrow, to the hotel by 8:30, and then we have a 5AM pickup for the flight to Bocas del Toro. My posting schedule will be off for the next 9 days…but I will attempt to post at least to my Facebook and Google+ Pic for todays. This post is for tomorrow, 8/20.
God’s Dog is what the native Americans of Southern Arizona called the Coyote, and in this pose it is easy to see why. Such a beautiful animal. Again, I don’t post zoo shots that are obviously zoo…but who can resist the Coyote in its natural setting?
Sony RX10iii at 534mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Woody the Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker, Ash Canyon B&B, Sierra Vista, AZ
Yet another shot from the Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. The Acorn Woodpecker is the archetypal house breaker, hammering on any solid surface, destroyer of aluminum siding and cedar shingles indiscriminately…made famous by the Disney cartoons of Woody the Woodpecker. They are the most common woodpecker in the foothills of Arizona’s Sky Islands.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Bewick’s Wren
Bewick’s Wren, Ash Canyon B&B, Sierra Vista AZ
This is another shot from Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast south of Sierra Vista Arizona. Birders pay $5 to sit in the shade of the trees on the property and watch birds at the feeding stations around the yard…and it is always well worth it (photographers pay an extra $15 to bring a tripod in :). Many birders who come are looking for Lucifer’s Hummingbird or Spot Breasted Oriole, the two specialties of the house, but it is a great place to see and photograph all of the birds of the foothills of Arizona’s “sky islands”. This is a Bewick’s Wren, of the interior race of Bewick’s Wren, and it was hopping about under the feeders, less than 10 feet from my chair at the corner of the back porch.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 640 @ f4. Cropped for scale and processed in Lightroom.
Anna’s Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbird. Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast, Sierra Vista AZ
On our last day in Arizona, Sally and I visited the Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast south of Sierra Vista. Though it is a modest establishment it has a world class reputation among birders. It is one of the best places for both Spot-breasted Oriole and Lucifer’s Hummingbird. This, however, is a incredibly cooperative Anna’s Hummingbird. It came and sat above us, and allowed me to approach within 4 feet. Not so long ago, there were no Anna’s Hummingbirds in Arizona. They have expanded their range steadily eastward from Southern California over the past decade.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 220 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Eastern Collared-lizard
Eastern Collared Lizard, Ramsey Canyon, Arizona
Birding in Ramsey Canyon was kind of slow yesterday, for whatever reason, but this beautiful Eastern Collared Lizard posing nicely just about made up for it.
Sony RX10iii at 525mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Green Heron and genetically confused duck
Green Heron and a Mallard/Mottled/farm/? duck, Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson AZ
We were back at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson AZ this morning, this time with a group of 25 young birders. The early highlight of the trip was this Green Heron, always a good bird, and especially good to introduce young folks to the wonderful world of birds. It is pretty, interesting, and, when visible at all, they tend to pose nicely. The bird next to it is a genetically confused hybrid between…definitely a Mallard, possibly a Mottled Duck, and very likely a common farm-yard duck…along with possibly others. 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f5. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Broad-billed Hummingbird the wrong way around. Happy Sunday!
Broad-billed Hummingbird, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, Arizona
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!”
We visited Madera Canyon this morning, in search, mainly, of Elegant Trogons (which we did not find), but of course we had to stop by the Santa Rita Lodge and their Hummingbird feeders to see what was going on. All the usual subjects for a mountain August in Arizona, but nothing particularly unexpected. On the other hand, I could watch Broad-billed Hummingbirds all say. This is a somewhat unique shot. Many might call it a butt shot and disparage it as such, but I like it! I love the bow of the tail and the position of the wings, as well as the grace of the pose…and the colors…what can I say? I like it.
And of course that is part of the Generous Eye. You and I probably do not see the world, or even this image, the same way. And that is okay. More than okay. That is great. The Generous Eye is generous enough to allow you to see differently than I do, and generous enough (speaking personally, most of the time) to appreciate your point of view and value it equally with mine. It takes all our eyes to embrace the vision of the loving creator God. Happy Sunday.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.