Search This Blog

...a glimpse into life on Vancouver Island, needle felting, photography, food, gardening, etcetera...etcetera
"Happiness always looks small when you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and at once you learn how big and precious it is."
Maxim Gorky

Monday, February 22, 2016

The 'easy' birds...

You here them everywhere...in the towns, on the beach, in the jungle but...
not all birds are easy to capture in pictures.
I have been taking photos of 'easy' birds for many years.
The hummingbirds who will allow you to be within a few feet of them,
water fowl when you have food, and some birds with a zoom lens but I'm
concluding that I need a much more powerful telephoto lens to capture
the more elusive birds in trees.
Of the many photos I tried to get of some birds in Nicaragua all
but a few turned out. 
These were the 'easy birds...
Seems like the Nicaraguan Grackle is everywhere...
Tom and I were calling it the 'alarm clock bird' since it was always the first one
up in the morning making all kinds of interesting sounds.
I think I counted at least 5 different calls and songs from this 
gorgeous jet black bird...
the female is a taupe brown colour but with the same striking eyes...
On a boat trip on Lake Nicaragua one day, we witnessed a not so easy bird to capture pictures of but 
it's nests were very easy to spot...
These are colonies of Montezuma Orpendolas...that's one with the bright yellow tail in the photo above. They also make some crazy sounds.
They nest in these grassy 2 foot long sock looking nests and there
 were probably a hundred in one tree.
Kind of like bird condos!
this is a short video of the call...pretty impressive when you here about 30 of them calling!
The white egrets were numerous too....along the shore line mostly...
 and near this cattle trough...
This little kiskadee was hanging out there as well...
I was lucky one morning while on a rocky shore on the beach to have this handsome fella
allow me to take some nice shots...
The one bird I could watch for hours are the brown pelicans.
Gliding in formation like an aviary air force, tipping their wings on the waves...
Diving like arrows at the last minute.
 Again a not so easy thing to capture without the right equipment.
They love to hang around the fishing boats too...
But the easiest birds to photograph on my trip were this pair of ducks that
lived at one of the hotels we stayed at...
 The male was super friendly and let you pick him up but the female was a bit more cautious...
So a nod to the ones who aren't so shy!!








4 comments:

Jacquie said...

That last shot is fantastic. Isn't it interesting how someone else's everyday is so magical? Reminds of a study Diane Ackerman did in the common gray squirrel. No one else had been interested enough to do a scientific study.

Katherine Dunn/Apifera Farm said...

Beautiful images!

Terriea Kwong said...

I come again to visit your blog. Read again the lovely birds. Your photography is awesome. You captured the souls. The last image of two ducks looks funny. Sounds "Ahhh..... you're looking at me? Bye and have a good day!".

Cobalt Violet said...

Great shots! What a cool mating call! The sound is beautiful.
LOVE the tilted heads in the last one. So adorable!