Top Ten New Birds in 2010

The title of this post is deceptive. There is no way I could limit my favorite new birds of 2010 down to only ten birds. All of my lifers were seen in South Africa in late January and February. I really cannot pick a favorite bird, or list them in any kind of order. The Martial Eagle in the above photo is a good choice to start with. Martial Eagles are huge and majestic. This individual was spotted at dawn in Kruger N P.

Yellow-billed Kites were the most commonly seen raptor in SA.

A lousy photo of a great bird. Green, or (Knyshna) Touraco was one of my most hoped for species since long before I travelled to SA. This one was in a city park in St. Lucia on the east coast of the country.

African Fish Eagle is another majestic bird. One of nine species of eagle I saw in SA.

The Crowned Hornbill is probably the most attractive, and most shy, of the six species of hornbill that I saw.

Before I go to a new destination, of course I study the birds that occur there. There are always some colorful or unusual species that stand out, and I want to see the stand outs most of all. One stand out that I really hoped to get was Southern Red Bishop. I knew they were common but I did'nt know whether I would see any or not. I only had to step across the street of my lodging in Johannesburg to see them. They were everywhere.

One of the oddest raptors in the world, the Secretary Bird looks like a hybrid chicken, heron, eagle, whoknowswhat. We saw three or four of them in Kruger.

Studying birds in a book, seeing them on nature shows on tv, or even seeing them in zoos cannot give you a sense of the creature as it is in nature. There are always certain species that are impressive in some intangible way that can only be appreciated when you see thier natural behavior. One of the most unexpectedly delightful birds that I saw was the Speckled Mousebird. They are loaded with personality like a pet parrot.

Another fascinating species is one that is usually hard to observe although it was quite common. The Burchell's Coucal has lots of personality.

Another of the world's oddest birds, the Hammerkop. They are wading birds, like a heron. This is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip.

The largest of the six species of kingfisher that I saw, Giant Kingfisher.

Not too colorful, the Brown-headed Parrot is the only parrot species that we saw in SA. I can't end my list of favorite new birds here. I will continue with more great birds soon.

Happy Easter

Okay, so I have my holidays mixed up. It's not quite Christmas. The lunar eclipse happened last night on Winter Solstice, it was too cold out for me to try for some photos. The calendar says that today is the first day of Winter, although it's been Winter around here since before Halloween. The sad fact is that come the real Easter, things around here will still look like they do right now.

Earlier this Summer I did a post about the suburban moose that hang around my new neighborhood. Since I have not seen them around for awhile, I thought they had moved on. Today they were back.

I'm fairly sure that these are the same cow, and male calf that I've been seeing. They are fearless of humans.

Pretty as a postcard. Consider these photos my Christmas Cards to celebrate the season.

This is the young bull. He has really grown since Summer.

Scenes like this help me to endure the long winters, and remind me why I came here in the first place.

Notice the clipped ear of the mama moose?

This is a photo from last Summer. See the ear? This confirms that these are the same moose. I'm glad that they have avoided being killed in a collision. These photos were taken less than 100 yards, (meters) from the busiest highway in Alaska. Hundreds of moose are killed by vehicles around here every year.

It is not snowing, a gust of wind blew some snow from the tree branches.

This photo of the calf shows the beginning buds that will soon enough be sprouting into antlers.

Seward's Folly

This is a view of the tiny town of Seward on the Kenai Penninsula. It's pronounced Sue-ward, not see-ward. The purchase of Alaska from Russia was called Seward's Folly when Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State paid about 2 million dollars for the frozen wasteland.

A fishing boat has gone to ground close to home just yards from a repair dock.

Seward is located at the end of Resurrection Bay on Cook Inlet. It is one of my favorite places in the state.

The bay is ringed by Tidewater Glaciers like this one, Holgate Glacier. Much of it is protected by Kenai Fjords National Park.

Another glacier in Kenai Fjords N P is the smaller Exit Glacier that is an easy drive from Seward, and a good place to spot Black Bears.

The drive to Exit Glacier passes through some mysterious temperate rain forest. Bigfoot stories abound in the region.

A Black Oystercatcher on the bay.

Not a Walrus, this is a bull Steller's Sea Lion. They are truly massive.

Lovable Sea Otters can easily be seen right from the beach in town. They are much bigger than River Otters, which also occur in the area.

Seward is an ideal departure point for whale watching excursions. Humpback Whales are the most easily spotted whale during the Summer months. There are also birding cruises that leave from Seward and go to  the Chiswell Islands that are part of Kenai Fjords N P. You can see tens of thousands of puffins, and many other seabirds along the rocky cliffs of the islands.

Bald Eagles are so common that they soon become ho hum to visitors in town. I just love Seward and I wish I would take the time to go more often. Enduring hordes of Summer tourists is what keeps me away most years.

A Humble Painting

A Malachite Kingfisher, 8x10".

This is a detail of my latest painting, although the painting's details dont really show in these photos.  Now that Alaska is starkly beautiful, and heartlessly cold, my attention turns toward warmer climes. This painting, and the last one, (leopard painting) were painted in anticipation of my upcoming trip to Uganda in mid February. I still only have about half the money saved up for the trip, but I am commited to go. These are the hours of sleepless nights spent wondering how I can earn enough extra dollars in time. Things usually work out at the last minute.

Some Southern Snowbirds

Most of these photos were shot on a January morning in my yard when I was in Northern Arizona. The thermometer read 0 degrees farenhiet. The night before there had been an ice fog that covered everything in Hoar Frost. Birds like this Oregon Junco were drawn to the frozen apples in this tree. Oregon Juncos are one of several bird species that are only seen in Arizona in the winter. Thus they are known locally as snowbirds.

Normally juncos ignore fruit like apples but when it's cold enough they are not so choosy.

House Finches enjoyed the apples as well.

A Red-naped Sapsucker helped the smaller birds by piercing the leathery skin of the shrivelled apples.

Cassin's Finches are rarely seen in the White Mountains where I lived.

One junco species can be seen year round in the White Mountains, the Gray-headed Junco. It seems to be more visible in the winter months.

Pine Siskins are a species that occur both in Northern Arizona and Alaska.

Sage Thrashers are a snowbird that prefer more open areas.

Along with Scrub Jays like this, the White Mountains also has Steller's, Pinyon, Gray, and rarely Gray-breasted Jays. I had all of them in my yard except Gray Jays. Steller's Jays were by far the most common. Around here in Anchorage there are only Steller's and Gray Jays.

Old Croc Tales

Way back, when I was 21 years old, I was hitchiking with some friends down in Mexico. We stumbled upon the small fishing village of San Blas, in the state of Nayarit. This was destined to become a place that I would return to again and again. It was my first foray into the Neotropics.

The Mangove Swamps that surround the town represented a mysterious wonderland in my young imagination. Although I didnt have time to explore them on my first trip there, I vowed to myself that I would return one day and explore every bit of it. Which is what I did.

The photo above is the first wild crocadile that I have seen. It is about 4 and a half feet in length. An American Crocadile. I wanted to jump into the water and capture it, but common sense took control of me.

These American Crocadiles in the swamp are no bigger than the first, but I have seen a few that were in the 10 to 12 ft range. The local fishermen hardly consider them to be dangerous. They are fairly shy, and usually slip into the water in complete silence when you approach them.

The American Crocadiles in Costa Rica tend to be much bigger. Especially on the West coast. The Tarcoles River is famous for it's abundance of large crocs. The Panamerican Highway crosses the river and many tourists stop at the bridge to see the huge crocadiles that gather beneath the bridge. I believe they are being fed there. These guys are in the 14 to 15 ft range. That's just about 5 meters.

Sensible people are content to photograph the crocadiles from the safety of the bridge. Naturally I had to get closer, so I unobtrusively made my way below the bridge. I'm pretty sure that this guy was inviting me to put my head in it's mouth but I politely declined. You can judge a crocadile's size by comparing the size of it's eye to the rest of it's body. Small crocs have large eyes. Look how tiny this croc's eyes are. It was huge.

This toothy crocadile cruised alongside our raft on the Corobici River further north.

Costa Rica also has many Spectacled Caimans. They are smaller than crocs and stick to fresh water where crocs prefer more brackish water. This individual was at Cano Negro near the Nicaraguan border.

A large Spectacled Caiman like this one is only about 6 ft,(2 meters) long. I also saw many Spectacled Caimans in Peru but they were all pretty small.

Africa is infamous for it's man eating Nile Crocadiles. This small Nile Crocadile in Kruger NP in South Africa last Feb. was begging for handouts along with these Side-necked Turtles. He didnt get any from me.

Also in Kruger, we witnessed another crocadile capture a large fish.

In Ndumo Park we were accompanied by an armed guide while we walked along the riverbank to look for birds. He was worried about dangerous hippos, not crocadiles.

This big crocadile in Ndumo appeared not to have a care in the world. It may have been potentially dangerous, but I thought it was too fat to pose any threat as I walked up to it. I worried about the crocadile that I was'nt seeing.

A Leopard Painting

One of the biggest thrills I had during my trip to South Africa last February was seeing three Leopards.

The first Leopard was crossing the road in Kruger Nat. Park. It was so far ahead of us that we were not sure what it was. Then it crossed back and we saw it was a Leopard. By the time we got up to where it had crossed we could not find it so I got no photos.

My disappointment in missing that first photo opportunity was short lived. A few days later we came across this mother and cub in another part of Kruger.

We were too far away but the Leopards were unconcerned by our presense as we observed from our car.

I wanted to get out of the car very badly to get closer but I knew the Leopards would be gone in an instant.

This is what I have been working on for the last week or so. I dont really have a title for it yet, but it's 11x14". To me the nose on the adult looks too long and I wish I had changed it. I just did'nt notice that it looked funny until i had already varnished it. In time I may decide that it's fine the way it is.