We had some really good views of the whooping cranes, but they were very hard to photograph. At that time, I was still struggling with getting a good focus from my camera. Hmmm... actually, this was the first trip with more successful pictures -- but still not perfect! ;-)
The whoopers were not the only great birding sights on this trip. Above is an American Bittern.
And another exciting sight was a juvenile Greater Flamingo!
On the way back we were accompanied by dolphins -- they love riding the boat's wake.
For some reason, I'm particularly enamored of Brown Pelicans. Here are two of the many shots I have taken (on that trip -- not to mention other trips!).
And finally, my husband's favorite sea-bird. He likes to feed them -- I take pictures. ;-) More pictures soon...
4 comments:
Stormy,
While looking out of my office window, I noticed two little birds harassing a crow (raven?). These birds were half the size of the crow and were dive boming the crow. Must have had a nest near there. Anyway, the birds were brown/grey in appearance, but once they took flight, they were a checkerboard of brown/grey and white. Just wondered what they were.
Neocon
Hi Neocon,
I'm not sure what you mean by "checkerboard". In our area, the one type of bird that really enjoys harassing larger birds (though many small birds will), are the Mockingbirds. They also like to harass people, cats, dogs, or any animals that are in their "space". ;-)
As to the crow -- that's probably what it was. I don't think we have ravens here -- both of the raven species in the US occur West of us.
Hi Stormy
Not sure what I saw, but you could probably play checkers on their bodies if the wings and tail feathers were spreadout. tips of wings white, then brown/grey, then white, all over the bird! Pretty weird! Probably something common though! Thanks. :)
Neocon
Neo,
I'm thinking that the white patches on a mockingbird's wings might look "checkered" when they are flying. Did you look at the link to Cornell on the Mockingbird post? Scroll down and there is a drawing of a mockingbird with it's wings spread. Not quite as obvious when it's static. I can't think of any other bird that it could be, but I'll keep an eye out for any that match your description.
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