March 16, 2005 [LINK]

More Costa Rica bird photos!

This Violet saberwing is just a sample of the 18 new bird photos I've posted on this site, making about 50 altogether. A few more bird photos may be added later, and I also plan to post a few photos of monkeys and other exotic wild beasts. The Costa Rica birds page has been revamped to make it quicker and easier to see just the photos you want to see. It now includes a scrolling "a la carte" menu to let you pick and choose. The 31 photos it contained are now on the originals page, while the 18 new ones (nearly all of which are freeze frames from digital video tape, rather than still images as in the first batch) are on the second batch page. Those folks with limited patience or slow Internet access speed may prefer to see just the "cream of the crop" at: Costa Rica birds, best. Other high-quality photos on that page from the new batch include a Summer tanager, a Chestnut-mandibled toucan, and a White-throated magpie jay. I wanted to include the Rufous-collared sparrow and the Black-bellied hummingbird, but there are already 16 photos on that page. Thanks to the video camera, I've identified several more birds, adding to my life list. Going through all that video footage to extract suitable freeze frame images and to identify birds has been very time-consuming, which is why blogging has been so light this week.

I did find a bit of time to stop at Bell's Lane on the way home a few days ago. I noticed a huge flock of black birds in a barren field, and was pleased to spot at least a hundred Red-winged blackbirds among the thousands of Starlings. There were also a few Cowbirds, but I didn't see any Grackles. Then I happened to meet up with a caravan of Augusta Bird Club members on a field trip. The American wigeons, Redheads, Ruddy ducks, and Green-winged teals that have been wintering at the big farm pond off and on are still there, along with the usual Canada geese, but I didn't see any of the American coots or Mallards.