Tuesday, 16 April 2024: it snowed again today and more expected tomorrow. Very windy this evening.
I am adding another five photos from my archives, yet again. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same outing, I will add it to tonight's uploads.
This photo of a male Green Honeycreeper was taken on 20 March 2017, the last day of our trip to Trinidad & Tobago. The common name comes from the female, which is a very definite green, unlike the turquoise of the male. Photo of a female can be seen in Comments below.
"The green honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) is a small bird in the tanager family. It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico south to Brazil, and on Trinidad. It is the only member of the genus Chlorophanes.
The male is mainly blue-tinged green with a black head and a mostly bright yellow bill. The female green honeycreeper is grass-green, paler on the throat, and lacks the male's iridescence and black head. Immatures are plumaged similar to females.
This is a forest canopy species. The female green honeycreeper builds a small cup nest in a tree, and incubates the clutch of two brown-blotched white eggs for 13 days. It is less heavily dependent on nectar than the other honeycreepers, fruit being its main food (60%), with nectar (20%) and insects (15%) as less important components of its diet." From Wikipedia.
"This adventure was only the second holiday of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a wonderful, one-week trip with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going.
Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together (from 12-21 March 2017), spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, much larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could choose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself! We were so lucky with our flights, as we were just in time to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!
What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with some of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. Just gorgeous.
The Asa Wright Nature Centre, on Trinidad, is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up the mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a minibus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was enough room for two vehicles to pass each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming fast around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road, from the coast to Asa Wright, took just over an hour each way.
I still miss the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and even the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served buffet-style, with a great variety of dishes from which to choose. To me, pure luxury. So very, very grateful to have been invited to be part of this amazing adventure.
This is a video that I came across on YouTube, taken by Rigdon Currie and Trish Johnson, at many of the same places we visited on Trinidad and Tobago. Not my video, but it made me feel like I was right there still. Posting the link here again, so that I won't lose it.
youtu.be/BBifhf99f_M
I also came across the following 27-minute YouTube video of the flora and fauna of Trinidad, filmed by John Patrick Smith in February 2015.
youtu.be/6HHBm9MIxnk
Tags: Trinidad island Caribbean West Indies Asa Wright Nature Centre nature wildlife ornithology avian bird Green Honeycreeper Chlorophanes spiza Genus: Chlorophanes male adult side view perched tree branch Pico Pico tree colour colourful tropical neotropical rainforest leaves foliage bokeh outdoor 20 March 2017 Panasonic Lumix FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, 16 April 2024: it snowed again today and more expected tomorrow.
I am adding another five photos from my archives, yet again. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same outing, I will add it to tonight's uploads.
"Fortunately, this Cougar was seen at The Calgary Zoo on 6 October 2014, and not in the wild! Well, at least lucky for me, but not for the Cougar. The Zoo has a pair of these powerful animals and every time I see them, I can't help but feel very thankful that I've never come across one in the wild."
"This powerful predator roams the Americas, where it is also known as a puma, cougar, mountain lion and catamount. This big cat of many names is also found in many habitats, from Florida swamps to Canadian forests.
Mountain lions like to prey on deer, though they also eat smaller animals such as coyotes, porcupines, and raccoons. They usually hunt at night or during the gloaming hours of dawn and dusk. These cats employ a blend of stealth and power, stalking their prey until an opportunity arrives to pounce, then going for the back of the neck with a fatal bite. They will hide large carcasses and feed on them for several days.
Mountain lions once roamed nearly all of the United States. They were prized by hunters and despised by farmers and ranchers who suffered livestock losses at their hands. Subsequently, by the dawn of the 20th century, mountain lions were eliminated from nearly all of their range in the Midwest and Eastern U.S.—though the endangered Florida panther survives.
Today, whitetail deer populations have rebounded over much of the mountain lion's former range and a few animals have appeared in more eastern states such as Missouri and Arkansas. Some biologists believe that these big cats could eventually recolonize much of their Midwest and Eastern range—if humans allow them to do so. In most western U.S. states and Canadian provinces, populations are considered sustainable enough to allow managed sport hunting.
Mountain lions require a lot of room—only a few cats can survive in a 30-square-mile (78-square-kilometer) range. They are solitary and shy animals, seldom seen by humans. While they do occasionally attack people—usually children or solitary adults—statistics show that, on average, there are only four attacks and one human fatality each year in all of the U.S. and Canada." From National Geographic website.
Tags: Calgary Alberta Canada Calgary Zoo zoo captivity mammal Cougar Puma concolor Carnivora big cat Felidae Puma native to Americas predator stalk-and-ambush close-up front view outdoor 6 October 2014 Panasonic Lumix annkelliott Anne Elliott FZ200
© All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, 16 April 2024: it snowed again today and more expected tomorrow.
I am adding another five photos from my archives, yet again. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same outing, I will add it to tonight's uploads.
"It will take me forever to do much of a write-up about this trip, but I hope to add an extra bit of information about each photo to the very simple, basic description. Right now, I'm not quite sure where I was and when, lol! We arrived back in Calgary three evenings ago, on 21 March 2017, and I have to get myself somewhat organized and see to all sorts of important things. Instead, of course, I have been stuck in front of my computer all day, each day : ) Totally dead beat after such a busy time away, dealing with extremely early mornings and hot, humid weather. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a dreadful night-owl, so getting up around 5:15 am was an absolute killer. Also, heat and humidity don't agree with my body, so each trip out was quite exhausting. In the morning of 21 March, we had to get up around 2:00 am, as we had such an early flight (5 and a half hours) from Trinidad to Toronto - followed by a four-hour flight back to Calgary. On our very first day, we had three flights in a row, as we flew from Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from where we had a short flight to the island of Tobago.
This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a one-week holiday with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going.
Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together, spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - flights (we were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!), accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could chose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself!
What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with quite a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago.
The Asa Wright Nature Centre on the much larger island of Trinidad is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was just enough room for two vehicles to squeeze past each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road took just over an hour each way.
I'm already missing the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing."
Tags: Tobago island Speyside Blue Waters Inn beach nature wildlife ornithology avian bird birds shore bird Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres stocky calico pattern & colours long distance migrant front/side view sand bokeh outdoor 13 March 2017 Panasonic Lumix FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, 16 April 2024: it snowed again today and more expected tomorrow.
I am adding another five photos from my archives, yet again. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same outing, I will add it to tonight's uploads.
This photo was taken at the Calgary Zoo on 12 April 2008. Sadly, the dik-diks passed away in 2012 due to age related illness.
"A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus Madoqua that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa.
Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the females' alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill, whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators." From Wikipedia.
© All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, 16 April 2024: it snowed again today and more expected tomorrow.
I am adding another five photos from my archives, yet again. If I wrote a description under a previously posted photo taken on the same outing, I will add it to tonight's uploads.
"Two or three dozen of these beautifully iridescent Tree Swallows were flying overhead when I drove SW of the city on 14 May 2013. There were two nesting boxes maybe 30' apart - a pair of Mountain Bluebirds was protecting one box and the swarm of Tree Swallows kept flying down to the barbed-wire at the second box. I was surprised to see so many of them! Too early for any new young ones, so would they be a mix of female and male adults plus last year's young? It never occurred to me that last year's youngsters would still be around with their parents.
It started to rain a little, but then cleared up, though some dark clouds lingered. As you can see from this photo, I didn't find a whole lot of birds, but I did come across a few nice species, including a Merlin (also posted this morning), three Phalarope, Northern Shovellers, a pair of Cinnamon Teal, a pair of Canvasbacks, Mountain Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Blue-winged Teal, Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Scaup, Red-necked Grebes, two WIlson's Snipes, a Sora, and a few Ring-necked Ducks."
Tags: Alberta Canada SW of Calgary backroad nature ornithology avian bird birds Tree Swallow
© All Rights Reserved