Cerro Azul, Panama

Tags:   Snowy-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia edward Panama Cerro Azul Canopy Tower Alex Sanchez

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Laguna Grande Park, Seaside

Tags:   Geothlypis trichas Common Yellowthroat Laguna Grande Park Seaside, CA NGC NPC

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Pu'u O'oTrail, Hawaii

The 'Akiapola'au, or Aki for short, is another of the highly endangered honeycreepers of Hawaii, and a very special bird. The Aki has evolved to occupy the woodpecker niche, and as you can see has a very unique and interesting bill. The lower half of the bill is used as a pecking and crushing tool, while the top half can be used as a prying tool to peel back bark and to probe. The bill is flexible and the Aki can actually use the bill as pincers and can pull the tips of both halves of the bill together.

We first saw this very cool bird while at the Hakalau Reserve, with our guide Jack Jeffrey. The two Aki that we saw and photographed there were pretty high up in the trees and very backlit. Jack suggested that we might find an Aki in one of the Kipuka along the Pu'u O'o Trail, and indeed we did find one there, on much shorter Koa trees, on our third try.

I had to crop these pretty tight because the shots were tricky ones through a dense stand of small trees.

Tags:   Hemignathus munroi Pu'u O'o Trail, Hawaii 11/13/13 'Akiapola'au FBW:NewBird Hemignathus wilsoni

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Big gulpers, Monterey Bay

Tags:   whale Humpback Anchovies SanctuaryWhalewatching MossLanding

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Northern Cardinal fledgling and papa
Bass Lake, MI

High drama on a rainy afternoon. We had been watching a male Northern Cardinal bringing food into a small low bush for many days. One afternoon we suddenly noticed a single fledgling out alone on the deck of my sister's house. The male came in several times to feed the youngster. The male and female insistently called the baby to get it down from the deck and away from the danger of other nearby birds and rodents. They eventually persuaded junior to get down on the ground, where it immediately faced trouble with some very interested chipmunks. With tiny hopping flights the bird made it to the backyard area.

Several days later, the male was still feeding the nestlings in the bush, but we also saw him feeding the displaced fledge in the back. Very dedicated papa!

Tags:   birds Northern Cardinal fledgling male Cardinalis cardinalis

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