Remember to stop and smell the .... wildflowers
On the way down
Hanging on
The beauty of wheat (?)
An old red barn
You looking at me, lady?
Semipalmated Plover / Charadrius semipalmatus?
Four in a row
Green Honeycreeper female, Asa Wright, Trinidad
Hosta flowers
Patiently waiting
Swainson's Hawk juvenile
Canada Warbler / Cardellina canadensis
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
Yellowlegs
Killdeer / Charadrius vociferus
A filtered Poppy
Swainson's Hawk juvenile
Sheep on a smoky day
Checkered Skipper sp.?
American Goldfinch eating Sunflower seeds
Green-winged Teal and Black-bellied Plover
Bee on Sunflower
Handsome Wood Ducks
When the last petal has fallen
Sleepy Short-eared Owl
Scenery along Highway 40, Kananaskis
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel in a Pika's cave
Red Birds in a Tree plant
Old country schoolhouse
A favourite road
Painted Lady
Waiting for the herd to descend
Wide angle on the Bighorn Sheep ridge
Keeping watch over the herd
Small and fast .... and adorable
The beauty of our mountains
Clouds over the mountains
Short-eared Owl
An unusual shape
A road less travelled
Little country school with company
A muddy find with bokeh
Eastern Kingbird in the middle of nowhere
Spiked hairdo
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307 visits
Blue-gray Tanager / Thraupis episcopus, Asa Wright, Trinidad
"The blue-gray tanager (Thraupis episcopus) is a medium-sized South American songbird of the tanager family, Thraupidae. On Trinidad and Tobago, this bird is called blue jean.
The blue-gray tanager is 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long and weighs 30–40 g (1.1–1.4 oz). Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage.
The breeding habitat is open woodland, cultivated areas and gardens. The blue-gray tanager lives mainly on fruit, but will also take some nectar and insects. This is a common, restless, noisy and confiding species, usually found in pairs, but sometimes small groups. It thrives around human habitation, and will take some cultivated fruit like papayas (Carica papaya)." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-gray_tanager
We saw Blue-gray Tanagers on both Trinidad and Tobago. This one was seen and photographed at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the island of Trinidad, on 16 March 2017 (our first day there after arriving from Tobago).
This is a video that I found 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
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 Lakes National Park in Alberta, 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. We were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices for our flights, which were 50% off! 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 and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so may have been familiar with a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on the much bigger island of 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 and fruit tables that are right by the huge, open veranda, as well as the plants and trees in this 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 mini-bus. I had read so 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 up the mountain 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.
The blue-gray tanager is 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long and weighs 30–40 g (1.1–1.4 oz). Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage.
The breeding habitat is open woodland, cultivated areas and gardens. The blue-gray tanager lives mainly on fruit, but will also take some nectar and insects. This is a common, restless, noisy and confiding species, usually found in pairs, but sometimes small groups. It thrives around human habitation, and will take some cultivated fruit like papayas (Carica papaya)." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-gray_tanager
We saw Blue-gray Tanagers on both Trinidad and Tobago. This one was seen and photographed at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the island of Trinidad, on 16 March 2017 (our first day there after arriving from Tobago).
This is a video that I found 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
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 Lakes National Park in Alberta, 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. We were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices for our flights, which were 50% off! 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 and interesting things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so may have been familiar with a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on the much bigger island of 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 and fruit tables that are right by the huge, open veranda, as well as the plants and trees in this 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 mini-bus. I had read so 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 up the mountain 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.
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