They're back : )
Gathering food for his babies
White-crowned Sparrow, Tadoussac, Quebec
Pine Siskin
Day 3, Purple Martins, Pt Pelee, Ontario
Day 6, Horned Lark, Tadoussac Golf Course
Mountain Chickadee feeding on suet
Male Snowy Owl
Day 9, White-crowned Sparrow
Barred Owl in FCPP - from the archives
Mountain Bluebird male / Sialia currucoides
Cedar Waxwing
Mountain Bluebird
Red-winged Blackbird displaying
Backlit Sunflower
Terrible photos - but it was a GRIZZLY : )
Grizzly & one of her two cubs
Grizzly female (#152) and cubs
Green Honeycreeper male, Trinidad
Blue-gray Tanager, Trinidad
A better sense of size
Yellow Oriole, Trinidad
The ever-present Black-capped Chickadee
Silky Anteater, Caroni Swamp, Trinidad
Pine Grosbeak male feeding on berries
I spy with my little eye
Where countryside and civilization meet
Couple of Coots / Fulica americana
And down(y) he flew
The charred remains of McDougall Memorial United C…
Back view of an orange Sunflower
American Goldfinch
White-necked Jacobin female, Asa Wright Nature Cen…
Crested Oropendola / Psarocolius decumanus, Asa Wr…
Blue-gray Tanager, Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trini…
Floating on aquamarine waves
Female Mountain Bluebird with lunch for her babies
Backside beauty
Standing in sunshine
Merlin on the hunt
Quite a typical view
Swainson's Hawk on an early morning hunt
Upland Sandpiper / Bartramia longicauda
My first Bald Eagle on a fence post
Brown-headed Cowbird / Molothrus ater
Beautiful wings of a female Mountain Bluebird
Grasshopper Sparrow / Ammodramus savannarum - OR i…
Tree Swallow female
A Tree Swallow's iridescence
Eurasian Collared-Dove / Streptopelia decaocto
Black-capped Chickadee on Judy's hand
A quick shot just in time
Tree Swallow from the archives
Just a splash of colour
Pine Grosbeak enjoying the sun
On the hunt
Why birds are sometimes hard to find
Great Gray Owl in early morning light
Resting near the Cattails
Time to rest awhile
"Just" a little House Sparrow
All decked out
Golden Eagle juvenile
Harebell
Spread those wings
The art of building a nest
Black-capped Chickadee at a cavity
A backwards glance
Love those big ears and big feet
Red-winged Blackbird displaying
Two of a kind
It's mine!
Northern Pygmy-owl with Meadow Vole
So beautiful
Merlin male, back view
A beautiful country barn
Great Horned Owl with fall colours
House Sparrow in the fall
The fancy web work of a spider
Building her nest
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Blue-gray Tanager, Trinidad
What does it do in a rainforest? It rains, of course. Thankfully, I only remember one day during our trip when we actually got caught in the rain, just briefly. I am surprised that any photos taken in the rain turned out OK.
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 20 March 2017 (our last day there before flying home to Alberta).
"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
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
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 20 March 2017 (our last day there before flying home to Alberta).
"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
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
The Forgotten Door has particularly liked this photo
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