Readers’ wildlife photos

Our photo tank is running low, so while I’m gone for the next week you might consider putting together a batch of photos for posting here.  Thanks!

Here is part 2 of Ephraim Heller’s survey of the birds of Bhutan (part 1, with an introduction, is here).  His captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here is installment #2 of photos from my April 2024 birding tour of Bhutan. We begin with a photo of the Paro valley, including the Paro dzong. Paro is the site of Bhutan’s only international airport, as it is the only valley near the capital of Thimpu wide and flat enough for commercial passenger jets. Consequently, most international visitors enter Bhutan here.

Today I post my photos of Phasianidae (pheasants, grouse, and allies) and Columbidae (pigeons and doves). Descriptions of the species below are taken from Wikipedia.

Blood Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus) male and female. Blood pheasants live in the mountains of Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, northern Myanmar, Tibet and central and south-central China, where they prefer coniferous or mixed forests and scrub areas near the snowline. They move their range depending on the season, and are found at higher elevations during the summer. With snow increasing in fall and winter, they move to lower elevations.

Male:

Female:

An Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) female. These are native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of 2,100–4,500 m (6,900–14,800 ft). It is the state bird of Nepal. The male has spectacular colors, but I was able only to photograph the female, which is darn pretty.

A Barred Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia unchall):

Mountain Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula badia), Bhutan:

An Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis):

A Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis). While native to Asia, the species has become established in many areas outside its native range including Hawaii, southern California, Mauritius, Australia, and New Zealand:

A Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon (Treron sphenurus):

Equipment: All animal photos were shot using a Nikon Z9 camera and Nikkor Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens. Landscape and architectural photos were shot either with a Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S lens or with an iPhone 11.

You can see more of my photos here.

Readers’ wildlife photos

Today we have some bird photos by ecologist Susan Harrison. Her captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.  (And send in yours.)

Dry Tortugas and the perils of migration

The Dry Tortugas are the westernmost of the Florida Keys, lying just over 100 miles from the mainland. These tiny sandy islands, or cays, are uninhabited by people but essential to bird life.  They support  breeding colonies of some unusual seabirds, and they are the North American landfall for many spring-migrating songbirds.

Dry Tortugas National Park was created to protect these birds, and human visitors can go to only one island:  Garden Cay, which supports Fort Jefferson, a huge crumbling installation begun in 1846 and abandoned in 1906.  The fort saw use as a Civil War prison, a quarantine, and a coaling station, but its war-worn look is an illusion.  Somehow the engineers of the day did not realize that iron fittings exposed to salt water would expand and tear apart its brick walls.

Fort Jefferson:

Wandering about the fort’s grounds in late April, avian migrants are seen resting in the shrubby Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera) and Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) trees and drinking at the tiny brick birdbath that provides the only water for many miles around.

Palm Warbler, Setophaga palmarum:

Cape May Warbler, Setophaga tigrinum:

Blackpoll Warbler, Setophaga striata:

Ovenbird, Seiurus atrocapilla:

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus:

Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio martinca:

The fort is hardly a safe refuge for these tired flyers, however.  Bird-eating raptors circle the grounds constantly and we saw several luckless songbirds get caught.

Merlin, Falco columbarius:

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter striatus:

Antillean Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus domingensis, a Caribbean subspecies:

Lastly, here are three bird species that within the US are only seen in southernmost Florida; I saw the first one on Garden Cay and all of them in Key West.

Grey Kingbird, Tyrannus dominicensis:

Short-tailed Hawk, Buteo brachyurus:

White-crested Pigeon, Patagioenas leucocephala:

Readers’ wildlife photos

Reader Duncan McCaskill contributed some photos Australian birds. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here are some photos of some small Australian birds.

New bird watchers find Little Brown Birds (LBBs) frustratingly difficult to identify. Here in Australia, the LBBs are mostly members of the family Acanthizidae (Australian Warblers), and within that family, it’s particularly the thornbills (genus Acanthiza) that give new birders grief. I live in Canberra and there are 5 species of thornbill that occur in the region. They are all quite common. As can be seen from the photos, most are not brown, nor are they difficult to identify if—and that’s a big if—you can get a good look at them. They are all small, very active, and often hidden in vegetation. Most experienced birders rely more on calls to identify them.

Most of the photos were taken in the Canberra region.

A Striated Thornbill (Acanthiza lineata). They spend most of their time in the canopy, so in tall forests the most you usually see are occasional tiny hyperactive dots. Sometimes they will be lower down feeding in the canopy of small saplings and shrubs. Their high-pitched insect like tsip calls can be hard to pick out.

A Striated Thornbill in a eucalypt sapling

A Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla). An LBB that is actually brown. Just to make life difficult for birders, even experienced ones, they have a highly variable range of calls, including calls that sound very much like other species that may be hiding in the foliage with them. They also mimic the calls of other species, including other thornbill species. I have known experienced birders spend a lot of time chasing down the call of a rarity, only to find it was a Brown Thornbill mimicking.

These two photos are from down at the coast, some 120km east of Canberra.

A Brown Thornbill in a Banksia bush.

A Yellow Thornbill (Acanthiza nana). A small thornbill, generally lacking in distinguishing features. The slightly orange patch under the chin is usually the best field mark. Their call is a sharp tzit-tzit (usually, but not always just two syllables).

A Yellow Thornbill in my bird bath. The birds in the background are Red-browed Finches (Neochmia temporalis).

A Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa). The largest of the thornbills, they forage mostly on the ground and have a bright yellow rump, making them the easiest thornbill to identify. Their call is a tinkling melodious warble.

A Yellow-rumped Thornbill on the ground. Their bright yellow rump is only visible when they are flying.

A Buff-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza reguloides). Another ground foraging thornbill. Their calls are flatter and less melodious than the Yellow-rumped.

Another Buff-rumped Thornbill, showing its buff coloured rump.

A Buff-rumped Thornbill with a caterpillar.

Buff-rumped Thornbill

A Weebill (Smicrornis brevirostris). Often described as Australia’s smallest bird, the Weebill is not a thornbill, but it is of the same family (Acanthizidae). Their bills are shorter and thicker than thornbills. Their calls include distinctive whistles, sometimes described as sounding like “I’m a Weebill”. They also make harsher tzit type calls.

Finally, one of the most colourful members of the family Acanthizidae, a White-throated Gerygone (Gerygone olivacea). They have the most beautiful cascading musical song.

Readers’ wildlife photos

It’s Sunday, and that means bird photos from biologist John Avise. His IDs and notes are indented, and his pictures, from Portugal and Spain, can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Portugal and Spain Birds, Part 1 

In 2010, I went on a multi-stop seminar trip to various universities and conferences in Portugal and southern Spain.  In-between the lectures I delivered, there was ample time for bird-watching and avian photography.  The Mediterranean climate meant lots of sunny weather and ideal conditions for such outdoor activities.  This week’s post begins a three-part series highlighting species of European birds that I photographed on this delightful trip.

Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus):

European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster):

Black Kite (Milvus migrans) flying:

Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) flying:

Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) flying:

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) flying:

Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra):

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) flying:

Coal Tit (Periparus ater):

Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto):

Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra):

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata):

Great Bustards (Otis tarda) flying:

Readers’ wildlife photos

Today we have photos from reader James Blilie, whose captions are indented. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Spring has sprung in southern Washington state, where we live.  All of these are shot in our yard (or from our house).

We have a glorious showing of Empress Lilies Fritillaria imperialis that were (we assume) planted by a previous owner of the property.  These flowers give a huge early spring show and then die back to the ground quickly.  They smell strongly of skunk (very like skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).

As Steve Simon (a photographer whose work I admire) says:  Work the scene.  And I did.  Some of these photos will show some camera technique which I will try to highlight.

A close-up with a telephoto lens and large aperture to blur the background (short depth-of-field; bokeh):

Then two shots showing the effect of lens focal length:

In this shot, I am going for the framing of the scene by the tree trunks and branches and I am including Mount Adams in the background.  A telephoto lens helps keep the foreground and background on a similar scale in the photo.  A small aperture (f/8) helps keep it all in focus (enough).

Last of the Empress Lily photos is another wide angle shot where I got very low to look up into the bells of the flowers and I got very lucky to capture a sunburst as well (this was not planned; the other 3-4 shots did not have it; luck is your friend)

Next are two shots of Mount Adams at sunset from a few days ago.

Some local wildlife:  A flock of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) with the Tom displaying for the ladies.  (These are a little fuzzy and have glare because I shot them through our windows.)

More local wildlife:  Early morning visit from our usual gang of Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus), a sub-species of the Mule Deer (same binomial).

Early morning shots of our local mountains:  Mount Adams and Mount Hood.

Equipment:

Olympus OM-D E-M5 (micro 4/3 mirrorless camera; crop factor = 2.0)
LUMIX G X Vario, 12-35MM, f/2.8 ASPH.  (24mm-70mm equivalent, my walk-around lens)
LUMIX 35-100mm  f/2.8 G Vario  (70-200mm equivalent)
LUMIX G Vario 7-14mm  f/4.0 ASPH  (14-28mm equivalent)
LUMIX G Vario 100-300mm F/4.0-5.6 MEGA O.I.S.  (200-600mm equivalent)

Readers’ wildlife photos

It’s Sunday, and that means an episode in the continuing series of John Avise‘s bird photos. John’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Costa Rica Birds 

As a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, I was privileged to attend the annual Pew Fellows meetings, which were held at a different marine location each year.  In 2008, the conference was held at a resort on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.   Each such three-day meeting consisted of a series of highly focused symposia and workshops on marine conservation that typically kept us extremely busy indeed.  Nevertheless, during lunch or on short breaks, I managed to take a few avian photos that are the subject of this week’s post.

White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica):

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum):

Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus):

Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris):

Groove-billed Ani, headshot:

Ringed Kingfisher, female (Megaceryle torquata):

Rufous-backed Wren (Campylorhynchus capistratus):

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) in non-breeding plumage:

Spotted Sandpiper in flight:

Streak-backed Oriole (Icterus pustulatus):

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus):

White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa):

Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila):

Readers’ wildlife photos

Today is part 2 of photos of a part in southern Africa from reader William Terre Blanche; this is the second of two installments (the first is here).  His notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. I begin by quoting his introduction from yesterday:

Here are some photos from a visit last year to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park  (Kgalagadi means “place of great thirst” in the San Language).

This vast wilderness reserve used to comprise two separate game parks, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (South Africa) and the Gemsbok National Park (Botswana) separated by an unfenced border. However, in a historic 1999 agreement, South Africa and Botswana joined forces to create the world’s first trans-frontier nature reserve, the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park. It covers an amazing 38,000 km², an enormous conservation area across which the wildlife flows without any hindrance.

The Park is famous for its magnificent black-maned male lions, as well as an abundance of raptor species, but the beautiful desert landscape and unique atmosphere is probably what draws most return visitors there (myself included).

In December 2023, I had the privilege of spending almost 2 weeks in the park, and these are just some of the many photographs taken there (apologies, mostly birds, again..).

Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris)  These can often be seen using the typical plover run-stop-search method of foraging at any suitable body of water. The area had unusually good summer rains last year, and these pretty little birds were often seen:

Violet-eared Waxbill (Ureaginthus granatinus).  An almost impossibly brightly coloured little bird, they are actually quite common in the Kgalagadi, but the vibrant colours never ceases to amaze me whenever I come across one of them:

Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius).  One of the most iconic sights of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the massive communal nests of the Sociable Weaver. Colonies of up to 500 birds build these nests in trees, telephone poles and sometimes rock faces. The nests are built entirely out of grass, and each pair builds its own nest chamber:

Northern Black Korhaan (Afrotis afraoides). Their raucous kraak-kraak-kraak call is often heard long before they are seen! Spends most of the day on the ground, searching for food which is mostly insects and occasionally small reptiles:

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).  The world’s fastest land animal and Africa’s most endangered big cat. This female was presumably calling for the young, although I unfortunately never got to see them:

Urikaruus Wilderness Camp.  There are 3 main “Restcamps” inside the Park, plus a number of so-called Wilderness Camps. There are normally well off the beaten track, and mostly only reachable by 4×4 vehicle. There are no facilities whatsoever at these camps, so you have to be completely self-sufficient during the time spent there:

Male Lion (Panthera leo).  I spent a couple of nights at the abovementioned Urikaruus Wilderness Camp, and on the second morning was awakened at around 04:30 by a male lion roaring right under the room where I was sleeping (next to my car, in the picture below). This was at the same time exciting and terrifying, but one of the memories that will stay with me for life.

After a while he started moving away, and I was able to get a photograph of this magnificent animal:

Lioness:

Cubs.  On another occasion I spotted a single female lion lying in the shade of the tree a small distance from the road. After a couple of minutes she started calling, and these two cubs appeared from a nearby bush to join her. I can only assume that she had hidden them there, and after determining that the area was safe called them out into the open.

Readers’ wildlife photos

Please send them in if you got them: we need wildlife photos, as the tank is dropping faster than I’d like.

Today we have photos of a part in southern Africa from reader William Terre Blanche; this is the first of two installments.  His notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here are some photos from a visit last year to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park  (Kgalagadi means “place of great thirst” in the San Language).

This vast wilderness reserve used to comprise two separate game parks, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (South Africa) and the Gemsbok National Park (Botswana) separated by an unfenced border. However, in a historic 1999 agreement, South Africa and Botswana joined forces to create the world’s first trans-frontier nature reserve, the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park. It covers an amazing 38,000 km², an enormous conservation area across which the wildlife flows without any hindrance.

The Park is famous for its magnificent black-maned male lions, as well as an abundance of raptor species, but the beautiful desert landscape and unique atmosphere is probably what draws most return visitors there (myself included).

In December 2023, I had the privilege of spending almost 2 weeks in the park, and these are just some of the many photographs taken there (apologies, mostly birds, again..).

Road inside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.  There are only a very limited number of roads accessible to tourists inside the park, and while most of them can be done in a normal car a 4×4 vehicle is advisable:

Pygmy Falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus).  The smallest diurnal raptor in South Africa (only 20cm), these delightful little birds are fairly common throughout the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, often perched conspicuously on a tree or bush:

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (Merops hirundineus).  Unlike most of the other bee-eaters in South Africa, it prefers a semi-arid habitat, usually on Kalahari Sands. As the name suggests, they prey on venomous as well as non-venomous bees and wasps, as well as other insects:

Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori).  At up to 12.5kg (27 pounds), the Kori Bustard is one of the world’s heaviest flying birds. However it spends most of its time walking across open habitat in search of a wide range of prey, including insects, lizards, chameleons, snakes, scorpions and lizards:

Black-chested Snake Eagle (Circaetus pectoralis).  This juvenile bird seemed to be fascinated by my vehicle as I stopped under the tree in which it was perched! Their main prey species are indeed snakes, including cobras up to 1.8m long. Interestingly snakes, which are swallowed whole, enter the stomach directly without initially being stored in the crop:

Gabar Goshawk (Micronisus gabar). One of the most frequently encountered raptors in the Kgalagadi, this juvenile seemed wholly undisturbed by my presence as it went about its business in a small tree right next to the road:

Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus).  Fairly common throughout most of South Africa, with both resident and migratory populations. Birds make up more than 80% of its prey, and the arrival of one of these at one of the waterholes in the Kgalagadi usually leads to mass panic amongst the many birds gathered there:

Common Ostrich (Struthio camelus).  The flightless Ostrich is the biggest of all the birds on Earth, both in size and weight (up to 2m & 80kg), with massive eggs having an average weight of 1.4 kg. They spend most of their day walking, in this case a male bird with a number of young:

Southern White-faced Owl ( Ptilopsis granti). This sub-adult bird was hiding in a tree on a scorchingly hot day, near the northernmost point in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park at Unions end. This is the place where 3 countries, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana come together:

Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis).  A rather unusual sighting since snipes are usually associated with wetland areas, but this one seemed quite content going about its business at one of the waterholes. They are polyandrous, which means that one female will mate with a number of males during a single breeding season: