For the Birds: Part One

White Winged Dove

Snowy Egret

Well, as the title tells you, this post if for the birds.  I am posting fifteen different photos of birds we have seen.  Well, we have seen more, but they didn’t all sit still in order to have their photo taken.  Two of the photos are not as good as I would like, so I will be taking more of those birds if and when I next see them.

Brown Pelican

Black Vulture

Some like this brown pelican, black vulture and snowy egret were found along the beach, and others such as the white winged dove are found just a few metres from our doorstep.

White Ibis

Social Flycatcher

This White Ibis was a difficult photo to get as he was hiding with four other Ibises along a small stream.  The Social Flycatcher is actually quite noisy and hangs out just outside our door when he and his mate are not busy building their nest on the power line a few doors down.

Great Tailed Grackle

Bare Throated Tiger Heron

I’ve seen quite a few of these Tiger Herons near the beach.  He is one mighty strange looking bird.  The Great Tailed Grackle is a colourful little guy that looks like a cousin to a bluebird.  I don’t remember grackles looking anything like this back in Canada.

Clay Colored Robin

Groove Billed Ani

Here is another bird that seems familiar yet different.  He’s a Clay Colored Robin.  He acts like a robin, only the colour is wrong from what I would have expected after seeing robins in Canada.

The Groove-Billed Ani is a strange looking bird indeed.  I managed to get quite a few shots including this one with his wings on full display.

Rufous Naped Wren

Scarlet Macaw

This is a cute guy that we see hanging around our villa as well, a small wren.  We have other wrens as well, only I haven’t been always ready with the camera when they are around.   This photo of a pair of Scarlet Macaws is definitely in need of a replacement.  We have seen this couple three times already near sunset.  Of course light conditions make for poorer photos especially when the birds are moving.  Oh well, at least we have seen them free and not just in some aviary.

Great Tailed Grackle

Mrs. Great Tailed Grackle

Now this is some bird, the great-tailed grackle.  Listening to the male each morning is interesting as he makes so many different weird sounds including sounding like a set of car horns or the sounds of someone’s car security system going off.  It took quite a while to put the sounds and the bird together.

Baltimore Oriole

And finally, to bring this post to an end, is a beautiful bird we get to see both in front of our villa and out in nature, a Baltimore Oriole.

Like I said, we have seen many other birds, but not always when a camera is with us.  Yes, I know, I should always take the camera.  But, life isn’t only about taking photos when you are beside a warm sea.  Sometimes there are other priorities.

That said, I do have a great collection of hummingbird photos that will eventually make their appearance here.  Until the next post, we both wish you the best while we enjoy our small bit of paradise.  Oh, by the way, our place is called Las Villas del Paraiso – yes, that’s right – Paradise!