Apr 28 2009
I spent much of the last several days leading trips and hanging out at various events associated with the Delmarva Birding Weekend. Though I had a great time, I took virtually no pictures. When you’re leading a big group of people it’s darned near impossible, in my experience, to take any time out even for scenic [...]
Apr 23 2009
Ornate Flycatcher, Milpe, Ecuador How often do you find the words cute and unmistakable in the same sentence with flycatcher? Bob Ridgeley combined them to capture much of what makes this bird special. My photo, unfortunately, only shows the ventral side of the bird. Add in the glowing yellow rump and rusty-based tail and you’ve got [...]
Apr 21 2009
I think it was Bill of the Birds who first introduced me to the concept of “proofreading the world,” the uncontrollable tendency some of us have to sift our environment for errors, typographic and otherwise. I realize nearly everyone does this at some level, but for some of us, it’s a compulsion. We can’t stop. [...]
Apr 14 2009
Easter Egg hunts are one of those activities engineered to give participants a better than average chance of success. The eggs are hidden, but they’re not too hidden–just tucked away behind a few obvious obstacles dotting a nice expanse of perfect green lawn. Now, I know, some of you probably had an especially mischievous parent [...]
Apr 09 2009
The view east as we were leaving Sacha Lodge, 30 March 2009. For more sky photos from around the world, check out Skywatch Friday.
Apr 07 2009
The morning of March 10, 2009 was my first in Ecuador and I was in a distinctly unusual and not entirely comfortable situation. In 5 short days, I would commence co-leading a 2 1/2 week birding tour around a country with one of the most complex avifaunas in the world, yet I’d never been there [...]
Apr 03 2009
Don’t get me wrong…sapsuckers are cute. But in the Amazonian forest surrounding Sacha Lodge, I made the acquaintance of a sap eater that frankly blows our nifty little woodpeckers right off the tree in the cuteness department. Say hello to my little friend: Behold the Pygmy Marmoset–the world’s smallest monkey. How small? Well, according to [...]
