Photo ABCs

Snow Bunting

I have just returned from a trip to St. Paul Island, Alaska. I can't use enough superlatives to describe this trip. Though a long way to travel, cold, rugged, and misty, the island is a paradise for bird photography.

One species found in abundance on the island is the Snow Bunting. Here is a fledgling waiting for food from its parents. The immature Snow Buntings are not white like their parents, but colored to blend in with their surroundings.

In the background are lupines, which during the month of June cover the entire island with a blanket of blue.

Spotted Wren

The Spotted Wren is endemic to Mexico, found mostly in its western states. This one was photographed at Laguna La Maria, near Comala, in the state of Colima. Photographed in February of this year.

Curve-billed Thrasher

A Curve-billed Thrasher strikes a pose in a bougainvillea bush in the Benjamin Francis Johnston Botanic Garden in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Photographed in February of this year.

 

Vermilion Flycatcher

A lovely female Vermilion Flycatcher. Photographed in the Parque Ecologico Las Peñas, Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, in February of this year.

Social Flycatcher

A Social Flycatcher spreads its tail feathers. Photographed in El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico in February of this year.

Although the foreground and background are full of branches and leaves, I like this picture. It puts the bird in its environment, and I find it a bit amusing, as it seems to be looking into the camera (though it took little notice of me).

I was standing on a walkway of my hotel looking directly into a tall tree on the hillside. It's always good to get eye-level with birds, instead of looking up into trees the way we usually do.

Crested Caracara

Another Crested Caracara, this time an adult. Photographed near El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico, in February of this year, a few moments before the picture in the previous post.

 

Crested Caracara

An immature Crested Caracara takes flight. Photographed in February of this year near El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Common Black-Hawk

I believe that this handsome bird is an immature Common Black-Hawk.

Photographed along the banks of the El Fuerte River in Sinaloa, Mexico, in February of this year.

 

Violet-crowned Hummingbird

Another picture of the Violet-crowned Hummingbird, taking a big gulp from a cactus flower, in El Fuerte, Sinaloa. Compared to yesterday's photo, I like this composition better, but unfortunately the bill does not show, which would have made for a more informative picture of the bird's field marks.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird

I think the composition of this picture is a little cluttered, but I like the pose of the Violet-crowned Hummingbird.

Photographed in El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico in February of this year.