Photo ABCs

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

A Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, photographed in Anza-Borrego State Park in March of last year.

Black Phoebe

Photographed at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in March, 2019.

Anna's Hummingbird

The same hummingbird as in yesterday's post.

A turn of the head reveals a spectacular gorget, a true rainbow of colors.

Anna's Hummingbird

An Anna's Hummingbird returns to its perch.

Photographed at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in March, 2019.

Painted Lady

Another Painted Lady, photographed in Irvine, California, at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, in March of last year.

The blue background is water in one of the ponds at the sanctuary.

Painted Lady

Remember the invasion (irruption) of Painted Lady butterflies last spring?

I was fortunate to see them in Borrego Springs, and a few days later in Irvine, California, where it seemed that it was snowing Painted Ladies!

Here is a battle-scarred Painted Lady butterfly in Borrego Springs, photographed in March of last year.

Black Vulture

A Black Vulture takes flight.

This was one of many Black Vultures gathered around a small pond.

Photographed last February near El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

This is female or immature male Broad-tailed Hummingbird.

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are birds of high elevations, and this photo was taken high on the slopes of Volcan de Nieve, one of the volcanoes shared by the states of Colima and Jalisco, Mexico.

While studying this picture, I surmised that this hummingbird's tail is injured, because the white-tipped outer tail feathers are visible centrally (the central tail feathers, which fold on top of the outer feathers, are not white-tipped) and that perhaps the wispy feathers above the tail could be the remnants of the original central tail feathers.

After pondering this, and studying various field guides, I looked at other pictures I had taken later of the same bird, and discovered my answer!

Here is the bird from a different angle.

I took those pictures driving up the mountain. Four hours later, on the way down, I stopped at the same spot, and took the picture below, which solves the mystery! Sure enough, the central tail feathers (rectrices) are missing.

 

 

White-eared Hummingbird

A White-eared Hummingbird shows how it got its name.

Photographed in February of last year, on the slopes of Nevado de Colima, (also known as Zapotepetl), one of two twin volcanoes shared between the Mexican states of Colima and Jalisco.

Red-billed Tropicbird

While in Manzanillo last year I hired a boat to take me to Piedra Blanca, a small offshore island with a large bird population.

I found that the island was hundreds of feet tall, with most of the bird life concentrated near the top of the rock, so I was looking straight up at most of the birds, making photography difficult.

There were many Red-billed Tropicbirds flying around in their acrobatic way. Here's one photo, though looking up, I was pleased with.