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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired Climber
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Nov 22, 2015 - 03:30pm PT
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired Climber
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Nov 24, 2015 - 03:47pm PT
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Nov 26, 2015 - 12:23pm PT
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Happy Turkey Day everyone! (or at least Turkey-like)
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 04:43pm PT
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Are those Guans and Currasows that tame? Awesome!
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Nov 26, 2015 - 06:54pm PT
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yes Reilly, they tame up nicely if they are protected. All those shots were taken during a recent visit to the OTS La Selva reserve. Outside protected areas they wind up on the dinner table if they don't learn to skidaddle when people show up. Here they call the guans "pavas" or turkeys. Curassows are called "pavones", or big ass turkeys.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 26, 2015 - 07:14pm PT
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Kind of a 'golazo', if you will? ;-)
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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I managed to see only one of the fall rarities passing through. A White Wagtail spent a few days in Marin Co.
We missed a Dusky Warbler (another Old World species) by a couple of days not far away.
Closer to home, a male Black Scoter has been wintering in the Richmond Marina for the last five years. This year it has been joined by a female.
There is also a female White-winged Scoter in the same marina, where many Surf Scoters hang out – a Scoter trifecta.
For the past couple of years, we have been seeing bird droppings below a pipe in the stairwell above our place. At first, I thought there might have been a nest. Finally, Yvonne checked it at night, and it turns out there was a Chestnut-backed Chickadee perched. I presume the same bird has been using this night roost for at least 2 years.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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How cool, Tony!!!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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My particular friend, Black Phoebe, with whom I have shared my backyard for
at least four years, and I had a chat the other night just before sunset.
Without missing a word he would grab a bug and return to his perch, the whole
time beseeching me to let him inside for the night as it was getting quite
nippy. I told him the wife probably would take a dim view of it. So I go
out to work today on my latest proj, a new entertainment center, and the
little blighter expressed his displeasure by pooping on a piece of the
white oak! Talk about passive aggression! Haven't seen him today but I
trust he's feeling guilty.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I just went out to close up for the night and he was there.
Said he sort of over-reacted and that we're good now.
All the same I covered up the wood with plastic. Accidents happen.
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john hansen
climber
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Been going thru my photos the last few evenings and decided I would post
some pictures of the endemic land birds on the island of Hawaii.
You know,, because I live here.
I posted some of these before but thought I would put them all in one place. It is funny of the 12 species the 2 I do not have decent pictures of are the most common. Apapane and Elepio.
Here are the other ten. Not the greatest photo's, but great birds.
Akiapola'au: about 1400 remain, mostly in the 30,000 acre Hakalau NWR where there are still stand's of old growth Koa and Ohia trees, some over 700 years old..
They use there lower bill like a wood pecker and then their upper bill to extract the grubs that only live in the dying branches of Koa trees.
Hawaiian Creeper: another rare one that needs the same type of old growth forest. Also taken in the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge.
Akepa: Again at Hakalau NWR. The males are bright orange. I saw some but no good photo's. I think this is a female.
Palila: Only about 1200 remain on the south western slopes of Mauna Kea between six and eight thousand feet. Habitat is being overrun by goat and sheep and invasive plants that crowd out the Mamane trees they depend on.
All of the above birds, and the Palila are on the endangered list but the Palila is probably the most threatened at this time as the Hakalau reserve is being well protected with extensive fencing and replanting of native forest plants, both trees and understory. The habitat it lives in is dry uplands and they only exist in a limited area. Some times it gets really dry up there and one 9000 acre fire could wipe them out.
Amakahi: Fairly common in forests above 3000 feet, The mosquitoes that spread Avian Malaria do not live above that elevation.
I'iwi: Too bad the leaf is in the way,, another fairly common bird but not as plentiful as Amakahi or Apapane. Only lives in native forest.
O'oma: I believe this is in the thrush family. About the size of a robin. Fairly reclusive and harder to spot than an I'iwi. This was also taken at the Hakalau NWR.
Pueo: A sub species of the Short Eared Owl. They only showed up here about 900 years ago. It is thought that the introduction of rats by the arrival of the Hawaiian people sailing from Tahiti made it possible for them to establish a breeding population here.
I'o: The Hawaiian Hawk. Sub species of the Sharp Shinned Hawk. They used to live on Maui and up to Oahu but now only exist on the Big Island.
Only maybe 2000 but they seem to be increasing.
OK, cant find this one, will edit later.
And the Nene: 30 years ago they were reduced to a few hundred birds. Though captive breeding and release there are now hundreds if not thousands of them. They do real well at golf courses, like Canadian geese.
It is great to see and hear them honking while they fly overhead.
Even if it is only 3 or 4 birds it brings back memories of crisp fall evenings with thousands of birds coming in, like those Dingus shots.
I never got the chance to see an Ala'la. The Hawaiian Crow. By 1992 there were only 9 birds in the wild. They now have a captive population of around 200 and hope to release some soon to re-establish a wild population.
I hope I get to see one in the wild someday. The Hawaiian Islands are a tough place to be for native birds.
Aloha
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired Climber
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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thanks for the beautiful reminders of our feathered friends.
here's a photo dump of Guanacaste raptors
Broad-winged Hawk, immature. a super common winter resident here throughout Costa Rica
Gray Hawk, immature. A resident species here. With the recent split we're now the only country that has both species, Gray and Gray-lined Hawk.
Laughing Falcon, this time he was laughing. they eat almost nothing but snakes. check out the heavily armored legs
Snail Kite, in basicII plumage, probably a female based on color of bare parts (eye, legs, cere). Love that needle-like bill. I should have taken a photo of all the empty Apple Snail shells lying around.
Harris's Hawk, adult. the falconer's favorite.
John - thought I was going to get to Hawaii for work, but it's still up in the air. I'll let you know by PM if it comes together. Great to see the possibilities...
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cyndiebransford
climber
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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The Bohemian Waxwings are in town for the Ash berries. They only stay a short while.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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nice shots on this page - John H., nice job with the Hawaii locals!
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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found this guy (there were two of them) yesterday roosting above an irrigation canal behind my house
Mottled Owl
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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"I can only echo DMT's righteous words from above."--MFM
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Dec 10, 2015 - 06:03am PT
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liked that disscusion about Black Phoebes upthread. We have them here in Costa Ric too, as residents. Found this pair a few days ago, doing their thing as so well described by Reilly and DMT. They were enjoying some time together out on the soccer field, like good Costa Ricans.
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