outdoor photography

Shiny Cowbird For me, 2015 was a fantastic year of birding.  I've been doing this a while now, so gone are the days when I get 70+ lifers per year.  New birds are fewer and farther between for me, but that adds to the challenge.  And I've begun focusing more on county listing, which helps to keep things fresh.  This year, though, I benefited tremendously by one trip out west and two trips out of the country. These were not birding trips, but I had a little bit of time to at least check my surroundings to see what was available. Smooth-billed Ani I found 16 lifers on my visit to Antalya, Turkey White Stork  Eurasian Sparrowhawk  Laughing Dove  Eurasian Siskin  Common Buzzard  Eurasian Jay  Great Tit  White-spectacled Bulbul  Common Redstart  Black Redstart  Gray Wagtail  Common Chaffinch  European Greenfinch  European Goldfinch  Hooded Crow  White Wagtail Great Ti...

Smooth-billed Ani Our family drove to Boynton Beach yesterday for a wedding this morning, so I took a couple hours and went to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. What a wonderful place! I'd been here once before 3 years ago.  My main target was a pair of Smooth-billed Ani that have been seen here for over a month.  They didn't take too long to find.  They're such a pretty bird. Snail Kite Other highlights from the morning were my first of the year Snail Kite.  It looked like there was a family of 4 near the entrance, and my first ever Ruddy Daggerwing Butterfly.  Here's my eBird checklist for the morning. Ruddy Daggerwing Okay, I can't resist. Here are some more photos of the Smooth-billed Ani. Even though the bird was farther away with these photos, I just like the green background better. Smooth-billed Ani Smooth-billed Ani