outdoor photography

Orange-fronted Parakeet Yesterday I returned from my service project in Acapulco, Mexico. We were working with an orphanage there, and my time was pretty filled up with that.  However, in the mornings I was able to walk along the streets around the campus and see what birds I could find.  I found four new life birds on the trip: Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Audubon's Oriole, and Rufous-naped Wren. Great Kiskadee Flycatchers are everywhere there. You can't hardly walk outside without seeing/hearing Social Flycatchers, Great Kiskadees and Tropical Kingbirds. I've taken lots of pictures of these birds, but I never tire of taking more. Great Kiskadee Social Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird The Rufous-naped Wren was the one lifer I was able to photograph. It's not the best photo in the world, but I'll take it for now. Rufous-naped Wren Other common birds in the area were Ruddy-ground Dove, Gray-brea...

Russet-crowned Motmot I spent last week in Acapulco, Mexico.  I wasn't there for birding.  I was there with a small group of people that were working in an orphanage.  I barely went anywhere outside the orphanage, but I did walk the streets nearby in the mornings, and once in the afternoon, just to see what I might find.  Overall, I spent about 30 minutes a day looking around the orphanage.  I was not disappointed, and I came home with several life birds, and I also found a few birds that I wouldn't normally find in Florida. By far, the bird I most enjoyed finding was a Russet-crowned Motmot, which was sitting on some wires and posed nicely for photos. I was also excited to see three species of flycatchers: Tropical Kingbirds were very common, Great Kiskadees were nesting on the orphanage property, and I also found a couple Social Flycatchers in the street just outside the orphanage property. These flycatchers could be heard all day long. Tropical Kingb...

Tropical Kingbird This morning a couple friends and I drove to a parking lot in Sarasota to find a Tropical Kingbird.  We found two there, and we had a lot of fun watching two of them flying from tree to tree and hawking insects.  At one point both of them looked like they were playing with their catch.  They'd toss the insect they caught into the air and then fly to catch it again.  They often did this a couple times before finally swallowing them. These were the first Tropical Kingbirds I've ever seen. Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird After this, we drove up to Clearwater to find a Common Eider that had been seen there recently. Unfortunately, we didn't find it, but we did see a couple Gray Kingbirds. So with two more fun kingbirds to add to our lists, we had a pretty good day. Gray Kingbird Gray Kingbird Gray Kingbird