Tropical Parula

The beautiful, but shy Tropical Parula. In our 10 days of birding in Colombia, we only saw them a few times. This one was photographed near the town of Soatá, Colombia.

Hawaiian Endemics

Hawaiian Endemics 12” x 24” acrylic on wood panel

Last December we birded on the Big Island of Hawai’i at the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and we observed numerous I’iwi and Amakihi foraging in the Ohi’a trees.

Varied Thrush

One of my favorite Santa Clara County birds. We don’t see them every year because they can be scarce and they are usually hard to spot. They usually appear in our area in the winter months. We saw this one in a county park near where we live.

Southern Emerald-Toucanet

We have returned from our second birding trip to Colombia. We had an exhausting, but great time.

Our first trip concentrated on the Western Andes and the Cauca Valley. On our second trip (Jan-Feb 2023), we looked for birds in the Eastern Andes from approximately Bogotá to Soatá.

Azara’s Spinetail (Synallaxis azarae)

This skulky spinetail was seen in Colombia, near La Suiza. It took awhile to get this photo because this bird normally stays hidden in the brush.

Saffron Finch

When we went to Colombia last February, one of my target birds was the Saffron Finch. I really wanted a photo of this striking bird, but never got a good one.

I had to go to Hawaii to get a decent photo. Like so many birds in Hawaii, this is an introduced species.

This photo was taken on a soccer field in Hilo, Hawaii.

Red-headed Woodpecker

On our frequent spring pilgrimage to Northern Ohio, we see many warblers species breeding and more migrating north into Canada. It is a special treat if we see the Red-headed Woodpecker. It is a beautiful woodpecker with gorgeous sharp color lines, and what is not to love about that striking red head? This one was photographed at Maumee Bay State Park, Ohio.

Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)

I first saw this small sparrow in Ecuador before I knew I was a birder. It caught my eye and I fell in love with them. This photo was taken in near-zero temperature in the high Andes Mountains of Columbia, in February 2022. This explains why it is puffed up into a sphere. I didn’t notice the leg band on the left leg until we returned home and I cropped the photo.

Garden Sage

‘Garden Sage’ diptych 36” x 24” acrylic on canvas

I had so much fun playing with an arrangement of various birds which use the Mexican Sage in our yard.

Masked Trogon (Trogon personatus)

The Masked Trogon is common in the Andes of Colombia. This is a female. The male looks entirely different, and I hope to post a photo of the male soon. This one was seen in the Rio Blanca watershed east of Manizales, Colombia.

Green Heron

Green Heron Fishing 12” x 12” acrylic on wood panel

We saw several green Herons on our recent trip to Ohio but I was inspired by one in particular which we saw fishing in a reedy swamp.

Prothonotary Warbler

This stunning warbler species flits around the understory of dark forests like a yellow firefly. This individual used the rotten top of a vertical stanchion on the boardwalk to build a nest. It was an easy photo because he returned to the boardwalk railing every few minutes before entering his nest. All I had to do was aim and wait .

The Spectacled Parrotlet

Photos of the male and the female.

A tiny parrot found in northern South America and Panama. It can be up to about 5” (13cm) in length. The male has blue highlighting on his wings and around his eyes. The female has no blue markings.