I'm Back! For a little while anyway...

Since I'm off to northern Peru in a couple of weeks time I thought I'd show you all a few more feathery gems from south America. These are all video grabs and are thus not the greatest quality. However, the images do convey a sense of movement and dazzling colour!



This is a female Tourmaline Sunangel. This bird was visiting a feeder outside the front door at Guango Lodge in northern Ecuador.


This is a lovely White-tailed Hillstar. A rarely seen species, this one was at Barbara and Tony Nunnery's house in the Tandayapa Valley in northern Ecuador.


A male Long-tailed Sylph at San Isidro Lodge on the east slope of the Andes in northern Ecuador.


A Buff-tailed Coronet, also from San Isidro.


An action shot of the lovely Booted Racket-tail from the Tandayapa Valley.


A male Golden-tailed Sapphire from Amazonia Lodge in south east Peru.


A perched male Purple-bibbed Whitetip from the Tandayapa Valley in northern Ecuador.

I hope you like these images as much as I do.

Hawk Food...

Thought I'd post some pictures a common bird tonight. I've started a little birdwatching course at the local school and have introduced the kids to bird feeders. Part of the lesson is obligatory viewing of my bird videos. Sounds like hell I hear you say. Well, maybe, but the kids actually lap it all up! Anyway, here are a couple of videograbs of a pair of House Finches which have been in my back yard all winter. We've also seen a Black-capped Chickadee - a major winter rarity in these parts I can tell ya. Also, there was a Downy Woodpecker on the suet feeder a week ago. However, our Mockingbirds have exhausted the berry supply and have headed for pastures greener.

Garden predator...

No wonder I'm not getting many birds at me feeder! Actually, this fine immature Cooper's Hawk was only present for a while. I noticed it flash past my window whilst I was working/daydreaming upstairs. It landed in a large Maple about 50 metres away so I bounded dowstairs scope, tripod and coolpix in hand and dashed out into the back yard in the hope of a spot of digiscoping. As luck would have it the bird stuck around for about 20 minutes allowing me to obtain a few usable images.



What a great bird! Oh, yes, and happy new year to you all...