Discovering Wildlife with AJ

A Cuban Pewee in Florida?!?......

2010-09-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video I took of a Cuban Pewee I saw with my Dad in the Everglades yesterday!

It was nice to see such a rare bird, this is only the 3rd time it has been seen in the US.

All puffed up!

2010-07-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Panama! There are many wonderful birds here in Panama (over 970 species). One of these are the "Puffbirds". These birds get their name because they will often puff up to sing. They have large heads and bills and pudgy bodies. They are found from Mexico down into South America. I was fortunate on this trip to see all five puffbirds that occur in Panama. That's why I'm all "puffed up"!

Black-breasted Puffbird, Canopy Tower deck 7/4/10

Pied Puffbird (the smallest @ 6"), Pipeline Road, 7/6/10

White-whiskered Puffbird, Semifore Hill, Canopy Tower 7/4/10
like to sit low in the forest

White-necked Puffbird, (the biggest @ 10")

Pipeline Road Discovery Center Tower 7/5/10

Barred Puffbird, on Carribbean Slope above Canopy Lodge

7/8/10

Pipeline Road"eo"

2010-07-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

This week I'm staying at Canopy Tower in Panama. Here are some of my favorite animals that I saw and photographed on Pipeline Road (an excellent birding spot near Canopy Tower)! This was on a field trip led by Carlos Bethancourt.

These are "Western Night-Monkeys". They are a semi rare animal that lives in Panama. This family of four, was photographed through a spotting scope. The small one at top right is obviously young - or really small for his age :P

This is a male Red-capped Manakin. These birds are very special. They perform an elaborate display of bouncing around on a branch. Sometimes even backwards! The reason he displays is to attract a mate. Sadly I didn't get to see him display, but I still got a spectacular look at this magnificent bird! :)

Further down the road, our "guia" heard this Pheasant Cuckoo. It didn't take long for "guia supremo" Carlos to find this bird. Within seconds we all had binoculars and spotting scopes on the bird. This bird is extremely hard to see, so we were very lucky. ;)

All of these photos were taken on Pipeline Road by digiscope today 6 July 2010!

Notice

2010-07-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

Notice
I will be posting tonight after a possible night drive I look forward to writing :)

NOTICE

2010-07-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

NOTICE:
I am not blogging of late I will when I go to visit Canopy Tower and Lodge in Panama leaving in two days! Cant Wait! -=)

Alaskan Adventures-Mammals

2010-06-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

When my father and I went to the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival we had to land in Anchorage, Alaska. We fell asleep and drove to Homer the next day. On our way we saw a moose! Before that my dad took me to see a snowshoe hair (My first!) When we arrived at our hotel Land's End Resort we were greeted by: A pod of harbor porpoise, a sea otter, and most impressive a humpback whale 200 feet of shore! These where some of many mammals we saw and there were many more like a rambunctious red squirrel,beautiful female Dall's sheep, and a black bear for the past 2 years we went here and I wish to keep this streak up! :)

Red Alert: Tortoise in Danger!

2010-06-17T11:50:00.001-07:00

One time my family and I were going down the road when we saw a shape in front of us as we approached it we noticed it was a gopher tortoise! My dad stopped the car and we all went out to make sure it was one. It was! My dad and I carried it to the woods and let it go. I thought being able to see one that close was cool because there are so many interesting things about these animals for example; they can grow to 16 inches long. So this one wasn't exactly "record size" he was still awesome to see! Hopefully he didn't walk back across the road considering we took him to the side he was going to! :)

Adventures of the Reptilian Kind

2010-06-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

The other day when I was in my backyard I heard my two dogs begin to bark, so I went to see what all the "drama" was about. It was a corn snake also known as a red rat snake. After letting my dogs inside I began to observe the snake. I noticed it was friendly and began to lift it with a long stick (to see its reaction) after noticing its friendliness I called for my father. When he arrived he said I could pick it up, so I did. After holding it for a few minutes I let it go into the woods behind my house. This was a safe spot for the snake and made my mother happy as well. I hope I get to see many more corn snakes as I grow up! :^)