Until late this week, we continued to have exceptionally cold weather, windy, overcast weather. Thursday, the sun was shining and the emperature rose to just below freezing. It was inviting us to go out!
We spent a pleasant hour walking the trails at Kilally Meadows Environmentally Significant Area. There were few birds in evidence in the afternoon apart from a pair of Northern Cardinals and a small flock of Black-capped Chickadees near some open water in the woods and Canada Geese, Mallards and a lone Common Merganser on the river.
Here are few photos and the view from our balcony through a frost-etched balcony panel./
We are still reluctant to leave the warmth and colour of our Canopy Lodge stay in Panama!
On February 12, our morning excursions took us to nearby venues with different habitats. The Lodge’s collaboration with local farmers meant that we sometimes traversed farmer’s fields to reach more heavily vegitated destinations, this time the Candelario Trail.
Different habitats meant finding different bird species.
Rufous-and-white Wren, Black-throated Trogon (f), Black-thoated Trogon (m), Crowned Woodnymph (f)
Keel-billed Toucan, Flame-rumped Tanager (m), Roadside Hawk. Our guide used a spotting scope to show us roosting Tropical Screech-Owls. And yes, Roadside Hawks were typically seen perched along roadsides.
At lunchtime, back at the lodge, this Chestnut-headed Oropendola visited the fruit feeder.
The afternoon took us to quiet treed road, Via Chiquito. It yielded only a few good photos – Crimson-backed Tanager and Yellow-backed Oriole.
On February 13, we headed out early on our way to the cloud forest. Found at higher elevations, cloud forests have frequent low-level cloud cover at the canopy level. According to Wikipedia, much of the precipitation in a cloud forest comes directly from the clouds that filter through the trees.
Our route took us past road construction on the mountainside.
The mist and distance sometimes made for challenging photography conditions, but we still saw a variety of birds: Barred Puffbird, Keel-billed Toucans, Rufous-capped Warbler, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, White-necked Jacobin.
At our lunch stop, we found a few birds (and a butterfly) at closer range: Yellow-billed Cacique, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, White-whiskered Puffbird. The butterfly is a type of swallowtail known as a a cattleheart.
On our return journey, our highly accomplished guide, Danilo Sr., stopped at a location where Black Hawk-Eagles were sometimes sighted. Danilo whistled for several minutes in an attempt to attract the hawk-eagle. When the bird failed to appear, we trailed back to the van. Just as the last passenger was about to board, she spotted a soaring bird and asked if it might be the one we were looking for. Here was the Black Hawk-Eagle for all to see!
Fascinating Bird Behaviour
Click this link to another collection of photos from the Audubon Photo contest, this time featuring fascinating bird behaviour.
Shania Twain
I recently watched a documentary on the life and career of Shania.
Here are some her songs and some of her covers in a playlist.