I take this Bonsai which I have coined the Weirdest Bonsai EVER and place it next to the pond behind my house for some pictures in the "beach" and here comes this real large bird native to Florida and stands next to the bonsai. When I pulled the pictures on my computer I noticed that the shape of the bird resembles the shape of the tree. Maybe, and I am just putting the theory out there, the tree thinks the bonsai is very stylish and just wants to be there. The eyes of this bird are beautiful; you know they are looking at you because those big yellow eyes just point at you when the bird turns its head perpendicular to you.
These guys are all over Tampa, I saw one the first day I arrived to tampa, I usually meet 2 or 3 of them in my way back home(I use a bike), this mostly happens between 3-6 pm on Bruce B. Downs Blvd, I think this one is a Falco peregrinus, although they are kind of young because they dont show the usual black face colors... not yet.
This was a pretty peculiar sighting as one of the two pigeons was taking a bath and the other one was waiting for the first one and hurrying it to finish. This looked as many of those boyfriend, girlfriend relationships and one of them delaying the other before going out. The bathing dove didn't want out of the water probably because it must have been refreshing in the summer heat of that day.
Garden of the Lions Castle of the Nazari Sultans, Granada, Spain
Date of sighting
20 Jul 2007
I found this bird blending in with the fantastic architecture of the Castle of the Nazari Sultans in the Garden of the Lions (Palacios Nazaries Patio de los Leones) in Granada, Spain.
Estatua de Cristobal Colon, Plaza del Portal, Barcelona, Espana
Date of sighting
17 Jul 2007
It was just interesting to see a bird just on the hand of Christopher Columbus. It looks as if Columbus is pointing at something and the bird is looking that way.
Penguin viewing location at Island South of Ushuaia, La Patagonia, Argentina
Date of sighting
22 Dec 2004
This image was taken by my wife during our honeymoon in the most southern part of the Patagonia, Argentina. It's one of the most beautiful and exotic places in the world, and it has many species of animals that don't really fear human beings.
Laguna de Mucubaji, Paramo, Merida, Venezuela, South America
Date of sighting
1 Jan 2007
This beautiful bird is the first one I photograph in the Paramos of the State of Merida, Venezuela (tropical andes). The area is close to a lake called "Laguna de Mucubaji". This is a bird about 8" inches from beak to tail with orange beak and feet, and yellow circles surrounding its eyes, and gray body. It was standing on a sign that said "Zona de Pesca" or Fishing Zone. I think this was some kind of muck sign because the bird was on a tourist site of a Venezuelan National Park where fishing is strictly prohibited. There were many tourists in the area so maybe this was a bread crumbs or corn chips fishing zone for these birds. Interestingly I could not find information on the net for this bird being observed on this area although I noticed there were many. It is nevertheless a very common bird in the neighboring countries of Colombia and Ecuador.
NorthPoint Business Park Pond West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Date of sighting
18 Dec 2006
These are the very common (but not to me) Gallinae or Moorhen. They inhabit marshlands from Chile to Canada. I found these grazing in a pond in West Palm Beach in a very nice sunny day. Only when I got close enough to these birds did I notice that they were not ducks but in fact some bird I had never observed before that resembled black doves whith red beaks with yellow at the tip. You can read more about these birds at the Cornell University All about birds webpage.
Tampabay Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center, 6990 Dickman Rd, Apollo Beach, Tampa, FL
Date of sighting
25 Nov 2006
Beside the manatees, the Tampa Electric Viewing Center provides a window into a extremely rich ecosystem thanks to the improved living conditions the warm waters bring. This is a yellow crested night heron; a small bird with a very interesting mask, we were able to videotape it in action while it ate some crabs. As it names implies, this is a bird usually seen only at night, but in this case it was out hunting in the middle of the day.
Oak Ramble Plaza Parking Lot, Near to Pappas Greek Restaurant, Tampa, FL 33617, USA
Date of sighting
11 Nov 2006
This beautiful bird was just there standing watching the traffic of cars coming in and out of the parking lot. It didn't really care much for people watching it.