ATTENTION!! MOVING TO A NEW BLOG!!!!

Nope, I'm not dead.
I have not jumped out of my apartment balcony.
Nor have I impaled myself with my binoculars (which seems highly unlikely)
And I have not been pecked to death by an insane red-bellied woodpecker with high energy levels and ...evilness.

I have only blatantly neglected my blog for several months.

You see, dear readers (wherever you are), I have a nasty habit of writing stuff down on my mind, building entire paragraphs filled with wonderful descriptions of how I dissected and smelled deer scat, or whatever other adventure I have had that isn't particular of a 12-year old who should be "playing video games, commenting on my state and posting self-glorifying images of herself on Facebook" (not quoted from anybody, but that's pretty much the attitude of today's stereotypical 12-year-old females) and completely forgetting to write/ type it down. Durn it.

So much interesting stuff has gone by, it would be impossible (for me) to make a post describing every single event, life bird, adventure, birthday gift, etc. that has gone by. From getting a brand new pair of binoculars in for my birthday in March (Nikon Monarch 8X42, ATB with dielectric coating, new edition 7294, hail o geekness), to a relaxing trip back to Cost Rica and visiting Tortuguero Nat'l Park and Santa Rosa Nat'l Park, to a wonderful Outdoor Education program, or our moving to a new apartment, and much more.

I have changed a lot, not in personality and hobbies, but in my way of writing. A lot of recent reading (mostly Temple Grandin, Alexander F. Skutch, Jeffrey Moussaief Masson, J. R. R. Tolkien and Irene M. Pepperberg, and am beginning to introduce myself to Shakespeare) has developed my writing skill quite a bit.

I wanted a fresh start on my blog, thus I will create a new blog (link will be shared soon) but will not delete this one. I'll give it a new name and look and all of that. It will also become more personal; not only about birds, but about my own life and many more adventures.

So,  farewell, faithful little blog of mine! Thank you for letting me share several months of adventures with you!



-Cristina

HOUSE FINCH!!! And FIRST BWD ISSUE

Male, female at far bottom left

Just a few minutes ago, I was finishing dressing myself when suddenly a whispered cry blurted from my mom,

"CRISTINAAA! THERE'S A NEW BIRD AT THE FEEDER!"

I ran to the kitchen with the window that had a view to the feeder, snatched my camera and very carefully peeked out. There, on the thistle sock feeder a strange brownish bird with a red cap clung, competing with the greedy House Sparrows for a place where to feed. For some reason the first name that popped into my mind was "bushtit", even though they don't look AT ALL like the bird that I had in front of my eyes.

I crept in closer, hiding behind the wall. Then I was able to see what it was. A male House Finch, with a female (perhaps his mate, I'll never know). It was the second time I saw this bird. Ever. Ironically some people have HOARDS of house finches at their feeders, gobbling up the entire content of a birdfeeder in just a few hours. And here I have this lonely pair, whom I am wishing will come every day from now on.

Female

I took as many pictures as I could before they went away, annoyed by the greedy sparrows that just won't give them some space where they can eat in peace. Sigh...

Yet still I was terribly happy to have new customers at the birdfeeders. I hope they come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

Male

Second news is that, after a week without checking the mail (caused by mysteriously disappearing mail keys), my mother found between the mail nothing but my FIRST BIRDWATCHER'S DIGEST MAGAZINE ISSUE! I had asked for it for christmas, and here it is! WOOHOO!

Ridiculous Thirst For Bird Art

These past couple of days I have been having a terrible urge to paint birds.

 I enjoy sketching them, that's for sure, but I want to bring those gray drawings to life. I think my mom has had a part in this not-so-strange art instinct. 

"Kity?" (she affectionately calls me that)

"Yep?"

"I really need you to do me a big favor"

"Um, what is it?"

"I need you to draw me something, and then paint it. I want to fill our home with them, Kity. I love them."

"Well, um, sure why not!  But I need, you know, tools to do so."

I do have some artist tools, but they are school temperas and oils. The temperas, I don't think I have to talk much about them. They are very basic, that's why you use them in school. My wonderful oils--I don't have many of them. I'm out of zinc white and other important colors,  many of the caps won't come off, and oils don't fit that much with what I really want to do. 

So I went about searching on the Net for some medium I would find good. Now, I'm battling between two choices--acrylics and watercolors.

Acrylics are very versatile and dry quickly. You can paint really smooth-looking and detailed art, such as this:

Aquatic Warbler (C) Lukasz Bednarz, BirdingArt.com

I am completely in love with this picture, but of course don't expect to paint like that without some truly formal-formal art education, but a girl can dream can she?

 

Plus, you can use acrylics as watercolors or as oils. Told you how versatile they are!

Now with Watercolors. Watercolors are not very expensive and are fairly easy to use, but you need Practice. 

My objective would be to get to this amount of detail: 

Lark In The Morning-Eastern Meadowlark by Julie Zickefoose

But that needs a lot of practice, yet I won't give up. When it comes to art, I can't stop until I have what I wanted to have. I need to be a perfectionist in order to accomplish my goal, which will then lead to extreme satisfaction and peace of mind. Ahhh.

Maybe I'll see if I can get my parents to buy me some art supplies. 

PS: Sketches of mine coming soon!

Spring Preps

Singing male Canada Warbler from Wiki Commons

Soo, I'm currently making my own spring preparations. If I don't, I'd go cuckoo and end up in a birding emergency room  "T-The songs. S-s-so m-m-many sss-s-songs I-I can-n-ot  I-IDENTIFF-FY!!!". Or, maybe I'll scamper crazily across the woodland, trying to catch a glimpse of the mystery singer that hides in the foliage, eventually getting kidnapped or ending up with a serious case of "warbler's neck"*.

To avoid such events, which are real possibilities for birders, I am making my own preparations for the Springtime. Yep--learning birdsongs.

I have been going steadily, step by step. One warm day, the loud, whistled and varied song of the cardinal, another the fee-bee-fee-bay of the Carolina chickadee. The peter-peter-peter and here-here-here! of the Tufted titmouse. I was trying to learn them all, steadily, but I knew that I would have to get a quicker method to learn many bird songs at once. Then came the trip to the library...

After drooling for a long time on nature books 'til my brains hurt, the library began to close. We hurried to check out whatever books we wanted, and as I hurried to the check-out something caught my eye. Why, it was Peterson's Eastern and Central North America Birding By Ear. Just what I needed!

I quickly snatched it from its shelf and was able to check out my books and the CD just in time, leaving the library with that feeling you get when you notice that today they DID have that delicious blueberry cheesecake   you always dream about in the lunch counter. Yum.

A couple of days later I began my self-tutoring.  I reviewed each of the 86 species shown on CD, and am still doing so. This way, I will be able to enjoy the beautiful songs a whole lot more when knowing what is making the sound.

The only drawback is that the CD shows only common Eastern birds, and you can't expect that every single bird you encounter will  be one regarded as "common". Thus I will be making my very own bird song recompilation. I'll lump every single Eastern bird in a Word document with a link to its song and call (whom I will get from the Macaulay Library) and try to learn as many as I can (specializing on birds I'm most likely to see around where I live).

Well, that's pretty much it. Wish me luck!

IT'S ON ITS WAY!/SE ACERCA!

This is how our balcony looked in the summer. I can't believe that it looked
like this. Just look at all this...this...this GREENESS!!!

I have never in my life missed seeing trees with exuberant foliage so ridiculously. Being a Tica I am used to seeing trees with exuberant foliage, but here in North America winter has been cruel on me.

It was certainly beautiful to watch the trees change color in the fall, and begin losing their leaves. The days got shorter, the trees went naked and I began to see my own breath every time I breathed. I had never seen or heard a single Northern flicker since, and the feeders began getting more and more crowded with birds. Winter was here, and soon snow would begin to fall.

But now I simply can't believe how much I miss seeing trees overwhelmed with green leaves. I drool on pictures of green forests filled with warblers, orioles, tanagers, vireos and many other birds. I just can't take it anymore. Tropical fish need coral reefs. Period.

But now, I feel like there is SOME hope that spring is on its way. About 3 weeks ago we had an entire 60º F week, with lots o' sunshine. The birds went NUTS! Titmice, chickadees, cardinals and mourning doves began to sing. Deer stepped out of their hiding places in the woods and let themselves be seen. I actually saw a pair of mourning doves mating. Uh huh!

Every single one of those glorious days I came back from school, grabbed my birding gear and went outside. Jesus, everything just woke up! Insects crawled under my feet, and I marveled when one of those days I had a very close encounter with a doe that was springing about the woods.

The doe, who approached me unafraid. She passed only one or two meters
away from me.

Yet, as all good things do, it only lasted for about 6 days, and on Saturday the party was ovah'. 40-30º degrees outside, and everything just crawled back to sleep (except the songbirds, they are still singing, fortunately!). Darn it.

But I knew there was still hope, that in one or two months it would be blooming and singing all over again. The grass has gotten greener, trees are filled with moss and one morning I found a House Finch perched on an oak tree, singing its lungs out. Carolina wrens have gotten into it, and Robins (American ones) have reappeared on the lawns.

Let's hope, let's hope Spring comes soon... Ticos like me die out in all this deadness/grayness/coldness/winterness.

Fish Crow!???/ ¡¿¿Cuervo Pescador!??

Corvus ossifragus?

I know, I haven't posted anything for a week or more so here's a story I have been longing to finish up:
On Thursday (Feb 5th) me and my younger brother (Daniel) were coming back from school. I took a different path home while Daniel headed to the playground with his friends. As I walked, a strange bird called from some unknown site. It sounded corvid-like but certainly not coming from a crow. I tried to look for the bird, and finally found it perched on top of an apartment building. It kept calling and calling, and after standing idle, looking at the puzzling black crow-like figure, I ran home and pounded on the door. When my sister (Mariela) opened I whispered hurriedly "GIVE ME THE CAMERA, QUICK!". She quickly whispered back "I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS!" My mother appeared, asking what was going on. Impatient and worried about the "crow" flying away, I flung inside the house and rushed to our parent's bedroom were the camera stood next  to our laptop. I quickly snatched it and ran back outside.
The crow had stopped calling, and for a moment I believed it had flied away. But to my delight the crow was still perched on the apartment building, having ceased its calling. I had the camera ready for action, and seeing no activity from the corvid I temporarily switched my attention to some house sparrows on a nearby rose bush.
Suddenly the crow let out a call and took flight. I quickly changed my attention back at the crow and put the camera on the "Video" setting. This is what I got:

To my relief the crow flew to a nearby oak tree, and I saw who it was calling to. Another crow was perched in the same tree, not far from the first crow I'd seen.

For a few moments they kept silent, while I prayed under my breath "Please, caw some more, crow, will you?". As if I had been answered, one of the crows began cawing a couple of times, but for the moment I had my camera recording they had stopped.

But they began cawing a lot afterwards, and this I WAS able to record!:

Excited about being able to record their calls, I played what I'd recorded and discovered that nothing could be heard. I was extremely frustrated, but wouldn't give up. I got closer to the tree, trying not to scare the corvids. One of them (the one you can see on the left from the video above) got nervous and flew off to another oak far from the tree were it had been--exactly what I didn't want to happen--and settled there to caw at its companion. To my relief, the other crow stayed in the tree  "Man! We were havin' a mighty good conversation here! Come and get hold of your guts, for heaven's sake! That human down there can hardly walk in this snow!"

I tried to move silently, slowly and very carefully towards the oak were the crow was. I stopped for a moment, afraid to scare the crow away. Suddenly, it began calling its companion, who then called back. It was my moment! I began recording:

                                                               

I replayed the video I had recorded, and again I could barely hear a thing! I simply stopped recording and  looked at the remaining crow, who had stopped calling after its companion flew away from the tree it had gone to after I had got too close to it and made it fly away. Afterwards the remaining crow let out a series of calls, and I tried to record them, but began recording right when the crow was flying away:

"Wait for me, man! This human's givin' me the creeps!"

Darn.

While heading home I decided to play the video once more, just to make sure I had really failed to record the crow's sounds. But then an idea came to me. What about putting the camera right next to my ear while the video play, and try and see if I could hear anything? I held the camera right next to my ear and played the video. To my surprise, I was able to perfectly hear the crows! The camera's volume was on a very low setting, making me think believe that I hadn't recorded any sound, only video. What a HUGE relief!

 I ran home and, after meddling about with my field guide and crow recordings on the Internet, I finally came to confirm that what I had seen were fish crows, for 2 reasons.

1. Its sound

2. Its wings

The fish crow's call is a dull, rather nasal Uh, uh, or Cuh, Cuh! or a very short, hoarse Car! instead of the American crow's strong CAW! or CRAW! You can hear their sound here and here (On the "Songs and Calls part, the first recording is that of a Fish Crow, the second one of an American Crow for comparison).

Now, you may be stumped on the wings. Why the heck would the wings of a fish crow would help me, if the are jet-black like that of other crows, with no special markings? Well, the wings of a fish crow are pointier than those of the American crow, that's why, only that it can be hard for one to see in the field (I guided myself by stopping the video and looking at pictures of the wings of an American crow).

Since that first sighting I've heard and seen many more fish crows, sometimes in flocks, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs. I think that's pretty weird, how after an isolated sighting you start seeing more and more...little avian mysteries...

__________________________________________________________

Traducción vendrá pronto

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-Cristina

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All images and videos are (C) me /Todas las imágenes y videos me pertenecen.

Creeper!/¡Trepador!

Certhia americana

Yesterday was  my dad's birthday, and we decided to go out together and play with the snow to celebrate and have a good time. When we got outside I found myself busy examining unknown mammal tracks and droppings, plus of course going off to look for birds in my patch. Therefore I left them playing snowball fights and ran off to the woods, with its huge oak trees standing like majestic giants.
I heard a familiar series of calls in the forest. At first I was doubtful of what it was, but then rose to a half-conclusion--cedar waxwings! I crossed the small stream that runs through those woods (the Paint Branch Valley stream) and looked around for a sign of movement.  I was determined to get at those waxwings.
I'd seen waxwings here before. One day while looking out the window, I noticed these strange flock of birds squabbling in an oak tree. My heart pounded. I raised my bins to my eyes and clearly saw a flock Cedar waxwings, with their unmistakable crests, upright posture and black mask. This would hopefully be my second sighting of a waxwing.
I searched through the leafless trees for a flock of birds, but was only able to spot a Downy woodpecker and couple of cardinals and chickadees (I love them, but they weren't exactly what I was looking for then).
Suddenly, I noticed this tiny bird climbing up a tree, and immediately recognized it. I had seen it mentioned in several birdfeeding books, and was quite familiarized with its appearance, yet wondered why it had never shown up around here. Now, it did show up. It was a Brown Creeper, a tiny, brown bird with a white underside and markings all over its body, keeping it well camouflaged in the trees..
I was terribly happy/proud! A Brown Creeper! My first one ever! I lost sight of the bird for a moment, but afterwards spotted it again, climbing up a tree trunk when it was half-way up the tree it flew over to another tree and began climbing again. I must confess they are incredibly adorable birds.
I believe that perhaps I saw a creeper earlier before, for I had noticed a little brownish bird creeping up a tree in the morning. Afterwards I convinced myself it was just a nuthatch, but now I believe it was a creeper, not only because of its behaviour but also because of its brown-looking color (didn't have my binoculars with me).

Afterwards my dad called me back so that we could all played together a game where somebody  stands flat against a wall and everybody else throws snowballs at him/her. Then, one person is chosen to stuff a snowball into the victim's neck. We played many variants of the game and then when back home to celebrate some more with a delicious dinner.

When I felt nice and warm, and my toes weren't numb anymore, I checked in my field guide for the brown creeper and quickly understood why I hadn't seen creepers here before. They appeared in this area only in the winter, thus explaining why I had never seen these apparently common birds around this woodland before winter came.

What a great experience did I have with the creeper (and the waxwings)! And Happy Birthday dad, we hope you can celebrate with us many more of your birthdays!
_____________________________________________________________
ES

Traducción vendrá pronto


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-Cristina
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Photo/Imagen: Brown Creeper/ Trepador Americano de Wiki Commons.

Snow, Juncos and Tree Sparrows, Oh My!/ Nieve, juncos y gorriones, ay Dios!

Spizella arborea

As of Friday, Jan 29th 2011

I will sum everything up, all right? Great!

Wednesday 27th:

See my last post "Today At The Feeder" for hawk and cardinal stories

Begins heavily snowing at about 4 PM, keeps on snowing all night long. Chickadee leaning on tree branch looked surprised at the snow falling, other chickadees seemed to look surprised and scared too, very adorable behavior!
BIG traffic problems in MD and VA. My dad left work early at about 3 PM and got home at 1:30 AM.
Stops snowing at about 11 PM. LOTS of snow!


Thursday 28th:

School closed.
I wake up at the sound of my alarm, and the angered chirps of a titmouse that seemed to be annoyed at the light morning snow that was falling.
Dark-eyed juncos learn to eat from suet feeder!

Friday 29th:

School closed, snows in the morning or afternoon, I don't remember.

New feeder visitor and life bird comes! An American Tree sparrow visits feeder! This sparrow made an epic journey from its breeding grounds in the Arctic to this Maryland balcony. How were the polar bears, Mr. Spizella arborea?

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ES

Traducción vendrá pronto. 

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-Cristina
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Photo/Imagen: American Tree Sparrow from / Chimbito o Gorrión arboreo de Wiki Commons.

  

Today at the feeder/Hoy en el comedero

Accipiter striatus

As of  Wednesday, January 26 2011
A blanket of snow covered this area of Maryland today, and most of the county's schools where closed (including mine, yay!). Our father woke us up at about 8:40 am, talking about a hawk eating something outside. Now that is the best way to wake me up. I looked out the window and the first thing I noticed wasn't the white blanket, but a Sharp-shinned hawk tearing something apart in the snow-covered ground. It was certainly enjoying its meal, for it was very cold and this unfortunate little prey (I afterwards noticed it was a bird, a junco perhaps) must've been a truly tasty breakfast. Afterwards the hawk flew off with its meal to seek another more comfortable plucking spot. It's the first time I see an adult sharpie, by the way. I have only seen juveniles, usually in failed attempts to catch a junco or sparrow at the feeder.
Afterwards, the only thing left was a few plucked feathers and--grisly as it sounds--blood from the kill. I love hawks, anyway, hunters or not.

Now, second interesting story of the day. A male cardinal, perhaps tortured at the sight of all the birds eating from our only feeder (we had another one, but when hanging it in the tree it fell and broke), he decided to try and see if he could eat from suet from the suet cage.
He had some difficulty, being mostly ground feeders cardinals are not adapted to hanging on tree branches or in this case a hanging suet feeder. They are not chickadees.
But this male was determined to do it. He fluttered around it, trying to bite off suet on mid-air, but it didn't work. He fluttered a whole lot more, but after noticing this just didn't work he decided to cling on to the top and bite off some suet, balancing himself with ocassional flutters.
What a cardinal!

Photos of sharpie tearing apart bird coming soon (rated PG--no blood visible)
_________________________________________________________________
ES

Miércoles 26 de enero del 2011:

Una cobija de nieve había cubierto esta área de Maryland hoy, y la mayoría de las escuelas del condado estaban cerradas (¡incluida la mía!). Nuestro papá nos despertó a como a las 8:40 am hablando sobre un halcón que se estaba comiendo algo afuera ¡Esa es la mejor forma de despertarme! Miré por la ventana y lo primero que noté no fue la cobija blanca, sino un Gavilán Pajarero descuartizando algo en el suelo cubierto de nieve. Claramente estaba disfrutando su desayuno, ya que estaba muy frío afuera y esta desafortunada presa (después noté que era un pájaro, quizás un junco) debió de ser un delicioso manjar.
Después el gavilán voló con su desayuno a algún otro sitio donde pudiera desplumarla con más facilidad. Por cierto que este es el primer gavilán pajarero adulto que veo, pues normalmente veo solo jóvenes tratando de cazar a los juncos y gorriones que llegan al comedero.
Lo único que quedó de su presa fueron algunas plumas y--por más horrible que suene--manchas sangrientas en la nieve. Amo a los gavilanes de todos modos, cazadores o no.

Ahora, segunda historia interesante del día. Un Cardenal macho, probablemente torturado al ver a todos los demás pájaros comiendo de nuestro único comedero (teníamos otro, pero cuándo estaba siendo colgado en el árbol cayó y se rompió). Por lo tanto el decidió intentar y ver si podía comer sebo de la jaula de sebo.
Le costó bastante, ya que al ser un pájaro que busca comida en el suelo el cardenal no estaba adaptado para agarrarse de un comedero que colgaba de una rama. Ellos no son carboneros.
Pero este cardenal estaba determinado a lograrlo. Revoloteó alrededor del comedero, viendo a ver si podía agarrar un pedazo del sebo en el aire. Revoloteó mucho más, pero finalmente se rindió y encontró una nueva forma. Se agarró de la rama en la que colgaba el comedero y bajó hacia la parte superior del comedero, y de ahí si pudo comer del sebo, con ocasionales revoloteos ¡Yum!
Qué cardenal!

Fotos del gavilán desgarrando a su presa vendrán pronto. (calificadas como PG--no hay sangre visible).

==========
-Cristina
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Photo/Imagen: Sharp Shinned hawk from/Gavilán Pajarero (c) BigKyle28 de/from Flickr.

Saw-Whet owl heard!/¡Mochuelo Cabezón oído!

Aegolius acadicus

                                                   -----------------------

Yesterday, in the middle of the night I heard something coming from outside. It was a series of whistles or cries, I'm not sure how to explain it well, but I certainly knew it had to be an owl of some kind. I kept hearing, and quickly ran to my parents bedroom to tell them. I ran to the kitchen (it  has a big window) and opened it, but for the moment I had it open I the sound had stopped. How foolish of me, to think an owl wouldn't see or hear me! 

I looked it up on my field guide (National Geographic, 5th version) and the only owl that truly fit in was the Saw Whet owl. The habitat and most importantly the sound both fit in. 

Today, after coming from school I looked up the sound on the Cornell Lab's of of Ornithology website. What I heard in the recording was practically identical to the mysterious sound I had heard the night before. You too can here it here. 

But perhaps the most important thing this "sighting" made me think about was of how many wilderness areas and its wildlife remain ignored by most of the public. This apartment building joint where I live is right next to Paint Branch Stream Valley park. That creek I've been talking about is Paint Branch Stream. I have recorded 33 species of birds in late fall and winter right from my balcony. I have seen white-tailed deer, chipmunks, gray squirrels and a red fox around here, and yet everybody seems to ignore and despise this areas. Why despise? Litter. What (truly forgive me for the words) IDIOT would have the AMAZING idea of throwing trash near a stream and a park?

 All these people are nothing but ignorant SCUMS that are are so LAZY they can't even walk to the garbage container, and decide to throw it away into the woods without a second thought, and then leaving without the slightest regret of doing so. I pity them, for their ignorant ways shall remain silent and forever unimportant until somebody gives them a good lesson on nature education. 

Therefore, I decided to write a letter to the apartment manager, telling him that we shouldn't forget what is surrounding us and that it would be a good idea if he took a walk around the forgotten back area of the neighborhood--the woods--and have a good look at the trash that is there. Perhaps we could organize a clean up or something of the type, and buy or make several signs and put them in the woods. Fines would be great, but who should be managing that is the Parks manager, so I'm contacting him too. 

Lastly, thank you Saw-Whet owl for singing that night and opening my eyes to an even wider perspective.

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ES

Traducción vendrá pronto

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-Cristina

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Photo/Imagen: Northern Saw-whet owl from/Mochuelo cabezón de Wiki Commons.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (CR EXP)! / ¡Mochuelo Caburé! (EXP en CR)

Here you can see the shady mango forest, the brushpile and the low area
next to it. Click on the image to enlargen. / Aquí se puede ver el bosque de
mangos sombreado, la gran pila de ramas y a la par de esta el "bajo". Haga click
a la imagen para engrandar.                                                                                              

                                          -------------------------------

Now, I was owing you the story of when I saw a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum)  in my trip back to visit my family in Costa Rica, so here it goes:

I was taking pictures of my cousins and little brother enjoying their time in our pool (one of those that you assemble yourself), at my grandmother's property. I myself was too cold and came out to sunbathe a little, and decided to practice some of my newly learned photography skills. I glanced at the mango tree "forest" that turns out being a nice shady place, filled with warblers and vireos at this time of the year.There is also like this low area next to the mango tree forest, and when it rains it sometimes completely fills up with water.
I was looking down at a brushpile there, where I believe there are a couple of Rufous-Naped wrens nesting, and suddenly something caught my eye. A tiny brown bird had launched on something, spreading its wings over. I first thought it must be some kind of songbird, but changed my mind when it noticed me and quickly flew to a nearby tree branch. There, was an owl of some kind. It was small, could easily fit in an adult's hand. I was incredibly excited, but actually felt more amazed and nervous in a good way. I raised my camera and took a picture of it, but was disappointed at seeing it had ended up very dark, for I had it on MANUAL and it was adjusted for sunny conditions, not a shady place.
I looked closely at it for as much as I could, but when I stepped closer it flew to the mango forest. I tried to go and search for it, but my uncle called out "Cristina! Come back! There are snakes there!" Yes, certainly there are snakes there. They had found a python there once (fortunately instead of killing it they called the firefighters so that they would take it somewhere else). Thus, I found no other option but to obey, and went back to the house, yet still very excited.
I had then been wondering if what I had seen was a Central American Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium griseiceps) or a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. I then searched for photos in the internet, and for a moment thought it was a Central American pygmy-owl. But then I changed my mind, for range and habitat pointed at the Ferruginous.
I couple of days later, while looking and retouching some pictures in Photoshop just for fun, an idea came to me. What if I could lighten up the picture of the owl and see if I can see something in it? I didn't hesitate to do it, and was amazed by the results:

Click for a larger version

(here I lightened up the image, and in the lower right corner there is an outlined version of it in case you have trouble seeing it) This confirmed what I had seen! The FPO's stripes are slenderer than those of the CAPO's stripes, and that was that.

Pygmy-owls are actually diurnal (active at day), although mostly crepuscular. (active at dawn and dusk). The CAPO lives on the Carribbean slope in the tropical rain forests there, while the FPO is a common sight in the Central valley (Costa Rica).

I believe what I saw was a juvenile, because it had a grayish head. Also, I believe I saw it hunting!

This is the first owl I ever see in detail, ever! 

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (c) 2010 Dan Lockshaw, Owling.com 

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Les estaba debiendo la historia de cuando ví un Mochuelo Caburé ( también conocido como Mochuelo Común Glaucidium brasilianum) en nuestro viaje devuelta a Costa Rica para visitar a nuestra familia y amigos, asi que aquí va:

Estaba tomándole fotografías a mis primos (as) disfrutando la piscina de ensamblar que tenemos en la finca de mi abuela. A mí ya me había dado frío y salí para asolearme un rato, así que decidí practicar mis recién aprendidas habilidades para fotografiar un poco.
Le dí un vistazo al "bosque" de árboles de mango, que es después de todo un buen lugar sombreado, que en esta época del año se llena con reinitas y vireos por doquier. Hay un "bajo" (como nosotros lo llamamos) a la par del bosque, y a la par de este una gran pila de ramas y palos, en la cual creo deben de haber soterreyes nuquirrufos anidando, y de repente algo me  llamó la atención. Un pequeño pájaro café se abalanzó en algo, y desplegó sus insignificantes alas en el. Primero pensé que era algún tipo de ave canora pequeña, pero cambié de opinión cuando este me notó y voló hacia la rama de un árbol cercano. Ahí, había un búho de algún tipo. Era diminuto, podía fácilmente caber en la mano de una persona adulta. Estaba muy emocionada, pero al mismo tiempo algo nerviosa en una buena manera. Le tomé una fotografía con mi cámara, pero me sentí desilusionada al notar que la tenía en MANUAL y estaba ajustada para condiciones soleadas, no una rama cerca de un bosque muy sombreado.
Lo observé lo mas que pude, pero cuando tomé un paso para adelante el búho voló rápidamente al bosque de mangos. Estaba determinada a ir y encontrarlo, pero mi tío me llamó "¡Cristina! ¡Venga para acá qué ahí hay culebras!" Ciertamente hay serpientes ahí. Hace un tiempo encontraron una pitón cerca de ese lugar (afortunadamente en vez de matarla llamaron a los bomberos, quienes se la llevaron a un lugar lejos de ahí). No tuve opción excepto obedecer, y me devolví a la casa, muy emocionada de todos modos.
Después estuve preguntándome si lo que vi fue o un Mochuelo Centroamericano (Glaucidium griseiceps) o un Mochuelo Caburé. Por un momento pensé que era un MCA (mochuelo centroamericano), pero después de revisar el hábitat y rango de distribución me incliné al Caburé.
Un par de días después, mientras revisaba y retocaba algunas fotos en Photoshop, me llegó ls idea de que tal vez si aclaraba la imagen quizá podría alcanzar a ver algo, y así fue:

Click para engrandar

(aquí aclaré la imagen, y en la esquina inferior derecha delineé el contorno del búho por si tienen problemas viéndolo) ¡Esto confirmó lo que había visto! ¿Ven las rayitas en el vientre del búho? Las del MCA son más gruesas, entonces este sí es un Caburé, y así fue.

El mochuelo caburé, o realmente este tipo de búhos pequeños en general son típicamente diurnos (activos de día), pero son más crepusculares (activos al amanecer y al atardecer). El MCA habita los bosque húmedos de la vertiente del Caribe, mientras que el Caburé se es común en el Valle Central (Costa Rica).

Creo que ví uno joven, ya que su cabeza era algo grisácea ¡Es más, creo qué lo ví cazando!

Mochuelo Caburé (c) 2010 Dan Lockshaw, Owling.com.

============

-Cristina

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Imágenes/ Photos:  First and second image are taken by me, source specified in third one/ Primera y segunda imagen son tomadas por mí, la fuente de la tercera ya es especificada.

Local Woods Patch work!/ ¡Trabajando con un parche de bosque local!

I have read before about birders doing something called "patch work", where they would visit a local patch of woods, park or any local place that offered good habitat for birds to do a regular, almost weekly "survey" of the areas birds. Many birders have their "own" local patch, which they visit regularly to build up a picture of the place's wildlife, mainly birdlife in this case. You get familiarized with the birds, and get to know special birds because you saw them grow in your local patch. It is amazing the amount of birds many birders find in this sometimes forgotten little patches.
Patch work is an excellent way of preserving these sometimes forgotten habitats, whose wildlife go unseen until some birder comes and begins doing some regular patch-work. Many of these habitats would perhaps be gone by now if it wasn't because of some or several birder's patch work and understanding of the patch's wildlife . Some of these patches have even ended up turning into nature reserves! Plus, it widens your birding skills and understanding, and you will always have something new to see in the meantime.
Therefore, I decided to do some of my very own patch work. And the patch I chose is perfect, and literally right in front of where I live. A large, mature mixed woodland. I know it is mature because of the presence of certain birds whose main habitat are mature woodland, such as the Hairy Woodpecker, that is a regular visitor to our suet feeder.
These woods are mainly composed of tall, old oak trees. Some of these trees, like "Old Pete", a huge white oak in this patch of mine (I named him like that), are so wide that if I hug them it is impossible to touch my fingers with each other (note that I have long arms!).
In this patch there is also a little, very clean-looking creek, which I believe must be a hit among birds and deer. I love walking near that creek, hearing the soft lulling sound of its running waters.
Now, I must begin by cleaning as much as I can this patch. Foolish people have thrown bottles, plastic bags, garbage containers and other litter. I feel terrible when I look at a Carolina wren scratching through the piles of dead autumn leaves--and a plastic bottle. Even though, the amount of litter isn't that big, and a good day of picking up litter and perhaps a large sign will keep dumb people away for some time.

Now, here is a list of the bird species I have seen here or in its surroundings, in taxonomical order:

Accipitridae: Hawks, kites eagles...

-Turkey Vulture
-Black Vulture
-Sharp-shinned hawk
-Cooper's hawk
-Red-tailed hawk

Columbidae: Pigeons, Doves...

-Rock dove
-Mourning dove

Caprimulgidae: Nighthawks, nightjars...

-Common nighthawk

Picidae: Woodpeckers

-Red-Bellied woodpecker
-Northern Flicker
-Yellow-Bellied woodpecker
-Downy woodpecker
-Hairy woodpecker
-Pileated woodpecker

Tyrannidae: Tyrant flycatchers

-Eastern phoebe

Corvidae: Crows, Jays

-Blue jay
-American crow

Paridae: Chickadees, Titmice

-Tufted titmouse
-Carolina chickadee

Sittidae: Nuthatches

-White-Breasted nuthatch

Troglodytidae: Wrens

-Carolina wren

Turdidae: Thrushes

-American robin

Mimidae: Mockingbirds, Thrashers

-Northern mockingbird
-Gray catbird

Sturnidae: Starlings

-European starling

Bombycillidae:Waxwings

-Cedar waxwing

Emberizidae: Emberizids (native sparrows, towhees, juncos...)

-Song sparrow
-White-Throated sparrow
-Dark-eyed junco

Cardinalidae: Cardinals, Grosbeaks...

-Northern cardinal

Icteridae: Blackbirds, Grackles

-Common Grackle

Fringillidae: Finches, allies

-American goldfinch

Passeridae: Non-native sparrows

-House sparrow


33 species! I can't believe I saw that many birds from my balcony! Awesome!
I'll begin patch-working in these days. I hope to see much more when spring comes!
_________________________________________________________________

ES

Había leído antes sobre muchos "pajareros" (observadores de aves) haciendo algo llamado "trabajo de parches", en lo cual visitarían periodicamente un parche de bosque, parque o cualquier lugar que ofreciera un buen hábitat para las aves y en el cual harían un "censo" de las aves en el área. Muchos pajareros tienen su "propio" parche local, al que visitan regularmente para construir una imagen general sobre la vida silvestre del parche, o en este caso, primordialmente de sus aves. Uno se familiariza con las aves del lugar, y se llega a conocer a ciertas aves en especial por que se las ha visto crecer y sobrevivir en este lugar. Es sorprendente el número de aves que muchos pajareros encuentran en estos algunas veces olvidados pequeños parches.
Trabajar con estos parches es una excelente manera de preservar estos a menudo olvidados hábitats, cuya vida muchas veces pasa desapercibida hasta que algún pajarero llegue y comience a "trabajar" regularmente con el parche. Muchos de estos hábitats quizá pudieron haber desaparecido si no fuera por el trabajo de parche y la comprensión de su vida salvaje por alguno o varios pajareros. Es más, ¡algunos de estos parches han terminado convirtiéndose en reservas protegidas! Además, agrandan los conocimientos y habilidades para observar aves de uno, además de que uno siempre tendrá algo nuevo que ver.
 Por lo tanto decidí hacer mi propio trabajo de parche ¡Y el parche que elegí es perfecto! Está literalmente justo al frente de donde vivo. Es un gran bosque mixto maduro. Se que es maduro por la presencia de ciertas aves cuyo hábitat son mayoritariamente los bosque maduros, como el Carpintero Velloso, un visitante regular a nuestros comederos para aves.
Este bosquecito está compuesto en mayoría por altos y viejos robles. Algunos de estos, como " El Viejo Pedro" (sí, yo lo llamé así), son tan grandes que puedo abrazarlo sin poder tocarme los dedos al otro lado (tomen nota de que yo tengo brazos largos!)
En el bosque también hay un pequeño y al parecer cristalino arroyo, el cual creo que es muy popular entre los pájaros y los venados.Me encanta caminar por ese riachuelo, y escuchar el suave arrullo de sus aguas fluyentes.
 Debería de comenzar por limpiar el área lo mas que pueda. Gente tonta ha tirado bolsas plásticas, botellas, contenedores de basura y otras cosas por el suelo. Me siento terrible al ver a un Soterrey de Carolina escarbando entre las hojas muertas del otoño--y una botella plástica. Sin embargo, el monto de basura no es tan grande, y un buen día de limpieza mas un gran letrero tal vez mantengan a la gente tonta fuera por un tiempo.

Esta es una lista de todas las especies de aves que he podido identificar aquí, en orden taxonómico:

Accipitridae: Gavilanes, milanos, águilas, halcones...

-Zopilote Cabecirrojo 

-Zopilote Negro

-Gavilán Americano

-Gavilán de Cooper

-Gavilán Colirrojo

Columbidae: Palomas

-Paloma Casera

-Paloma Huilota

Caprimulgidae: Chotacabras

-Añapero Yanqui

Picidae: Pájaros Carpinteros

-Carpintero Ventrirrojo

-Carpintero Escapulario

-Chupasavia Norteño

-Carpintero Velloso menor

-Carpintero Velloso

-Picamaderos Norteamericano

Tyrannidae: Mosqueros tiranos

-Mosquero Fibí

Corvidae: Cuervos, Urracas

-Chara Azul

-Cuervo (o corneja) Americano

Paridae: Carboneros, Herrerillos

-Herrerillo Bicolor

-Carbonero de Carolina

Sittidae: Trepadores

-Trepador Pechiblanco

Troglodytidae: Soterreyes

-Soterrey de Carolina

Turdidae: Mirlos, zorzales

-Mirlo Primavera

Mimidae: Sinsontes

-Sinsonte Norteño

-Pájaro Gato Gris

Sturnidae: Estorninos

-Estornino Europeo

Bombycillidae: Ampelises

-Ampelis Americano

Emberizidae: Emberízidos (gorriones nativos, rascadores, juncos...)

-Gorrión Cantor

-Gorrión Gargantiblanco

-Junco Pizarroso

Cardinalidae: Picogruesos, Cardenales...

-Cardenal Norteño

Icteridae: Tordos, zanates

-Zanate Común (no como el de Costa Rica, Zanate Grande: Quiscalus mexicanus)

Fringillidae: Pinzones y otros 

-Jilguero Americano

Passeridae: Gorriones no-nativos

-Gorrión Común

¡33 especies! ¡No puedo creer que haya visto tantas especies desde mi balcón!

Comenzaré a trabajar con el parche en estos días. Espero ver mucho mas cuando llegue la primavera.

=============
-Cristina
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BACK!/ ¡DE VUELTA!

Our balcony, on late summer. / Nuestro balcón, en el verano
USA
-----------------------------

On this week's Wednesday, at 10 PM, there was certainly a racket at my grandmother's house. Everyone was rushing to help us catch our flight. My aunt helped our mother do some  last-minute suitcase-fixing and name-tagging. Me and my little brother got ready, while our grandma rushed here and there to make sure everyone was moving.
Finally, we said good-bye, drove to the airport, went through all  the stuff you have to do, took the airplane, enjoyed our flight, landed on Florida to take another airplane that would take us back to D.C. I tried to avoid looking at the herons and many birds in order to avoid jumping off the plane with my binocs and a 3-week birding trip to the Everglades in mind, but was somewhat more preoccupied of a grackle flying into the one of the plane's turbines, anyway :D.
We got to D.C. at 9 am, completely exhausted, of course. We ate muffins and hot chocolate at a bagel shop in the Ronald Reagal Int. Airport, met with our father, went home and rested.
I miss my country's warm climate and people so much!
______________________________________________________________
 ES

Traducción vendrá pronto

===============
-Cristina
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Photo/Imagen: Me/Yo

One Million Birder project!/ Projecto Un Millón de Pajareros!

-----------------------

I just found out about this new project! It's called the One Million birder project, and its goal is to get a nice big list of 1,000,000 birder's names WORLDWIDE and of ALL AGES! Why? It is a bird conservation initiative!:

The One Million Birders Project is a lofty goal to get a list of names of 1,000,000 birders. This list is not to create a mailing list (your email is not asked for nor tracked in any way). Our goal is to quantify the number of birders there are in the U.S. worldwide. It is the hopes that together, one million birders can create a big difference in conservation and habitat restoration efforts.

Many people have already begun signing up. You can sign up here. If you are young birder (18 under), then instead of signing that one sign this one.
A million names are needed, so what are you waiting for! Sign it now!
_____________________________________________________________________________
ES

Acabo de averiguar sobre esta nueva iniciativa. Se llama el Projecto Un Millón de Pajareros (observadores de aves), y su propósito es recolector 1000 000 nombres de pajareros POR TODO EL MUNDO, de TODAS las edades ¿Por qué? ¡Es una iniciativa para la conservación de la avifauna!

El projecto Un Millón de Pajareros (One Million Birders Project) busca recolectar una lista de los nombres de 1000 000 de pajareros. No, no es para crear una lista de correos electrónicos  (no te preguntaremos por tu e-mail, ni tampoco lo rastrearemos de cualquier forma). Nuestra meta es cuantificar el número de observadores de aves en Estados Unidos.  globalmente. Tenemos esperanzas de que juntos, un millar de pajareros pueden crear una gran diferencia en los esfuerzos de conservación y restauración de hábitats naturales. 

Mucha gente ya ha comenzado a poner sus nombres en esta lista. Vós puedes firmar aquí. Sí sos jóven (menor de 18) entonces firma aquí.
¿¡Qué esperan!? 
================
-Cristina
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Photo/Imagen: Wiki Commons.

The Most Amazing Song/El Canto Más Maravilloso

Turdus grayi

                                                       -------------------
I was writing an entry here (The Baltimore Oriole one) and suddenly I heard something coming from outside. It was the most varied, beautiful song I had ever heard in my life coming from a wild bird (at first I thought it was my grandma's canaries). I snatched my binoculars hoping for some type of warbler or unknown songbird, and looked at a mangoe tree from where the song came from. I looked closer, and caught sight of a Clay-Colored robin (Turdus grayi) singing that amazing song. I was stunned. Never, in my entire life had I heard one of these abundant birds singing in such an extraordinary way . It was a series of different notes, ascending and descending in an extremely varied way. I couldn't believe it. I refused to believe it. But I had it there, a clay-colored robin singing like that.
As a native Tican (Costa Rican) I have heard and seen these robins a million times, and this one was a robin. Period. Redish-brown eyes, yellow bill, brown body, medium size. Everything in it--except its song--was typical of a clay-colored robin. Period. But how, and why would a robin sing like that ?
Here is a part of how it somewhat sounded:

TREE TREE doh doh DOODLE DOO DOODLE DOO  EEEEK!


(No, there is no secret message in there)


Here are 3 top reasons why I am so puzzled by this:
1. It is not breeding season yet for these robins (it starts at the beginning of the rainy season, and we are in the middle of the dry season) so they should not be singing like that yet.
2. Clay-Colored robins do not sing like that.
3.  This was coming from a robin's beak!!!

I am reporting this to the AOCR (Costa Rican Ornithological Association) as quickly as I can!
_____________________________________________________________________
ES

Escribía una entrada para este blog (la del Bolsero Norteño), cuando de repente escuché algo que venía de afuera. Era la más variada y hermosa canción que alguna vez había oído a un ave silvestre cantar (por un momento creí que se trataba de los canarios de mi abuela). Agarré mis binoculares y salí afuera, esperando ver una reinita o algún tipo de ave canora desconocida, y miré al palo de mangos de donde provenía la canción. Entre el denso follaje pude alcanzar a ver a nada más y nada menos que un Yigüirro (Turdus grayi, también conocido como Mirlo Pardo) cantando esa extraordinaria canción. Estaba maravillada. Nunca en toda mi vida había escuchado a uno de estos abundantes pájaros cantar de semejante forma. Era una serie de notas diferentes, descendiendo y ascendiendo en una forma extremadamente variada. No lo podía creer. Me negaba a creerlo. Pero ahí lo tenía, un yigüirro cantando de tal forma.
Como una Tica (Costarricense) de por vida, he visto y escuchado a estas aves millones de veces. Y este era un yigüirro. Punto. Ojos café-rojizo, pico amarillo, cuerpo café, tamaño mediano. Todo en él--excepto su canto--eran típicos de un yigüirro. Punto ¿Entonces, como hizo ese yigüirro para cantar así?
Aquí hay una parte de cómo mas o menos cantaba:

TRII TRII doo doo TARARA TARARA AAAH!


(No, no hay ningún mensaje secreto ahí)

Aquí hay 3 razones por las cuales estoy tan enredada con esto:
1. No es la época de reproducción (los yigüirros comienzan a cantar de verdad a principios de la temporada lluviosa, y estamos a mitad de la temporada seca) por lo tanto no deberían de estar cantando así.
2. Los yigüirros no cantan así.
3. Esta canción tan extraña venía de un yigüirro!

Tengo que reportar esto a la AOCR (Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica) tán rapido como pueda!
================
-Cristina
------------------------
Photo/Foto: Clay-Colored Robin from/Yigüirro de Wiki Commons.

Baltimore Orioles!/Bolseros Norteños!

A couple of days ago, perhaps last week or more here in Costa Rica, I was wandering around my grandma´s "farm" taking pictures of plants and birds, or, pretty much anything I wanted to take a picture of. As I glanced to a huge, old tree next to my cousin's house I noticed this flock of particular birds. Nope, they certainly were not any bird, they just didn't look like it. When you have been birding for some time, you can identify a bird, or at least guess what family does it belong to only by glancing its general "outline" and behaviour.
I walked towards the tree to get a closer look. I grabbed my binoculars (did I mention that I usually always have my bins with me?) and took a closer look at the birds. There, was a flock of Baltimore Orioles, a bird I had never ever seen before. There were males, with their bright-orange feathers and jet-black heads. And the females, although not as bright and beautiful as the males, were just as equally lovely.
Of course, I didn't loose a moment to take pictures at the beautiful birds. Even though I had a hard time with this, I managed to take some decent pictures: See below for pictures
___________________________________________________________________
ES

Hace varios días, quizá hace un par de semanas aquí en Costa Rica, vagaba por la casa de mi abuela tomándole fotos a plantas y pájaros, o a decir verdad cualquier cosa a la cual me diera la gana tomarle una foto. Cuándo miré a un enorme y viejo árbol a la par de la casa de mis primos, noté una bandada de aves particulares. No, ciertamente no eran cualquier ave, simplemente no parecían serlo. Cuándo uno ha estado "pajareando" por un tiempo, uno puede identificar un ave o adivinar de qué familia de aves es solo con ver su silueta y/o comportamiento.
Caminé hacia el árbol para ver a la misteriosa ave mejor. Tomé mis binoculares (¿mencioné ya que casi siempre los ando conmigo?) y vi más de cerca al ave misteriosa. Ahí había una bandada de Bolseros Norteños (Icterus Galbula) un pájaro que jamás había visto. Habían machos, con su brillante cuerpo anaranjado y su cabeza negra. Y hembras  también, un poco menos vistosas pero igual de bellas.
Por supuesto que no perdí un momento para tomarles una foto. Aunque me costó un poco hacerlo, pude tomar algunas fotografías decentes:

Female/Hembra

Male/Macho

Male/Macho

Female/Hembra

Female/Hembra

Female/Hembra

Female/Hembra

Female/Hembra

Female/Hembra

==========================

-Cristina

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All Photos/Todas las fotos: Me and must not be used without my permission/Yo y no pueden ser usadas sin my permiso