Mindo Valley, Ecuador
November, 2009: Tina and I traveled to Ecuador and spent a week in the Mindo Valley outside of Quito, Ecuador for a week of birding and photography.
Ecuador is a birdwatcher's paradise with around 1,600 species registered and some new ones are still added to the list every year. 22 avian orders of the 29 worldwide with 82 families are represented in the country. As there are 3,000 species in the whole continent of South America, therefore more than half can be already observed in this small country. Furthermore, if you consider that in all of North America or Europe are less than 800 species found, the diversity of Ecuador's bird world becomes that much more amazing and intriguing.
- More details and pictures are posted at travel/Ecuador.
- Ecuador Bird list
Minnesota Raptor Center
Every Thursday, I volunteer at the Raptor Center on one of the flight crews helping with the physical conditioning of recovering raptors, exercising the birds and assessing their abilities as they regain their flight skills. This usually means catching a wild hawk or owl in a flight pen, weighing the bird and attaching jesses (thin straps, traditionally made from leather) to their legs. We then allow each bird 6-8 flights in an open field for exercise and to judge whether they are read for release. I posted several images of our crew with Barred Owls and a Peregrine Falcon.
2009 Photography
I've posted some images from our 2009 birding. Trips included Peru and Alabama as well as every nitch of Ramsey County where we live. Take a look at photography/2009.
Best of 2008 are online at photography/2008.
Ramsey County Bird List
As of December 1st, 2009, we have seen 163 species of birds in Ramsey County (out of a possible 242 regular species). One of my projects this year will be to not only push on towards 200 species, but also to compile a photo gallery of all species we've seen in the county.
Hot Spot: Dauphin Island
Dauphin Island is a barrier island located three miles south of the mouth of Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. Entry to the island is made by crossing a three mile long high rise bridge which was opened in July, 1982 after the original draw bridge was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in 1979. An ferry from the eastern shore also offers an entry point on the eastern end of the island. The island is approximately 14 miles long and 1 ¾ miles wide at the widest point. The entire island has been designated as a bird sanctuary and thousands of visitors come to experience the annual migrations
Peru - Amazon Voyage
On January 22nd, 2009, Tina and I joined my parents for a once in a lifetime trip to the Peruvian Amazon. The Peruvian Amazon is the second largest jungle in the world after the Brazilian Amazon region.
One primary reason for the trip, was to photograph birds. Of the approx 9,672 different species of birds in the world, over 1,800 can be found in Peru and over 800 can be found in the jungles of the Peruvian Amazon. Sometimes it was hard to know where to look next. travel/Peru