Jabiru
The Jabiru is the tallest flying bird found in South America and Central America, often standing around the same height as the flightless and much heavier American Rhea. The adult Jabiru is typically 122–140 cm (48–55 in) long, 230–280 cm (90–111 in) across the wings,...
Caiman
The largest reptile that we encountered on our Venezuela trip was the Caiman in several ponds. As we visited several small ponds for bird viewing, we also got fairly up close and personal looks at Caiman. Not sure which sub-species they were (Spectacled,...
Black-collared Hawk
Lots of new Raptors on this trip. One of the more common hawks was the Black-collared Hawk. This guy lives on a diet mainly composed of fish. It also eats water bugs and occasionally lizards, snails and rodents.
Scarlet Macaws
The Scarlet Macaws of Hato Pinero were one of the most beautiful sites on our bird trip to Venezuela. Each morning, we heard the calls of 10-12 Macaws that live around the ranch headquarters. These guys spend a lot of time feeding on fruit and cackling. ...
More shots from Casa Maria
More birds and animals that live either near or at Casa Maria:
Casa Maria–The Bug’s (and Bird’s) Paradise
Casa Marie was founded by Norbert and Gabriele (Gabby) Flauger, originally from Berlin, Germany. Casa Maria has six bedrooms, including two in adjoining bungalows, all with in suite bathrooms and hot/cold water. There are two butterfly houses and several small...
Tanagers @ Casa Maria
Tanagers are one of my all time favorite bird families with over 240 known species. Here are several of the Tanagers we saw in the area surrounding Casa Maria Lodge.
Venezuela–Day 1-2
We left Minneapolis just as a decent snow was setting up to mess with airports around the country. The lounge in Houston made the 6 hour layover a bit more tolerable but still sleep eluded me. We finally left the States at midnight, arriving in Caracas at about...
Back from Venezuela
Tina and I are back from Venezuela. We have several thousand images to sort and we will post some as we cull the good ones out of the pile. The birds were numerous, fantastic and sometimes difficult to keep track of. On Monday, Feb 7th, we saw 85 species of...
Long-tailed Duck
One of my favorite birds of 2010 was this male Long-tailed Duck that hung out on Vadnais Lake for much of November with the Common Goldeneye’s and other fall migrants. I just wish he’d have come a bit closer for his picture.