H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

Yesterday morning we had the first frosted morning of this year! Leaves are falling at a faster rate now with the temperature going low. I always hope to have a slow and gradual Autumn because I love to see the foliage change colors for a longer period of time. I don’t see many birds going to the feeders lately. I know that many species have already began to migrate and the ones that stay local are making preparations to have a safer and warmer shelter or nest. For me is time to start planning my future trips and also do my artist work. I do oil paintings,  charcoal and graphite drawings.

One of my projects to travel might be, going to Florida for a few days to see my cousin in Sarasota where he lives and will be having surgery on November. I will be drive with Lucy and Tyler. Later, after our visit we will continue south to Ft. Myers area and visit all the Preserve Parks and Islands. There I’ll see some migratory birds and many wading and beach species.

For a longer trip I have in mind going to Costa Rica for a few days, I still have to convince Lucy to go with me and Tyler. Since we have Tyler living with us we are kind of limited when it comes to traveling. Tyler is only 17 months old and needs a lot of care, this factor makes traveling a bit harder to handle but not impossible.  Now we need to get Tyler used to be in a car for longer periods of time without getting bored or getting fastidious. I want to take a drive to Savannah shortly to see how he will behave for more than 5 hours drive. We have tried up to three hours and it wasn’t too bad.

Other Projects for next year

There’s a possibility to go to Prague next year with a group of my wife’s friends. Then another trip that has more contingency:

One month in Peru (1800 species registered), I’ve been reading about different areas supposedly to very interesting there for migratory birds and many locals species, these areas are different that the ones I’ve been before. I’m planning to meet with a relative of mine there, he’s also retired and although a beginner in digital photography he’s very interested in nature. Our plan would be to visit allthe locations mentioned, if we can. If I could achieve all that I planned, I’d be a happy camper! 🙂   Here I have some samples from my backyard:

Mourning Dove - Canon 20D - f/5.6 - 1/100 - ISO400

Red-winged Blackbird (F) - Cannon 20D - f/5.6 - 1/250 - ISO400

Blue Grosbeak - Canon 20D - f/9.0 - 1/500 - ISO200

Northern Cardinal (F) - Canon 20D - f/5.6 - 1/200 - ISO800

All photographs are © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101