H.J. Ruiz – Avian101 – Page 652 – "My Backyard Visitors" – All about birds

Penguins: The Ultimate Guide

Penguins: The Ultimate Guide – Book Review

By Authors: Tui De Roy, Mark Jones and Julie Cornthwaite.

“It was almost immediate that I got very impressed with this guide, when I saw the first few images. I’m a photographer and I’d have to admit that I felt envious about all the outstanding images and breathtaking shots of the penguins shown in this book.

Click on image for more information

Page after page of a clever layout, where you can easily read important information, pertinent descriptions with precise in-detail interesting data about each of the species, showing what penguin’s life is all about_ in land, ice and even underwater. Let’s not forget the superb photos, high-quality photographs that illustrate this guide. The 400 pictures which accompany the important text bring the readers as close as they can be to each of the 18 species that we have in the world. At times these photographs make you feel as if you were surrounded by the penguins. An extraordinary task for the authors to do their research in such harsh locations-habitats where these birds live around the Globe. I will definitely recommend this guide for anyone that wishes to know more about the penguins!”

Review written by H.J. Ruiz – Avian101.wordpress.com – January 9th, 2015

Tags: birds, important information, Interesting information, nature, Penguins, photography, photos of birds

Vivir pour les Oiseaux

The weather hasn’t been quite inviting to go outdoors lately which I’m sure most of my readers realize that. The window of opportunity to shoot some pictures is very limited when it comes to bird Photography.

It’s not my lack of willingness because I do have the patience to go outside every morning rain or shine… and fill the feeders. But now the circumstances are different during the new Georgia winter season; when I set up for photography I can’t just sit under bad weather and wait all day while I have many things to do. I’m not complaining, just let you know the facts. It just make my photographer life a little harder! I need to get enough photos for my daily blogs.

Luckily, I still have some new fresh photos under my sleeve that I can post for you. However, the weather forecast is announcing an imminent cold spell to start hitting again in a couple of days! That makes things even harder for the resident birds and myself. I guess that we’ll just have to wait and see what it’s going to happen. C’est la vie!

Photo Gallery

Mourning Dove

Song Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Song Sparrow and Northern Cardinal (M)

White-throated Sparrow (Top) Eastern Towhee (M) ( Bottom)

Tags: birds, Field Sparrow, Mourning Dove, nature, Northern Cardinal, photography, photos of birds, White-Throated Sparrow

Snake Bird

I found this interesting bird during my last trip to Florida, the name given by the native Brazilians fit them right. This bird’s neck movements are such as a snake.

The Anhinga Anhinga anhinga, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.

It is a cormorant-like bird with an average body length of 85 cm (33 in), a wingspan of (46 in), and a mass of up to (3.0 lb). It is a dark-plumaged piscivore with a very long neck, and often swims with only the neck above water. When swimming in this style the name snakebird is apparent, since only the colored neck appears above water the bird looks like a snake ready to strike. They do not have external nares (nostrils) and breathe solely through their epiglottis.

The anhinga is placed in the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to Indian (Anhinga melanogaster), African (A. rufa), and Australian (A. novaehollandiae) darters. Like other darters, the anhinga hunts by spearing fishes and other small prey using its sharp, slender beak.

Photo Gallery