Birds and More.....

Bill and I saw a couple of "new" birds yesterday, but either didn't get close enough or the lighting was too bad...  anyway, I didn't get decent photos of either of them.  So we headed out for a walk around 8:00, hoping to spot at least one of them...

And we did...

Rufus-backed Thrush

Same family as the Robin, and like a robin, he was hopping around on the ground, almost in the underbrush.  I never got close enough for a good shot, but close enough for a positive ID.  He looks really angry here...  guess the shadows around his eye created a mean look.

We didn't see the other bird of yesterday...  pretty sure it was a Vermilion Flycatcher.  As bright red as it was, surely we'll see it again.

The Ringed Kingfisher sat still for a long time today...

I think it had just taken a bath because he spent a long time preening as I was watching him.

Another bird that we hadn't noticed before...

These Bronzed Cowbirds have a very distinctive red eye!

You can barely make out the glossy blue wings, but the sunlight is catching them a bit.

Sitting all by itself out along the river bank...

A Streak-backed Oriole

Most likely a male as it's very orange.

One last bird photo...

I love seeing all the egrets and herons in the rookeries...

This Yellow-crowned Night Heron was just one of many we saw today.

There are lots of butterflies and dragonflies flitting around...

I didn't get close enough to ID this guy, but at least he stayed still long enough to get his picture taken.

There are lots of different kinds of palm trees here...  sometimes we see young men climbing the trees to knock down coconuts.  

Not sure what kind of palm tree this is, but thought it looked interesting.

And... speaking of trees, Dizzy reminded me the other day that a Banana "tree" isn't really a tree at all.  I guess I knew that...  especially with Memo giving us lessons about the pineapple and banana plantations that are here.  Which makes me think of Judy asking about pineapples.  Those in that field (blog a few days back) were ready to be planted.  You can cut the top off a pineapple you buy at the grocery and cover it in dirt...  in a couple of years it will produce a new fruit.  Now... I tried that once years ago but never had much luck...  but then maybe I just didn't keep it that long.

We did walk to the beach...  looks like several fishing boats out today...

I have no idea if they were catching anything...  but will say that when we walked back to the beach a few hours later they were still there in almost the same spot.  Either they were having good luck or have a lot of patience!

And, finally...  the Bocci Ball tournaments are going strong!

Look at the concentration!  He took longer than a baseball player to finally throw that ball...  he'd scrunch up his face, wiggle his butt, flex his hands...  kind of do a false throw...  do it all over again... and again...  and finally let loose of the ball.  

Those folks sure are taking this game seriously!

That's about it for today's walk...  and...

That's All For Today!