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Supermodels! Simply the best!


Dave Williams

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Elsa Hoffmann

@Peter Connan I have some - but I am not going to compete with the last one!  But I now know where to find them - just about every single time I want to see them (besides in my garden that is) 

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Dave Williams

How about a member of the Grebe family ? They are all pretty smart, but one of the most attractive must be the Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps Auritis) and isn't also named Horned Grebe  without cause. This was the first time I'd seen one , photo taken in Iceland last spring and seen in full breeding plumage too. 

26919650893_657312e5b0_b.jpgSlavonian Grebe      Iceland by Dave Williams, on Flickr

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Elsa Hoffmann

Ye I like the grebe too. Thats an excellent shot!

 I find them difficult (the adults) lots of white that  I tend to blow out far too often - especially since it's usually wet. Or I am just dumb :)
Here is a grebe baby. I understand they can't swim after hatching - and catch a ride with the parents for a while. There are 3 babies in the one shot. These photos are 6 years old - excuse the quality

111105 Gardenbirds 540.jpg

111126 Gardenbirds 011.jpg

Edited by Elsa Hoffmann
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Peter Connan

Pragtig!

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Dave Williams

Not difficult to see why this was chosen as Cuba's national bird.
 

It has all the credentials in that it's endemic, has the red, white and blue of the national flag and is stunningly good looking!

The perfect supermodel in fact.

Cuban Trogon or Tocororo (Priotelus temnurus)

 

25494367625_144c5d26ea_b.jpgCuban Trogon        endemic to Cuba by Dave Williams, on Flickr

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@Dave Williams a beautiful bird and a beautiful photo!

I am going to go a bit closer to home (actually in our garden, taken through the window)

5999b8ca67bfc_GoldFinchi-1.thumb.jpg.db950928453709f6f123040ea6baddf5.jpg

Goldfinch  Carduelis carduelis

 

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Dave Williams

Nice image and one of the UK's most colourful birds. @TonyQ. A rarity in our garden but common just 100 m down the road. Weird.

Still need one for my year BY too!

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@Dave Williams Thank you. We get a lot of them coming to our feeders (I can see 6 as I type this) - they like sunflower hearts. They have been recently bringing their youngsters which is nice to see.

A few days ago there was a flock of more than 30 in the trees at the end of our garden (actually in someone else's garden, but we get the benefit:)). We really enjoy watching them fly across the garden, calling to each other as they fly.

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Elsa Hoffmann

Geez people - these brilliant images just keep coming and coming !

 

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Dave Williams

One bird we do get in our North Wales garden now and again, tempted by those sunflower hearts, is the handsome Eurasian Bullfinch. Some multi coloured birds are a tad garish but the Bullfinch is a very tasteful colour combination. There are other Bullfinches to be found in various parts of the world but they are surprisingly dull to look at.

35180403115_f71051225c_b.jpgEurasian Bullfinch   Pyrrhula pyrrhula by Dave Williams, on Flickr

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The Painted Bunting is a fairly common bird in the Southern USA, but here in New York City its a real rarity. We were amazed that one took up residence in our local park in fall of 2015 and stayed for over a month! It became quite a celebrity and made local news reports with folks coming from all over to see it.

 

JCZ_1874a.jpg.06405bcaf262e48879d82b4060808fac.jpg

 

One of our most colorful and beautiful--if a bit gaudy--North American birds.

 

 

 

 

Edited by janzin
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@janzin - I'd never heard of a painted bunting. So beautiful and striking

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The Turaco family deserves a mention at some point

 

This is the Knysna Turaco

 

large.DSC_2612.jpg.950207da954abbd2a5437c7ea29c03b2.jpg

 

large.59649ade64979_v396.jpg.b196434a3f5db60f7c2016756c7a2900.jpg

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Dave Williams

Two excellent nominations @janzin and @lmSA84. I'd love to see a Painted Bunting, certainly a striking bird,  as for the Turaco, one of my biggest birding thrills was catching up with both Violet and Green Turaco in The Gambia.  

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On 8/6/2017 at 7:36 AM, Dave Williams said:

Here's my second nomination, and again i can give a little background information too.

The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is a bit special simply because it's the world's smallest bird. It's endemic to Cuba and not that common either. In fact it's becoming increasingly uncommon I believe.

As it's so small it's also more difficult to find I imagine but for me it was very, very easy. This enterprising couple have, for a small fee, opened their garden to birders and have a steady stream on guided tours as well as one or two who like me found their own way there if they had transport.

25382644692_f3a14d36a5_b.jpgHummingbird garden by Dave Williams, on Flickr

That's the lady and behind her the tree and it's flowers the bird favours. The neighbours must be envious as they don't have one!

These birds are so used to the visitors now that they will come to hand held flowers dipped in sugar solution.

25284584051_689b18520c_b.jpgBee Hummingbird by Dave Williams, on Flickr

That gives you an idea of size too. The male is slightly smaller than the female which isn't as attractive either. Sorry ladies, it's usually the case in birds but not humans of course.;)

24646682843_153d6d6b6e_b.jpgBee Hummingbird    Cuban endemic by Dave Williams, on Flickr

The male on the other hand is a bit of a stunner.

25494375885_0a550dcf40_b.jpgBee Hummingbird    endemic to Cuba by Dave Williams, on Flickr

What is really amazing is that suddenly the plumage appears to change colour.

25401560001_6d15bbe9bb_b.jpgBee Hummingbird      endemic to Cuba by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

I guess if it was a bigger bird the effect might be even more amazing!

I went to Cuba determined I would nail this bird but even after spending three visits and several hours on each I came home unhappy with the results.

Maybe I'll have to go back and try again, it wouldn't be a hardship. Hummingbirds are, in my opinion, the most fun birds to photograph and I'd love to try for more than the 5 species I have seen so far on my travels.

 

 

Gorgeous plumage!

 

If you go to the Mindo Cloud Forest in Ecuador, there are something like 40 different species of hummingbirds.  It was beautiful!  Also, many different orchid species but they were surprisingly smaller that I expected.  Plus Blue Morpho butterflies.  

Edited by AmyT
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Peter Connan

I like my supermodels a bit garish.

But this lady probably takes things a little too far:

 

African Purple Swamphen:

 

SwamphenODP-1.thumb.jpg.5674190b600e0a990e17f08c5c316d75.jpg

 

 

SwamphenODP-2.jpg.f90955fdbf7feec1cc45f7bd36300807.jpg

 

SwamphenODP-3.jpg.05837d62959e3ca32375cfdaf84b39cc.jpg

 

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I´m nominating a classic - Northern Carmine Bee-Eater.

 

gallery_19319_1628_694386.jpg

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Dave Williams

@Peter Connan I disagree on this one, I think the colours are great and not garish at all, an excellent series of shots too.

@AmyT I enquired about a trip to Ecuador 2 years ago, the price was frighteningly high for me to spend on a solo trip and that was when the pound wasn't suffering as it is now. There's no way I could persuade my wife that she'd enjoy a couple of weeks in a rainforest but she knows it's probably the one place more than anywhere else I would love to travel to for some avian photography. I think a compromise would be a return to Costa Rica where we can base ourselves in suitable accommodation and I can try my luck on a trip to Monte Verde. If anyone has a better suggestion let me know. I just love Hummingbirds.

One of only two species I saw in Cuba

Cuban Emerald  (Chlorostilbon ricordii)

Despite it's name it's not endemic to Cuba

25375926472_2c58ed6b74_b.jpgCuban Emerald    Cuba by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

25494377085_745b59746a_b.jpgCuban Emerald    Cuba by Dave Williams, on Flickr

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@Dave Williams... Mindo is in a cloud forest (not rain forest) from 1300 meters/4265 feet and up. Temperate during the day and cool at night.  We took a day trip to Mindo but the prices for lodging were very reasonable. We just ran out of time! We stayed in Quito and Otavalo before heading to the Galapagos Islands to visit friends.  There are cock of the rock leks, most of which you have to hike in to.  @janzinprobably has more first hand knowledge about them.  We would have stayed at Sachatamia Lodge, which goes for something like $90US per night (as per TripAdvisor).  

 

We also considered going to the Napo Wildlife Center in the Amazon basin but that was out of scope for our trip. (Jungle didn't appeal to me. Jungle = big bugs in my mind!!)

 

 

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Dave Williams

@AmyT I investigated a photo tour which covers all terrains. 16 days was $4640 2 years ago. I'd have to find flights from the UK on top of that. The other factor to consider was altitude sickness too.

I'm sure you are right and it could be done cheaper especially if I went DIY, there again, maybe, just maybe I should just go for it. I know Claire would support me but it is a lot of money to spend just on me. On the other hand time is against me as I get older every year and at some point I'll say it's too late. Hope I don't regret my decisions when that time comes!

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Dave Williams

@michael-ibk Northern Carmine may possibly be the best looker of all the Bee-eaters and you certainly caught the colours with that shot.

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Dave Williams

There must be quite a lot of Woodpeckers that would make the list, not only do they look good they tend to pose well too.

 

West Indian Woodpecker  Melanerpes superciliaris

 

25180317891_35c62bf9e0_b.jpgWest Indian Woodpecker    Cuba by Dave Williams, on Flickr

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Peter Connan

I see you, and raise you an inverted Golden-tail! :D

 

Great shot @Dave Williams

 

GoldentailODP-2.thumb.jpg.e114cfc1a292f4a2a741b5966c136ef7.jpg

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