A New Year of Beginnings

Hello all!!!  Happy New Year!  Well it will soon be:)  I'm having a blast out in the field on my time off. And it's because of this change in my life that I won't be able to blog everyday like I have for the past 2 years.

Osprey at Kennedy Park, Tucson

It has finally caught up with me and I'm finding that the daily writing etc is impossible:)  I will be posting when I get the chance and of course reading all of your work.  It's one of the reasons why I started blogging .... to network with all of you.

I want to enjoy that part again without worrying about posting once a day.  There's a lot to look forward to next year at Las Aventuras and I am so excited for the schedule coming up, but you'll have to wait and see all the happenings that will be going on.

For now, I wanted to share with you....finally!....a most accidental and wonderful thing....the Osprey.  After many many outings trying to find this bird in Tucson, it came out of nowhere while I was searching for a Horned Grebe.  No Horned Grebe.....but who cares!  The Osprey was the star of the show.

I also got closer to the Western Grebe than I have been able to since my search for them.  Las Aventuras has a trek coming up from outside of the state of Arizona.  I hope you'll join me as we discover even more birds than before.......I'm not going anywhere:)  I'll just be out in the field A WHOLE lot more:)

Western Grebe

My goal for this next year is to add about 150 more birds to my list.  I think it's achievable.

So how about something new?  How about the Hooded Mergansers!  There were 18 on this day.

Hooded Mergansers at Sam Lena Park

The males(or drakes) look like aliens while the females look quite the opposite....but still....striking.  Both genders made me do a double take.  They look so different from each other!  How could they both possibly be the same bird??!!!  And yet they are.

Las Aventuras isn't going anywhere in the blogoshere, it's just doing what it does best....exploring strange new life and new civilizations and boldly forcing me to go where I've never gone before.  Happy New Year everyone!

The Panoramic Shots

 Today's post is unusual.  I've never had a cell phone before this year.  It has been a revelation in so many ways.  But the IPHONE 5 has a nice feature known as the Panoramic shot.  It is one of my favorite things to use while on our birding treks.

 Whenever we go out into the field, I like to take a shot of the place we are going to survey and place it on Facebook for my followers.   Throughout the day, Las Aventuras will publish the finds with several pictures.

 Several times I've gone out without my camera just to watch birds and not have the weight of photography on my shoulders.  On this particular morning, my kitty is helping me get some holiday stuffing going for a party we are attending.

The camera is also great for that "before everyone comes and messes up the settings" shot.  This particular pic was of our Thanksgiving get together.  Great food, great weather, great friends and just a wonderful day together.

 I am allowed to survey areas like Madera Canyon(above) and Sweetwater(below) before I begin my trek.

 The shot below is my classroom.  I love color and design.  After years of careful planning, I came up with the perfect classroom that allows for 70 people, one wheelchair, and room to move.  Not an easy task!

 And can you spot Kathie below??!  Overall a fun new toy that I'll be adding to my arsenal next year.  The camera is pretty nice as well.  Some shots I've taken with my IPHONE actually turn out better than my professional camera.  Shocking but true.......

Digging Deeper

Great Egret

Searching(chasing really) for the Western Grebe, I wasn't into the photography bit.  However, the one picture that I really worked for was this one.  It was an early early morning at around 6 AM before the humans and their dogs would arrive at Sam Lena Park in Tucson.  Using my GPS tracker, I was hot on the trail before it got too hot!

Western Grebe

I found my target bird which is only used for ID purposes.  This is not a great shot but evidence that I found the bird.  Along the way, I had nice views of this female Belted Kingfisher.  I am hoping to get better shots but this is my best so far.

Female Belted Kingfisher

However, my series of photos dealing with this Great Egret below would be the artsy shots for the day.  And everything thing else was just icing on the cake.  Here is my take on the work.  Note the clarity of the shadows and the slightly out of focus images of the actual bird and its' reflection.  And my intent here is, "What's real?"

And that was a thrill for me to observe!  But more importantly it creates a deeper shade to the shot than looking at "just another bird".  I think I took about 50 of these!  I never know when an opportunity will present itself, but when it does, I'm ready with the camera.

Spotted Sandpiper

While focusing on the Great Egret, my eye captured another lifebird scurrying along the shore of the lake.  Grabbing the camera, I snapped an image quickly before the bird disappeared.

Northern Rough Winged Swallow

Above my head, two Northern Rough Winged Swallows flew.  I questioned if they were real, but I snapped the shots for evidence.  Not all of them have migrated and several reports from that day indicated several were still in the area.

Northern Harriers

After Sam Lena, I headed to the Amado Recharge ponds to find the Lesser Scaup reported.  I would find the find the bird but not on this day.  But I did see another two Northern Harriers along the pond.  I had to strain my lens to get a poor quality shot.   They are such interesting birds.  I'll have a report on how challenging the birding has become so stay tuned for more:)