birdspot

As I settle back into procrastinating er working, I thought I would play around with a few photos, in addition to planning my next two trips, and getting some drawing done, really! One thing I have rarely experienced: getting back from a vacation. It’s hard to know what that is like if you are self employed. It’s the same with weekends, and Mondays – huh? What’s a weekend? From the outside, this year looks like I’m gamboling around the planet. On the inside, I have never worked harder, except for the last two weeks, and now I pay, I pay.

Chestnut-breasted Mannikins are not endemic to French Polynesia, they are invasive. It is a little sad that my first mannikin is a trash bird, but they are pretty, and I always like a bird swiveling its head.

What is next? The Bay Area of California, including the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, and perhaps a twitch or two. That’s next week. And then, the week after, I am (sorry for this but omg) going to Belize, with a few other birders, on an itinerary to make one’s head spin. I’m not sure what the internet scenario will be, so I’ll write a little ahead of time, and then catch up when I return.

With family, and without a lot of time for birding, I visited the islands of French Polynesia and Hawaii. It was an unexpected trip for me, as I was filling my father’s place, who at the last minute could not make it.

The sea birds were amazing, however, and I saw a good number of lifers despite not having any dedicated birding time. It is a little hard to complain when you have Laysan Albatrosses, Tahiti Petrels, and Red-footed and Masked Boobies visiting the prow of the ship as you sip a martini with happy family around you… and when Brown Noddies are the trash land birds, squabbling on your bungalow roof and flying low over your head as you swim through warm aqua lagoons… Please don’t hate me, and please remember that I have never ever, not even once, had a vacation like this. It’s not exactly the sort of thing that occurs in the life plan of most artists.

Images, top to bottom:
Sunset at Raiatea, Brown Noddy at Papeete, Tahiti, and inside the reef at Moorea.

For more photos, please visit my album on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mydogoscar