For the Birds!

I'm just going to post a handful of photos that I re-discovered in the process of trying to edit the literally hundreds that have accumulated in the past 6 weeks!

I have watched the egrets stroll calmly through the slews on the beach or in flooded grassy lots after a heavy rain. One enterprising fellow saw me taking photos of this egret so decided to “help” me by chasing it to make it fly, but I missed the shot thanks to my slow batteries!

I  am fascinated by the amount of bird life here in the city of La Ceiba, there are so many different varieties that I can't even begin to name them. I've been fortunate enough to become aware of certain patterns - the egrets that fly east in the late afternoons, the pelicans that commit their aerial parade along the shoreline shortly after dawn and before dusk. I’m still trying to get a decent photo of what I call the “Pelican Parade”!

There are the blackbirds (Brown Jays, possibly) that make the most amazing series of clicks, chitterings, squawks and shrieks every morning and night as they roost in the almond tree behind my place. These birds are also outright heathens – very similar to the crows and ravens in Canada who have learned that plastic bags can contain food!

The pigeons run rampant throughout the city and barrios, cluttering up the streets, perching on telephone wires, balanced on roof tops with their feet scittering on the tin and constantly cruising for food on my own patio! 

I’ve also noticed that a lot of Hondurans keep birds as pets and have literally stopped in the street to look up and listen to brightly coloured, caged birds converse with each other. Once, in Utila, I was out on the hotel patio and kept hearing “Help, help, let me out!” and was convinced it was somebody’s child until I spotted the caged bird on the deck of the next building!

Glondy wasn't at all certain that she wanted to hold the

Macaw for this photo, but since we're such good friends, she was willing to do it for me. Though we did have to rescue my ring from his beak and keep a really close watch on the bird as he was thinking about checking out her earring! This little parrot has the best of both worlds as he is Momma Rosa's pet and sleeps in the cage in the house during the night and flies about the yard freely during the day. He's also pretty bossy about demanding his share of the planteno chips as well!