Three Wee Gems and an Oilbird

A dull day as far as Blogging is concerned, but a chance to get a lot of things together for the trip and spend a few hours with my nose into 'Birds of Northern South America'. I rarely write up a 'wants list' as it's very much a case of you see what you see. However 3 species have tickled my fancy, the first, a Hummer, since I watched Attenborough's 'Life' last week. There he had a male Marvellous Spatuletail in full display, and berserk doesn't really touch on its actions. Chances of seeing one are negligible only occurring in a dot of high cloud forest in Peru. A detour could be made to Choctamal, Northern Peru but doubt it would be worth the effort. As a consolation prize Racket-tailed Puffleg is very much on the cards, being slightly less colourful and shorter tailed.

Marvellous Spatuletail

Racket-tailed Puffleg

The second, another Hummer, is Shining Sunbeam, a little beauty with 'rainbow rump' (difficult to see in the field) that caught my attention the first time I flicked through the field guide. This is highly likely during the first 3 weeks in Columbia, and as Byron has fixed me up with a site in Ecuador, there's a second chance.

Shining Sunbeam

While at 3, the enigmatic Oilbird must be in contention for anyone visiting this part of the world?

Oilbird - hoping to bring you some originals in the weeks to come!

and the last of the Alaska mammals

Killer Whales
Otter
Porcupine
Steller's Sealions