Actually, only a few were within the camps. Most were locations we traveled to where there were known populations of specific birds (e.g. Lambert Bay gannet colony, Boulder Beach penguin colony) and birds located while traveling the roads in Kruger NP.

All from a tripod.

Of my photo excursions, South Africa was the most productive. In 11 days, traveling to a number of sites, I got images of over 140 birds, 22 mammals and several reptiles and invertebrates. So many beautiful birds, it’s hard to choose which to publish but here are just a few:

Cape grass bird


Wattled starling


African penguin


Masked weaver


African wattled lapwing


Blue crane


Magpie shrike


Double-collared sunbird


African hoopoe


Cape gannet

Obviously there are more colorful birds in the tropics than in the middle latitudes but except for several theories as to why it comes down to the fact there's a lot more bird species in the tropics. Take, for instance, Colombia. The USA is 9X larger but only had half as many bird species. Whatever, here's a few more:

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Toucan barbet, Ecuador


Flame-faced tanager, Panama


Rufous-crested coquette, Panama


Violet-backed starling, South Africa


Red-headed barbet, Ecuador


Red-necked tanager, Brazil


Scarlet macaw, Costa Rica


Golden-hooded tanager, Panama


Double-collared sunbird, South Africa


Black-chested mountain tanager, Ecuador

Apparently some birds just can’t decide on which color is best so they find a way to use several, hoping one is the key to success. Here are a few of those birds:

Green-headed tanager-Brazil


European bee-eater, South Africa


Lazulai bunting, Arizona


Pale-billed Acari, Ecuador


Lilac-breasted roller, South Africa


Keel-billed toucan, Costa Rica


Crested barbet, South Africa


Orange-breasted sunbird, South Africa


Brazilian ruby, Brazil


Masked trogon, Ecuador

Very unique. I've never seen one at this stage of plumage. Good detail and perch.

As a bird photographer, one habit I can’t break myself of is taking images of cardinals wherever I may find them. I guess it’s because they’re so RED! So, I asked myself, “Why are humans so attracted to red?” Well, you can Google the answer for yourselves. I’ll just stick to things I’m comfortable with, providing images of some of the red birds I’ve encountered.

Northern cardinal, Texas


Scarlet tanager Texas


Vermillion flycatcher, Arizona


Cinnamon teal, California


Crimson-backed tanager, Panama


Elegant trogon, Arizona


Anna's hummingbird, California


Scarlet macaw, Costa Rioca


Linneated woodpecker, Panama


Phyruloxia, Arizona

It's one in the same. Lots of birds lost their habitat.

My apologies to Harry Belafonte as I have no image of a yellow bird in a banana tree (are banana plants considered to be trees?), but, I do have a lot of images of yellow birds as this color in birds rivals the blues in sheer numbers. So, leaving the blues for a while (there’s still lots more), I’ll delve into my image cache and pull out the yellows.

Color plays an important role in how birds interact with each other, including how they choose mates. Yellow is pretty flashy and easy to detect, maybe that why there’s so many sporting this color. Here are a few:

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Yellow weaver, Bontebok NP, South Africa


American goldfinch, Paradise, California


Rusty-margined flycatcher, Darian, Panama


Common yellowthroat, Tucson, Arizona


Saffron finch, Itatiaia NP, Brazil


Yellow warbler, Edmonds, Washington


Scott's oriole, Portal, Arizona


Speckled whitestart, Savengre, Costa Rica


Western tanager, Fort Rock, Oregon


Yellow-headed blackbird, Camas NWR, Idaho

A primary thing that so attracts us to birds is their variety in coloration. In the process of categorizing my bird images I realized how many species of birds were blue or had dominantly blue coloration. Curious…I googled and found no bird species can make blue from pigments. Red and yellow feathers get their color from actual pigments, called carotenoids, which are in the foods birds eat. Blue is different―The color blue that we see on a bird is created by the way light waves interact with the feathers. Here are a few of “blue” birds in my image collection:

Mountain bluebird, Yellowstone NP, Montana


Blue Dacnis, Darian, Panama


Steller's jay, Lassen NP, California


Common scimitarbill, Kruger NP, South Africa


Indigo bunting, Portal, Arizona


Black collared jay, Tandayapa, Ecuador


Hyacinth macaw, Pantanal, Brazil


Velvet purple coronet, Tandayapa, Ecuador


Tri-colored heron, Galveston Island, Texas


Tree swallow, Paradise, California

My choice is the 56 Chevy 2-door wagon

Aside from hummingbirds, there are several other species of tropical birds that are obligate nectar feeders. The honeycreepers utilize their long bills to suck the honey from larger flowers. The flower piercers use a different method, piercing the flower from below with their hooked bills and obtaining the nectar as it flows out.

Green honeycreeper (male)


Green honeycreeper (female)


Black flowerpiercer (male)


Shining honeycreeper (male)


Shining honeycreeper (female)


Masked flowerpiercer (male


Red-legged honeycreeper (male)


Glossy flowerpiercer (male)

Some are from a blind, some from a vehicle and some just lucky encounters in the field. All are either shot from a tripod or a beanbag on the vehicle window sill.

A few more from my files. The trail camera has been picking up lots of activity within the redwood forest below the house but it's all in the dead of night. Days are getting shorter (and wetter) so I'll have to wait until next spring to set up the blind.

Black-tailed jackrabbit, Sacramento NWR, CA


River otter, Trout Lake, Yellowstone NP, WY


Golden-mantled ground squirrel, Davis Lake, CA


Coyote, Yellowstone NP, WY


Pika, Lassen NP, CA


Badger, Yellowstone NP, WY


Pine squirrel, Davis Lake, CA


Bobcat, Pinnacles NP, CA


Yellow pine chipmunk, Fort Rock, OR


Fox squirrel, Santa Ana Refuge, TX

Photographing small mammals is significantly different than getting images of birds. Many of the small mammals are nocturnal, hiding during the day. Some rodents (squirrels and chipmunks) are more easily found during the day but many of these images were happenstance, just having the camera available at the right time. My beaver shots are not worth printing and I'm still waiting for the porcupine.

Raccoon, Gray Lodge Refuge, CA


Gray squirrel, Paradise, CA


Long-tailed weasel, Corpus Christi, TX


Sea otter, Moss Landing, CA


Desert cottontail, Portal, AZ


Coati Mundi, Paradise, AZ


Yellow-bellied marmot, Snake River, ID


Harris antelope squirrel, Madera Canyon, AZ


Red fox, Yellowstone, WY