Friday, May 15, 2009

Birds from the End of the World Part Two.

The dolphin gull with the red bill was the first bird that I shot as soon as I got out of the plane in Ushuaia, the most uncooperative one, he was sitting on a rock in the shore line and as I turned around to get a profile of him, he will turn too.

In the previous blog, I mentioned the kelp goose, this is the male one, all beautiful white; maybe great camouflage for the snow but why is he white all year round? There also some all white seagulls that looked as pidgeons, I was not able to get a
decent image of them to post.

The Southern Lapwing is the most beautiful bird that I was able to photograph in Ushuaia. Some were some congregated in small groups along the shoreline or just by themselves resting with one leg under a wing. Since it was the beginning of the winter there, I assume that they were starting to migrate up north. Here in the northern hemisphere we refer to the birds going south; as the seasons are reversed, the patterns of migration are also reversed.
This is an image of the same species of plover but this one was in the field picking up insects among the grass. Both were very nervous of my presence and watched all my movements.







Moving a bit north and closer to Buenos Aires the birds begin to look more like those in the south of the United States. This a croaking ground dove and is very abundant and always in pairs. I did not hear them calling.

And the story again repeats itself, no doubt it looks like one of our mockingbirds and their behavior is similar and very common in urban areas. It also reminds me of the mockingbirds in the Galapagos Islands. There these birds are so tame that will come and sit on your hat or camera tripod.

This monk parakeet I photographed in one of the numerous parks in the city of Buenos Aires. I assumed that this species was introduced just as the house sparrows and starlings were here in the United Statesbut they are endemic do Argentina. They are numerous and fly in large flocks when they decide to move from an area with a loud cacophony of calls. They were really very entertaining and will feed on anything they can get.

These plush-crested jays are related to our blue jays and exhibit very similar behavior been aggressive and very vocal. Very tame and unafraid of humans an if you have some bread or nuts will eat out of your hands. They hang around in large groups. They seem to come out of nowhere and disappear again in unison.

7 comments:

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

If those Plovers are like ours then they are very noisy birds and when I am sitting quietly next to a pool wanting to take pictures of something specific, they are always on the alert and chase away the animal I want to take pics of. I hate the darn things. :)

There must be many species of parakeet there as well as macaws. I wonder why they would introduce species as well? Strange!

Those Jays are really beautiful.

A wonderful post Jose. It is lovely seeing these birds which are similar to ours and yet so different. Thanks for sharing. :)

Atanasio Fernández García said...

Hola José, has debido disfrutar mucho en este gran viaje, qué maravilla! Has conseguido excelentes imágenes de muchas especies muy representativas de la Patagonia argentina. Me encantan las de Vanellus (lapwing)y la pareja de Crested Hay. Enhorabuena! Un abrazo!

Tim Rucci said...

Really nice stuff Jose, and a great variety of species you were able to photograph. I really like the colors of the plush crested jays. They are beautiful birds, and the lapwings are nice too. Looks like you are having a very fruitful trip.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Jose: Really neat captures of some wonderfully colored birds.

Ken Conger Photography said...

What a diversity of avian species you captured on this trip. I really like the Lapwing. Good exposure on the kelp goose. Blue Skies.

Andor Marton said...

I discover seeing your pictures a great similarity between argentinian and brazilian species - mockingbird, southern lapwing, plush crested jay, monk parakeet - they are also very common in Brazil. However a nice series.

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That incredible number of birds that can be found in one place, here in my country you can see several species Some come when you can take pictures and send them.