A male painted bunting kind of day!
I love to be out in nature, if I am birding or digiscoping it is even better. Here in Tlacotalpan veracruz where I live, we had a beautiful sunshine filled day with temps in the mid-70's. I was able to get our for a few hours in the morning to "bird" and take some pics. I came across the male painted bunting - passerina ciris munching on some seeds. I was able to get some "digiscoped pics" (digital camera hand held to spotting telescope) I hope that you enjoy the pictures.
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Tuesday February 17 Tlacotalpan, Veracruz Mexico
I was able to go out birding on the savannah/wetland here in Tlacotalpan. The day was overcast with a slight winds coming from the north. I birded from 12:00p.m. till 4:00p.m.

I was able to observe 81 species in the four hours and photograph 31 of those species. I use a technique called digiscoping whis is simply a digital camera hand held to a spotting scope mounted on a tripod. Sony Mavica 250CD+Nikon 80 scope.

Here are some of the results; Bare-throated tiger heron one two, hooded warbler one two three, Great kiskadee one two , Northern Jacana, adult juvenile, flying "V" formation of roseate spoonbills, northern caracara, common black hawk juvenile.

In November of 2003 I was asked by the magazine Voices of Mexico to write an article along with some of my photos on the Ecology of the Tuxtlas Mountains. I had spent a good many hours birding and photographing in the region but researching for the article gave me an even greater appreciation for the special bioshpere of the Tuxtlas. Of special concern to me was to observe first hand how a tree nest cavity of a parrot was cut open and the nest was robbedThe illegal traffic of parrots from Mexico to the U.S. is a serous problem. Much remains to be done to protect these small remaining fragments in the Tuxtlas. I am grateful to the UNAM for asking me to write on the subject. HERE is the text and photos from the article that I have posted on my website.

Vermilion Flycatcher Male

It's time for the Great Backyard Bird Count
It is February 13-16 2004.
This site is fill with info on this gigantic birding science project. Last year 47,000 bird list were submitted for the count.

There is an interesting forum on the web for birders to interact it is is called Birding, Birdwatching and Wild Birds at About.com http://birding.about.com/

I am a member of the forum and I must say it is a friendly group. All are welcome, in this forum there are birders of all different skill levels and all are willing to add a positive comment and help out where needed.
One of the refreshing things about the site is that I get no sense of birding elitism in the posts. That I have witnessed in other birding fourms and it puts me off big time. Check it out, you can enter the forum as a guest. The posts are varied and the forum leader Christine Tarski has done alot of work to provide links on almost any imaginable birding subject.

Aplomado Falcon