[s]

S is for sucky picture of a Scarlet Tanager!  Taken in Lake Erie this past may, where, like a typical tanager, they like to hang up high in a dark tree canopy, where the camera's flash doesn't reach.

One of my favorite tanager experiences was at a forest in Western Kentucky where we saw a pair in a large oak flying out one a time to catch bees in mid-air!

[S]

S is for Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher.

This bird is primarily a Mexican/Central American bird, but some of them hang out in the mountains of southeastern Arizona, which is where I saw it.

Here's more info on the bird:
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/396/overview/Sulphur-bellied_Flycatcher.aspx

In contrast, a horridly fuzzy one -
STILT - I took this in Rotorua, NZ, where it was wading in the warm thermal pools (not the seethingly hot ones - no scalded stilt ankles here).
I don't know what flavor stilt this is.
Stilts are related to avocets, apparently.
dale

I like your fuzzy photo...it looks a little impressionistic.

[S]

My final photo for the morning, in the interest of giving someone else a chance, is a Solitary Sandpiper.  We took the photo in the Canadian Rockies.  As might be expected given his name, he was solitary.

[S]

Behold the Spotted Towhee...this was taken at a bird banding demonstration at a Nature Conservancy property where Jeane and I vacationed many years ago.  It was in New Mexico (again...but a different trip).

This bird has been duly recorded, received his jewelry, and is about to be released.

YOW someone's on a roll.
Killer gull photos, both of them.

Hmmm...hard act to follow, that one.

Sun Conure - the LOUDEST of my past pets.

-a photo of him pretending to be a pear;

-a photo where he's posing with another S-BIRD, albeit of a plastic subspecies.

Dale

Is that the same bird?  Why is he so yellow in one photo and so red in the other?

[S]

S is for Swallow-tailed Gull.  We took these photos on the island of Genovesa in the Galapagos.  They are very striking gulls; and had nests all around.  The first photo shows a chick hanging out with one of its parents.

[S]

S is for Snow Goose!  I saw gazillions of these during the same trip to New Mexico; they were happy to partake of the shallow wetlands and prodigious corn crop provided for the cranes.

In the first photo, a Bald Eagle had just spooked a huge number of them off their resting pond, and the second is a closeup.  The taller geese are the Snow Geese; the short ones are Ross's Geese, which Annette covered nicely under the letter R, obviously...

The naturalist who taught my crane workshop said that the Snow Goose is the story of a conservation effort that worked too well; once wildlife refuges were provided for wintering geese, their numbers rebounded to a level that is harming their fragile nesting grounds.

[S]

I hope I'm not jumping the gun, since I don't remember Aafke giving us our next set of instructions, but I think Tuesday starts the letter S, and it's Tuesday morning (Eastern Standard)!

S is for Sandhill Crane...in mid November I attended the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.  The refuge is managed mainly to provide habitat for wintering Sandhill Cranes; they control the wetland to provide the shallow water the cranes need to roost at night, and they grow corn, which the cranes love to feed on!

The first photo is one of my successful attempts at digiscoping (it helps to have a cool, bright sunny day with no humidity).  I thought the second photo was a good "essence of my experience" photo...watching a crane come in for a not-very-graceful landing where a few thousand of his closest friends are amassed.

Eventually I'll put together my full album from this trip, after I weed through them.

[Oliver the Owlet invites his woodland friends over for a holiday brunch...Here's hoping your holiday parties are equally satisfying!]

Oliver the Owlet invites his woodland friends over for a holiday brunch...

Here's hoping your holiday parties are equally satisfying!

[R]

R is for Rufescent Tiger Heron, a bird I photographed in Amazonian Peru.  My birding guide said we were very lucky to see it, since they are most active around dawn or dusk, and during the day often hide out in the undergrowth on river banks.  Happily, this one chose to not be very well hidden.

[R]

R is for a second Red-bellied Woodpecker.  This photo is not nearly as pretty as Donna's, but I thought it was interesting to see the woodpecker enjoying the hummingbird nectar.  Taken at a hummingbird festival in western Kentucky.

[R]

R is for Rhea Mae! 

[P]

P is for Pride...demonstrating how Pride's Rock acquired its name!

I think we already covered these in the "B" list, but I think they deserve a reprise for being so striking!

R is for Red-winged Blackbird...this photo taken on a hot Fourth of July birding walk with my sisters...