Excellent adventure, Lord Jim (though I'm unbelievably envious).  Thanks for sharing the story and photos.

[The]

http://www.southdreamz.com/2010/02/top-20-the-world%E2%80%99s-most-colorful-birds.html

My Fav:  The Rainbow Lorikeet

We have a Lorikeet exhibit at the Louisville Zoo where they give out nectar (for a small fee) and allow visitors to feed the Lorikeets; it's one of our favorite things to do on summer evenings.  Here are a couple of photo albums from previous visits:
http://classic.kodakgallery.com/bellhanley/main/jeane_and_lorikeets_june_2008
http://classic.kodakgallery.com/bellhanley/main/zoo_lorikeets_fall_2005

We made last year's Christmas card out of one of those shots:

That's great that you saw the owls!  I went on a combination Sandhill Crane/Short-Eared Owl trip last winter and we also had great looks at the owls flying low over the cornfields.

I vote for Coop as well...shape and size, especially the long tail.  Plus the location/behavior; hanging out in a yard seems Cooper's Hawk-ish.

Yep, another vote for Eastern Towhee.

I really enjoyed those; thanks!

Paul, it sounded like the hawk was wearing bells...if so, why?

Jeff is having so much fun, he never wants to leave.

I have a friend who worked the summer season in Antarctica.  She was in the Navy, and was assigned to do Air Traffic Control there.  She loved it so much that a few years later, after she retired from the Navy, she returned to Antarctica to pull a civilian shift.  I can't remember what job she had then, but she really found it a magical experience.

I thought this one was laugh-out-loud funny!

My summer and fall got away from me this year...I usually while away the late summer hummingbird watching, but I only managed to get in one photo session, and not a very successful one.  But I finally got around to weeding through the photos, if anyone is interested.  I added a few miscellaneous pictures I took around the back yard.  The summary: a few hummingbirds, fledgling robins, spiders (for Mirta), and butterflies.

Your viewing options:
Slideshow: http://tinyurl.com/yjt6zct
Lightbox: http://tinyurl.com/yjjqhq6
Thumbnails & smaller pic: http://tinyurl.com/yg9ky4v

Anne, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad; I lost my Mom at the end of October, and know that even after a prolonged illness and with the knowledge that he/she may be "ready" to go, you're still never ready to let them go...

Let your wonderful memories sustain you...my thoughts are with you and your family.

Jeane and I went on a Florida trip in early November...largely Disneyworld, but partly birding on the Space Coast, including the national seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  If you're interested in the photo album...instructions are below.  We've been experimenting with Smugmug, since we've enjoyed Randy's Smugmug photo galleries a lot.  One of the things I like about Smugmug is the ability for you to choose how to view the photos.

If you want to go straight to the Florida gallery, here are several options:
Gallery format:  http://tinyurl.com/yealmug
Slideshow format: http://tinyurl.com/ycgosr6
Lightbox format: http://tinyurl.com/ydvytta  (within there you can change the size if you want to see the photos even larger)

From the gallery format you can switch viewing styles dynamically, or click a photo to see it larger.

To look at our whole site, and choose the gallery from there, here’s the URL:
http://bellhanley.smugmug.com/

Lots of options!

If you want to skip the Disneyworld part and go straight to the bird photos, it's easiest to do that using "Gallery" format, where you can use the thumbnails to start on a particular photo.  Then, if you want to launch a "lightbox" format from there, to see the photos larger, you can just click on the photo on the right-hand side.

I'm not planning to go on that trek...nope, definitely not...

Patti

I don't know why not... since you aren't afraid to bungee jump, what's a little walk on the edge?

I am amazed at how fast this fella was moving.

Joyce

The MAJOR difference is that with bungy jumping (which was terrifying, by the way, but a good exercise in challenging what I think my limits are, and discovering that I really can exceed them) there is actually a harness and a bungy keeping me from falling to my death.

Patti

Patty,

When you do this trek, don't look down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDhRvvs5Xw

Lou

I'm not planning to go on that trek...nope, definitely not...

Patti

Hey, Donna!

Could you send the link to this story to me or post it here?  This is very interesting news!

Thanks!

 

Judi, Donna may have replied offline, but here's a link in case she didn't yet...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uow-fef102109.php#

Patti