Black Plywood

(186 views)
by Bryan Costales

Someone used chalk to draw a mural on pieces of black plywood.

Refilled

(153 views)
by Bryan Costales

Our first back yard pond was refilled with water after we made certain it no longer leaked.

Overgrown

(152 views)
by Bryan Costales

Our Blackberry bush has grown so large it threatens to overgrow one end of our Snake raised garden bed.

Last

(149 views)
by Bryan Costales

The last white bearded iris to bloom did so at the end of September.

Last Two

(148 views)
by Bryan Costales

Our last two California poppies bloomed in our patch of poppy plants.

Bloomed

(145 views)
by Bryan Costales

A violet phylox plant bloomed next to our front path with spent daisys beyond..

Garcia And

(81 views)
by Bryan Costales

A sign in a store window read, "Garcia And Joplin. In Dolby Surround."

Office Of

(79 views)
by Bryan Costales

A sign erected in Union Square read, "Office of Economic Development. Mayor Daniel Lurie. Union Square Alliance. LeMonde Studio."

Cormorant

(64 views)
by Terry Costales

This bird is resting on an urn placed next to a reflecting pool inside the Stuttgart Zoo. It isn't caged and flew in on its own. I witnessed many herons, storks and cormorants fly into various enclosures to take advantage of the plentiful food supply.

Heermann's Gull

(64 views)
by Terry Costales

This juvenile Heermann's gull exhibits its main identifying marks clearly: black feet, red bill and dusky body. As an adult, its head will become pure white.

White-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis senegalensis)

(63 views)
by Terry Costales

I was quite taken with this two foot tall, chicken-turkey-like bird. It's a ground dwelling native of eastern Africa.

Avocet non-breeding plumage

(63 views)
by Terry Costales

This photo was taken late March of this year and many birds were still in just black and white. For courting and breeding the necks and chest acquire a rusty or tan color. They really seem to enjoy their mud-flats.

American White Pelican

(62 views)
by Terry Costales

There was this one lone white pelican at the nature center that day. It was probably an injured bird being nursed back to health, or it just knew a good hand-out when it saw one.

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

(62 views)
by Terry Costales

The male Bufflehead is a strikingly beautiful bird. There were several on the lake this summer-like day, having a good time diving to avoid the photographer.

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

This photo was taken from high on the hill in the center of the zoo. It shows the storks nest in context.

Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

Another view of the distant and beautiful Harrier.

Flamingos

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

Maybe I should have posted this on Valentines Day. It's either affection or defense of territory.

Lesser Scaup

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

The male lesser scaup is almost identical to the male greater scaup. The head of the lesser gleams purple whereas the greater gleams green. Supposedly the lesser is also smaller than the greater, but I haven't found that to be so.

Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

A large fledgling appears mesmerized by the camera.

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

These storks were nesting in a very tall tree inside of the Karlsruhe Zoo. I took this photo from partway up the hill in the center of the park.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

I saw this osprey dive into the river and come up with a fish. Unfortunately the image is not sharp because the boat was moving fast, the bird was far away and flying fast. I'm glad I at least got to see it.

Mangrove Swallow (Tachycineta albilinea)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

This swallow is one of a pair we saw from the boat. They patiently remained perched for several minutes while everyone photographed them.

Collared Aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus)

(61 views)
by Terry Costales

There were many of these toucans in the forest surrounding the volcano. They traveled in small flocks and were easily seen and heard.

Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

When the Jacanas fly they display bright yellow patches on their wings. Despite there being so many of them, we never got a shot of one flying They are known for "walking on water", because their very long toes allow them to walk on floating vegetation. Unfortunately, the ones we saw were in the mud the whole time and so we never witnessed this behavior.

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

(60 views)
by Terry Costales

Here is a shot of the male from yesterday's posting which shows the unusual feather formation over his back.