Oregon – Newport to Florence

Our day started at the port in Newport where we were looking for sea lions, but as usual were distracted by everything, such as the above Chestnut-backed Chickadee. We were, however successful in finding hundreds of sea lions. After leaving Newport we headed south and stopped at Beaver Creek State Park, where there were aContinue reading “Oregon – Newport to Florence”

Oregon birds (part-1) and the latest on Covid

Yesterday there were several news reports on a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 discovered in South Africa. The new strain is B.1.1.529. Last week in South Africa numbers rose from 200 cases a day to almost 2500 yesterday. Travelers have already spread it to Botswana and Hong Kong. I am sure that the WHO (which alreadyContinue reading “Oregon birds (part-1) and the latest on Covid”

Oregon – lichens and more

I am sitting on Thanksgiving morning writing about our adventures yesterday. I hope that everybody is having a great start to the day. Now, on to ferns and lichens. Licorice fern on a moss-covered tree limb. Western sword fern, a common understory plant. Now, some lichens. Without any references (we packed light for the plane),Continue reading “Oregon – lichens and more”

Panama – some insects

Despite having some 30+ years experience with dragonflies, most of the photos of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) that I took in Panama are still unidentified. I still enjoyed them, even not knowing what they were. This damselfly looked quite similar to the American rubyspot. An interesting Hemiptera species. These are Urania moths. An interesting, andContinue reading “Panama – some insects”

Panama – birds

Toucans in a distant tree. Just above the right-most bird is a mealy parrot. Groove-billed Ani on the left. Greater Ani on the right. Yellow-hooded Blackbird Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. Green Ibis photographed from a motorized canoe. Rufous-tailed Jacamars. Greater Potoo. Gray-headed Tanager eating an emerald cicada. Royal Flycatcher More tomorrow…