A Brief Visit to Puerto Rico

Red-legged Thrush


Pearly-eyed Thrasher



Gray Kingbird


Killdeer


Smooth Billed Ani

We went to Puerto Rico for a long weekend to escape the cold of New Jersey. We stayed at the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort which has achieved an Audubon gold rating for its preservation efforts. Although there was an island on the resort which they bill as a birding spot, the birds really weren't plentiful, perhaps because the resort recently opened. It was nice to see the nutmeg mannikin on the property, but otherwise it was the common Caribbean birds.

While relaxing on the beach and reading a birding book, we decided to visit the nearby El Yonque rain forest, a national park known for birding and we saw several species endemic to Puerto Rico, including the Puerto Rican woodpecker, our primary quest, but also the Puerto Rican Stripe-headed tanager, the national bird of Puerto Rico. We also saw the yellow shouldered blackbird but didn't get any photos.

Killdeer pretending it has a broken wing (California)

While walking along a path at Coyote Point Recreation Area in San Mateo, a killdeer made a big fuss and then pretended to have a broken wing. Because I watch the Discovery Channel (or was it Zoboomafoo), I knew it was trying to distract me from its nest and perhaps its chicks. I did look around for the baby birds, but didn't find any. I did follow the killdeer to get a photo of the broken wing act so I guess it worked.

Leftovers from Florida

Here are a few of the photos from Florida in mid December that we didn't get around to posting yet.

Little Blue Heron

Common Moorhen

Common Moorhen

Loggerhead Shrike

Loggerhead Shrike

 

Killdeer

Unidentified Bird: Probably a Warbler.