With the butterflies, colorful flowers and blooming trees starting up this summer, here is a gallery of stunning, rainbow-colored songbirds who grace the Americas.
Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Ecuador
There are over 10,000 bird species on earth, so I have narrowed down today’s colorful bird celebration to the western hemisphere and songbirds. All birds seen here are in the order Passeriformes.
Mountain Bluebird, SDWestern Bluebird, CA
Birds are evolutionarily colorful for many reasons–mate preference, display of strength, protection from predators, intimidation and more.
Vermilion Flycatcher, CA
All of their showy colors, except blue, are achieved through pigmentation in the foods they eat and light refraction.
Hooded Oriole, CA
Interestingly, many birds see a lot more colors than humans do; they can see ultraviolet light due to more cone cells in their eyes. It varies among bird species, and new research continues to discover more information.
North America.
The iconic bird of color in North America, one that is loved by many, is the northern cardinal. It is the most common state bird in the U.S. (seven states)–that’s how adored this scarlet bird is. Cardinalis cardinalis.
Northern Cardinal, GA
This painted bunting, below, is another dazzler, seen in much of the southern U.S. This male paraded his colors for us in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southwest Florida. Passerina ciris.
Native to South America, saffron finches, below, live in only one U.S. state: Hawaii. He was posing for us under the shade of a mango tree on the Big Island. Sicalis flaveola.
Saffron Finch, Hawaii
Many of the birds highlighted here on specific continents are also seen on other western hemisphere continents, due to migration. All of them are males, the gender that in general is the showiest.
Central America.
This photo, below, is a good illustration of the toes on a songbird, a feature that classifies it as a songbird or passerine. As mentioned earlier, all the birds shown in this essay are passerines, in the order Passeriformes.
Called an anisodactyl arrangement, the honeycreeper’s bright red feet display three toes facing forward and one toe facing backward. This helps them to perch.
Take a second to look at his other remarkable markings.
Red-legged Honeycreeper, Belize
The U.S. and Canada host a plethora of warbler species in the warmer months, but most warbler species spend their winters in Central and South America.
This blackburnian warbler, below, is a male in breeding plumage and has a fiery head of many different orange and golden shades. We spotted him in Belize. Setophaga fusca.
Blackburnian Warbler, Belize
It is said that birders never forget their first blackburnian warbler in breeding, and I know that is true for me. Mine was in Costa Rica in 2008.
The colors on this species are like nothing else you see in nature. That goes for so many of the colors seen on the birds here. Sometimes we have one second to admire…and then the bird is gone. Birds teach us attentiveness.
Tanagers–oh how I could go on about them. There are 393 species of tanagers in the family Thraupidae, and they provide a breathtaking kaleidoscope of colors. There are taxonomic details about tanagers, but I’m not addressing them here.
Crimson-collared Tanager, Costa Rica
They are medium-sized birds and eat insects, spiders and fruit; we see them in trees as they hunt. They perch longer than hummingbirds or warblers, too.
There are five tanager species in the U.S. and many more south of the U.S.
While birding in the Belizean forests, a summer tanager, below, would occasionally brighten up a branch. Piranga rubra.
Summer Tanager, Belize
Other vividly decorated birds were the scarlet tanager (below) and violaceous euphonia (below that).
We had the joy of observing this pensive blue-gray tanager, seen below, in the Andes Mountains in Peru. Thraupis episcopus.
Blue-gray Tanager, Peru
While most bird color is due to pigmentation and light refraction, the birds wearing blue are different because blue in feathers is structural and not due to pigmentation. Those tones of blue colors in a bird come from the physical way light interacts with the microscopic structure of the feather.
We see the sunny yellow warbler species throughout the U.S., parts of Canada, Central America and parts of South America. I like this photo of the male, below, for its striking contrast with the black lava on the Galapagos Islands.
Last year there was a taxonomical split in this species so technically this is a Mangrove Yellow Warbler, below. Setophaga petechia.
Yellow Warbler, Galapagos
We complete our colorful songbird series with a very unusual bird. Although you can clearly see the eyes in the photo below, when I first set my eyes on this species I wondered if it had eyes, they were so obscure and the neck and head shape, so different. Admittedly, it was quite dark outside.
Seen in Peru, the Andean Cock-of-the-rock is native to South America and the national bird of Peru. Rupicola peruvianus.
We really had to work to see this bird. After a frigid, sleepless night with monkeys tromping on our thatched roof, we trekked through the Andean cloud forest at 5:00am before the light of dawn and waited silently under shrubbery for the males to gather to perform their breeding dance.
Then at least a dozen males gathered and competed for females. Ordinarily they are rare and extremely shy, but in this pocket of the forest, their lek, they squealed and shrieked, bowed, flapped their wings and displayed their brilliance for about 15 minutes before they vanished. We never saw a single one again.
Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Peru
Songbirds can see a more lively spectrum of colors than we can, they fly hundreds of miles across the western hemisphere and display their resplendence year after year.
I’m glad you could join me and the indefatigable photographer Athena to see a few of these beauties.
Written by Jet Eliot, fourth from left in photo below, hatless.
All photos (except as noted) in the wild by Athena Alexander, fifth from left.
A great jaunt to Point Reyes in Northern California last week brought us a few spring birds, quail chicks, a bit of history and blustery winds. It was a fantastic day.
As birders, we were especially tuned in to newly arrived spring birds or those migrating through on their journey north, and on this lucky day we saw both. Well, I call it “luck” but really it comes down to knowing where to look, what to look for, and tenacity.
We were at Drake’s Beach and it was so windy that the beach was sparse with humans and birds.
We noticed a gull that is not usually here, the Bonaparte’s Gull. Chroicocephalus philadelphia.
In this photo, below, all the gulls are one species, even though only one has a black head.
The handsome black-headed gull in the center is wearing its breeding plumage. The other adults, who currently have a gray cheek patch, will acquire their breeding plumage, the black head, soon.
This gull species is only passing through. They will forage in flocks on the Pt. Reyes coast for a few weeks and then be on their way northward to northern Canada, where they breed. By the time they get to Canada, all the adults will have black heads.
This photo, below, shows the gray cheek spot behind the eye on the white, not-yet-breeding gulls. It also demonstrates the size difference between a western gull juvenile (L) and the three smaller Bonaparte’s.
Many gulls were hunkered down due to the wind, and others were bathing and resting atop the water. There is red, tannic water on a runoff part of the beach. It was so windy that even the runoff water had waves. Driftwood has turned the runoff water red.
After our wind-thrashing beach walk, we decided to look for the Swainson’s thrush in the nearby willow thicket.
Over the years we have discovered, by close listening, four spots at Pt. Reyes where the Swainson’s thrushes gather. They’re only here for three or four months.
They are highly secretive birds and spend much of their time deeply hidden in leafy brush. It’s their nesting time, so they stay out of sight from predators.
A person would never know they are nearby except for their exquisite and distinctive fluty, upward-spiraling song.
Maybe, we wondered, they were in their willow tree hide-out. It was mid-May and they usually arrive in April, so there was a good chance they had arrived. They spent the winter in Mexico, travel here to breed.
The willow trees are 15-20′ high (5-6 m). In this photo, below, the willows are in the lower front of the photo, the only plant that goes entirely across the photo.
We knew there was little to no possibility of seeing them, but, ahhh, it’s their song that melts the heart.
We stood beside the willow thicket and waited. Even though the winds were raging, making it difficult to hear clearly, we stood and waited. And within minutes, out danced the fluty notes of this thrush.
We quietly walked all around the willow patch and heard several of them conversing.
In our melodious mesmerizing search, we found ourselves inside the willow thicket. Here was another surprise.
We had found a hidden trail, followed it. And there, inside the willows, was a large stone Celtic cross. It was about ten feet high (3 m).
We were so relieved to not find trash or scuzzy stuff or a homeless encampment. To find this rustic hidden statue was quite a joy.
The plaque said it was erected by the Sir Francis Drake Association in 1946. It must have once had an expansive view of the beach and Pacific Ocean. The beach is named after him.
There’s even a small replica of his ship; the Golden Hind. Sir Francis Drake and his crew landed here in the summer of 1579. Their ship was badly leaking. They were on a global circumnavigation to claim territory for Queen Elizabeth I when they had to anchor here to make repairs.
I later learned online that the Sir Francis Drake Association was a group of Bay Area residents who promoted Drake’s historical landing for most of the first half of the 20th century. In 1946 they had this cross erected to honor Drake’s visit and the first service of the Church of England in the New World.
We stood beside this commemorative cross, our heads in the willows, careful not to touch the stinging nettle; listened contentedly to the heartwarming chorus of Swainson’s thrushes.
This bird is in the same family as the America robin and is about the same size. Catharus ustulatus oedicus.
We never did see any thrushes that day, but last summer on the other side of the park, Athena was able to capture two quick photos in a fleeting moment, below.
After lunch it was time to move on.
On the road, we saw this coyote way up on the hillside blending into the grass. It was eyeing a herd of cows.
Later, we were driving through a small coastal town headed for home and pulled over to let the car behind us whiz by.
While stopped on the edge of the road, we spotted this family of California quail. The chicks are only a day or two old, and about a dozen of them endearingly scampered behind their protective parents.
The sweet, vibrant beauty of spring, the reverence for days gone by, and the glory of life on earth.
What an honor it is today to celebrate the 100th birthday of one of my biggest heroes, Sir David Attenborough. We’ll take a brief look at his life and his message.
Photo by Bill Robinson
Born one hundred years ago today, May 8, David Attenborough has spent his entire life reaching for the planet’s wild beauty and sharing it with the world. And now, after eight decades of exploring the planet and its inhabitants, his messages are stronger than ever before.
He has advocated for restoring planetary biodiversity, limiting population growth, switching to renewable energy, mitigating climate change, reducing meat consumption and setting aside more areas for natural preservation.
Included in this essay are quotes by David Attenborough and photos of wildlife species he has featured in his programs.
Hippo, Zambia, Africa
Alarmingly, all wildlife shown here are not just interesting or beautiful creatures–they are all currently listed as endangered or vulnerable species on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List.
Reticulated Giraffes, Kenya, Africa
The young Attenborough studied at Cambridge, served in the Royal Navy, worked as an editor and then joined the BBC in 1952 as a trainee producer.
Land Iguana, Galapagos
In 1954 he launched a program called Zoo Quest. From 1954 to 1963 he traveled as a producer accompanying staff from the London Zoo to tropical countries to capture animals for the zoo and share them with TV audiences. He stepped in as presenter when the original host fell ill.
In the 1950s mass tourism did not yet exist, and the exotic places and wildlife where the Zoo Quest crew trekked had not been experienced by most people. This program was a massive success, opening the eyes of television viewers.
“No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”
There are many online video clips from his Zoo Quest days. Here is a two-minute BBC clip of David Attenborough in 1956, 30 years old, capturing a Burmese python in Java. I like this clip because it features both the young and the older David Attenborough.
Attenborough brought two important innovations to early nature programs: he convinced BBC to change film from black and white to color; and to change the film size from the BBC’s preferred 35mm to 16mm, in order to bring more lightweight handheld cameras into the field.
Southern Cassowary, Australia
Eventually in 1979 Attenborough accomplished his goal in making a large-scale natural history program using the latest technology, with the landmark 13-part series Life on Earth. Dozens of programs followed.
Colobus Monkeys, Mt. Kenya, Africa
“The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility. In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all other living creatures with whom we share the earth.”
Baird’s Tapir, adult female, Belize, Central America
“The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”
Elephants, Botswana, AfricaGrey-headed Flying Fox, Australia
For more about David Attenborough’s accomplishments there are two links below. In addition, there are many television programs commemorating his centenary birthday and the internet is brimming with clips and videos.
“After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.”
Green Sea Turtle, Big Island, Hawaii
“Every breath of air we take, every mouthful of food that we take, comes from the natural world. And if we damage the natural world, we damage ourselves.”
California Condor, California
David Attenborough has been sharing the world with us for decades for a reason–to educate us on how to keep the air breathable, the climate habitable, the sea and earth clean so it can continue providing us with sustenance. He is passing the torch to us.
Wild Dogs, Botswana, Africa
Let’s have a birthday toast to this remarkable man and his astonishing career, he opened up our hearts and minds and set us off to sail.
Written by Jet Eliot.
All wildlife photos by Athena Alexander.
David Attenborough with a Golden Eagle, Life of Birds (1998), photo by BBC/Rob Cousins.
I had the joy of watching a trio of river otters at Point Reyes last week. They are a great example of a come-back species, one of many we celebrate this week with Earth Day.
Abbotts Lagoon, Point Reyes
The North American River Otter is a marine mammal that was primarily extirpated or severely reduced across much of the United States in the late 19th to early-to-mid 20th century. Many local extinctions, per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, occurred between the 1900s and 1950s due to unregulated trapping for the fur trade, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
We are lucky in our lifetime to observe numerous species rebound, like river otters, due to major environmental regulations in the 1970s. This was when Earth Day was born, too. Thereafter, reintroduction and conservation efforts in the 1980s and 1990s helped restore populations.
Great Blue Heron eating fish
River otters in Point Reyes National Seashore had disappeared by 1960. Then in the late 1980s three river otters were discovered near Tomales and since then they have expanded throughout their range.
The river otter sighting we enjoyed last week at Abbotts Lagoon was about the fifth or sixth time we have seen them here.
River otters are in the weasel family (Mustelidae) and share distinct physical and behavioral characteristics with weasels like elongated bodies, short legs, and carnivorous diets.
This is the lagoon, below, and the footbridge; way in the back are sand dunes leading to the Pacific Ocean. Wild iris flowers in foreground.
Abbotts Lagoon footbridge
Lontra canadensis are highly sociable and frequently play in water, which helps young ones learn hunting and survival skills.
They use various vocalizations and scents to communicate within their groups.
They also engage in what is called latrine behavior. River otters extensively use communal latrines near water edges to communicate, marking territory through feces and urine. These areas are also used for grooming, scent-marking, and playing.
They use these sites especially in spring and fall, and we were there last week to witness their curious scat dance.
One otter got out of the water, arched his back, stomped back and forth on his hind legs, then defecated (the otter in the center, below).
Right after that one of his buddies vigorously rolled around in the scat, top otter in photo below.
The three otters rolled around and cavorted in the dunes, then playfully slid back into the water and resumed their hunting.
Each otter disappeared under the water and came up with a fish wriggling in its jaws and rather savagely gobbled up the fish.
While the three otters romped and hunted, nearby great egrets and great blue herons quietly hunted tiny fish and stayed out of the way.
Every time we observe the river otters in this corner of the lagoon they are eating fish, their number one prey.
But they also eat crustaceans, like crayfish, also reptiles, amphibians, shrimp and some birds. I’ve read reports that an unusual behavior of the Abbotts Lagoon river otters has been spotted lately, preying on brown pelicans here, but I have never seen this.
We were lucky that day last week, watching and photographing this comical river otter dance at the quiet shoreline of the lagoon.
A raven pair acrobatically spun together in the sky above us while swallows built their mud nests under the footbridge. It was still too chilly for dragonflies or butterflies, but fuzzy caterpillars dotted the trail and the new salmonberries reached out for the sun.
I had the joy of watching a trio of river otters at Point Reyes last week. They are a great example of a come-back species, one of many we celebrate this week with Earth Day.
Abbotts Lagoon, Point Reyes
The North American River Otter is a marine mammal that was primarily extirpated or severely reduced across much of the United States in the late 19th to early-to-mid 20th century. Many local extinctions, per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, occurred between the 1900s and 1950s due to unregulated trapping for the fur trade, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
We are lucky in our lifetime to observe numerous species rebound, like river otters, due to major environmental regulations in the 1970s. This was when Earth Day was born, too. Thereafter, reintroduction and conservation efforts in the 1980s and 1990s helped restore populations.
Great Blue Heron eating fish
River otters in Point Reyes National Seashore had disappeared by 1960. Then in the late 1980s three river otters were discovered near Tomales and since then they have expanded throughout their range.
The river otter sighting we enjoyed last week at Abbotts Lagoon was about the fifth or sixth time we have seen them here.
River otters are in the weasel family (Mustelidae) and share distinct physical and behavioral characteristics with weasels like elongated bodies, short legs, and carnivorous diets.
This is the lagoon, below, and the footbridge; way in the back are sand dunes leading to the Pacific Ocean. Wild iris flowers in foreground.
Abbotts Lagoon footbridge
Lontra canadensis are highly sociable and frequently play in water, which helps young ones learn hunting and survival skills.
They use various vocalizations and scents to communicate within their groups.
They also engage in what is called latrine behavior. River otters extensively use communal latrines near water edges to communicate, marking territory through feces and urine. These areas are also used for grooming, scent-marking, and playing.
They use these sites especially in spring and fall, and we were there last week to witness their curious scat dance.
One otter got out of the water, arched his back, stomped back and forth on his hind legs, then defecated (the otter in the center, below).
Right after that one of his buddies vigorously rolled around in the scat, top otter in photo below.
The three otters rolled around and cavorted in the dunes, then playfully slid back into the water and resumed their hunting.
Each otter disappeared under the water and came up with a fish wriggling in its jaws and rather savagely gobbled up the fish.
While the three otters romped and hunted, nearby great egrets and great blue herons quietly hunted tiny fish and stayed out of the way.
Every time we observe the river otters in this corner of the lagoon they are eating fish, their number one prey.
But they also eat crustaceans, like crayfish, also reptiles, amphibians, shrimp and some birds. I’ve read reports that an unusual behavior of the Abbotts Lagoon river otters has been spotted lately, preying on brown pelicans here, but I have never seen this.
We were lucky that day last week, watching and photographing this comical river otter dance at the quiet shoreline of the lagoon.
A raven pair acrobatically spun together in the sky above us while swallows built their mud nests under the footbridge. It was still too chilly for dragonflies or butterflies, but fuzzy caterpillars dotted the trail and the new salmonberries reached out for the sun.
I want to tell you about a special Egyptian temple located majestically beside the Nile called Kom Ombo. Please join me as we drift back for a few minutes to ancient Egypt….
The temple is 31 miles (50 km) north of the city of Luxor and was built during the Ptolemaic dynasty approximately 2,200-2,230 years ago. It was first built by the pharaohs of Egypt and completed by a Roman emperor over roughly 400 years.
It is constructed of limestone and sandstone from local quarries and was saved from disintegration and disrepair by a French archaeologist in 1893. Jacques de Morgan (1857-1924).
One of the many unique aspects of the Temple of Kom Ombo is that it honored two deities, unlike most temples that honor just one. Essentially two temples in one.
The temple was built with dual sanctuaries and mirrored layouts in perfect symmetry allowing for separate priesthoods to perform rituals side by side. This innovative design created a rare space of religious harmony where differing beliefs coexisted within one sacred complex.
The two deities worshipped here were Sobek and Horus, photo below.
In their half-human forms seen below are Horus the Falcon God on the left and Sobek the Crocodile God on the right. Both of these god figures are seen often throughout the temple.
Hundreds of crocodiles once roamed the area inside and around the Kom Ombo temple. More than 300 crocodile mummies were found at the Kom Ombo temple and now reside in the nearby Crocodile Museum.
This relief, below, shows Horus the Falcon God (L) beside Goddess Hathor (R).
Other wall art includes very large reliefs (photo below).
This relief, below, shows the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra on the far left.
Temples were generally only accessible to the priesthood. But to allow others to worship, a temple sometimes had a “chapel of the hearing ear” closer to the front, open to the public.
Kom Ombo’s Chapel of the Hearing Ear, seen below. This was a specialized niche built into the outer, rear wall.
As visitors walk through this main temple, they are surrounded by elaborately decorated towering walls and columns leading to courtyards, sanctuary rooms, chapels, crypts, and hidden passages.
In the northwestern section of the temple complex is a scientific tool called a Nilometer–an ancient device for measuring the water level of the Nile. Priests measured water levels with scientific precision and monitored flooding patterns crucial for agricultural planning and religious calendar timing.
There was also a large ancient Egyptian calendar on the temple’s inner wall, a portion of which is seen below. These carvings display hieroglyphic numerals and showcase the agricultural year.
Some of the ceiling parts highlight astronomical scenes, seen in the photo below with the original paint. If you tilt your head to the right, you see this ceiling relief shows five protective vultures, each with spread wings.
Still preserved are architectural columns decorated with carvings of Nile plants, primarily papyrus and lotus.
And now for my favorite part–the medical wall. This is another unique feature of Kom Ombo, rarely depicted in other Egyptian temples.
I like it because it closely parallels today’s doctor’s offices and hospitals, connecting our current human life to the lives of the people of ancient Egypt thousands of years ago.
During the Roman Period in the 2nd century AD, this scene was carved featuring surgical instruments, strongly suggesting that priests performed medical treatments here. This practice blended ritualistic healing with practical medical knowledge, making Kom Ombo one of the earliest spiritual-medical institutions in Egypt.
Located on Kom Ombo’s rear outer wall, the scene highlights medical tools like scalpels, forceps, scissors, curettes, medicine bottles and cupping glasses. Photo below.
Carvings show tools for bone sawing, amputation, cauterization, dental extraction, eye surgery, gynecology, and surgical stitching. Visible on the top row in the center is a bone saw, you can see a jagged, vertical blade in this photo.
This relief carving is often cited as the earliest known inscribed depiction of a comprehensive set of medical and surgical instruments.
Birthing is also expressed on the walls of Kom Ombo. In the relief above, the left side is a scene of two goddesses sitting on birthing chairs.
A second birthing scene can be seen in the hieroglyph photo below. Inside the photo’s white rectangular box is a woman kneeling with a baby emerging beneath her.
But our enchanting time at Kom Ombo was coming to an end. By now the sun was setting over the Nile and it was time to leave.
Archaeologists on the Kom Ombo periphery were still busy as the day’s light was quickly waning. Their studies and findings continue day after day.
Thanks for joining me on this visit to Kom Ombo, seeing how our civilization existed back then, and not all that differently from today.
On a wintry day last month, we ventured to Point Reyes National Seashore in northern California. The day began with drizzly rain and then it poured. After about an hour of pouring rain, the sun came out and we were frolicking in the sparkling freshness.
Apparently the wildlife was waiting for the rain to stop, too, because when it did, many species came out to forage.
This coyote below (Canis latrans) had some hunting to do after the storm had passed.
With a low cloud cover, raptors were closer than usual. Below are two photos of a red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis.
American Kestrels came out to join us, too (below). Falco sparverius are the smallest and most common falcon in North America.
That day we had a special guest with us, my sister, so we had a lot to show her on her first visit to Pt. Reyes. We headed for the elk reserve and had the joy of introducing her to her first elk.
There were several herds out. In the three photos below, the first photo is a female harem resting in the newly arrived sun, the second is a male, the third is a female. Cervus canadensis nannodes.
At this time of year when we have had a decent amount of winter rain, the hillsides are emerald and the mammals, in their robust bodies and vibrant winter coats, find plenty of prey.
Rains bring a healthy lifestyle to the countryside.
Cattle are being phased out of the park, but there are still some herds. The front left cow in the photo below is called an oreo cow, aka a Belted Galloway.
We also saw a pair of bobcats…for about ten seconds.
Bobcats (Lynx rufus) usually hunt solo; to see a pair is unusual. I think they were a mating pair.
They were truly lovely to see. But the winter rains yield tall grass which made them difficult to see, not a good photo to share.
Here’s a different bobcat (below) we saw in Point Reyes last year.
Exclusively native to North America, bobcats are in the Lynx family, though they are much smaller than the other lynx species. They are only about 50 inches (125 cm) long including the tail. The tail is short or “bobbed,” hence their name.
After we soaked up the earth animals and the breathtaking landscapes, we drove to Drakes Beach to see the elephant seals.
We hoped there were still some adults at the beach and were pleased to find many. These are the northern elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris.
Unlike the other wildlife we’d seen that day, the elephant seal behavior was not altered from the rainstorm–they are creatures of the water.
But they won’t be here much longer because their mating and birthing activities are over.
Now that the next generation has been born and nearly all weaned, it is time for the adults to resume their hunting and feeding in the north near Alaska, they have been fasting since November and December. The pups, however, will stay until they teach themselves how to swim.
This is a bull, below.
As you can see from the statistic board posted that day, there were about 49 adults as well as weanlings and pups. Total seals: 124.
We could see a few of the pups had been born within the week, others had been born in late December, January and early February.
It was easy to pick out the newborns (wrinkly and lethargic) in comparison to the weeks-old pups (nursing and demanding). The young one in the photo below (front right) is a weanling, still dependent on the mother for milk.
The young ones scream a lot.
Since that day there has been, unfortunately, recent findings of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in elephant seals in southern California. The colony in Pt. Reyes, however, has not yet shown signs of the virus. Researchers from UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis and the Marine Mammal Center are monitoring and testing Pt. Reyes elephant seals frequently.
There were also plenty of surf scoters and marbled godwits that day on Drakes Beach. Both species are wintering birds and will soon head back “home” for their breeding cycle.
The surf scoters (first photo, below) will migrate for Alaska and Canada in a month or two; the marbled godwits (second photo, below) will head back to the prairies of northern U.S. and Canada in April and May.
Wherever we are, it is a delight to watch earth’s seasonal changes, reminding us that each month, each day, is a celebration of life.
I was very lucky to trek through several rainforests recently in Panama and Costa Rica and have some gorgeous tropical birds to share.
I would like to say we meandered dreamily through these exotic rainforests, but rainforests are not dreamy places. They are extreme with high temperatures (90 F. every day) and high humidity, biting ants and mosquitoes, and mucky trails that are covered with tree roots, vines, and occasional vipers.
Still, it was absolutely glorious to two lifelong birders who treasure the Neotropics.
Toucans touting primary colors with bills bigger than their faces, and iridescent hummingbirds buzzing by in their speedy territorial pursuits.
Below, a pair of Yellow-billed Toucans (Ramphastos ambiguusswainsonii) perched high in the canopy.
This hummingbird species has a longer bill and tail than most of our American species and lives year-round in Central America and parts of South America. Long-billed Hermit, below, Phaethornis longirostriscephalus.
Long-billed Hermit
While boating we had the delight of spotting many foraging snail kites. You can see below the curved bill of the snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis); it is perfectly designed to probe inside the hard shell of a snail and extract the snail meat.
Snail Kite
Most of this trip revolved around lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean, so many of our bird sightings were water birds, like these heron species, below.
Boat-billed herons (below) have a boat-shaped bill that gives them a somewhat comical look. Cochlearius cochlearius.
This heron below has distinctive stripes around the throat, hence its name, the bare-throated tiger heron. Tigrisoma mexicanum.
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
The aptly named Magnificent Frigatebird that soars above the neotropical coasts was with us every single day, a gift I thought about often as I drifted to sleep each night.
One of earth’s larger seabirds, the frigatebird has a wingspan of 7-8 feet (2-2.5 m).
Over the years I have seen frigatebirds throughout the coasts of Central and South America, but never in as much abundance as on these secluded islands.
Below is a female, Fregata magnificens.
Every night we slept on a ship, and every day we deboarded the ship onto small boats and headed for small islands where we hiked rainforest trails.
The rainforest is dense in these small, protected islands near the Panama Canal and the west coast, and there were many bird species.
Panama is slightly smaller than the state of South Carolina and yet it boasts approximately 1,000 bird species. In comparison, the very large U.S. has about 1,100 bird species.
Woodpeckers survive on trees, and the rainforests were filled with them.
One of the world’s smallest woodpeckers was quietly hiding in a leafy tree. Below, the Olivaceous Piculet, seen in Costa Rica. Picumnus olivaceus.
Not only is this a tiny woodpecker, less than four inches long (10 cm), but they have a fairly tiny range on our big earth, so we felt really lucky to find this little male.
Grosbeaks, mot mots, tanagers and trogons are special denizens of the tropical rainforest.
This is a Slaty-tailed Trogon, below. Trogon massena.
We were fortunate to be in Panama’s Soberania National Park near the Pipeline Road, a famous birding spot. We climbed up a 105-foot (32 m) spiral staircase to a canopy observation platform and soaked up serene views overlooking the rainforest, spotted many raptors and rainforest birds.
Photo courtesy pipelineroad.org
Our view from the observation tower.
In a rainforest in Costa Rica, we came upon this industrious Orange-billed Sparrow in a tangle of palms.
Another rainforest bird in Costa Rica is the curassow. We were pleased to see both the male and female, a “lifer” for us. Below is the female. Crax rubra.
A large neotropical gamebird, both genders have a curly crest.
We were often ferried from our ship to island rainforests, sometimes so isolated there wasn’t even a landing dock or bathroom. One day we spent the morning on an island where some passengers kayaked and others of us, like the birders, traversed the rainforest.
The ubiquitous black vultures, usually seen cruising above and rarely on the ground, were a pleasant close-up surprise on the beach. Coragyps atratus. They were drinking fresh water.
Rainforest birding requires a strong neck and plenty of patience, because the canopies are high and birds are hidden in the dense thickets.
But one bird species that always stood out was the scarlet macaw with its large size, show-stopping colors, and throaty squawks and screams. Ara macao.
Here’s a link (below) to an excellent scarlet macaw recording by Paul Driver.
Today we have gone high and low, enjoyed big birds and little birds, quiet ones and bawdy ones, and celebrated together a few of the avian beauties of Central American rainforests. Thanks for joining us on this colorful adventure.
Written by Jet Eliot.
Photos by Athena Alexander; two unmarked photos are friendly contributions.
It is a thrill to share with you one of the world’s greatest engineering feats of the twentieth century–the Panama Canal. Our voyage through the canal occurred last month.
We will briefly focus on the major aspects of the canal’s construction and success. Vintage photos, a few “before” and “after” photos, and what it looked like last month are all included.
Today’s celebration is about the triumph and human ingenuity that is the Panama Canal.
The history of this 50-mile-long (80 km) waterway connecting the world’s two largest oceans reaches back to the sixteenth century when Spain was considering how to avoid the long and dangerous voyage around Cape Horn. In subsequent centuries many surveys and proposals were considered.
With the discovery of gold in California in 1848, the demand for a shortcut became more pronounced. This led to the 1850-1855 construction of the Panama Railroad, which turned out to be the first rudimentary step toward a canal.
In January 1881 France attempted construction of the Panama Canal. It was plagued, however, with torrential rainfall, an abundance of tropical diseases, and a critical miscalculation regarding canal construction. The French abandoned the unfinished project in 1869.
The missteps for the French were, as history often shows, steppingstones for the next country’s attempts, the United States.
The U.S. purchased the abandoned French materials and negotiated a canal treaty. It was a controversial negotiation.
U.S. canal construction began in 1904.
Two primary engineers led the construction: John Frank Stevens and George Washington Goethals.
1905-1907. Chief engineer John Frank Stevens (photo below) was hired by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Stevens’s achievement was building the infrastructure for this enormous project, one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.
Stevens built a machine park, a supply system, and housing facilities for a labor force that would eventually reach a size of over 60,000 people (families included)–housing, schools, hospitals, churches, hotels and more.
This complex infrastructure was built before excavation and construction began, and took a year and a half.
Another conundrum Stevens resolved was debris. Not having a system for carrying away all the debris being dug up was a crucial problem for the French, resulting in frequent landslides. Stevens engineered the rebuilding of the existing Panama Railway and created an elaborate railway system to take away the debris and bring in bigger and sturdier equipment.
The railroad system was the backbone of all canal operations. Other than fire engines, there were few automobiles. Cranes, steam shovels, dirt, concrete, food, money, workers, tourists were all moved on rails in the Canal Zone. It was a complex network covering 450 miles (724 km).
Prior to the canal’s construction, the isthmus was a treacherous landscape of dense, mountainous jungle, swamps, and torrential rain characterized by extreme humidity and disease. Over 20,000 workers had already died by the time Stevens came on board in 1905.
Tropical disease was one of the biggest hurdles of the canal project. This was at a time when mosquito-borne disease transmission was not fully understood.
The pioneering scientific studies of Cuban epidemiologist Carlow Finlay (1833-1915) determined that yellow fever was transmitted through the mosquito Aedes aegypti.
Under Stevens’s authorization, enormous time and resources were invested in sanitation projects.
Dr. William Crawford Gorgas (1843-1920) was the main physician and chief sanitary officer of the Panama Canal Zone. Based on findings from Dr. Carlos Finlay and Dr. Walter Reed (1877-1956), Gorgas recognized that mosquitoes spread yellow fever and malaria.
With rainfall so abundant, standing water was common.
Gorgas successfully eradicated yellow fever and controlled malaria in the canal zone by implementing rigorous mosquito control and draining standing water. Crews drained swamps, fumigated buildings, covered water cisterns, sprayed insect-breeding areas with oil and larvicide, and more.
June 1910
Lastly but equally as important, Stevens convinced President Roosevelt that this canal required dams and locks. Unlike the Suez Canal that had been successfully completed 36 years earlier without dams, the Panama Canal, it turned out, was different. The earlier French attempt had not included dams or locks, and it was a critical miscalculation.
The Pacific Ocean has much larger tidal swings (up to 20 feet (6 m)) compared to the Atlantic (3 feet (1 m)), making the original direct sea-level connection impractical.
It was finally agreed that the Panama Canal required locks and dams to manage the 85-foot (26 m) elevation change.
1907-1914. In 1907 Stevens resigned and U.S. Colonel George Washington Goethals took over. Goethals ultimately directed the Panama project to its completion in 1914.
Under Goethals’s leadership, the Panama Canal’s elaborate lock system was engineered. This engineering involved excavation work, construction of numerous approach channels, the Gatun Dam, numerous lock chambers, associated dams and reservoirs, and more.
There was an especially difficult and dangerous engineering section of the canal. Called the Culebra Cut, an artificial valley had to be excavated through the Culebra Mountain range to depths of 164 feet deep (50m) below ground. Completed in 1913, it involved carving through the Culebra Mountain ridge to connect the Pacific and Atlantic sides. U.S. Engineer David du Bose Gaillard directed the work.
Seven to nine miles long (11-14 km), the Culebra Cut required removing over 100 million cubic yards of material. Without dynamite, the rock barrier could never have been breached.
In 1913, 221 well drills and 156 tripod drills bored dynamite holes. A total of 60 million pounds (27,000 metric tons) of dynamite were used. Nearly 160 trains a day hauled away debris.
Excavation was plagued by frequent mudslides due to unstable shale and clay that frequently buried equipment and destroyed months of work.
No one was killed in the mudslides which were slow-moving and usually predictable, until May 1913 when four West Indians lost their lives. Earlier, however, also in the Culebra Cut segment, in 1908 there was a premature explosion of 44,000 pounds of dynamite (20 metric tons) killing 23 workers.
Some of the engineers mentioned above are in this photo, below, of the Isthmian Commission. Chief Engineer G.W. Goethals (front center and 5th from L), Culebra Cut Engineer D. Gaillard (6th from L), and Dr. Gorgas (far right). 1904-1914.
After ten years and an expenditure of $375 million, the Panama Canal was formally opened on August 15, 1914.
With this enormous human innovation, ship travel was reduced by five months and approximately 8,000 miles (12,875 km).
Fast forward. With the growing demand of maritime traffic in the 20th century, the system of locks inaugurated in 1914 had become less efficient. In 2016 the upgrade expansion was completed–additional locks with bigger dimensions allowed for the passage of larger, modern ships.
2. Our Heroes.
The most vital resource in the canal construction was people. Engineers, builders, laborers, teachers, medical staff, law enforcement, cooks, laundry personnel and so many more professionals successfully completed this gargantuan project.
Thousands of immigrants from 47 different nations toiled in the heat and humidity. The bulk of the international labor force came from Jamaica, Barbados, Spain, Italy, India and the U.S.
First photo below (by Underwood and Underwood) is a group of West Indian laborers; the second photo, Italians; 1904-1914.
Policemen, 1913
Many women came to Panama with their husbands, and many also came to start a new chapter and build a life in this U.S. enclave. The photo below, from the Panama City Canal Museum, shows women from the American Red Cross Hospital Ship Committee in Colon, Panama, circa 1918.
c. 1918Dr. Gorgas’s medical team at Panama Canal Ancon Hospital in Panama City, 1904-1914American Engineers, 1904-1914
3. Operation and Transit.
Water is the cornerstone of the canal operation and managing it has always been one of the key priorities.
There were three natural elements that made Panama the ideal location for the interoceanic canal: the Chagres River, the narrow isthmus, and exceptionally abundant rainfall.
Between 1906 and 1913, the Chagres River was dammed to form the artificial Lake Gatun. Additional dams were built over the years.
The coordinated use of the canal’s dams guarantees a minimum depth of water in Lake Gatun to ensure the uninterrupted transit of vessels.
The sole purpose of the locks is to lift ships to the level of Lake Gatun and then lower them again in a reverse operation.
Diagram from “Guide to the Panama Canal” (2025)
The locks have chambers, and the chambers have gates. Each chamber is 1,000 feet long (305 m) and 110 feet wide (33.5 m). These dimensions determine the maximum size of ships that can use the canal.
The chamber gates are massive, height varies by position. They are 7 feet thick (2 m) and primarily made of high-grade, structural steel designed to withstand immense water pressure, heavy use, and saltwater corrosion.
Below are three “before” photos of the gates.
The first photo is on the Miraflores Locks, April 1913. These lock gates are the tallest of the Panama Canal (up to 82 feet (25 m)) to manage the high tidal range and higher water levels of the Pacific Ocean. Of course at the time of this photo, it would be a year before water actually came through here. All of this construction was built on calculations.
I like this photo because it shows a railroad car and tracks in the lower middle, demonstrating the essentiality of the railway system as well as the size perspective of the people in the center.
Another gate photo, below, June 27, 1913. These are the Gatun lower locks, workers are making the final adjustments.
This photo, below, is an earlier phase of construction on the Gatun middle locks showing steel forms used in the erection of the lock walls. April 1, 1911. Imagine how complicated this all is.
This photo, below, is a general view of the Gatun Lock chambers-to-be in the center. Structures flanking each side of it which will be the locomotive tracks, more about that in a minute. July 18, 1913.
This is a “before” photo from the Gatun Locks in July 1913.
Below is the “after” photo from January 2026. This shows the bow of our ship, the Lindblad/National Geographic Quest, and the exact same Gatun locks as above.
Ours was a small pleasure vessel with only 100 passengers and went through at night, a lower priority compared to the massive cargo carriers that go through in daylight.
Transiting the canal normally takes 8-10 hours.
When the gates are closed and the ship is inside the chamber, water fills the chamber and lifts the ship. Embedded in the side and center walls are large water culverts that carry water from Gatun Lake into the chambers. The water is moved by gravity and is controlled by huge valves in the culverts.
Approximately 26.7 million gallons of water (101,070 cubic meters) are required to fill the chamber and it takes about 8-15 minutes, equating to roughly three million gallons of water per minute.
While the ship is in the canal, an electric towing locomotive or “mule” on each side of the ship guides and assists the vessel to avoid contact with the concrete walls.
This photo below shows the locomotive to our vessel’s left, with a lineman (foreground) securing the rope that connects the ship to the locomotive. The locomotive clangs a bell to communicate with the lineman and ship crew, and there is much excitement with clanging bells, flying ropes, and intense concentration.
The men and women who operate the “mule” locomotives are specialized, highly trained employees of the Panama Canal Authority.
The newer, 21st century locks have different (bigger) dimensions and use tugboats instead of locomotives.
When the ship has reached the required height, the gate opens and the ship moves through.
The canal is fully operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Between 13,000 and 14,000 ships transit the canal a year. Approximately 9,000 workers keep the canal operating smoothly, serving ships from all over the world.
Transit fees are primarily based on vessel size. For large container ships the costs typically range from $300,000 to over $1 million per trip, depending on size and cargo. When there are canal congestion or drought-related restrictions, auction bids to skip the line can get prohibitively expensive.
The Panama Canal Authority, an agency of the Panama government, is responsible for the operation and management of the canal.
Lastly, the Culebra Cut mentioned earlier, where workers used 60 million pounds of dynamite to break through rocky mountains, where shale and clay frequently slid down the mountainside and buried workers and equipment, is seen below.
The same passage is in the photo below, highlighted by the Centennial Bridge, on a warm, humid, and quiet night last month.
Today we celebrated the remarkable men and women, civilians, laborers, engineers, designers and other dedicated humans who took part in this engineering marvel that changed the way the world moved.
Thanks for joining us on the journey.
This is a reminder, my friends, that this website is politics-free. No comments, please, about ownership or other controversial topics regarding the Panama Canal.
Written by Jet Eliot.
Colored Canal Photos by Athena Alexander.
All vintage photos, except as individually noted, by Ernest Hallen (1875-1947), Official Photographer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, from Ulrich Keller’s book (1983) “The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs.”
It is with utter delight that I share with you wild monkeys experienced on a recent trip to the rainforests of Panama and Costa Rica.
In the tropics of the Americas, the New World, we have New World monkeys–different than monkeys in Africa and other eastern parts of the globe.
New World monkeys descend from African simians that colonized South America, a line that split off about 40 million years ago.
New World Monkey Range, courtesy Wikipedia
The noses of New World monkeys are flatter than the narrow noses of Old World monkeys, and have side-facing nostrils. Also, New World monkeys have prehensile tails whereas Old World monkeys do not. There are more differences, too.
We saw the first monkey of the trip from a motorboat in Panama. We were slowly cruising the coastline, looking for wildlife, when a white-faced capuchin monkey was spotted in the trees above us. Cebus imitator. This species lives in Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua.
They eat fruit, buds, flowers, insects, small invertebrates and more. Although they are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Vulnerable, they are fairly common in protected forests.
They have a distinctive black cap, seen below, for which they are named. This “cap” is said to resemble the cowls (hoods) worn by Capuchin friars.
Also in Panama, we saw the Geoffroy’s Tamarin monkey scrambling among the tree trunks close to shore. Saguinus geoffroyi. Two photos, below.
They are Central America’s smallest monkey, at 9-9.5 inches (23-24 cm) excluding the tail.
That long tail you see is a prehensile tail–a specialized, muscular appendage capable of grasping, holding and manipulating objects. Found only in New World monkeys, the prehensile tail allows the primate to suspend its entire body weight by only the tail, leaving arms and legs free for foraging and locomotive activities.
Saguinus geoffroyi are diurnal and arboreal and not seen anywhere else in the world except Panama and Colombia.
We also heard howler monkeys in Panama, but they were too far up in the canopy to photograph.
Wherever we were, cruising the shoreline or walking the trails, their haunting howling and moaning reverberated throughout the dense rainforest.
Panama rainforests were wonderful. We saw other mammals including sloths, many reptiles, insects and birds–to be featured in future posts.
Geoffroy’s Spider Monkey, Panama
It was late January and every day it was 90 degrees F. with high humidity.
Then we moved on to Costa Rica–the southern Pacific coast.
One day Athena and I had been birding and were in the shade afterward, drinking water and studying the field guide, when one of the naturalists asked us if we wanted to see the squirrel monkeys, he would take us to them. We quickly donned our equipment and off we went.
Leaping from palm frond to frond were these red-backed squirrel monkeys, shown below. Saimiri oerstedii. This wily one was hopping on the banana clumps and zipping through the palm trees.
Saimiri oerstedii are small monkeys at 9-14 inches long (23-35 cm) and weigh up to 2.2 pounds (1 kg). Their conservation status is Endangered.
Many New World monkeys have a troubled conservation status due to illegal hunting, pet trade, deforestation, habitat loss, and more.
Red-backed Squirrel Monkey, Costa Rica
On our last day in Costa Rica, we were passengers in a Zodiac (inflatable boat) cruising down a river. High above us were the howler monkeys, barely visible except for large moving branches bouncing in the leafy treetops.
Found exclusively in the New World, howlers are the biggest monkeys. Depending on the species, they are 22-36 inches long (56-19 cm) (not including tail) and typically weigh between 15 and 22 pounds (6.8–10 kg).
Howler monkeys are one of my favorite monkeys because of their incredible sounds. I felt lucky to hear them every day.
I have heard them before on previous Central and South American trips and am lovingly familiar with their glorious howls. But for those who have never heard them, the sounds can be alarming, spooky.
The first time I heard them, in the dark in the Amazon, I thought we were in a tornado. It was so dark I couldn’t see that there was no wind.
Here is a recording, link below, that isn’t too frightening. Courtesy Rangerrick.org.
New World monkeys have organized social hierarchies, vocal warning alarm calls, sophisticated use of tools and many more fascinating characteristics.
I guess what I love most about these monkeys are their agility. They effortlessly traverse the seemingly impervious jungle using arms, legs and tail, flying gracefully through the air, latching onto limbs and branches with ease.
How fortunate we are to have these creatures among us.
Written by Jet Eliot.
Photos by Athena Alexander and fellow travelers on the Quest.
Jet Eliot 
