Sandhill Cranes, Lodi, Calif.
Every year has ups and downs,
rough days and smooth.
We find our courage,
look to the sky,
dream high,
and let the luck of the cranes sustain us.
Happy New Year!
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
The Luck of the Cranes
Month: December 2014
Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye, Belize
In Central America off the eastern coast of Belize is a small island floating freely in the Caribbean Sea. Here is where I enjoyed my first trip to the Caribbean last year. Americans in the central and eastern parts of the U.S. tend to vacation in the Caribbean, while those of us on the west coast frequent Mexico or Hawaii for tropical adventures. So the Caribbean was new to me.
Our vacation in Belize was primarily planned for a birding trip with a group, but prior to meeting up with the group we spent a few independent days on this spirited and sparkly island. Only 25 miles long and a mere one mile wide, the island is surrounded by white sand beaches. You can read more about the island here (but skip the part about the meaning of the word “ambergris”).
A pleasant convenience to this small island were the golf carts, the main mode of transport. You could go anywhere in a rental cart, dressed in casual swimwear and flip-flops.
Frigate birds, pelicans and gulls
But I am a birder and don’t live that way. We like to load up with pounds and pounds of optical equipment, dress in long-sleeved shirts so we can stay out in the sun until we nearly faint, and wear hiking shoes so we can trudge through the mangrove swamps.
snorkeling with rays
And although I did do the swimwear thing and enjoyed a great day of snorkeling and beach walking, my favorite day was the day we explored the island on that crazy golf cart.
Spiny-tailed Iguana
We watched mating iguanas, delighted in the frigate bird often cruising overhead, tip-toed through someone’s back yard in pursuit of an Olive-throated Parakeet, and escaped from some irate dogs as our golf cart flew across cobble-stoned roads.
The food was fantastic–rice, beans, fresh-caught fish, plantains–with a Caribbean and Mayan flair.
When it was time to return the rental cart, a local woman made a map in the sand for me, directing me to the island’s only gas station. We found it in some back canal area, where a kindly man suggested I not turn my back on the canal in case of alligators.
snorkeling find
Although I very much enjoy being with a guide and seeing far more birds in a day than I would on my own, I treasure days without a guide too. Free-flying days give me big smiles and great memories.
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
Our airport chauffeur
Aerial view of Belizean coast
A Rainy Seattle Day
Chihuly Garden, Seattle Ctr., Washington
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
Just Hangin’ Out Today
Blue-headed Parrots, Peru
Photo credit: Bill Page
Blue-footed Booby
Blue-footed Booby mating display, bird on right is “sky pointing”
There are not many places on earth for observing this delightful creature, for they are a marine bird found only on a few tropical and sub-tropical spots in the Pacific Ocean. A trip to Espanola Island in the Galapagos yielded a fascinating introduction.
Sula nebouxii breed here where their ground nesting succeeds without animal or human disturbance, and they are surrounded by plenty of tasty meals. They eat fish and are extraordinary divers, aligning their large body and wings in a streamlined bullet as they pierce the waters. A large bird, about the size of a bald eagle, they measure approximately 36 inches long with a wingspan of over 4.5 feet. To learn more click here.
Female Blue-footed Booby
We found their breeding colony and were entertained for hours observing their mating dance. A sunny, open expanse of lava and rocks was the scene for over a hundred of these showy birds.
Blue-footed Booby on nest (note the egg)
Their mating displays are loud and raucous, and the dance is truly spectacular. They have elaborate gestures that include strutting, dancing, lifting and presenting their feet, sky pointing, whistling, bowing, and nodding. All of this is done in a ritualistic order. What a crazy, surreal scene it was to see dozens and dozens of pairs in different stages of displaying, mating, and nesting.
When I see humans acting oddly in public, strutting and posing and doing their best to attract a mate, I am sweetly reminded of the glorious day we watched the blue-footed boobies on that island in the Pacific.
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
Thank you my friends
The Grand Tetons, Wyoming
Thank you for bringing laughter, warmth, kindness, human spirit, heartfelt comments, and awesome artwork into my life. Lately I spend over half of every week day at the keyboard working on my novel. When I get weary, I just check in to this magical land of friends and supporters all over the world, and it’s a party every time. Thank you.
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
San Francisco Holidays
San Francisco cable car
Boarders at Market and Powell Streets, SF
Cedar Waxwings
Adult Cedar Waxwing, Calif.
There are only three species of waxwings in the world, two of them are in North America (the third is in Japan). In the United States we have the Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings. Waxwings are named for the waxy red tips on certain wing feathers of the adult, as pictured here.
One day last month they came to a madrone tree in our front yard and partook of the orange berries. We were going on a walk and they stayed long enough for a few photos. They usually move in and out in a matter of minutes, but this mild, November day we got lucky.
The cedar waxwing can be found all across the United States at different times of the year. A gregarious bird, they are usually seen in flocks. They live in open woodlands, orchards, fields, swamps and even suburban yards. They forage mostly on berries and insects. For more about the cedar waxwing, click here.
Cedar Waxwing juvenile
With a soft, almost imperceptible high-pitched trilling sound, they are often not noticed by many people. In the farmer’s market where I go every week I occasionally see flocks of this elegant bird descend in the parking lot, and no one but me looks up. Butternut squash in hand and a bagful of greens on my shoulder, I stop in my tracks and enjoy this private viewing with a big, broad smile.
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
Olduvai Gorge
Olduvai Gorge and monolith
I had the profound pleasure of visiting the world’s hub of paleoanthropological sites in the Serengeti Plains of Tanzania Africa. It is here where scientists have been studying and collecting evidence of the origins of homo sapiens for over a century.
Located in the Rift Valley, Olduvai Gorge is a 30 mile long ravine in northeastern Tanzania. Millions of years ago it was a large lake. Then approximately 500,000 years ago seismic activity created a stream diversion that cut into the sediments revealing seven layers in the gorge’s wall. There is a huge monolith there in which these layers can be seen.
As we stood in the ravine we could look up onto the ridge and see the Leakey residence. In 1959 Mary Leakey discovered the well-preserved cranium of an early hominid here, proving that this was the earliest scene of human activity. Use of stone tools, scavenging, hunting, and other early human activity have been documented in this area.
Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists have sifted through the dirt and sand here, making discoveries of immense impact on human evolution. For more info about the Olduvai Gorge, click here. There’s also some good panoramic photos of the Olduvai Gorge at this site.
It was quiet here, way out in the Rift Valley. And deeply thrilling to be standing in a place where 1.9 million years ago early humans roamed. The relatively youthful humans of the 20th and 21st centuries still roam here, always adding more to our shifting knowledge of humans on earth. Pretty impressive.
“The skull of Australopithecus boisei Zinjanthropus was found here by M.D. Leakey July 17, 1959”
Photo credit: Athena Alexander
Surfin’ Santa
Mele Kalikimaka — Hawaiian for Merry Christmas. Also translates to Ho-Ho-Ho.
Jet Eliot 
