Wow Spatuletail

Couldn't wait to share this one photo – a few that I got of one of the world's most incredible hummingbirds, the Marvelous Spatuletail, Loddigesia mirabilis. It's found only on the upper slopes of the east side of the Utcubamba River drainage in the Andes of northern Peru. You have to see it to believe it.

I'm nearing the end of my scouting in Peru before heading to Costa Rica in just a few days. Steve Howell and I have had a good time this past week – we've seen some pretty incredible places and birds, and I'm now looking forward to sharing it with tour participants in the future.

Yay Asteraceae! – Some Composites of Peru

My favorite family of plants is Asteraceae, formerly known as Compositae – the composites, sunflowers, asters, daisies, or whatever you want to refer to the family as. It's the second largest family of plants in the world (not far behind orchids), and I'm always excited to see such amazing variety of forms, colors, sizes, and arrangement of heads.

I such a book existed, I could curl up with a key to the composites of Peru, samples of the following, a 12X loupe, and key them out to my heart's content. As it is, I have little clue what any of them are, but the first (above) is quite similar to Trixis, a very small genus (only 3 species) of composites with very unusual, two-lipped flowers. I suspect this is one of them.

All of these were in the Santa Eulalia Valley inland from Lima, the capital of Peru.

Another Morning of OFO Field Trips South of Pendleton, Oregon

We saw the Grasshopper Sparrows again this morning N of Pilot Rock (a little more work than yesterday, given the wind), added a Brewer's Sparrow, and enjoyed this American Kestrel.

OFO Membership Meeting

After a great day of field trips, Russ Namitz delivers the succinct President's report during the Oregon Field Ornithologists meeting in Pendleton. Best bird reported from the day's field trips: third county record of Harlequin Duck.

Barn Owls on the OFO Field Trip

The weather deteriorated quickly after this morning's Grasshopper Sparrow, but we toughed it out in the high elevations, seeing Williamson's Sapsucker, "Western" Flycatcher (voice seemed intermediate to us, more later), and hearing singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We descended back to near Pilot Rock and made a stop for lunch at a big pullout which was a stakeout for Barn Owls.

Grasshopper Sparrow on the OFO Meeting

> For my first posting by email using my iPhone, here's a very cooperative Grasshopper Sparrow. I found it on the field trip I'm helping lead with local birders June and Duane Whitten for the Oregon Field Ornithologists meeting in Pendleton, and we were near the town of Pilot Rock south of Pendleton.
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Anchorage Wildlife

After cooking in Gambell, Alaska for the WINGS tour, then helping lead the Nome extension, I'm enjoying a couple days off here in Anchorage.

Yesterday afternoon I went on a short hike in Arctic Valley with my friend Dave Sonneborn. We went to the top of one of the knolls where we saw two Townsend's Solitaires and a Say's Phoebe.

The early wildflowers were nice, such as this Mountain Avens, Dryas octopetala, in the rose family.

And how about the wildlife? On the way up a North American Porcupine and on the way down a Moose, the latter taken with my iPhone, both from the car window.