Raptors!

A Peregrine Falcon trying to stare down a train in the Flats area of Cleveland.

Not the Jurassic Park kind, obviously, though they may have been feathered also. I thought since the other 'meat eaters' (sorry Laurie and any vegetarians!) are starting to migrate through, I would post some of my favorite photos. Most are from the proper side also! Maybe next post I'll go back to my traditional butt shots.

This is a Red-tailed Hawk saved by the Medina Raptor Center after it flew into a train. It's not a true albino, though it sure looks like it.

I jump back and forth as to which birds are my favorites. Hummingbirds are definitely number one. Raptors and Warblers are tied for second...at least until International Migratory Bird Day comes up in May! Then the warblers will take over my focus (pun intended!) when we visit Crane Creek and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory , the finest sight for viewing the spring migration in Ohio...or the Midwest in my opinion.

This American Kestrel is trying out the 'Bald Eagle' pose. He's workin' it!

This is Bob, our Cooper's Hawk, staring into our dining room window. He's about ten feet away, wondering about dinner!

Here's a Red-shouldered Hawk at a local park, Sandy Ridge Reservation. I was going to use a photo of the proper side, and thought, nah.

This is what happens when a Red-tailed Hawk gets caught in the rain. He was not a happy bird.

This is a Red-tailed Hawk in a better mood. This is one of my favorite photos, I love his eye.

This weekend, no work/all play, at least one day anyway, for birding. Hopefully I'll have a few new pics to post of raptors, migrating ducks and who knows what else from our area.

Shade Grown Birds

The view from Finca Lerida in Panama.

As many of you have heard, shade grown coffee is the best type of coffee for birds. Not that they drink much of it, though if you've ever watched a Warbler, you might begin to wonder. No, it's the environment that shade grown protects that helps our friends.

A Collared Redstart near Volcan Baru in Panama.

Chestnut-sided Warbler at Crane Creek, Ohio.

Laurie-loo and I took a trip to Panama in 2005, our first big bird trip together. Our guide Hernan Arauz, definitely the best guide in Panama, took us to two Fincas, or farms, to show us the difference shade grown can make in the environment. The best tasting coffee is grown this way, though the big coffee companies put profits ahead of helping the world.

A very loud Three-wattled Bellbird at Finca Lerida in Panama.

We saw a number of Warblers and other birds that rely on this habitat to survive. Without our help, they won't survive long enough to migrate to visit us and make our lives a little brighter.

Though this shot was taken in San Diego, we also saw the Acorn Woodpecker at a Finca in Panama.

There are so many birds that rely on us and the proper habitat to survive in this very difficult world. As you've seen by the photos I have on this blog of Warblers, Hummingbirds and more, without the right trees, flowers and shrubs, they could be gone.

The Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society sells Audubon brand shade grown coffee at their meetings and events and I'm sure other chapters do also. A growing number of grocery stores across the world are getting on the band wagon and devoting space on their shelves for these fine product as well.

If you truly enjoy watching birds as they fly through our lives, please help a little bit by supporting shade grown coffee. On behalf of the birds, thank you.