Photos of the Day

Had a late night with a photography club meeting over in St. Louis, so this one will be a short version due to lack of sleep. I love exotic and colorful birds.  The colors, patterns, and intricate detail in the plumage is just amazing. I love in to get in close to capture and show the detail. The bird on the right here is a Rainbow Lorikeet. Trichoglossus haematodus is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia (Maluku and Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. They are not large birds, with a Rainbow Lorikeet's length being about 11-12 inches in size, and have a wingspan of about 6-7 inches.  This was taken at the St. Louis Zoo where they have an open flight cage full of them in the children's zoo. The bird below on the left is a Thick-billed Parrot. One of only two species of parrot that once inhabited the United States (the other is the Carolina parakeet, which is unfortunately extinct). They are bright green in color with a large black bill and red crown, shoulders and thighs. It can grow to about 15 inches in length. It is on the endangered species list at this time. This bird was photographed at the World Bird Sanctuary, Valley Park, Missouri.

One of my favorite exotic bird photos is this shot of two Caribbean Flamingos in a rain shower. I shot this at a tourist attraction down in South Florida while I was trying to find something to do to get out of the rain.
Caribbean Flamingos, Phoenicopterus ruber, are the only flamingo to naturally inhabit North America. They stand about 3.9 - 4.6 ft in height, they have a wingspan of approximately 5.0 ft. and they weigh between 5 - 6.5 lbs. They are deep pink/red/orange in colour and they have the brightest plumage of all six flamingo species.

Now how do you find a Tufted Puffin, Fratercula cirrhata, in the mid-west? Why you go to the Penguin and Puffin House at the St. Louis Zoo. A great attraction to see several species of  both Penguins and Puffins. It is pretty dark in the attraction but I caught this guy under a light and was using my 70-200mm lens with the built in image stabilization. Shot hand held and it is slightly soft, but I love the pose and light on him.