Pileated woodpecker

You have to look closely, but it's there!

Pileated woodpecker in Washington Oaks State Park, St. Augustine, Florida

Seen any snowy owls lately?

Last year I saw a big white bird in a tree out of the corner of my eye while I was driving. I didn't stop to look at it (I was on the highway, after all) but I thought it may have been a snowy owl. Snowy owls are on the move in the US this year! They have been spotted all over the northern/eastern part of the country. Here's a link to an article with a map. Keep your eyes out for snowies!

http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/gotsnowies2013/

Moonwalking birds

Did you know birds can moonwalk? Manakins can! I've never seen one of these but the video is more than enough.

The whole video is cool, but the moonwalking starts at about 2:40.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI_quJRRGxk

Wildlife spottings

I have seen a bunch of cool animals in Panama, including a jaguarundi, coatis, lots of crabs, birds, insects, spiders and sloths. Here are some photos:

This is one of my favorite animals, a three-toed sloth. They are easiest to see in Cecropia trees, though they eat many other types of leaves.

This is a green kingfisher that flew into a glass door. It was a little confused for awhile and may have had a minor concussion, but Loes nursed it back to consciousness and it was fine.

This is a Junonia evarete caterpillar. It specializes on black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) leaves during the rainy season (this photo was taken in January).

This is a hummingbird in a cashew tree. The fruit of the cashew tree is edible, but the nut must be roasted because it is toxic if eaten raw.

This is a new friend I made. =) He was wearing a collar, so I didn't take him home.
Special thanks to Sierra Flynn for taking some of these photos!