Showing posts with label nature photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature photos. Show all posts

Friday, June 26, 2015

Miracle Baby - Red Vented Bulbul



Baby Red Vented Bulbul
Photograph by Carol Reynolds


Good news !  If you read the previous post (scroll down)  on Monday, June 15, 2015, you will see that some Red vented bulbul adults had built a nest on a palm branch that was dying.  Right after I made that post, on Wednesday of that same week the palm branch fell off the tree.   I felt so bad for the birds.   I had prayed for a miracle to happen concerning the eggs/babies, like for the palm branch to miraculously not fall.    I could not find the branch that fell and assumed it had fallen on a rooftop across from my paitio, which was directly below the dying branch.     

The parent bulbuls began a flurry of activity for the next few days and I assumed they were building a new nest to the left of my lanai (patio) which was out of my sight.   However, they seemed to be flying low and all their activity was more towards the ground.    On the following Monday I was surprised to see a baby bulbul in my ficus tree on my lanai. !!  I was so happy.   My  prayer for a miracle had been answered.   Perhaps the nest had blown to the ground in a soft spot of some vegetation.   There was no sign of any other babies.   


The above photo was taken of my lanai from my living room window.   I stayed off the lanai pretty much to give the birds privacy while they were occupying the area.   My ficus tree in the background was where the baby bulbul first made its appearance and I watched the parents flit back and forth to feed the youngster.   


Adult Red Vented Bulbul

This photo gives you a better idea of the bulbul's coloring, etc,.  The previous photos of the adult bulbuls were taken looking towards the bright sky while the birds were in the palm tree and therefore did not give a good light to see details of the birds.     They were not too shy when I sat on the lanai and took their portraits.   

I am so glad that at least one baby bulbul survived.   Below is another photograph I took today.  The baby has a much stronger and louder chirp now than it did on this past Monday.   Also, it can fly better and made it into the higher palm branches today.


Baby red vented Bulbul in palm tree

I am very glad I was wrong and that the adult birds were not building a new nest after all like I had previously presumed. .  Life goes on.   I love happy endings !!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Plumeria, Cassia, And Other Flowering Trees at Foster Botanical Gardens - Oahu, Hawaii



"Yellow" African Tulip Tree Blossoms


Yellow African Tulip Tree 

The above photo gives you an idea of how tall this Yellow African Tulip Tree can grow.   The close-up shot of the blossoms themselves are not a true yellow, but they are more yellow than the orange-red ones that I have photographed and painted in the past.   


Pink Cassia Tree Blossoms

These pink blossoms on the Cassia tree are my favorite; the yellow Cassia blooms are nice, but not as dramatic as the pink.  Below is a close-up of the yellow Cassia tree flowers.   


Yellow Cassia Tree Blossoms


Orange Flowered Cassia Tree

The shot directly above is of the Orange blossomed Cassia Tree.    They are rather nice, aren't they!
I am not getting too technical about each tree on purpose.   Hope you are enjoying these photographs.
Guess what kind of tree the blossoms below are found on ?


Nutmeg Tree Flowers

On previous visits to Foster Botanical Gardens I had seen the "fruit" of the Nutmeg Tree;  this visit last week found me in awe of the unusual flowers on this "spice" tree.  Below is a shot of the nutmeg tree in bloom.


Nutmeg Tree

Information about flowering trees would not be complete unless I included the Plumeria tree. 


Rainbow Plumeria Tree

Some rainbow plumeria flowers have more pronounced and vivid and distinct color variations on each bloom, so I am hoping I am correct in that this is a "rainbow" plumeria.   Regardless, it is beautiful !  Plumerias are found everywhere in the Hawaiian islands in white, pink, red, and yellow.    It is time I do another oil painting with plumeria blossoms !
Just for fun I am including the photo below of some cattle egrets that are always to be found at Foster Botanical Gardens.   I don't know what kind of tree they are sitting in; I must go back and find out.  But the tree in the background with pink blooms is probably a Cassia tree.


I could make many more posts here with the treasures found at Foster Gardens.   Check back again soon.