Blessed by Birds (Lisa B.)

#Ecuador, #Manabi #birds Nice outing to Refugio de la Tomatera - #BirdsSeenIn2025
Pacific Hornero, Summer Tanager, Chivi Vireo, Tumbes Pewee

Lovely day exploring areas within the CBC circle for #Chone #Ecuador, #Manabi. I think this final image is a Slaty Becard. #BirdsSeenIn2025

#BirdsSeenIn2025, #Ecuador, #Manabi, #Chone Wood Storks, Great Black Hawk, Streaked Flycatcher & Long-billed Starthroat.

Reminds me of the months/years after the earthquake, but you all are facing something much more severe.
Ten years later (here) many people still suffer from the trauma, and we all reminisce: 'before earthquake vs after.' Deforestation increased for rebuilding - but Jamaica lost trees and bamboo!

thank you for that link: jamradio.uk/news/jamaica...

You posted this well written and clear link, reminding us that all life forms are suffering.
We can send battleships and drones around the planet, send rockets and astronauts into space, yet cannot find an economic way to extract water from the air - or filter sea water for all -esp in a crisis.

With each day it must get more difficult for those who lived where everything - including vegetation - has been wiped clean. How to 'resume' when even the basic needs are pending new infrastructure? It is a heavy time for all of you; I marvel that the world news headlines have shifted.

That is wonderful and surely emotional to witness; it must feel like there is hope for humanity to see those helicopters and teams.

I wish a certain president would nudge that battleship (those ships?) over to Jamaica and help with food, water, immediate aid and compassion for our fellow men (and women) it would be a much more positive use of manpower and money.

It's important to purge that grief.

👍We have three Anis here: Smooth-billed, Groove-billed, and Greater (Crotophaga major)
I've also painted the Groove-billed with colors: "...so what IF the Groove-billed Ani wore rainbow colors? Would it be nearing extinction - prized for its colorful feathers?"

Your Substack post was sensitive and informative; thanks for including the recommendations and links.

Here is the drawing I worked on - not only in the field but also late at night as I kept one eye on Melissa's path.

Finished at 4 last night/early morning. Now I'm working on the color version.

Anyone who has a sensitive heart is surely struggling there. I've thought about your yard/gardens, and the trees/flora-faunta affected islands wide.
After Ecuador's 7.8 earthquake, artists contributed to an art auction - all works a specific (small) size. Perhaps that can be a future project?

So good to see your posts and hope that your home and neighborhood did not receive too much damage. This has to be hard on all of you, especially as new reports/videos show more areas destroyed. It reminds me of the first news video I saw of Katrina; I couldn't stop weeping.
Thinking of you 24/7.

Not easy to select 'like/heart' for this post, but the heart shows support for all of you there in Jamaica. Am keeping a close eye - day and night - and holding you all in my heart.

This coastal area of SW Ecuador and NW Peru is the Tumbesian Region, home of 55 endemic bird species. The majority of birds that showed up yesterday and today were endemics. Here are a few: Long-tailed Mockingbird, Pacific Parrotlets, Croaking Ground-dove (yes they croak!) (Gray day, dull photos)

Concerns about Melissa's path and strength have shadowed me as I worked on a pencil drawing this weekend. Instead of calling it 'Muyuyu Botanical,' I should probably rename it, "Thinking of Emma."
Today was gray, windy and chilly here at almost sea level on the equator.
Sympathy/empathy weather?

Live Rain Radar Map | Zoom Earth Interactive real-time rain radar map. Shows precipitation detected by radar.

You surely have plenty of satellite tracking options but this one is new to me.... Will be holding you all in my heart for the next few days. zoom.earth/maps/radar/#...

Tokyo2020 Olympics GIF ALT: Tokyo2020 Olympics GIF

Hurricane Melissa: please leap high and far over our beloved Jamaica and land far away in the Atlantic!

That is great to have solar; considering your sensitivities to our planet, that's no surprise. Hopefully tonight will be calm.

If your internet stays intact, you will help keep the world informed about Jamaica.

Meanwhile almost due west from you is Pacific T-Storm Sonia - moving west.

Most likely you will all go through a power outage -possibly an extended one. We'll be waiting like Ground Control as the astronaut goes behind the sun/moon or another planet. I wish we could collectively 'will' Melissa to take a flying leap high over Jamaica and Cuba and land in the Atlantic.

Today I went to the refugio and painted in watercolor for five hours - the entire time holding all of you close to my heart and pondering the seriousness of Hurricane Melissa. Although our rainy season will not start for another few months, clouds appeared with variable 'tropical' winds. Strange.

Yes, signed up again; I thought you were in quiet mode.

10 pm 'Melissa Report' was a few minutes early tonight; looks like you have one more day to prepare. Will be keeping a close eye on Jamaica.

You surely have lots of good reading material.

Same here re: Instagram, but limiting a search for the past month helped locate that post.

Art is indeed a great option when recovering - to go inward and the hours seem like seconds.

Prasad Natarajan on Instagram: "My health is slowly improving, and I’m rarely in my studio. Have made a few studies using ink in my new sketchbook, watching bulbuls, sunbirds, and flowerpeckers. Watch... 52 likes, 15 comments - prasadnatarajan_ on October 21, 2025: "My health is slowly improving, and I’m rarely in my studio. Have made a few studies using ink in my new sketchbook, watching bulbuls, sun...

Searched for "Prasad Natarajan" in the past month... Good news via instagram: www.instagram.com/prasadnatara...

I thought there would always be a lot of red tape for even a repair on an historic building - via the Secretary of the Interior's guidelines for historic preservation. Seeing these images is a shock - and such a brutal beginning.

Seeing this post, I realize that your substack notifications are not reaching via email.
Thinking of you as 'Melissa, spinning like a top until she decides where she wants to go.
I recall the year (2002?) when a hurricane stalled and dumped 30" of rain on us in Costa Rica.

Yay! Listening now to Rika via the Environment for the Americas' "Policy for Birds'-Zoom... Thank you!

So glad to see you here on Bsky!

#BirdsSeenIn2025, #Ecuador - the mystery bird is the Yellow-olive Flatbill (Tolmomyias sulphurescens)
I keep forgetting to add the Swallow-tailed Kite from May2025

When out with new birders, I print numbered checklists and can say, 'Pearl Kite - 23' and say the number in Spanish. They find #23 and see its name in Spanish. All ducks are grouped under D (Teal, Pintails,Whistling Ducks) also doves under D.

This grouping might work for your website needs.

Does anyone else suffer from a birding hangover the day after Migratory Bird Day/October Big Day?! Ah, but it was worth the long hours in the field!
#Birds, #BirdsSeenIn2025, #Ecuador
Hook-billed Kite, Cocoi, Anhinga, and one mystery bird. Can anyone help with its ID?
ebird.org/tripreport/4...