LBJ, Bachas Beach- Baltra Island, Galapagos

Some cool bird facts images:

LBJ, Bachas Beach- Baltra Island, Galapagos


Image by A. Davey
For viewers who aren’t birders or don’t associate with birders, the term "LBJ" means "Little Brown Job," which is any nondescript small brown bird a birder can’t identify right off the bat.

I should let all my viewers know I’m not a birder.

Worse, as a photographer, I feel obligated to photograph any bird I do see when I’m someplace such as the Galapagos, because it’s the Galapagos for gosh sakes so the bird is almost certainly important, perhaps endemic and maybe even endangered to boot.

This almost certainly guarantees I’ll be concentrating too hard on getting the picture to listen to what anyone around me has to say about the bird including, for instance, the bird’s species and common name.

So, apart from the few birds I already knew before coming to the Galapagos, and some I learned while I was there (e.g., the Oystercatcher) because I had the information hammered into me repeatedly, most of the bird photos I post are going to be a little light on basic bird facts until my books on the birds and animals of the Galapagos arrive. Then I can go back and, I hope, fill in the gaps.

There – I’ve managed to write several long paragraphs without ever telling you what kind of bird this is because I don’t have a clue.

Also, and I may be shooting myself in the foot here, I view birding the way I do socializing with strangers at weddings. You’re not going to get to spend quality time getting to know them; you may not even get a good look at them if they’re far away and the lighting’s poor; you know they’ll probably be leaving the scene soon; and chances are you’ll never see them again. So why invest the time?

That’s why I much prefer getting to know the fish I see when I dive and snorkel in tropical waters.

You’ll usually have as much time as you want to examine the fish closely, and if you miss a detail on your first encounter, chances are another member of the same species will be along shortly.

Even if fish are schooling and moving rapidly, if the school is big enough you’ll be able to get a good look at the fish and be able to identify it in the fish book when you’re back on board.

Best of all, fish usually hang there in clear, bright, open water, so visible and exposed they might as well be stuffed and attached to a string.

Well. no, that actually isn’t the best thing about observing reef fish and getting to know their appearance and ways. The absolute best thing is you can be a fishwatcher without having to use any damned binoculars to get a decent look at your fish when, to the naked eye, it looks like a little speck in semi-darkness on a branch behind another branch partly hidden by leaves and vines. That’s the best thing about being a fishwatcher.

Alas, my underwater camera was in a suitcase that decided not to accompany me to Miami, my jumping-off point for my flight to Ecuador, so viewers will have to settle for bird photos, and so will I.

Bird in (my) Hand


Image by akabilk
Walking back to the hotel around 7:30am after the morning ‘shoot’ and I spotted this little fellow sitting in the middle of the pavement. A bicycle had shot past seconds before so maybe he had been dazed. I picked him up really just to move him/her out of the way and to safety but was surprised to find it sat quite calmy, gripping my finger, in fact it wouldn’t let go when I tried to put him on a branch.

The challenge for taking the photo was simultaneously carrying the bird, unfolding the tripod, clearing off some space on the full CF card and composing and shooting one handed with the other hand in front of the lens as the subject! Took a few takes and after that my Singapore experience was over, from a photographic point of view at least.

Tags:Bachas, Baltra, Beach, Galápagos, Island