A yellow-faced bee (Hylaeus sp.) on Jeju Island, South Korea
2015 was full of travel, research, and changes. My library from the year contains some 14 thousand images - and it seems I've been increasingly photographing the people around me as well as the fauna. That said, hominids have never been the primary focus of this page, so here are selections from the year covering some other taxa across a few locations.
Rangitoto from Tiritiri Matangi, NZ
North Island Saddleback, Tiritiri Matangi NZ
Queensland, Australia
Hihi, Tiritiri Matangi, NZ
Long-nosed Lycid Beetle, Queensland, Australia
Dainty Green Tree Frog (Litoria gracilenta), Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
Kereru with Puriri fruit, Goat Island, NZ
Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
Juvenile Green and Gold Bell Frog (Litoria aurea), Hamilton, NZ
Tiskita Jungle Lodge in Southwestern Costa Rica is home to three species of Manakin, and I was able to see all of them within about 15 minutes of our arrival. The birds are quite small, and extremely fast, but their bright colors make them worth the challenge to photograph, even if many of my shots were sub-par:
Orange-collared Manakin
Manakins form leks, groups of males that assemble to perform competitive displays (think groups of single guys at nightclubs). Occasionally I would hear the strange buzzing sound of these birds pounding their wings together at very high speed to call females to the show.
Red-capped Manakin
The red-capped Manakin is famous for its amazing and amusing 'moonwalk' display in this PBS clip:
More on Manakins and researching their dances in the video here.
So what is this grand dance off all about? The bird with the flashiest steps gets to go home with this lovely lady:
Red-capped Manakin, female
Mate selection is a strong driver of animal behavior!
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