Panaga garden chases

This week I had two good garden chases. The first one was Wednesday night when Axel texted to say that he had some owls in his garden. Even though I was already in bed, I clearly couldn't let this opportunity slip. So 5 minutes later I was in Axel's garden and my wife was on facebook to let her friends know her husband lost it again...

We initially had some trouble locating the birds, but the soft screeches of the owlets could soon be heard in the neighboring garden. Our scramble through the bushes was rewarded with excellent views of two young sunda scops owls.

Juvenile Sunda scops owl (Otus lempiji).

These scops owls are the most common owls in the Panaga, though that doesn't mean they're that often encountered.

A second noteworthy garden scramble was this morning when I heard the loud call of a crimson-winged woodpecker. I quickly picked up my camera and with a bit of luck and some tenacity I managed to locate two birds a couple of gardens down the road. Even better, they didn't seem that bothered by my presence, though I can't say the same for the ants and mosquitoes...

Male crimson-winged woodpecker (Picus puniceus).

These woodpeckers are an uncommon encounter in the Panaga gardens. The male and the female can be separated by the red cheek patch, which is only sported by the male.

Female crimson-winged woodpecker (Picus puniceus).

Sometimes all the good stuff is just a step from your front door!

Folkert, 12/01/2013