Riding Babylonia Again

Today I went out for a ride and tried Babylonia; first time down since my crash. I first rode around El Morro some and took a few pics. 

I always count the ships waiting where I have a theory that more ships waiting means production bottle necks. Since I've been counting, the most I've counted was in the low 30s, and the least was in the high single digits.The number seems to hover between 13 to 20 on average. Today I counted 13 ships waiting to load or unload oil.

A pair of black vultures hanging out. They do this a lot; black vultures pair up and stay close to each other. 

A self-timer shot of descending the Babylonia Trail today was more difficult due to recent heavy rains. The rains have further eroded the slope and carried away rocks in some areas, and deposited more in others.

Pandion haliaetus

This osprey (Pandion haliaetus) has been hanging out lately. According to Wikipedia, the osprey here in South America are non-breeding migrants.

So I guess he is just here for vacation. 
Link: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

Coragyps atratus brasiliensis

a.k.a. zamuro (Venezuela) or black vulture (USA). Not as big as its cousin the turkey vulture, these are quite common on El Morro here in Anzoategui, Venezuela. Their wings are also shorter and broader than turkey vulture, therefore they don't soar as gracefully as a TV; there is a lot more flapping of wings and more perching.

Saw these guys at my usual spot on El Morro while mountain biking this morning.

Cathartes aura

Nice turkey vulture, Cathartes aura, this morning. Not sure if these are permanent residents of El Morro or migrating transients. I see them all the time when riding my bike. 

Gymnomystax mexicanus

Saw this oriole blackbird, Gymnomystax mexicanus, at Parque Gen. Francisco Miranda (formerly called Parque de Este) in Caracas yesterday.

Pelecanus occidentalis

These are brown pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis, which were shadowing a couple of fishing boats in Bahia Barcelona. Though they don't look like it, these guys are some of the most graceful birds in the sky!

Icterus nigrogularis

South American yellow oriole Icterus nigrogularis seen on this morning's ride. 

Leucippus fallax richmondi

On my morning ride came across this little buffy hummingbird, Leucippus fallax richmondi, just sitting on this bush. I was able to get a bit closer and get a decent shot (considering the camera).

Sicalis flaveola

These birds, the saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola),  are very common. I see them all the time and always want to get a photo of one. Saw a mating pair as I rode today. They were picking gravel and stayed fairly close to the trail and I was able to get a few shots. Was wishing I had the G11 instead of my usual SD1200IS.

Riding with Daniel

Daniel is heading off to greener pastures Kiev, Ukraine. It was good to get out with him. We dinked around El Morro and saw a few interesting things. 

 Visibility was good. No haze, so we could see Isla Cachicamo (Armadillo Island). My favorite island in the local archipelago. 

Daniel comes down the trail.

 Nice grass on the bluff.

A burrowing owl out in the daytime.

At the Lecheria Fish Market

We went to the fish market yesterday about 11:30 AM to get something for lunch. While Tania was dealing with fish (she knows what to buy better than I do...I just make suggestions) I played with my camera. I got a few neat pics. BTW, the fish we bought; a couple of mullet (very tasty) and some dorado fillets.

Here's a very nice dorado. Has some nice color.

Someone's fish drying in the sun.

Fishing lancha that doubles as a pelican roost.

Waiting for scraps.

A nice looking mature pelican.

Saltwater catfish.

Transportation. You'll always see beater bikes at the fish markets.

Pics from Today's Ride

I went riding this morning and trying to get back in the groove of taking pics and blogging. Wish I had better pics. Oh well, I'll be in the Gila and New Mexico in 3 weeks, so I should be posting more then.

Jacques coming down the Extra Trail on La Falla (Failure Trail). Jacques is a novice but riding a super bike, a 2007 Rocky Mountain Vertex Team prototype (1 of 6 built). It has a scandium alloy front triangle, carbonfiber rear triangle. Nice bike!

Pelicans roost on the rocks at the Acuario.

Guayatoto [sic] plant in bloom. This is the plant from hell! It has an acid-like burn. Extremely painful and can be life-threatening...depending on your physical condition.

Venezuelan bike pile. These bikes are too clean!

Carnival! [Day 3]

Most of the day I hung out with Tania. Around 5'o clock, I decided to go for a ride. So I did a short afternoon solo ride on the Merlin. .

I watched pelicans for a while. Then watched the sunset.Hooked up with these guys when riding back into town. Ran into a small Carnival crew on one of the back streets. It was a good little ride.

Petrel

When sailing yesterday, we were far enough from land to see a petrel. It was probably a Greater Shearwater Puffinus gravis. These images came from the link.

First time I've seen a pelagic bird in the wild. Very cool!