rufous

Rufous Treepie. Sorry about that tail - but didn't get a chance to compose :-( Thank you for your kind appreciation of my previous posts. Image cropped, re-sized, levels adjusted and minimally sharpened.

Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus rufus)

Endemic to the Western Ghats, South India. Always heard, but rarely seen.

Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus rufus) Gathering fresh nest building material.

Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus rufus)

Great Rufous Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes major major)

Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus rufus)

Two female Allen's (or is it Rufous'?) sharing. Count it: one, two. I took a long series of shots and almost missed this, thinking it was just one. They were actually working out their timing on how to share and how to use this new feeder with no resting stand. It's too bad I didn't have my...

Rufous breasted Hermit (female) This is the lady in the threesome who goes about her business hovering at a rate of knots between the feeders, occasionally casting a loving eye on me.

Rufous breasted Hermit (male) This guy is regularly bullied by the boss. He is a gentleman who regularly perches confidently when feeding, even though I may be seated about 6 feet away. I suspect that he may be immature and / or approves and appreciates my presence.

Rufous breasted Hermit (male) One of two males of this species that visits my feeders daily. I sense that this guy thinks he is the boss. It is not uncommon for him to hover within two feet in front of me menacingly with his long curved bill (Periodically I am seated nearby). In retrospect he...

The light a little better today, the colors nicer, so I continued with this recent arrival today.

Here's a side view of his pretty head. Also taken with 1/13th sec. shutter at ISO-200. Hopefully he'll be around for awhile and I can get some better light during the mid-day.

Yes, I spotted our new arrival for the season today, and he's a beauty. Terrible conditions to shoot: 7:10 p.m. full clouds, setting sun; ISO-200 and wow.. 1/13th second shutter! Applied both a contrast mask, and reduce shadows, got the talon and undertail out of near-total shadow.

Rufous - browed Peppershrike

Making their way through the area on their migration run, I've been seeing the Rufous quite often over the past week or two.

Due to their remote and dim habitat, gnateaters are little-studied and poorly known, though they are often sought after by birdwatchers (like me...).

Taken in Cuenca, Ecuador today.