people places n things
Little darlings
Walking through the second floor of the World of birds at the Bronx zoo on my first day of spring vacation this week I came to this display. This habitat extends through both floors. On the floor below the thing that stands out the most are the tawny frog mouths IF they are perched together on a branch low enough, and they often are.
Their huge mouths out of proportions usually seen on an owl this size and their big yellow eyes, makes for an arresting image. Up here however, the nest of the Grosbeak starlings in the hollow tree usually steals the show, but not today.
One of the owl pair was sitting on this nest with its mate not far off on another branch. When I first looked I saw a large tuft of white downy feathers, and thought the bird was molting, and used the feathers to line the nest as a perfect cushion for eggs she probably laid or was going to. Until I saw the tuft of molted feathers open up a large pink mouth. It’s sibling can be seen to its left, eye and beak barely recognizable.
With the equipment I brought with me today I could have gotten some spectacular shots of the babies and the nest, but the glass was so filthy on the inside pane, this was as good as any shot was going to get.
