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sulfurousdreamscapes · 7 years

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There are no humans in the illustration books. And no hummingbirds. There are plenty of hummingbirds in Mindo Valley. Ecuador alone accounts for over a third of hummingbird species in the world. And still, I can't bring myself to draw a single one in the books. Not a single beak. Not a single wing. Not a single tail feather.

I turn the thin pages, barely touching them with the tips of my fingers, making sure they don't crease or fold. It's not often that I open the books to read through them, but this evening was the straw that broke the metaphorical camel's back. The thought of camels makes me laugh—alone—in a cabin in the middle of a rainforest crawling with insects and snakes. The black telephone had cobwebs over it, the windows had gone nearly opaque, and the wood creaked.

There's the yellow-faced grassquit, and the cloud-forest pygmy-owl, the brown violetear, the uniform antshrike, three kinds of tanagers, several kinds of parrots, the golden-headed quetzal, the rufous-bellied nighthawk, and my favourite, the crimson-rumped toucanet. An odd choice, I know. But the bill reminds me of an old cartoonist from my native Kyoto, who would visit my Sensei when I practised on sweltering summer days with singing cicadas.

Mr Bright, his name was, and he was from England, where he had learned to make fun of humans and pay respect to animals. "Take care, Toshiro," he said to me one evening, while Sensei was drinking tea and assessing my work, making sure that the strokes were just right, that the pencilling wasn't too strong or too light, that the proportions were right. "Take care," Mr Bright said, "That you draw the hummingbird. No illustrator is complete without drawing that brilliant creation."

Placid lakes, white rivers, trees of a million shades of green, suns breaking through canopies of leaves, tail feathers of blue and red and green and yellow, eyes that dart and scan, rocks placed just so by the tides of time and place, and no humans. Not a single one. The pencil's strokes had tread across the paper, once, twice, again and again, even as I let the mosquitoes suck me dry, even as I wondered how long it had been since I'd seen a human.

I'd tried, Mr Bright. I'd tried to capture the hummingbirds. The one-hundred and thirty kinds of hummingbirds. And as soon as I caught sight of them, I photographed them in my mind's eye, I developed the negative in my brain, I stored them away in a safe, and I examined them over and over to draw them, but the pencil lead would not move. All I could manage was a dot. That was my hummingbird.

I picked up telephone, breaking the cobwebs around it. It was working, by some miracle of an ancient jungle god.

"Mr Bright?"

"Toshiro? Is that really you?" The voice was hoarse, but that was him alright. I could recognise his accent anywhere.

"I cannot draw the hummingbird, Mr Bright. I've tried. I've tried for ten years. I can't. This is my final day here. I give up. I'll never be a complete illustrator," I said.

"Oh," he said, and cleared his throat with an intensity only a nonagenarian could muster, "Don't worry, I was joking."

Based on a story idea by Ana.

#writing #writeblr #words #fiction #flash fiction #flash fic #spilled ink #original fic #original prose #short story #short fiction #short fic #short stories #daily writing

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roperoaventuras · 5 years

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FOTOGRAFÍAS REALES DE NUESTROS TOURS Y PASEOS PRIVADOS. Contacto: [email protected] / +57 3176268212.

Te invitamos a conocer la RESERVA NATURAL LOS TANANEOS, destino natural que protege lo mejor del bosque seco tropical en las estribaciones de la Serranía del Perijá, a sólo 30 km de la ciudad de Valledupar.

La Reserva Natural Los Tananeos es una centro de conservación reconocido por PARQUES NACIONALES DE COLOMBIA como reserva natural de la sociedad civil desde el año 2015. Su principal objeto como organización es la conservación del árbol de tananeo (Peltogyne purpurea) que le da su nombre a la reserva.

Su rango altitudinal entre 600 y 800 msnm, su denso bosque, su riqueza hídrica, condiciones orográficas y gran extensión, permiten observar a lo largo de su red de senderos la gran biodiversidad de la región y conocer en detalle las plantas, los hábitats, animales y por supuesto ¡LAS AVES! Con la guianza personal de JOSE LUIS ROPERO, guía de aviturismo y gestor cultural de Valledupar.

Árbol de tananeo. Foto: Reserva Natural Los Tananeos.

El lugar cuenta con un excelente balneario en el río Manaure y piscina natural de aguas cristalinas, donde pueden disfrutar tanto niños como adultos.

Luego de la visita a la Reserva Natural Los Tananeos podemos dirigirnos al Centro Turístico Villa Adelaida, en la cabecera municipal de Manaure Balcón del Cesar y disfrutar de sus atractivos naturales, conocer su granja, procesos agroforestales de cacao, excelente restaurante y hotel campestre.

AVES DE ESPECIAL IMPORTANCIA EN LA RESERVA NATURAL LOS TANANEOS.

Scaled Piculet (Picumnus squammulatus)

Military Macaw (Ara militaris)

Golden-winged Sparrow (Arremon schlegeli)

Blue-black Grosbeak (Cyanoloxia cyanoides)

Black-backed Antshrike (Thamnophilus melanonotus)

Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus)

Venezuelan Flycatcher (Myiarchus venezuelensis)

Rufous-breasted Wren (Pheugopedius rutilus)

Rosy Thrush-Tanager (Rhodinocichla rosea)

Lance-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata)

INFORMACIÓN GENERAL DEL SERVICIO: paseo privado, adaptable a las necesidades y preferencias del cliente.

DURACIÓN: doce horas, entre las 5:00 am y 5:00 pm.

ACTIVIDADES: observación de aves, senderismo interpretativo y exploración de la Reserva Natural Los Tananeos, el Centro Turístico Villa Adelaida y el municipio de Manaure Balcón del Cesar.

INCLUYE: Guianza. Checklist impresa. Entradas a los diferentes destinos. Transporte Valledupar-Tananeos y Manaure-Valledupar. Almuerzo, snack e hidratación. Seguro de turismo.

IMÁGENES DE NUESTRO PASEO INTERPRETATIVO DE NATURALEZA Y OBSERVACIÓN DE AVES.

En el parche de la rosita canora.

Instante con el atrapamoscas venezolano (Venezuelan Flycatcher / Myiarchus venezuelensis).

Momento con el Golden-winged Sparrow, Christmas Bird Count.

Lance-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata).

Military Macaw (Ara militaris).

Golden-winged Sparrow (Arremon schlegeli).

Venezuelan Flycatcher (Myiarchus venezuelensis).

Profesor Álvaro Jaramillo (tercero de izq. a der.), guiando su grupo de birders. Foto: Gabriel Utria.

Participantes en el October Big Day, Reserva Natural Los Tananeos.

Steve Hilty y Katty Ropero (centro), Directora de Los Tananeos. Foto: Jose Luis Ropero.

Árbol de tananeo. Foto: Reserva Natural Los Tananeos.

JOSE LUIS ROPERO Guía de aviturismo y gestor cultural [email protected]

Birding y senderismo. Paseo interpretativo a la Reserva Natural Los Tananeos y Manaure Balcón del Cesar. FOTOGRAFÍAS REALES DE NUESTROS TOURS Y PASEOS PRIVADOS. Contacto: [email protected] / +57 3176268212. Te invitamos a conocer la RESERVA NATURAL LOS TANANEOS, destino natural que protege lo mejor del bosque seco tropical en las estribaciones de la Serranía del Perijá, a sólo 30 km de la ciudad de Valledupar.

#Aves #Birding #Manaure #Naturaleza #Perijá #Reserva Los Tananeos #Senderismo #Travel #Trekking #Turismo #Villa Adelaida

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parrotfertileeggs · 5 years

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A Compilation of The Birds of Trinidad & Tobago - Vol. 3 [toucan birds]

A Compilation of The Birds of Trinidad & Tobago – Vol. 3 [toucan birds]

This video includes: Carib Grackle, Red-breasted Blackbird, Yellow-hooded Blackbird, Shiny Cowbird, Channel-billed Toucan, Silver-beaked Tanager, Tropical Mockingbird, Spectacled Thrush, Great Antshrike, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Wattled Jacana, Southern Lapwing, Tropical Screech Owl, and Orange-winged Parrot. This volume is 43:03 minutes long. toucan birds

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