H - Hornbill

My "H" post is the hornbill.

Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family of bird found in tropical and sub-tropical Africa and Asia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-coloured and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family refer to the shape of the bill, "buceros" being "cow horn" in Greek. In addition, they possess a two-lobed kidney. Hornbills are the only birds in which the first two neck vertebrae (the axis and atlas) are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of species of hornbill are threatened with extinction, mostly insular species with small ranges.

This picture was taken May 2009, in Baluarte - Vigan, Ilocos Sur. I am personally afraid of birds - so this picture I took using the zoom of my camera. Although the birds in this zoo are well trained, I am still afraid of it. :)

*** Jenn ***

Tiny Red Rose

PC's a bit okay now, so time to get back on track again. This month on Ruby Tuesday, I will feature pictures from Baguio City, as I was there last 27 February to witness the Panagbenga Festival 2010. But, not all pictures for Ruby Tuesday will be about the festival.




After the grand street parade, I walked around the city to check the sights. Nothing much to do because the city's packed with so many people. While looking for my way to the public market, I saw this little kiosk selling flowering plants and this little rose caught my attention. It was really small - maybe the size of my thumb - that I couldn't help not to take a picture of it.

The quality of the picture didn't look that good - the original looked way much sharper, but since my PC is bare, what I can do is to upload the original image online, resize it to 640x480 and put my namestamp using the Paint. I guess the process of resizing it made it look not good, but I have to live with it for the mean time, since I still haven't got myself a cable for the DVD-ROM so I can install the programs.

*** Jenn ***

Kissed by the Rain

New month (for me as I was out of town last week), new theme. This month, it's all about flowers with water drops on Today's Flowers.




Taken February last year using my cell phone's camera, this picture was taken from the grounds of the barangay (the smallest unit of government here in the Philippines) hall where the family attended a meeting with the captain along with the neighborhood people. I thought this wasn't greatly shot as this was the only shot I made - my mom was rushing me because she didn't want us to be late... and people here in our place aren't still used to seeing people taking pictures of other things aside from people. To some, seeing me taking pictures of flowers made me look weird or it made me look as if I got nothing better to do. Well, in my own stand point, this is my life, as long as I am not stepping on someone else's toes, I am good. :)

Have a great new week, everyone!

*** Jenn ***

Another Partial Solar Eclipse

15th of January this year, the country saw another eclipse. That time, it happened late in the afternoon, and at first I was optimistic that I could get a good glimpse of it since our house was facing the sunset. I was able to take this picture from our gate during the first hours (3:30PM) of the eclipse, but as time passed, it was becoming difficult for me to take pictures because the sun was hiding from the house fronting ours.


I tried so many ways just to capture the eclipse, and by past 5PM, I saw a little space from our neighbor's balcony. I had to max out the zoom levels of my camera, and even if the clothesline of our neighbor was showing, for me it was enough than not having a picture at all.

Happy weekends, everyone!

*** Jenn ***

G - Garden Eel

Greetings from La Union! I am here since Saturday, and will stay until Friday. Currently, I am just taking some time off to update my sites and check mails, and since I have this picture on my Flickr, I can join ABC Wednesday for this week.




G is for "Garden Eel," which from afar looks like some seaweeds swaying in the water. They are known to be very frightened on humans, and since much of their bodies were buried in the sand, a sight of human makes them dart back into their own sandy hole.

This image was taken in an aquarium in the Manila Ocean Park. The eels were quite far from each other, and seeing this one near the glass, I patiently waited for it to come out its hole so I could take a good shot. It's quite shy - didn't want to face me, but I could settle for this. I think the critter is cute enough.

*** Jenn ***