Since northern Illinois has been abuzz over a visit of a Snowy Owl these past several days, I now return to to my regularily scheduled series about "Birds of Mexico" that we saw during the week before Christmas, 2010.
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| An Osprey peers over the edge of its nest on Isla Contoy, Mexico; 12/21/10 |
Ospreys are well known for building huge nests on top of man-made structures. In this case, on Isla Contoy, the man-made structure was meant for an Osprey (Above) to nest on. Also on the boat trip to Isla Contoy, as we were leaving the marina in Cancun, we passed a tower with another Osprey nest on top. If you look closely, you can see a young Osprey peaking over the edge (Below).
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| An young Osprey looks over the edge of its nest built on a Telephone tower, Cancun, Mexico, 12/21/10. |
Check out my post about Ospreys on 6/27/10:
http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2010/06/ospreys.html
While scouting out Isla Contoy, other than iguanas, I also saw an abundance of Hermit Crabs. This tiny army of Hermit Crabs (Below) were picking through an old burned out campfire in a picnic area on the beach of Isla Contoy.
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Each one of these shells is occupied by a Hermit Crab, Isla Contoy, Mex.; 12/21/10.
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| A close up look at a Hermit Crab, Isla Contoy, Mexico, 12/21/10. |
Now I am not an expert on Hermit Crabs, but doesn't it look like the Crab in the pic above has both of his eyes coming out of the same eye socket?
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| The last of my Iguanas of the day; Isla Mujeres, Mexico; 12/20/10. |
Tomorrow: Palm Warblers and Isla Contoy marine life.
What an odd place for a next...and wow, a large nest at that, very cool!
ReplyDeleteAw....the hermit crab, these things make the hair on my arms raise....although, we had them for many years as pets, I was so glad when the boys were not into them anymore (they smell too)! :)
Didn't notice that little oddity about the crab's eyes. That's kind of icky!
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