Winged Runners

La Isla Del Encanto  Cabo Rojo Coastline  It's always nice to catch a break from the cold Northeast winter and travel down to the tropics. This year was slightly different as 50 degree weather seems to be the norm temperature for the winter of 2012, in NY at least. In a way it felt like we were escaping Spring. Nonetheless, we were excited to head down and explore "La Isla del Encanto" or Puerto Rico as we all know it. La isla del encanto translates to "The Island of Enchantment." Once only inhabited by the Taino people, the Island was eventually discovered by Columbus on his second voyage. The Tainos were a sea-faring society that inhabited much of Greater Antilles. Eventually their beautiful land was exposed and the Tainos were devastated by introduced disease. The Spaniards forced the Taino people into slavery and to adopt the plantation way of life. Few Taino populations remain in Puerto Rico today. Like many indigenous people, the Taino's we...

Greetings Friends, Thank you for viewing my new blog page. I am currently in the very beginning stages of developing a blogspot page that is geared toward life and nature. I am certain that the end result will be pleasurable for all to view. You can expect to see a vast array of nature, wildlife, travel and fun as you explore my page. Stay tuned and thanks for checking in!!! Please note that there will be vast improvements done to this page and that you are the very first visitors of a larger effort on my behalf. Today my brother Chris and I decided to go birding. We wanted to stick to the terrestrial side of things and took off toward Riverhead and the EPCAL area. EPCAL is the last largest remaining grassland on Long Island and is a birding hotspot as it is known to attract many grassland dependant species. Most of my excitement in heading east had much to do with a recent sighting, found by good friend and naturalist, Peter Priolo. Yesterday evening, Pete was detailing a group of...