India! Road birding….
Wooley-necked Stork, Red-naped Ibis, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Black-winged Stilt, Glossy-Ibis: Along the road from Saltanpur to Bharatpur. Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Classic road birding. The kind birders love and photographers hate. I mean, the birds are all a mile away…poor views even in binoculars, sometimes at the far reach for a scope…and way beyond hope for a decent photo…the Indian traffic with blarring horns is zipping by inches from your back, and boys on motorbikes (well young men…what is it with these groups of young men on motorbikes in India, three or four to a bike, who apparently have nothing to do but zip around roads and stare at tourists?) gathering to stare, And I suppose we were a spectacle huddled there against the guard rails in the questionable shelter of our bus with our binoculars and cameras up looking out across the flooded fields. Personally I was not sorting shore birds at the far edge…I was looking for closer birds and things I might not see again to photograph. The Wooley-necked Stork (our first sighting), Glossy Ibis, and Black-winged Stilt, we would encounter many times again in our travels (and much closer), but these are my only shots of Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Red-naped Ibis. That is often the way it goes with road-side birding. And we made it safely back into the bus and continued our journey to Bharatpur. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. ISO as needed, f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Scintillant Hummingbird
Scintillant Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I have known Marino, the son of one of the original brothers who settled the Savegre Valley, for several years. He was our guide at Savegre the on our vary first trip, when just I an one other couple extended our trip for a visit to the mountains, and I have seen him there every trip since. He met my daughter on one of those trips and never fails to ask after her. We bumped into him while looking for Quetzals on the road above Trogon Lodge on our first morning in the valley, and he said he would see us at Batsu later in the week. Sure enough he had arranged to be our guide (though Batsu belongs to his son), driving us up the gardens and spending the whole afternoon with us. Marino is one of those people who is never happier than when showing folks birds and when he was not chasing down hummers for us in the larger gardens, he was setting up flower feeders where we could sit comfortably and watch hummers come and go. It was one of my best afternoons ever at Batsu, and that is saying quite a lot! This male Scintillant Hummer was one he chased down in the rain. We took turns following him out to its perch for photographs, doing our best to keep our gear dry. The Scintillant is one of two small hummers endemic to the high volcanos and the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. The other is the Volcano, but in the Talamancas at least, the Volcano has a bright purple gorget. When their gorgets are not lit, or with female birds, they are very difficult to tell apart. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Red-breasted Flycatcher
Red-breasted Flycatcher: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I spent way too much time chasing this common little flycatcher of India, found pretty much everywhere south of the mountains, through the heavy brush where it likes to skulk, trying for a clear shot. This will have to do. It is a perky little active bird, and males past the second year mostly have the distinctive redish breast. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Green Bee-eater
Green Bee-eater: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — The most common bee-eater we saw in Rajasthan was by far the Green Bee-eater. They were pretty much everywhere there were standing trees, even in the hedgerows between cultivated fields. Bee-eaters are ever active birds…never still a moment…even when perched, and with their attractive blends of greens and blues (and occasional reds) they are stand-out photographic subjects. I came back with way too many photos of Green Bee-eaters. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Chestnut-capped Brushfinch
Chestnut-capped Brushfinch: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Batsu Gardens, high on the mountainside above San Gerardo de Dota and the Savegre Mountain Resort, is one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon when visiting Costa Rica. It is a great place for photography…designed specifically for photographing the local seed and fruit eaters and the mountain hummingbirds…in comfort, with all the amenities right there. For the bird and wildlife photographer, it honestly does not get much better! This is Chestnut-capped Bushfinch, a common ground finch of the Talamancas. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Oriental Honey Buzzard?
Oriental Honey Buzzard (?): Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We saw way more raptors than I somehow expected in India…most were way far and soaring, but we did see a significant number perched closer. This one on one of the small islands in the marsh at Saltanpur. Someday I will develop a method of associating the ids our guides are making with the photos I am taking that works better than my memory…someday…but I did not have one in place for this trip. Merlin says this is an Oriental Honey Buzzard, but it also gives several other choices, and I can not honestly remember what the guide said. If anyone can say more definitely I would appreciate it. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
India! Spotted Owlet
Spotted Owlet: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I was surprised to find this little Spotted Owlet sitting right out in plain sight a few yards in from the busy trail at Saltanpur, but the Spotted Owlet was to become one of the constant themes of the trip. We found them just about everywhere in Rajasthan we had a chance to look for them. This one was near a nest box provided for its convenience, but as cavity nesters they are common wherever there are mature trees. And their diurnal habits and apparent lack of any fear of man at all make them easy to see. In hindsight, we probably could have seen a lot more of them, if we had taken the time to look. It got so it was “just another Spotted Owlet”…and that should not be, as it is certainly an engaging little bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Peacock
Indian Peafowl: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I grew up in eastern up-state New York, on a rural farm, with Peacocks. My grandfather, who was maybe a bit odd in many ways, but a wonderful man, kept, as a hobby, “fancy birds”, for no particular reason other than he liked them. He had a pair of Peafowl, and about 50 Guineefowl, a barn full of fancy bantam roosters and hens, ducks, and a huge bully goose that ruled the barnyard. (I still have scars, emotional if not physical, from that goose.) A Peacock in full display was then a common sight in my youth. I have since been places where escaped birds frequent the rooftops, but, of course, there is no where quite like India for Peafowl. It is the Indian Peafowl after all. In Rajasthan at least, they are everywhere. And since they seem to like to live in close proximity to humans, and they are so large, and so gaudy, they are seen everywhere too. This male was in full display in a broken lot off the circuit trail at Saltanpur. Pretty impressive. Even more impressive, I suppose, if I had not grown up with them. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! White-throated Mountain Gem, female
Female White-throated Mountain Gem: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The White-throated Mountain Gems, especially the females, like to feed at the flowers where the Flowerpiercers have been busy. They use the holes the Flowerpiercers have already made, which gives them access to nectar they would not otherwise be able to reach. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Grey Heron and Great Egret with lots of ducks and others at Saltanpur
Grey Heron, Great Egret: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Despite being often shrouded in the mirk of greater Delhi, the wetlands at Saltanpur are a vital resource for ducks, waterfowl, waders and other water birds, and home to a large herd of Nilgai antelope. I am always amazed at the resilience of nature. In this one image you can see three large waders, Black-necked Stilt, Painted Crane, Swamp-hen, and at least a few species of ducks. And the back end of a Nilgai. I had to work on it to draw the content out of the haze, but it certainly demonstrates how rich an area Saltanpur is for birds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.