Bay-headed Tanager in the sun…
Bay-headed Tanager: Los Cosingos Sanctuary, Costa Rica, December 2022 — When we moved on from Las Cruces Biological Research Station, headed for San Gerardo de Dota in the Talamanca Mountains, we stopped for a biding lunch at Los Cosginos Bird Sanctuary, which is the Alexander Skutch homestead. Skutch is perhaps the best know tropical naturalist of recent generations, with many influential books and studies to is credit. When he passed away his homestead was set aside, and is operated as sanctuary for the birds he loved. This Bay-headed Tanager came for bananas put out on stump near the Skutch house, which is maintained as a kind of museum to his work. It is mount the most colorful of the many colorful neo-tropical tanager species. Here it just about shines in the direct sun. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Defassa Waterbuck
Defassa Waterbuck: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Male and female Waterbuck. The male was from our early morning walking safari and the female was on the way to our lodge when we had first arrived in the Park. Magnificent animals! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm (male) and 143mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Male: ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th, Female: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/320th.
Snowy-bellied Hummingbird
Snowy-bellied Hummingbird: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I posted another image from this same encounter back in December when I actually saw the bird, but it deserves another as I work my way through my shots from Costa Rica. Not an easy bird to see and we missed it on our first attempt, so I was out at first light to try again on the morning we left Las Cruces for the mountains. The light was challenging, to say the least, but the bird came in just as I reached my time limit and had to head back for breakfast and departure. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: African Openbill (Stork)
African Openbill Stork: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — This bird is generally just called the African Openbill, or even Openbill, but it is obviously a Stork and some references add the Stork to the name. We can on this one in a wet field still on our way to our lodge at Lake Mburo, posing nicely on its termite nest. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Yellow-bellied Elaenia: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Elaenias are pretty plain by tropical bird standards, but the Yellow-bellied has this interesting double crest that is often erected, making it stand out…as it does here in the early morning light at Weldon Botanical Gardens. I was out looking for the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, which I did eventually see, but the Elaenia keep me entertained while I was waiting. The Yellow-bellied Elaenia has a wide distribution from southern Mexico all down through Central America, at all but the highest elevations. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Plains Zebra
Burchelle’s Zebra (Plains Zebra), Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Lake Mburo, always our last stop before the airport at the end of our Uganda safari, is also our last chance for the larger wildlife of Africa…and our only chance for Zebra (they also have Zebra in the Kidepo Valley National Park, in the northeast corner of Uganda right up against Kenya, but we don’t get up there). Zebras have never been domesticated…their spines are not strong enough to carry weight or to pull weight…it could also have to do with their temperament, but we won’t go there. They are certainly beautiful animals to see in the wild. Lake Mburo has numbers…but not the big herds of Kenya or Tanzania. Sony Rx10iv at 229mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch: San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Another bird from the wasteland by the airport in San Vito. The Lesser Goldfinch is actually rare in Costa Rica, and restricted to foothills and highlands. It is similar to the Lessor Goldfinches we might see in South Texas, but quite different than our Lessers from most of the west. Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: more Lilac-breasted Roller
Lilac-breasted Roller: near Lake Mbruo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Lilac-breasted Roller deserves another post (I think, at least). Two more shots from the roadside on our way from Kabale to Lake Mburo. Such a glorious bird! 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, plus 1.3EV and ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th, plus 2.3EV.
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Rufous-browed Peppershrike: San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — We drove down to the town of San Vito, cutting down a narrow steep shortcut to come out the other side of town by the airport. There is a woodworking shop there where birders park to overlook the little wetland in the valley below in hopes of some interesting water birds. It is a long shot, but there are sometimes some brushy birds in the waste ground around the shop as consolation prizes…on this visit a Rufous-browed Peppershrike, down low. This is a mid- and high-canopy bird of forest edges, so seeing it in bush 5 feet from the ground in the open was kind of special. It stayed well tucked back in the bush and was only in clear view for the moment when I happened to be looking through the camera. 🙂 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.
Uganda Editon: Lilac-breasted Roller
Lilac-breasted Roller: On the road from Kabale to Lake Mburo, Uganda, August 2022 — It was Stan’s first trip to Africa and all his daughter wanted from him was a photo of a Lilac-breasted Roller. And, though I had seen them in South Africa and Kenya, I had missed seeing one in Uganda in 2019, so I really wanted one on this trip. We watched the wires on the drive from Kabale to Lake Mburo very carefully, and Stan had the honor of calling this one out! We stopped (of course) and took photos. And, of course, once the ice was broken, we saw many more in Lake Mburo National Park…but this one, though totally backlit, was special! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th. Plus 1.3EV.