Fiery-billed Aracari
Fiery-billed Aracari: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Though we see Fiery-billed Aracari on the Osa Peninsula, I alway enjoy them at the feeders on the deck behind the dinning hall at Las Cruces. Up close and personal. And such intense birds! They, like most of the Toucan family, are terrible bullies and nest predators, but you have to admire their plumage and that massive bright bill. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 486 and 587mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th and 1/640th.
Uganda Edition: Three birds in a bush…
Baglafecht Weaver, White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Black-faced Apalis: Kisaro-Kabale Road, Uganda, August 2022 — When we left Mgahinga National Park for. the drive to Lake Bunyonyi and the Bird’s Nest lodge we stopped at the edge of the highlands for a mixed feeding flock working the road edge. This is three birds for the price of one! The Baglafecht Weaver (yellow bird) is common throughout East Africa at certain elevations. It is highly variable and used, in fact, to be 4 separate species, now lumped into one. It still has 5 named races. The White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher (grey bird) is the Albertine variety, without the bold white eye ring common further east, and the Black-faced Apalis is an actual Albertine Rift endemic, which we also encountered in Bwindi. So, not only three birds for the price of one, but three geographically special birds. Sony Rx10iv at 567mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Black Cuckoo-shrike
Black Cuckoo-shrike: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Cuckoo-shrikes of East Africa are one of those species where the male and female look like two different species, they are so no alike! This is the female of the Black Cuckoo-shrike from the slopes of Mgahinga above the ranger station. Sony Rx10iv at 541mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5.6 @ 1/1000th
Euphonias
Spot-crowned and Yellow-throated Euphonia: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2023 — when we visited Las Cruces last year, that is in 2021, there were only Spot-crowned Euphonias coming to the feeders…but this year (2022) there were both Spot-crowned and Yellow-throated. Such a treat! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/640th.
Uganda Edition: Red-faced Woodland Warbler
Red-faced Woodland Warbler: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Another Albertine Rift endemic. This small Woodland Warbler is common in the mid-canopy at in the highlands of western Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. This one was foraging much lower…or it came down for its photo, one or the other. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 541mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. I have never seen a photography of this bird, or an illustration for that matter, where the face actually looks “red” but then I have only ever seen this one bird.
Green Honeycreeper
Green Honeycreeper: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — This is one of those rare bird species which is obviously named for the female, who is indeed, very very green. The male, in his turquoise and black, can therefore, come as somewhat of a surprise, the first time you see one…which is likely to be at any fruit feeder in Central America or almost anywhere except the highest mountains and deepest Amazon in northern South America. Of course they do exist just fine where people are not feeding birds…but they are certainly among the most common “feeder birds” in American tropics, often arriving first and staying longest. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 and 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Chestnut-throated Apalis
Chestnut-throated Apalis: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Chestnut-throated Apalis is common in the highlands of East Africa with widely separated ranges in the mountains of the Albertine Rift and in Kenya on either side of the Great Rift valley. A perky little bird, seen here in a small sunny clearing near where we turned around to head back at Mgahinga National Park. Sony Rx10iv at 547mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 160 @ f4 ! 1/500th.
Mousam River in the snow…
Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2023 — It is very rare indeed for the snow to stay on the trees in southern Maine for more than a few hours. We are into our third day of this winter wonderland now…and it looks good to hold until we get some “wintery mix” late this evening into tomorrow. There are downed trees and branches all over town, and there will be more by morning tomorrow. Still, it is undeniably beautiful. This is two more iPhone 13 shots. One with the ultra-wide lens and, of course, a panorama. The computing power of the phone makes these kinds of photos possible and even easy.
Northern Puffback
Northern Puffback: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Here are a few more Northern Puffback shots, this time from Mgahinga. The Northern Puffback has a wide range in both East and West Africa, and at most elevations where there is scrubby brush. These birds were along the edge of one of the open fields along the Golden Monkey trek path. Sony Rx10iv around 550mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo. ISO 400 and 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Clinging snow…
Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2023 — We had one of those days on Friday. Heavy wet snow overnight, with, thankfully, no wind, and we woke to a world frosted in white. (The thankfulness is about broken branches, downed trees, and power lines…which would have been a major problem with any wind at all…as it was the lawn is littered with fallen branches buried in the snow.) I was out clearing the drive with the snowblower, and still had the energy when I finished for a few phone photos. I have a “new” iPhone 13 with the ultrawide lens to try out. If you follow my Day Poems on Tumbler or Facebook, that graze on the big pine is where the truck hit it a few nights ago…during the last snow storm. Anyway, it makes a change from constant photos of tropical birds and wildlife. 🙂