Uganda Edition: Cape Buffalo with Oxpeckers
Cape Buffalo and Yellow-billed Oxpecker: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — As we cruised up the shore of Lake Mburo, we saw quite a bit of wildlife, including these two Cape Buffalo, resting in the shallows and on the shore. And, of course, where there are Cape Buffalo there will be Oxpeckers! Always (at least in my experience). Notice the apparently well worn ear on this animal…though various amounts of fringing is normal on the Cape Buffalo’s ears. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Flame-colored Tanager
Flame-colored Tanager: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Though the Flame-colored Tanager does come down to foothills level, I have never seen one except high in the Talamanca Mountains. In fact, it is first bird I generally see that I think of as unmistakably a mountain bird. Though they feed in the mid to upper canopy, they do come to feeders, especially on the mountain side where the feeders are already at canopy level for the trees downslope. In my experience they are also quite variable in color, from palish orange to deep orange. Both of these birds are males, and both were coming to the feeders at Miriams, so this is not a “trick of the light.” They were different color orange. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 (paler bird in the shadows) and 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Bushbuck
Bushbuck: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — A female and a male Bushbuck along the shore of Lake Mburo from our late afternoon tour boat. Apparently they are a common site along the lake shore, as sightings are mentioned on several safari web-sites. In the park at large they have the habit, somewhat unique to Mburo, of standing watch on the tops of termite mounds and I saw one in 2019 posing on such a mound in the seeping dusk as a leopard stalked it. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 320 and 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Lesser Violet-eared Hummingbird
Lesser Violet-eared Hummingbird: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Another hummingbird we got our first looks at off Miriam’s back deck. The Lesser Violet-ear (and, before you ask, there is on “Greater” Violet-ear…maybe they are anticipating a possible split??) is one of the most common, and certainly one of the most aggressive, hummingbirds in the American tropics, and can be found from Rainforest to Cloud Forest and everywhere in between. A gorgeous bird wherever it is found. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Certainly one of the most impressive and recognizable birds of Africa…with a range through all but very center of sub-Saharan Africa (all of the “safari” countries), and a common sight where ever there are larger rivers and lakes. These birds were perched along the shore of Lake Mburo, and seen from the tour boat on the lake on our late afternoon excursion. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmotor Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Talamanca Hummingbird
Talamanca Hummingbird: Miriam’s Quetzals Restaurant, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — We left Los Cosningos after lunch and had time for a coffee, hot coco, and birds stop at Miriam’s Quetzals on the way down into San Geraldo de Dota and the Trogon Lodge. Miriam’s perches high on the side of the Savegre Valley and the feeders she maintains off the deck on the back of her restaurant generally provide our first views of some of the mountain specialties. Trouble is, once you are there, and have your cup of excellent coffee or coco, it is hard to get away, and you do not want to be late for your first trout dinner at the Trogon either. The Talamanca Hummingbirds were so bold they came to sit within inches of those who got too close to the feeders. One of the larger hummingbirds…the largest in Central America, it is always impressive, and never more so than when the late afternoon light catches the gorget. Such a treat! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: African Finfoot
African Finfoot: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Another highlight of the boat tour on Lake Mburo. The African Finfoot has two distinct ranges in East Africa, one along the western borders of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania and one along the south/north borders of western Kenya and Tanzania, with a lot of Finfootless territory in between. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Velvety Manakin
Velvety Manakin: Los Cosingos Sanctuary, Costa Rica, December 2022 — A very difficult bird to photograph…deep in the tangle of the rainforest understory…but the only male Velvety we saw on our trip. There was a nice green female showing at the Wilson Botanical Gardens. This is a confusing bird to me. There was once a Blue-Crowned Manakin that had a range in both Central America and South America. There is now a Velvety Manakin with a range primarily in Central America, Columbia, and northern Ecuador and a Blue-capped Manakin with a range in the rest of Amazonian South America. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Striated Heron
Striated Heron: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — we saw this small heron, very like the Green Heron, along the shore of Lake Mburo from our tour boat. The Striated Heron’s range spans the tropics…Central and South America, across Africa, through all of Asia, and on the larger pacific islands and the Galapagos. I have seen it on the Galapagos and along the Amazon in Peru, as well as in Panama…and now, Africa! (I will keep an eye out for it in India in March 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Blue-winged Helicopter Damselfly
Blue-winged Helicopter Damselfly: Los Cosingos Santuary, Costa Rica, December 2022 — We were surprised to find this huge damselfly, the largest in the world, with a wingspan often over seven inches, flying through a clearing at Los Cosingos, just beyond the Alexander Skutch home. They are more common around wetlands and in the mangrove forests of Costa Rica and Central America than in the foothills…but there it was. The photo does not do it justice. You have to see one in flight with those four huge wings helicoptering above the body as it levitates along the forest edge. I tried for flight shots, but the group was more interested in moving on to the next bird and my time was limited. So you will just have to take my word for it…those wings are over three and half inches long! Sony Rx10iv at 447mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.