Costa Rica! Monkey business
White-faced Capuchins: Macaw Ranch, Sarapique Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — I told this story a while ago, but it bears telling again. Besides the large flock of Macaws that live at Macaw Ranch, there is a troop of White-faced Capuchins who visit on occasion, and just as with the Macaws, they are well habituated to humans and will approach very closely…one tried to steal the hat off my head in fact, and I have a photo, taken by our guide, to prove it. 🙂 They did get the hat off another of our guides and had to be chased to get it back. They apparently think hat stealing is great fun. Being at Macaw Ranch and litterally surrounded by wild playful Capuchins changed my view of the species completely. I had always thought of them, from past encounters, as somewhat sour individuals, but it is apparently just the set of their faces. Behind the thoughtful scowl is the heart of a monkey! I can relate to that. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm, 400mm, and 200mm equivalent (the close-up is the 200mm one 🙂 . Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Wood Stork
Wood Stork: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — A couple of Wood Storks in all their January finery. Is there a more handsome bird anywhere? Of course there is. Still the Wood Stork has an undeniable presence. I can remember my first sighting in Georgia, years ago, and how hard I worked for it, and how happy I was. My second sighting was in a ditch along the highway leaving the airport in Florida the very next year, out in plain sight in broad daylight, as they say. I have seen hundreds since, mostly on Blackpoint Drive at Merritt Island. These were among the first birds I saw after entering the loop this year. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Scarlet Macaw head and shoulders
Scarlet Macaw: Macaw Ranch, Sarapique Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Head and shoulder portraits of two Scarlet Macaws at the Macaw Ranch in Costa Rica. These are wild, free flying birds, but so habituated to human presence that they are easy to approach. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 200mm equivalent (close!). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Great Egret in proportion
Great Egret and American White Pelicans: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — I don’t know about you but I think of Great Egrets as being big birds. The largest of our Egrets and Herons with an impressive wingspan and elegant carriage. Then you see them standing in front of a group of Pelicans and you realize just how small they really are…or how big the Pelicans are. Wingspan: Egret 4.5 feet. Pelican, twice that at 9 feet. Weight: Egret 2.2 lbs. Pelicans between 11 and 20 lbs, and up to 32 lbs. Pelicans are big birds! Egrets are just not even in the same class…so they cannot be big birds. Case closed. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Nothing so elegant!
Great Egret (2, and a Snowy looking on): Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Nothing so elegant as a Great Egret in display. After taking a 1000 shots of the Snowy Egrets dancing on the water one morning at Blackpoint Drive, I turned to concentrate on the Great Egret action…trying to catch wings open and some of the confrontational displays. Again, this was in a pool where there were at least 50 Snowies and 25 Great’s feeding avidly, so I had non-stop action to choose from. Spoiled for choice! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 454mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. -0.3EV. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Bohemian Waxwing antics
Bohemian Waxwing: York County, Maine, USA, February 2024 — I have been back to the area where I saw this Bohemian Waxwing feeding with a flock of Robins on Sunday, several times now, in hopes of finding more, or at least finding a flock of Cedar Waxwings. Nothing doing. I have not seen either since the first sighting. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching Waxwings feed. They are so elegant and so acrobatic in their single-minded pursuit of the sweetest fruit. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Red-shouldered at the moss
Red-shouldered Hawk: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas Florida, USA, January 2024 — There were quite a few Red-shouldered Hawks working Orlando Wetlands Park when I visited during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival last month. This one came in close and got itself out on the more precarious spindly branches of the tree, apparently in search of the moss, or something in the moss. I suspect it was attempting to gather nesting materials, as a google search turned up the fact that Red-shouldered Hawks are known to line their nests with moss. The light was subdued, but it was fun to watch as the hawk struggled to maintain its balance while busy with the moss. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Black Duck
American Black Duck: York County, Maine, USA, February 2024 — The other surprise (besides the Bohemian Waxwing) of my early Sunday morning photo outing was 2 pair of American Black Ducks keeping company with the growing flock of Canada Geese in the tidal creek at the mouth of our local river. This is another bird that I have only seen a few times in Maine, and not for a long time. Again, maybe I have not been looking the right places at the right times, but my impression is that our strange winter is bring out many birds I have not seen in years. (Though American Black Duck is still shown as common along the Maine Coast year-round in the field guides, a bit more research tells me that though once the most common dabbling duck in Eastern North America, populations have radically declined due to habitat loss over the last century, to the point were the Black Duck is a species of concern to many. Though they look like (and may actually be) Mallards they do not seem to be as resilient in the long run.) OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent (heavily cropped). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Osprey eye
Osprey: Biolab Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville Florida, USA, January 2024 — Biolab Road at Merritt Island can sometimes be productive, and sometimes turns up birds not seen on Blackpoint or views not gotten. This Osprey, perched on snag at the edge of the water at eye-level and near the road, was the highlight of the one trip I made down Biolab on this visit to the Space Coast. It honestly does not get any better than this! I just pulled up. Shut the car off to eliminate vibrations, and shot out the open window. The bird was totally unimpressed by my regard 🙂 It was still sitting there when I drove on. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. -0.7 EV. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Both Waxwings!
Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings: York County, Maine, USA, February 2024 — I went out early yesterday to check for Eagles at our local spot and to see if there were any interesting ducks in the tidal creek behind the dunes. No Eagles but the large flock of Robins that I had seen the day before was still working the winterberries along the river, and there was what appeared to be a lone Cedar Waxwing with them. I was excited. I have been expecting the Cedar Waxwings to show up to harvest the winterberry and ornimental cherries around town. A single bird was odd though. They generally arrive and travel in small flocks. I photographed what I thought was the same bird several times around along the river and the wood lot edge as the Robins moved around. It was not until I got the photos up on my tablet for editing that I realized that there were at least two Waxwings with the Robins. One was clearly a Bohemian Waxwing. I can maybe be forgiven for not recognizing the Bohemian when it was in front of me. I was concentrating on my photography and I was expecting to see a Cedar Waxwing. I was not expecting to see a Bohemian! This is only the second Bohemian sighting in my life, and I have not seen one for at least 15 years. And that explains why the two Waxwings were not “flocking”. They are distinctly different species. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. (Image resolution is limited here by the distance and atmospheric wobble involved in shooting over melting snow.)