Costa Rica! Yellow-throated Euphonia
Yellow-throated Euphonia: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Euphonia means “musical” or “sweet voiced” and there are several birds of that name that you might encounter in Costa Rica. This is the Yellow-throated, which was common at the feeders at Mirador El Pizote. Again, such a great place for bird photography. They were at the feeders often, but the number of perches around the feeders made it easy to get them in a more natural setting. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Shiny!
Shinning Honeycreeper: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Mirador El Pizote has a wonderful set of feeders, ideal for photography of the tanagers and honeycreepers and euphonias who frequent the lowlands of Costa Rica…including the Shinning Honeycreeper, which can be one of the more difficult honeycreepers to see. They have hummingbird feeders too, and large fruit feeders for the toucans, aracaris, and oropedolas. This Shinning Honeycreeper could not struck a better pose. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Eagle in the snow
Bald Eagle, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — The Eagles that frequent river by Roger’s Pond here in Kennebunk are generally across the river and too far away for great photos…not this this is a great photo…but at least the eagle was on my side of the river for a change. Snowing of course and dull light, but still. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Stoic
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — Into every bluebird’s life (well at least Maine bluebirds) some snow must fall, and when it does the bluebird meets it with typical bluebird stoicism. This is a first year bird so it is only his second snow, but he is wise to the ways of snow already. It comes. It goes. Just as long as the mealworm feeder is full. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Taken through a double glazed deck door. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Yellow is the color
Yellow-throated Toucan: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — One of the most recognizable birds of the American Tropics, the Yellow-throated Toucan has a wide range, when including its nominate and 2 sub-species, all down through the lowland rainforests of Central America and along the north-west rim of South America from eastern Venezuela to southern Peru. It is still listed as “near threatened” by the IOU. No one actually knows how it is doing within its range…but there is a lot of deforestation going on throughout, and it is assumed numbers are declining. Big, bold, loud and just a little clumsy around feeders, it is one of those birds that you see in the air or perched and think, “How is that possible?” For one thing that huge beak is a thin, hollow shell, and weighs very little compared to the mass of the bird. Always a delight to see. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600 and 515mm equivalents. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Off East Point in January
East Point Audubon Sanctuary, Biddeford Pool, Maine, USA. Looking for non-existent Snowy Owls and Purple Sandpipers, but the view is grand! Sony a5100 with Sony 10-18 f4 wide zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with Landscape Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Showing some scarlet
Scarlet-rumpled Cacique: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — In my experience it is rare to see any red at all on the rump of the Scarlet-rumped Cacique…they mostly keep it well hidden under the tips of the wings. To be fair though I have not seen many…they were occasional visitors to Selve Verde where I have stayed in the Sarapiqui in the past…they were daily, hourly visitors at Victor’s place. I am told that Cacique means chief in native caribbean languages, and it has come to mean “boss” (as in party boss or gang boss or mob boss) in much of Latin America. And like most in the blackbird family, the Scarlet-rumped Cacique is very much the boss of the feeders when it comes around. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Can you see the Eagle?
Bald Eagle: York County Maine, USA, January 2025 — The eagle was back along the river yesterday, but sitting way up high in a tall pine on the other side. If you look closely in the wide shot (I say “wide” but it was at 111mm equivalent) you might find it, tucked back in at the end of a branch. It takes 600mm equivalent, cropped in, and then up-scaled, to see that it really is an eagle. I sat on a bench in the sun (barely warm enough for that but I had all my layers on), and waited to see if he or she would come down for a fish or at least decent to a lower perch…but the eagle was still on the end of that same limb when the sun went behind clouds and I called it quits. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Posed Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Victor’s feeder by the corner of the 2nd floor deck is ideal of bird portraits…as in this portrait of a Orange-chinned Parakeet who posed nicely on the moss with the bromeliad. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Eider
Common Eider: York County, Maine, USA, January 2025 — When we first moved back to Maine in 1995, there were flocks of hundreds, thousands, of Common Eiders all along the coast of York County. Now I have to go looking to find one…or one small flock of maybe half a dozen. I am not convinced that there are less Eiders, though that could well be true. just for sure that they don’t come into the coast here anymore. This handsome male reminded me. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.