Costa Rica! Sooty Thrush
Sooty Thrush: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — A common bird of the highlands of southern Costa Rica and northern Panama in fields and oak forest edges, the Sooty Thrush is a large true thrush, similar in size and behavior to our North American Robins. In fact it used to be called the Sooty Robin. The yellow bill, legs and feet, make a strong contract with the sooty body. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100=400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Practice makes perfect
Eastern Bluebird: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — I am not sure what this behavior is? I am almost certain that this is last summer’s chick, well able to feed itself, and not begging that I saw. And I am pretty sure this is our full adult male, who has raised 8 broods (at least) while we have watched over the past 4 years. Maybe he is just getting in practice for this year’s first brood. And maybe he is just a provider by nature, which is why he has had so many successfully fledged off-spring. I was photographing the young bird and was very surprised when the male edged into the frame. OM System OM-1Mkii with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Scrub Jay at eyelevel
Florida Scrub Jay: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Up and posing nicely! Nothing like Florida light. And really a wonderful bird. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Mallard close-ups
Mallard Ducks (male and female): York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — A pair of Mallards out on the bank of a local pond, and posing nicely for my. camera. OM System OM-1Mkii with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Silky Flycatchers and Parakeet
Sulphur-winged Parakeet and Long-tailed Silky Flycatchers: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Typically we do not get close views of Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher at Miriam’s, but they often perch on the very top of the tall tree against the mountains on the other side of the Savegre Valley. This trip they were joined by a pair of Sulphur-winged Parakeets, one of which makes the third in this trio of birds. The tree is a long way off, on the brink of the drop to the valley below. This is a fairly heavy crop. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Mottled Finch
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — It is that time of year when the male Goldfinches begin to color up. We have a few Goldfinches all winter, off and on, so we get used to seeing them in their drab winter colors. It is easy to forget how bright they get by early summer. This is the awkward time when they just look unfinished…enough yellow to remind you of their summer splendor but only just. Still, it won’t be long now. OM System OM-1Mkii with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Cruickshank Osprey
Osprey: Helen and Alan Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Scrub Jays are not the only birds at the Cruickshank Sanctuary. There has been a nesting pair of Osprey there for at least the past five years. I saw them on my last pre-covid visit in 2019, and I saw one of them again this year. While watching this year a local man came up and in conversation he assured me they had been there every year in the interval. Good to know. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Yellow-thighed Bushfinch
Yellow-thighed Bushfinch: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — One of the more unique looking birds of the mountains of Costa Rica and northwest Panama, the Yellow-thighed Bushfinch, with it’s bright yellow leg warmers, is a common visitor to the feeding station at Miriam’s. It is another finch that is not a finch…it is a member of the same family as American Sparrows and Towhees. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 614mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Pale Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — This seems really early for Great Blue Heron in York County, but according the information on-line, it is really not. They do sometime arrive in the state in mid-march. And the Great Blues hung on along the coast well into the winter this year…in fact, I am not sure some of them ever left Maine. All they need is ice-free water to hunt, and we had that most of the season. This one was along a little stretch of path that rarely fails to turn up at least one interesting bird. After the herons I photographed in Florida in January, this bird looks very pale to me…kind of washed out…but maybe it is just the March Maine sunshine. OM System OM-1Mkii with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Just Robins
American Robin: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — The American Robin does not get the photographic attention it deserves because it is so common. They are here in York County year around and underfoot all summer in our yards. It really is a beautiful bird though. OM System OM-1Mkii with 100-400IS zoom. Program mode with my custom birds modifications. Processed in Photomator.