Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher
The Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher is not a “flycatcher”…and does not have a particularly long tail…but, hey, who’s counting? It is, in some opinions, the second most beautiful bird in the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica (after the Resplendent Quetzal…quite a ways after, but in second place by most accounts). Personally I think both the Talamanca Hummingbird and the Fire-throated Hummingbird give it a run for the money…but maybe those who favor the Silky Flycatcher have a thing about hummingbirds being “real” birds. Hard to say. I do agree that the Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher is a handsome bird. Last year in October when I visited San Gerardo de Dota and Savegre Mountain Hotel, we had trouble finding a Silky, but this year crowds of them were right on the Hotel Grounds every morning, and they were hard to miss. These photos are the last birds I shot in Costa Rica this year, taken while waiting for the bus to arrive to take us back to the airport. For that reason alone they have a bitter-sweet flavor. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr and assembled to a GIF in ImgPlay.
Talamanca Hummingbird
The Magnificent Hummingbird was split a few years ago into two species. The Rivoli’s Hummingbird from the north portion of its range, including Southeast Arizona in the US, and the Talamanca Hummingbird from the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. We spent the last days of both the ZEISS Birding trip and my Point and Shoot Nature Photography adventure in the Talamanca Mountains at Savegre Mountain Hotel in San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica where, of course, the Talamanca Hummingbird is common. This shot was taken at Miriam’s Quetzals, a small restaurant overlooking an Avocado tree where Resplendent Quetzals come in fruiting season. Miriam has built a small business out of the tree, serving coffee and hot chocolate and the occasional meal to birders who stop to see the Quetzals, and the other mountain birds that come to her feeders off the back deck of the restaurant. Miriam’s is a “required” stop for any birder on his or her way in to San Gerardo de Dota. Whatever they call this bird, it is still a magnificent hummingbird! Sony RX10iv at 600mm. My custom modifications of Program for birds and wildlife. Processed in Polarr. And, once more, you can join me on another Point and Shoot adventure in Costa Rica next December. Contact me.
Green Hermit, Costa Rica
I am back from 15 days in Costa Rica. I will, maybe, do a make up post in the next few days with some of the images I posted to Facebook and Instagram while on the trip. This is the Green Hermit, caught in the act at a little Soda (mom and pop restaurant) just over the continental divide in the Central Volcanic Range on the way from San Jose to Selva Verde Lodge. For $2.00 you get a cup of coffee, a slice of cheese quesadilla, and the privilege of watching birds coming into their feeders from the deck overlooking the San Francisco waterfall. Such a deal! Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.
Red-wings murmuration
When I saw this flock of birds murmurating (which is what that swirling motion of a flock of birds is called…it is a murmuration of birds) I assumed they were Starlings, or at least mostly Starlings with a few Brewer’s and Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in. Starlings are the famous murmuraters. However, when I got the image up on my iPad’s larger screen and zoomed in, I realized that they were all Red-winged Blackbirds, males and females. That makes the image just that much more interesting to me. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr.
Sandhill Crane
Many of my photos from Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico were taken within an hour of dawn or sunset. That is when the birds are most active, leaving their night roosts or returning to them. This Sandhill Crane was taking off a half hour after dawn to go out to the corn fields at the north end of the refuge to spend the day feeding. The low golden light picks out every detail. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. My birds-in-flight and action modifications of Program mode. Processed in Polarr.
Snow Geese staging at dawn
At dawn at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, the Snow Geese gather in huge flocks before rising in mass with sun to move out to the fields where they feed for the day. If you are in the right place, in this case, the Flight Deck Pond, you can see them come into the pond to join the flock, and then watch them lift off as the sun rises. I took my Point and Shoot Nature Photography class out in temperatures well below freezing to be there for the whole show. Here the Snow Geese are coming in just ahead of sunrise. Sony RX10iv in Anti-motion Blur mode. 3 shots at 1/250th and the equivalent of ISO 1000 at around 50mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr.
Cliffrose
I got caught up in photographing the dried flowers and seed heads along the Canyon Trail at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico last week. For one thing I was testing the Macro Mode on my RX10iv, which I had just happened on while teaching a Point and Shoot Nature Photography class the day before. My theory is that if there is a specially designed mode for a particular situation, we owe it to ourselves as Point and Shoot photographers to see if it works. No point in doing it the hard way, if there is an easier way that gets the same results. This is the seed-head of Cliffrose, which grows on dry hillsides all through New Mexico. It is also called, locally, Navajo Diaper. I always assumed, when I lived in New Mexico, that the Navajo somehow used the feathery seed-heads to line their cradle boards, but a bit of research this morning informed me that it is the shredded bark of the plant that they use, and that they weave it into a mat. Still, I have always loved the feathery delicacy of the seed-heads, and the beauty is, I think, particularly visible in this image. Sony RX10iv in Macro mode at 600mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr.
Sandhill Cranes at Sunset…
Every sundown, at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, beginning in November, the Sandhill Cranes gather in shallow pools of water to roost for the night…at least a little safer from predators who don’t like wet feet. As they gather, and before they settle for the night, there is always a lot of territorial conflict and mating display going on…often it can be framed agains the sunset reflections on the water. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur Mode. Processed in Polarr. (Anti-motion Blur mode takes 3-4 exposures at a faster shutter speed and lower ISO than a normal single frame exposure and “adds” them together, while processing out motion artifacts. It is brilliant in low light.)
Cranes over the moon… (and under)
I always have to try. I have not gotten the shot I want yet…but I am getting closer. You stand at the edge of the shallow pond where the Sandhill Cranes roost for the night, as the sun sets to the west over the mountains, and keep your ear open for the calls of Cranes coming in behind you on a course that might take them near the moon. In the meantime you are busy photographing Cranes against the setting sun, and Cranes coming in to land among their fellows, and all the time, too rapidly, you are loosing the light…but you have to keep half your mind on the moon. Because, one of these days a small group of Cranes is going to fly in front of the moon and you are going to catch it! This is as close as I got this year. Each year I get a little closer, and of course, I miss the one shot where the Crane actually crosses the moon. Sony RX10iv in my special Birds in Flight and Action modification of Program mode. Processed in Polarr. And here is the second best shot.
Sandhill Cranes in action
During November, when thousands of Sandhill Cranes gather to winter at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in the high Rio Grande Valley of south central New Mexico, there is always a lot of action among the flocks. Sandhills mate for life and some mating behavior goes on all year, as does ritual combat between males. It is often hard, for the causal observer, to tell the difference between the two. 🙂 These two birds were doing an abbreviated dance of one kind or the other, but this is the first time I have caught this particular variation…with their beaks locked. Interestingly, my colleague Bill got a similar shot this year on his very first visit to the Bosque. Sony RX10iv in my special birds in flight and action modification of Program mode. Processed in Polarr.