Costa Rica! Portrait of the King
King Vulture: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — This portrait shot of a mature King Vulture shows off most of the weirdness of the weird bird. Note the bright bare skin of the neck and the buzz cut fuzz on the top of the head, and, of course the big orange carbuncle (or wattle) surrounding the nostrils…what is that all about? Then there is the large external crop, pretty full on this bird. They can suck that back behind the breast feathers when they choose, but this bird was pretty relaxed. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Playing with his food
Common Eider: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — This first winter male Eider is breaking all the rules. While he did eventually swallow the crab whole, he did it on the surface, not underwater, and he was, so it seems to me, playing with his food before he ate it…to the extent that he threw it up in the air and then re-caught it as it came back down…before it could sink. I know there must be a better explanation than play…if there isn’t we have been seriously underestimating the intelligence of Eiders (or I have anyway). Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Downy male and female
Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — We have had some bright clear January days this week, so I have been out in the backyard trying for some winter birds. The little Downy Woodpeckers are at the feeder and in the trees around the house everyday. Here we have a male and a female in similar poses. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Blue-grey
Blue-grey Tanager: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Not the most colorful of the Costa Rican tanagers, but in some places the most abundant…though not at Mirador El Pizote in Boca Tapada. I only saw one at a time, and infrequently at that. Still a pretty bird. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! red legs x 3
Red-legged Honeycreeper: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Male, female, and immature male Red-legged Honeycreepers from Mirador El Pizote. The Honeycreepers are, somewhat surprisingly, tanagers, and are generally found in mixed feeding flocks around fruit feeders anywhere in lowlands Costa Rica. Spectacular little birds. A blessing and a privilege to be surrounded by them. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! blue jay, red berries
Blue Jay: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — For some reason we don’t get many Blue Jays in our yard…maybe a dozen times a year one will appear and hop up on deck for a few moments. Just down the street there is a house with feeders that has them all the time when I walk by. ??? I caught this one coming in to use a feeder tray. I like the riot of color with the reds and greens of the setting contrasting with the blues of the bird. The low January sun picks out all the detail. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Golden
Golden-hooded Tanager: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Tropical Tanagers (all tanagers for that matter) tend to be brightly colored, but the Golden-headed is certainly one of the more striking. It is not hard to see as it comes to fruit feeders with other tanagers and honeycreepers, and has range from southern Mexico down into western Peru, mostly in lowland Rainforest and along the edges. I have photographed it many times before, but Mirador El Pizote offers some of the best views I have had yet. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Winter Pine
Pine Warbler: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2024 — I was surprised to see not one, but two Pine Warblers, a male and a female, in our yard over the past two days. According to the field guide range maps these guys should be in the deep south in January. So of course I did some research and found that there have been half a dozen e-bird sightings of Pine Warblers in Maine this January so far, as far north as Darmiscotta, and in the past 10 years there have been several hundred winter sightings. So not all that uncommon. I was thinking these were birds displaced by the unusual deep freeze and snow hitting the south right now…but maybe not. If any warbler can survive a Maine winter it is the chunky, seed-eating Pine. There were several reports of Pine Warblers hanging out with Bluebirds, and the ones in our yard are doing exactly that. They like the mealworms, but they are also attracted to suet and don’t seem adverse to picking up sunflower fragments the finches and nuthatches drop. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Taken through double-glazed deck doors.
Maine! skulking Cardinal in the snow
Northern Cardinal: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — I was surprised to find a pair of Cardinals skulking deep in the beach rose tangle on the dunes as the snow fell the other day. Not easy to photograph, but worth a try. A Cardinal is always worth a try. 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Eye-tracking is really something! Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
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.
