Cinnamon Woodpecker
Cinnamon Woodpecker: Pierrella Ecology Gardens, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Pierrella Ecology Gardens is the only place I have ever seen anyone put out coconuts for the birds! I apparently works, at least for woodpeckers, as the always have Cinnamon Woodpeckers around the dinning area. Such a handsome bird. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Basilisk Lizard
Basilisk Lizard: Pierella Ecology Gardens, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — I first visited Pierella Gardens on my scouting trip in December 2024 with Victor of Tico Rainforest B&B, and was delighted to be able to include it in my March trip, along a whole group of Point’nShoot Nature photographers. It is truly a wonderful place. This is mature Basilisk Lizard, something I have never seen this close. You can really appreciate the colors and the dragon-like form. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. And this is a good demo of the subject identification, eye-tracking auto focus on the a6700 at work even in low light!
Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — The range maps say that we have Indigo Buntings in Maine, but I have never, unless I forget, seen one here. Gotta love that blue! But then if they are as high in the trees as this one was over the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, I might be forgiven for not seeing them. This is a 600mm shot, drastically cropped and upscaled using Photomator’s Super Resolution to give the impression of high detail. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Prothonotary
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — I had barely stepped out on to the boardwalk on my first day at the Biggest Week in American Birding (after my first Point’nShoot for Warblers workshop) when this Prothonotary Warbler came hopping through the low bushes and landed on the edge of boardwalk right at the feet of a dozen birders (and photographers), in the shade of the bottom rail. Prothonotaries are one of those birds that are just supremely confident of their place in the world. They are willing to share it with us, but it is very much their world. I find it refreshing to be put in my place once in a while. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent and about as close as the lens will focus. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Grosbeak
Black-faced Grosbeak: La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Somehow in more than 20 trips to Central America (10 of them to Costa Rica) I have managed to miss this bird until my Sarapiqui scouting trip in December of 24. And here it is again in March, at a different location. 🙂 It is the size of our North American Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but endemic to Central America from Mexico to Panama. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Nesting
Female Red-winged Blackbird: Maumee Bay Nature Center, Maumee Bay State Park, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — After picking up my Biggest Week in American Birding swag at the registration desk at Maumee Bay Lodge, I took a walk on the boardwalk behind the Nature Center to see what I could see. It was late afternoon by then, and not much was moving, but I did find lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, including this female with nesting materials. The males establish the territories but the females build the nest. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Yellow-throated Euphonia: Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — There are several Euphonias in Costa Rica that look much like this bird, but based on location, the yellow throat, and the extent of the yellow cap, this has to be the Yellow-throated. Euphonias are finches, or “true finches” to be more precise, and they are named for their light sweet songs. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Doubling up
Little Tinamou: La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — I am going to double up on Pics 4 Today for a while, since I am not quite half way trough my photos from March in Costa Rica, and now have a slew of photos from the Biggest Week in American Birding on the Erie Shore in Ohio. This is the best shot I managed of the Little Tinamou we encountered along the trails at La Selva, one of the outposts of the Organization for Tropical Studies in the Sarapiqui of Costa Rica. La Selva is known as one of the most biologically diverse properties in the world, and is the temporary home of hundreds of researchers and students every year. Not to mention Tinamous 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. ISO was maxed out in the low light of the rainforest floor and the camera only managed 1/320. Still, the bird is there! Processed in Photomator.
Not a warbler
Scarlet Tanager: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2025 — Though warblers are the stars of the seasonal show at Magee, the tanagers are pretty hard to miss. This is either an immature male coming into its first adult plumage, or an adult male not quite out of eclipse plumage…with a bit of yellow still showing. A stunning bird either way. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Bay-breasted
Bay-breasted Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — I struggled to get my Bay-breasted shot for this year. The first days I was at Magee, they just were not around, and then, when they arrived, the foliage made it very hard to get a good photograph, and I never did see one as close as I would like. Maybe next year 🙂 That is the wonder of Magee. It keeps you coming back, despite the crowds. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
