Yellow Eyelash Viper
Yellow Eyelash Pit Viper: Las Tardes, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I know not everyone likes snakes, but I was delighted to visit Las Tardes Community Ecological Project at the edge of Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, where they pay local farmers to bring them the snakes they find while working their fields…rather than killing them. They then take them deep into the park and release them. This Yellow Eyelash Viper is one of the most beautiful snakes in the world, I think, and to see it up close and in good light was a real treat. We also got to see a second Eyelash viper…larger, older, and a different color altogether. One hatch can contain snakes of different shades from the bright yellow to bright green to duller browns…but the yellows are certainly the best known and the most often photographed. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ 4 @ 1/500th.
Green-breasted Mango
Green-breasted Mango: Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Early in the morning, before breakfast, we were out in the gardens at the hotel looking for birds. This male Green-breasted Mango posed nicely…too far away, and not in good light…but still! A very special bird to start the day. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
A little bay on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica
An iPhone SE and Sirui 18mm lens shot of a little bay north of Marino Ballena National Park on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica. What a view!
Welcome to Costa Rica bird: Mottled Owl
Mottled Owl, Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Terrible light, just before it started to rain, deep in a grove of huge bamboo…but still, not a bad start to our Costa Rican adventure! Sony Rx10iv at 517mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction for the low light. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Elephant on water
African Elephant: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Still on our way from the Northern sector of QENP to the Ishasha sector, we came upon a small herd of Elephants making their way across a wetland below the road, grazing as they went. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Wednesday extra: Monitor Lizard
Not our first Nile Monitor Lizard of the trip to Uganda in August…we saw one from the boat on the actual Nile in Murchinson Falls National Park earlier, but we were on foot for this one…beside the Kazinga Channel in the northern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Sony Rx10iv at 238mm equivalent (so close). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.3EV.
Sacred Ibis
Sacred Ibis: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — We left the northern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park shortly after lunch for the, shall we say, “brutal” drive to the southern sector, or Ishasha as it is known. It is a long dive on a dirt road that way too many big trucks headed to or from far western Uganda use, it is always in desperate need of grading, and we are always in just a bit too much of a hurry to get to our lodge and what the Ishasha sector has to offer…from Topi to tree-climbing lions. We stopped at a small pond along the way to look for water birds and were rewarded with this somewhat bedraggled Scared Ibis…maybe not feeling quite so sacred at the moment. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed In Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th.
Mom Lion
Lion: Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The sharp eyes of Moses, our driver/guide for our Uganda safari, picked out the mother lion in the shade of a bush near the cub from yesterday’s post. Some maneuvering with the Land Cruiser and we found a spot on the road with a decent view through the long grasses. As I mentioned yesterday, she has worn a tracking collar for many years now, so this is a well known and well studied lion…with many successful litters of cubs over the years. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.
Little lion in the tall grass
On our first pass by this spot, the lions were there, or were presumed to be there, as they had been seen a few moments before…but we could not find them in the long grasses. On our way back out, our driver/guide Moses spotted this cub, maybe two years old (practically a teenager in lion terms)…just a set of ears twitching above the grasses…and we watched as it eventually got up and moved around and gave us better views…still in the long grass…but better. The lions of Queen Elizabeth are well studied and monitored. The mom in this small pride wears a radio collar, so the rangers pretty much know where the pride is on a day to day basis. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.
Sunday Supplement: Vervet Monkey
A young Vervet Monkey in a Candelabra Tree in the northern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda in August of this year. I am not sure what it is looking at…but it is certainly looking! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.