Southern Lapwing
Southern Lapwing: Calla de Gambia, Golfito, Costa Rica — On our way from Danta Corcovado Lodge to Las Cruces Biological Station we took a run up Calla de Gambia through a valley with extensive wet meadows and “living fences” leading to a lodge in the forest at the end. The wet meadows, in particular, were full of birds. There were many Southern Lapwings…but for some reason the only ones I could catch were always walking away. They seemed to sense the bus stopping and be already on the move by they time we piled out. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th and 1/640th. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th + 1.3 EV.
White Hawk
White Hawk: Golfito, Costa Rica — We stopped at an overlook where we had a great view of the Pacific and the Osa Peninsula across the “sweet” bay, and there, too far away and tucked into the foliage across the road, was this White Hawk. This is heavy crop and a considerable enlargement. I resorted to + 3 EV exposure compensation…trying to keep detail in the white feathers…but honestly at that distance it did not make a lot of difference. 🙂 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. (+ 3EV).
White-face Capuchin
White-faced Capuchin Monkey: Neily, Costa Rica — After two nights at Danta Corcovado Lodge on the Osa Peninsula, we loaded the bus and headed for San Vito and the Wilson Botanical Gardens on the Las Cruces Biologial Research Station of the Organization for Tropical Studies. Along the way we stopped at long bridge in Neily. These shots of the White-faced Capuchin monkeys were taken from mid-bridge. The second shot was very difficult lighting…with the monkey back in the deep shade against the trunk of the tree, in a little hollow in the foliage, surrounded by really bright sun, barely visible to the naked eye. I added 1.7EV exposure compensation to penetrate the shadows, but that totally burned out the fonds in the sun. I did my best to adjust it in post processing, and it is an okay shot to record the memory…but not something I an inordinately proud of 🙂 The Capuchins were are our 4th primate for the trip. Sony Rx10iv at 600 and 517mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. The first shot is ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th, the second is at ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th with, as I mentioned, + 1.7EV.
Roadside Hawk
Roadside Hawk: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — The sun had set on our Macaw adventure, and we were headed back to the bus, when we came up on this Road-side Hawk, perched at eye-level, back in the foliage of a tree between the road and the beach…literally on the road side. 🙂 The Road-side Hawk is probably one of the most common hawks all though Mexico and Central America. I had already switched memory modes to use multi-frame noise reduction as the light levels fell and I managed this portrait. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Red-lored Parrot again
Red-lored Parrot: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — The Macaws, of course, were not alone in enjoying the fruiting fig trees behind the beach at Playa Blanca. Parrots are gregarious opportunists and where you find one species there are likely more. There were a few Red-lored Parrots feeding with the Macaws, and again, they were so busy with the fruit that it was easy to get relatively close shots. 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.
Macaws!
Scarlet Macaw: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — This is my second post of the Macaws of Playa Blanca, Costa Rica, on the Osa Peninsula near Danta Corcovado Lodge. I posted just after we visited in December, but as I work back through my photos from the trip, they deserve another post. Especially as our guide, Edwin, worked so hard to find them for us. It is fairly certain that they will be in some fig tree behind a stretch of beach along the Gulf of Deluce, but where exactly varies from day to day and year to year. It turned out we parked the bus at the wrong end of the beach and it was a good hike up to where the birds actually were. Most of us had given up long before Edwin appeared in the far distance and beckoned us on. Worth it though. We found a large flock in the back yard of a vacation home (unoccupied at the moment) and were able to get pretty much as close as we could want to the actively feeding parrots. Only one of these shots is at 600mm equivalent. Macaws really are as spectacular as the Resplendent Quetzal of the mountains, but being so much more common, both in the wild and in captivity, they do not get the photographic love they deserve. Sony Rx10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. (My two Costa Rica trips are scheduled for next December. Search for Stephen Ingraham on the Holbrook Travel site 🙂
Magnificent Frigatebird
Magnificent Frigatebird: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — One afternoon late, we drove out to Playa Blanca, a beach on the Gulf of Deluce near Danta Corcovado Lodge, to look for Macaws. While we were looking, I grabbed this shot of one of the many Magnificent Frigatebirds soaring over the Gulf in the evening light. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Smooth-billed Ani
Smooth-billed Ani: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — Anis are strange birds…members of the Cuckoo family, though you might not guess that…with floppy long tails and that massive beak. I have seen Grove-billed Anis in Costa Rica before, in flocks and on fence wires along the road, but you have to go to the Pacific Lowlands to see the Smooth-billed. This one was well out in an overgrown pasture and I had to crop heavily and enlarge even with my full zoom. Sony Rx10ivat 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Spectacled Owl chick
Spectacled Owl: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula Costa Rica — I shared one photo of this immature Spectacled Owl, just coming into adult plumage, when we first saw it in December, but it deserves more attention. Edwin, our guide to all things Costa Rican, managed to spot it deep back in the dense rainforest, well off the trail. Finding a line of sight was not easy, but it is such a good bird. Spectacled Owls roost out in daylight, and are among the most likely owls to see in Costa Rica, but still, a great find on Edwin’s part. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 and 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Purple-crowned Fairy
Purple-crowned Fairy (female): Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — Not as spectacular as the male, of course, but we were happy to find this lone Purple-crowned Fairy just at the edge of the Danta Corcovado Lodge grounds as took a short hike down the entrance road. The Fairy is a lowland hummer, common on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.