Gartered Trogon: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Virgen, Costa Rica — Let’s keep the Trogon roll going another day. This is the Gartered Trogon, seen about 10 miles long the Sarapique river from the Black-throated featured yesterday…though in considerably better light! One of our number wanted to walk the entrance drive at Dave and Dave’s, on the way out, after another rewarding visit to this amazing bird photography site, to see if he could get close shots of the Green Ibis we had seen on the way in. The Ibi were not cooperative, but we walked up on this Gartered Trogon in the trees and eventually on the wire along the drive. As you can see, it is very similar to the Black-throated pictured yesterday. Same basic color pattern, and very similar barring on the tail, but the black extends further down the “neck” onto the chest, and bill is grey and the eye-ring is bright yellow (just the opposite on the Black-throated…though the eye-ring is more of a blue grey on the Black-throated). Both are wonderful birds to see. I am sure I will have more to say about Dave and Dave’s in another post. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 and 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Black-throated Trogon: I really do not get bird names. This is the Black-throated Trogon, which is very similar to the Gartered Trogon, except that the Gartered Trogon has a black throat??? (And a yellow eye ring and not a yellow beak, but still…) We worked hard for this bird which Edwin, our local guide, heard calling from the balcony of the dinning hall at breakfast on our second morning at Selve Verde. It was down toward the river, along the next stream that comes down across the property on the other side of the old bend in the river. We went down to try to see it, and it, and its mate, lead us a merry chase through what might have been an old orchard and into the deep brush along the stream, where it remained mostly buried. We had just enough glimpses to keep us going, to soak our shoes, and to make us well late for breakfast…but we did finally get these views through the undergrowth. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos…deeply cropped and enlarged, with some aggressive noise reduction. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Rufous Motmot: Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapique, Costa Rica — We had a cold front coming through our first two days in Costa Rica, and as I have said, our only significant rain of the trip. And did it rain! Pretty much steady rain for 48 hours. We were still damp from our first day’s wetting when we gathered for breakfast our first morning at Selva Verde (even after using the hair dryers in our rooms on our shoes and socks), but we were greeted by the usual assortment of tropical Rain Forest birds at the feeding station below the breakfast room…including this Rufous Motmot…which I believe is the largest of the Motmots in Costa Rica. It is a spectacular bird by any account. When I visited Selva Verde last, before the pandemic, the Motmot was in residence, but rarely came to the feeding station, and certainly did not perch out in the open. On this visit it was a daily visitor and highly visible. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/60th.

Northern Emerald Toucanet: Mirador y Soda Chinchona, Costa Rica — The last few years the Northern Emerald Toucanet has be a regular visitor to the feeders at Mirador y Soda Chinchona, and by now I would be disappointed not to see it when we visit. It held off this year until way late…as we were losing the light on an already dark day, during a another heavy downfall of rain. I can not say that it looks particularly happy, even with its favorite flute at hand. No singing in the rain at any rate. This is another extreme low light shot using multi-frame noise reduction. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode as above. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/160th. This is pretty much a full frame shot. I was that close.

Rufous-naped Wren: Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica — another of the birds that is very likely to be on the greeting committee in Costa Rica, at least if you fly into San Jose and spend your first night there, is the Rufous-naped Wren. Large for a wren, with a bright white belly, that rich rust across the shoulders, and the bold eyeline, it is a hard bird to miss anywhere on the floor of the Central Valley or in the North-west. It reminds me more than a little of our Cactus Wren of the South-west here in the USA. There are always several on the grounds of the Hotel Bougainvillea, and I have seen them on every stay at the Buena Vista as well, even in their little patch of old banana plantation. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th -.3EV.

Squirrel Cuckoo: Bougainvillea Hotel, San Jose, Costa Rica — I flew into Costa Rica a day early, because if you try to fly direct in one day from Maine, you arrive late in the evening, and, as the leader, I like to be there when the other’s arrive. That gave me a day to wander the extensive grounds and elegant gardens of the Bougainvillea, on their hill overlooking San Jose. And one of the first birds that graced me with its presence was this Squirrel Cuckoo, moving through the bare branches of a tall tree right over my head in the morning light. Squirrel Cuckoos are not uncommon in Costa Rica (except at the highest elevations), and range from Northern Mexico to Argentina, covering all of the lower elevation habitats of both Central and South America. They are unmistakable…big and brown with that black and white spotted tail…but their movement, very squirrel-like indeed running along branches, is enough to give them away. Still they like dense foliage and can be hard to see. I was delighted to find this one out in plain sight (after it did indeed move through several dense bushes below the tree when I first saw it). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.