Volcano Hummingbird
Volcano Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — Batsu Gardens, high on the mountainside above Sevegre Mountain Resort, and the creation of the grandson of one of the pioneer settlers of the valley, is also among my favorite places for bird photography in Costa Rica. It consists of two covered platforms surrounded by a vigorous garden of native plants and some tastefully designed and maintained feeding stations, that attract many of the resident and migratory species of the high Talamanca Mountains. Everything from the tiny Volcano and Scintillant Hummingbirds, to the Emerald Toucanet. We always do it pretty much on our last afternoon in Costa Rica, just before the early morning drive to the airport, and it is always the most relaxing and rewarding way to spend those hours. On my first trip this year, we were delighted to observe this male Volcano Hummingbird…second smallest bird in Costa Rica after the truly tiny Scintillant…working the flowers behind the deck in good light and flashing its gorget. In 10 trips to Costa Rica, this is the first time I have actually gotten good photos of that gorget. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 200 and 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
White-collard Manikin
White-collared Manikin: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Pavilion, La Virgen, Costa Rica — We saw way more Manakins on these two trips than I have ever seen in Costa Rica before…or in Central America for that matter. And we got decent views of many of them. This was the most cooperative White-collared I have ever encountered. It came back repeatedly to work a particular bush off the hummingbird deck at Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Pavilion high on the bluff above the Sarapique River. Dave and Dave’s is one of my favorite photo destinations in Costa Rica…both Daves are excellent and knowledgeable hosts and they obviously take delight in providing birders (and photographers in particular) with the best opportunities to see and photograph the birds of both understory and canopy of the Caribbean lowland rain forest…while maintaining as natural a setting and environment for the birds as is humanly possible. It is not a zoo, and you never know what will show up, but it is a great place to spend quality time with a wide range of species. I had never seen a Manikin at Dave and Dave’s before this trip. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with multi-frame-noise-reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th. (And I would like to thank Dave and Dave again for their flexibility. Their willingness to change our appointment by a day and their under-cover observation platforms saved us from two days in a row of getting wet to the skin as we weathered our only serious rain of the trips.)
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer: Donde Cope, Gaupiles, Costa Rica — The Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is one of the most distinctive hummingbirds of the tropics and the lowland rain forest of the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica in particular. It is the only hummingbird in Costa Rica with red feet. In fact the Costa Rican Plumeleteer is considered a sub-species, often called the “Red-footed Plumeleteer” and has a black tail rather than the bronze tail observed in the rest of its range from Honduras all along the Caribbean slope of Central America, and down in South America as far as Ecuador. It is not a common bird even within its range. We generally see it at Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Pavilion in La Virgin, at the heliconias there, and we did get glimpses during our visit there, but these most cooperative specimens are from Cope’s tiny wildlife sanctuary around his home in Gaupiles. Sony Rx10iv at 509 plus equivalent. It is always dark under bamboo forest at Cope’s so these were taken in Program mode with multi-frame noise reduction. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/160th and 1/400th. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos.
Howler
Howler Monkey: from a boat on the Sarapiqui River near Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. We saw 4 species of primate during our two weeks in Costa Rica…not counting the ubiquitous humans…but only had really good looks at this troop of Howlers along the Sarapiqui river. Of course, we heard the Howlers every morning, between 4:30 and 5am, at lodges in both the Caribbean and Pacific lowlands. I was somewhat surprised to find that the Howlers are not the largest monkeys in Costa Rica…a fact that does not seem to be causing this particular Howler much worry…so I guess it should not worry me. (The Spider Monkey is larger.) The thing about primates, at least for me, is that they appear to be self-conscious, which makes me more than usually aware of our kinship. Sony Rx10iv at 509mm equivalent (to fit the tail in). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Golden-browed Chlorophonia vs. Silver-throated Tanager
Golden-browed Chlorophonia and Silver-throated Tanager: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — We were blessed to have a visit from the Golden-browed Chlorophonia on both visits (one with each of my Point and Shoot Nature Photo groups) to Batsu Gardens high above the Savegre River in San Gerardo de Dota. The Chlorophonia is a much sought after species for birders and photographers visiting the mountains of Costa Rica…though it is listed as common in most field guides, it’s high altitude habitat, and canopy feeding habits, makes it a rare sighting for visitors. The Silver-throated Tanager, on the other hand, is among the most common and the most present birds in Costa Rica…it is everywhere from sea-level to tree-line, especially where folks are feeding birds. Here, a tanager is doing its best to intimidate the Chlorophonia…though the Golden-brow does not seem impressed, as befits it “star” status. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Blue-throated Goldentail
Blue-throated Goldentail: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — the Blue-throated Goldentail is listed in most guides as common in the lowlands and foothills of the Pacific Slope of Costa Rica, and it does not get much lower than Danta Corcovado Lodge on the Osa Peninsula (though we were on a hill when we saw it). It is apparently less common, but present, in the Caribbean lowlands, but I have never seen it there. These photos might be rated “high” in level of difficulty. We were on an observation tower maybe 30 feet high, and the hummer was working flowers at the base of the tower. This is stretching the 600mm zoom on the Sony Rx10iv to its max, using Pixomator Photo’s Machine Learning Maximum Resolution to enlarge a severe crop of the image to what might amount to about 3000mm equivalent. Even with enlargement these are only 4mp images. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher
Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher: Los Quetzales National Park, Costa Rica — The Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher is listed as “common” in most field guides and I suppose it might be…but its range is limited to specific elevations in the higher mountains of Costa Rica and Panama, so it is not an easy bird to see. I have been taking groups to Costa Rica for 10 years, and this is the first one I have seen 🙂 It is, of course, related to the Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher of slightly lower elevations, and to the Phanopepla you might have seen if you visited the South-west United States. It is not a flycatcher at all (and it is not particularly “silky” as the photo will attest). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos. (Cropped to at least 1000mm equivalent.) ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. -.7 EV
Snowy-bellied Hummingbird
Snowy-bellied Hummingbird: Wilson Botanical Gardens, Las Cruces Biological Station OTS, Costa Rica — I am back from 19 days in Costa Rica. I will post a catch-up gallery in the next day or so. Today’s photo is of a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, a hummer I have only had glimpses of before higher in the mountains of Costa Rica. The Wilson Botanical Gardens are only at “mid-level”…about 4000 feet in elevation…so I was surprised to see the hummer prominently featured on signage at the gardens, and delighted that our guide to the gardens was able to find us one. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Pied Puffbird
Pic for today: Pied Puffbird
Pied Puffbird: La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica — Maybe the best bird, or at least best bird sighting, of our visit to the Organization for Tropical Studies, La Selva Biological Station, was this Pied Puffbird, that came down and sat for us at about 15 feet and eye-level. They almost never perch that low, and this one gave us quite a show. Sony Rx10iv at 468mm equivalent. Program mode with Multi-frame Noise Reduction (not because I needed it for this shot, but because I was shooting mostly under the canopy where it was needed). Processed in Polarr, Pixomator Photo Pro, and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th
Yellow-headed Caracara with insecurities.
Yellow-headed Caracara: Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica — I don’t know how much wifi I am going to have over the next days, so here is an early post for tomorrow. I was surprised to see this Yellow-headed Caracara perched (more or less) on the air vent of the building next to the hotel. It seemed to be attacking its reflection in the silver metal. I hope the survival of the species does not depend on this individual. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr, Pixelmator Photo Pro, and Apple Photos. (Enlarged for image scale in Pixelmator Pro for the equivalent of perhaps a 1500mm lens.) ISO 100 @ f6.3 @ 1/1000th. + 1 EV.