Glass Frog
Fleischmann’s Glass-Frog (I think): Frog Heaven, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — I asked our guide at Frog Heaven to find me a glass frog. Glass frogs are a family of frogs with semi-transparent skins so that you can actually see the organs inside. He came back with the smallest, tiniest glass frog I have ever see. Cute. This guy was less than 1/2 inch tall. The best I can do on an id is Fleischmann’s…which is likely as they are pretty common in Costa Rica. Just generally much bigger. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 120mm equivalent. Aperture preferred program (my macro modifications) at f16, -2.7EV, ISO 25600 at 1/15th. In the light of my Ulanzi Photo Flashlight. Tripod. Processed in Photomator.
But what about those purples?
Little Blue Heron: Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island NWR, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2025 — Yes I know it is little and blue…though a completely different blue than the Great Blue Heron, but take a look at those purples in he neck and head. 🙂 Still overcast light on Black Point Drive and a nice close view out the car window really shows up the color. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Green in the night
Green Basilisk: Frog Heaven, Sarapique, Costa Rica, December 2024 — I posted some daylight photos (if you call under deep canopy in the rain, daylight) a while back…but this was a much larger and more mature individual we found at Frog Heaven on our night walk. Taken by the light of my Ulanzi Photo Flashlight. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 88 and 600mm equivalents. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. -1.3 EV exposure compensation. Processed in Photomator.
Snipe Hunt(ing)
Wilson’s Snipe: Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island NWR, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2025 — I suppose the Wilson’s Snipe is not long for this world if the name-change mob get their way…but I have never seen so many Snipe of any name as I saw this year around Black Point Drive. This was the first one I saw, and only maybe the third or 4th I have ever seen…but after maybe 6 loops around the drive over the next few days, it seemed I was seeing one every few hundred yards along the first mile. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Scarlet
Scarlet Macaw: Pierella Ecology Garden, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Scarlet, and yellow, and blue…with some pink in there around the eye. There are not many more colorful, or more intensely colored, birds than the Scarlet Macaw. When we had finished with the Great Green Macaws, a guide called us back to the same trees to see a small flock of Scarlets feeding. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Wrinkled red
Rose hips. Kennebunk, Maine, USA. February 10, 2025. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 532mm equivalent. Aperture mode at f16. Processed in Photomator and framed in LikeAFrame.
Loony
Common Loon: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, February 2025 — Just to prove I am not still in Costa Rica or Florida, here is a shot from yesterday morning…a dullish February morning, though we had sun in the afternoon. I was walking down to the tidal creek to photograph loons fairly far out, when this one popped up practically right beside me. 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Thinks he is a Scrub Jay??
Red-bellied Woodpecker: Helen and Allen Cruickshank Sanctuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2026 — We have Red-bellied Woodpeckers who come to suet on our back deck. If I even look at them through the glass of back deck door they are off and way. Yet in Florida, this one flew down and fed with the Scrub Jays right at my feet. I think he must was maybe a founding…raised in a Jay nest…or maybe he has just learned his habits from the Jays. Anyway I really appreciated his cooperation. 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Great Green
Great Green Macaw: Pierella Ecology Gardens, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — I have seen Great Green Macaws before in Costa Rica…though they are still rare after years of effort to reestablish a viable population in what was once their native range, but I have never seen them this close in the wild. A small flock settled in a Mountain Almond tree right at the entrance to Pierella Gardens and one of the guides alerted us all to their presence. What a treat. We watched them feeing actively for close to a half hour, before they moved on. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
up close and personal
Florida Scrub Jay: Helen and Allen Cruickshank Santuary, Rockledge, Florida, USA, January 2025 — like I said yesterday sometimes the hardest part about photographing Florida Scrub Jays is not stepping on them. This one was literally at my feet, barely within the close focus of my lens. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.