Uganda Edition: Black Bee-eater
Black Bee-eater: Neck (Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park), Uganda, August 2022 — Another not great shot of a good bird. This is an immature (coming into adult plumage) Black Bee-eater from the Neck forest between Ishasha and Bwindi. Though it is a forest bird across most of Sub-Sahara Africa, it is found in East Africa only in the narrow band of volcanic highlands along the western border of Uganda. This bird as wee and far, as they say, so this is a heavy crop…and being silhouetted against the sky did not help. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro on the Mac Air. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 2.7EV.
Bananaquit
Bananaquit: Las Tardes Community Ecology Project, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Bananaquit has long complicated story. It was placed with the new world warblers, or the sparrows (buntings), or maybe in a genus of its own…before genetic profiling put it with the tanagers, in the same sub-family as Darwin’s Finches. It is a wide-spread bird all through Central and South America and the Caribbean, occasionally reaching extreme South-Florida in the US. It has an unusual amount of variation over its range, with island birds in particular, being quite different looking than those found on the continents. It has 41 (41!) recognized sub-species, at least a few of which are already on track to be split into species of their own. So, no, not a simple bird, though common all through the American tropics. It eats nectar and fruit and can be seen around dwelling with gardens. It will come to bananas at feeders. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Bar-tailed Trogon
Bar-tailed Trogon: Neck, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Another good bird, though only a “for the record” shot, from our spot in forest of Neck along the road from Ishasha to Bwindi. The Bar-tailed Trogon is one of two trogons in East Africa and is only found in a narrow band just where we were in Uganda. This bird was distant, in the dark, and obscured by foliage, so I am, overall, happy with the record. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro on the Mac Air. ISO 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500. Plus 1.7EV.
Eyelash Pit Viper
Eyelash Pit Viper: Las Tardes Community Ecology Project, Corcovado National Park, Osa Penninsula, Costa Rica — As I mentioned in a previous post, because of high water and damaged roads up the river channel we could not take our normal tractor and trailer ride up the Recon River into Corcovado National Park, so we drove into the Las Tardes Community Ecology Project at the edge of the park. One of their projects is snake relocation. They pay local farmers to bring the snakes they encounter in their fields to them, rather than just killing them, and then, after keeping them a few days to make sure they are healthy, they relocate them deep in the park. On any given day they may have several venomous snakes ready for relocation. They brought out two Eyelash Pit Vipers for us to see and photograph: one the bright yellow we associate with the species, and this one which is quite different in color. It turns out that Eyelash Pit Vipers come in a variety of colors…and there can be any number of colors in a single hatch of eggs. Sony Rx10iv at 600 and 192mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 and 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th and 1/400th.
Banded Prinia
Banded Prinia: Neck (Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park), Uganda, August 2022 — From that same section of foothill forest between Ishasha and Bwindi, (which I now know is called Neck)…a much harder bird to see and photograph: the Banded Prinia. This Prinia is a mountain skulker in the underbrush. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Mottled Owl
Mottled Owl: Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I posed a photo of this owl taken my first afternoon in Costa Rica. This is the next morning in better light. 🙂 I have seen several owls, over the years in this same stand of bamboo on the hotel grounds. Sony Rx10 iv at 561mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Pro on the Macbook Air. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Augur Buzzard
Augur Buzzard: In the foothills somewhere between Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — We drove from Ishasha to Bwindi on the dirt tracks…barely dignified enough to be called roads, though they see a lot of heavy truck traffic headed south and west (or north and east), and stopped in a section of forest to bird for a few miles. Just before we got there, we passed this Augur Buzzard sitting in a tree beside the road as though waiting for us to pass. The Augur Buzzard looks and acts a lot like our Red-tailed Hawk…has a red tail (easier to see in flight as it is short), and at least two color morphs as well. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Blue-vented Hummingbird
Blue-vented Hummingbird: Bougainvilla Hotel, San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2022 — It was before sun-up when we met to bird the gardens at the Bouganvilla on the first morning of our trip to Costa Rica this year, and this was pretty much the first bird we encountered. The Blue-vented Hummingbird (formerly Steely-vented Hummingbird) is a common hummer of the dry north-west of the country that just makes it up into the central valley…so the Bouganvilla was the only place we were going to see it on this trip. 🙂 It is a small, energetic hummer that feeds from a variety of flowers. Sony Rx10iv at 517mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications, and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISOs 1600, 3200, and 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Topi!
Topi: Ishasha Sector, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Topi is most easily found in Uganda in the Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, but it can also be seen at Lake Mboro. It is reputed to be the fastest antelope over short distances. Sony Rx10iv at 236 and 447mm equivalents. (The male is at 236mm…so I was really close to him!) Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th and 1/640th.
Lesson’s Motmot
Lesson’s Motmot: Hotel Bougainvilla, San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The most common and widespread Motmot in Costa Rica is the Lesson’s, formerly called the Blue Crowned Motmot. This one was there to greet us in gardens of the Hotel Bougainvilla on the slope overlooking San Jose. Early morning light. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.