Posts in Category: wildlife
Big boy
Green Iguana: Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Coming back from a excellent morning of photography at Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, we got to the dinning hall at the Selva Verde just in time for a visit from this huge Iguana. It had to be 7 feet long from snout to tail tip, and the body itself was at a least 3 feet long, and the size of a small bull dog. (It had that look too.) They are called Green Iguanas because the young are bright green. (I encountered one on the way back from lunch. Photos tomorrow maybe.) This big adult is more grayish orange and was after the remnants of the fruit put out that morning for the birds. I have seen iguanas like this high in the trees, but never this close. Impressive! Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 226 and 585mm equivalents. (It is times like this when I really appreciate having a zoom.) Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Toucan antics
Yellow-throated Toucan: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Another visit from the Yellow-throated Toucan at Dave and Dave’s. They certainly put on a show! Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600 and 489mm equivalents. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Male and female White-necked Jacobin Hummingbird
Male and female White-necked Jacobin Hummingbird: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — On the day we visited, the White-necked Jacobins were dominating the hummingbird vista at Dave and Dave’s. They are the most aggressive of the local hummers, and some days, they are all you see. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. (1/2000th). Processed in Photomator. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Toucan
Yellow-throated Toucan: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 —After hanging out in tops of the trees over the crest of the drop to the river below, the Yellow-throated Toucans finally came in to the bananas hanging on the jungle vine right in front of us…so close I could not use the full 600mm reach of my Tamron lens. Magnificent, if somewhat clowny looking, birds. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 513mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Hermit
Hermit Thrush: York County, Maine, USA, April 2025 — I went out looking for Trout Lily again yesterday as the temperatures climbed up into thee 70s…still only leaves were I looked, but there were quite a few Hermit Thrushes, along with a small flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, moving through the waking forest. The Thrushes were not singing, but once I saw one, I saw half a dozen more moving through at eye-level and on the ground, all within 100 yards of each other. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Mrs. Green
Green Honeycreeper: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — This is the female Green Honeycreeper, and obviously the bird that gave the species its name. If you will remember, I posted Mr. Green a few days ago, and he is more turquoise than green. (His eye is redder too. 🙂 Still, you rarely see a bird as green as the female green honeycreeper. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Olive-backed Euphonia
Female and Male Olive-backed Euphonia: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — The Euphonias are small colorful finches of the lowland forests of Central America…looking and acting a lot like our Goldfinches…except that they eat more fruit and are even more varied in color. As you might guess from the name, they are all sweet singers. These two Olive-backed, likely a pair, not the brightest or most colorful of the clan by far were coming to the bananas young Dave put out next to the photo area. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Red-throated Ant-tanager
Red-throated Ant-tanager: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica. March 2025 — So, being me, I had to see if I could find out why it is an Ant-tanager? It seems they get the name from their habit of following ant swarms or ant trails to pick off other insects that are disturbed by the ants’ passage, and from their resemblance to tanagers. They were once placed in the “true tanager” family based on that resemblance. Some, like this Red-throated Ant-tanager, are now thought to be more closely related to the cardinals. (Maybe one day they will be the Red-throated Ant-cardinal? ) This is the best look I have ever had at this bird. Generally, as the name suggests, they are skulking around on the ground in dark corners under bushes where the ants live. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Mr Green
Green Honeycreeper: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — For any photographer who loves birds, it does not get much better than this. Dave and Dave have the ideal setup for photography…great light, great birds, great backgrounds. This male Green Honeycreeper, with its bright red eye and amazing yellow gape, and super fine plumage, is just about the perfect subject as well. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Creature in the woods
Porcupine. Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA — While out looking for the first Trout Lily’s (Adder’s Tongue) of the season (there were none yet) I encountered a creature in the woods. I could not, for any amount of trying, figure out what it was, but I managed a few photos and came home to study them. My first instinct was Porcupine, but the almost total lack of quills had me baffled. There is nothing else it can be though, and I found some other photos on the web showing porcupines in a similar state. Perhaps it had just survived an attack of some sort…or perhaps it was its first venture out of the winter borrow, and it had lost most of its quills rubbing on the rocks all winter. It seemed heathy enough otherwise, and not overly upset at the encounter. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Photomator.