Posts in Category: Costa Rica
Costa Rica! White-throated Mountain Gem
White-throated Mountain Gem: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — There are three Mountain-gems in Costa Rica. The females of the White-throated (common at higher elevations) and the Purple-throated (more common at foothill and mid elevations) are almost identical, with rufous breasts, green upper side, and a bold white eye-stripe, but the males are distinctive, one with a white gorget and the other, as you might guess, with a purple gorget. Both male and female White-bellied Mountain-gem would not be confused with the other two. They are all smallish hummingbirds with active, feisty personalities, and though always smaller in number, they keep up with the Lesser Violet-ears and Talamanca where they occur together. This is the White-throated Mountain-gem, both male and female, from two consecutive days at Feathers Garden at Savegre Hotel. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! the angle is everything
Talamanca Hummingbird: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Most of the most colorful feathers on the throat (gorget) and head (helmet) on most hummingbirds are actually black until the light refracts at just the right angle…and then you see the colors flash. This Talamanca Hummingbird from Feathers Garden at Savegre is a good example. This might be the only photo I have that shows the gold that you can sometimes see in the gorget. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Scintillant Hummingbird
Scintillant Hummingbird: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — This is the other small hummingbird of the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica and Panama (and the higher volcanos of the Central Range in Costa Rica). The Scintillant replaces the Volcano at lower elevations, according to the guides, but I seen both up to 8000 feet. At 11,000 it is only Volcanos. I posted Volcanos from this same garden at Savegre earlier this week. The bright rufous tails and the extensive rufous vests on these makes them unmistakably Scintillant. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Volcano?
Volcano Hummingbird: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — There at two very small hummingbirds, both endemic to the mountains of Southern Costa Rica and Northern Panama, and so similar that they are always a challenge to separate where they overlap…as they do at Savegre. Generally the Scintillant is found at lower elevations and is replaced by the Volcano at higher elevations…however there appears to be a broad area of overlap in the Talamancas. Males have different colored gorgets…orange for the Scintillant and violet for the Volcano, but I have seen far fewer males than females, and, indeed, saw no males this past December. I am pretty sure both of these shots are the female Volcano. I have shots taken only a few moments later from the same chair at Feathers Garden, of what is clearly the Scintillant (with I will post another day). Compared, the Scintillant has an obviously rufous tail and more rufous under the wings and is very slightly smaller (but we are talking really small hummingbirds already). OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Lesser Violetear
Lesser Violetear Hummingbird: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Another hummingbird who frequents the Feathers Garden at Savegre: the Lesser Violetear. It used to be the Green Violetear, until the name gods changed it to the Mexican and Lesser Violetear…and, no, there is no Greater Violetear. ?? This is a feisty little hummer that attempts to dominate the feeders wherever you find it…and it is common from the upper reaches of the Rainforest right up through Cloud Forest, at least to 8000 feet where I have seen it often. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Winter bird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Of course at least some of the December birds of Costa Rica are the summer birds of North America. Most long distance migrants end up further south, but a few of our warblers, tanagers, and orioles spend the winter in Costa Rica…including the Rose-breasted Grosbeak…holding its own for color (though only a shadow of its breeding self) among the bright tropical birds of the cloud forest. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Green-crowned Brilliant
Green-crowned Brilliant Hummingbird: Feather’s Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel, Spa and Reserve, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — After our lunch and the amazing bird show at the Miriam’s Quetzals, the rest of the group took jeeps up into the Cloud Forest for a walk high above Sevegre Mountain Hotel. I have done that walk many times and decided to stay behind and spend the afternoon at Feather’s Garden, a small back yard garden that is maintained by Melvin, a guide who lives on the Resort grounds. I have stayed at Sevegre many times, and somehow never knew this garden existed. It is designed for photography, with a small shelter in case of rain, chairs to sit in and watch the birds come and go. It is well through out, well maintained, and attracts all the birds common at the 7500 foot elevation of Sevegre, including this Green-crowned Brilliant. You can have high expectations for any hummingbird named Brilliant and the Green-crowed (or Green-breasted as it sometimes called) does not disappoint. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Sooty Thrush
Sooty Thrush: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — A common bird of the highlands of southern Costa Rica and northern Panama in fields and oak forest edges, the Sooty Thrush is a large true thrush, similar in size and behavior to our North American Robins. In fact it used to be called the Sooty Robin. The yellow bill, legs and feet, make a strong contract with the sooty body. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100=400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Silky Flycatchers and Parakeet
Sulphur-winged Parakeet and Long-tailed Silky Flycatchers: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Typically we do not get close views of Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher at Miriam’s, but they often perch on the very top of the tall tree against the mountains on the other side of the Savegre Valley. This trip they were joined by a pair of Sulphur-winged Parakeets, one of which makes the third in this trio of birds. The tree is a long way off, on the brink of the drop to the valley below. This is a fairly heavy crop. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Yellow-thighed Bushfinch
Yellow-thighed Bushfinch: Miriam’s Quetzals, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — One of the more unique looking birds of the mountains of Costa Rica and northwest Panama, the Yellow-thighed Bushfinch, with it’s bright yellow leg warmers, is a common visitor to the feeding station at Miriam’s. It is another finch that is not a finch…it is a member of the same family as American Sparrows and Towhees. OM System OM-1 with 100-400IS zoom at 614mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.