Posts in Category: Costa Rica
Popular Plant, Batsu Gardens, Costa Rica
Whenever I stay at the Savegre Mountain Hotel (it might be the Savegre Mountain Resort now), in San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, I try to arrange an afternoon at Batsu Gardens, high on the mountain-side across the Savegre River and overlooking the hotel grounds. One of the younger members of the founding pioneers’ family has established a garden with viewing shelters and feeders where you can sit and watch and photograph many species of mountain hummingbirds, tanagers, and the occasional Emerald Toucanet to your hearts content…all while sipping the supplied coffee. There is a restroom provided. All mod cons, and hummingbirds to boot! There are flowering and fruiting plants all around the viewing platform, so it is often possible to capture the hummingbirds away from the feeders, in a more natural setting. This plant attracted both the White-throated Mountain Gem (formerly the Grey-tailed Mountain Gem) and the Lesser Violet-ear (formerly the Green Violet-ear). Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. My birds and wildlife modifications to Program Mode. Processed in Polarr.
Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher
The Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher is not a “flycatcher”…and does not have a particularly long tail…but, hey, who’s counting? It is, in some opinions, the second most beautiful bird in the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica (after the Resplendent Quetzal…quite a ways after, but in second place by most accounts). Personally I think both the Talamanca Hummingbird and the Fire-throated Hummingbird give it a run for the money…but maybe those who favor the Silky Flycatcher have a thing about hummingbirds being “real” birds. Hard to say. I do agree that the Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher is a handsome bird. Last year in October when I visited San Gerardo de Dota and Savegre Mountain Hotel, we had trouble finding a Silky, but this year crowds of them were right on the Hotel Grounds every morning, and they were hard to miss. These photos are the last birds I shot in Costa Rica this year, taken while waiting for the bus to arrive to take us back to the airport. For that reason alone they have a bitter-sweet flavor. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr and assembled to a GIF in ImgPlay.
Talamanca Hummingbird
The Magnificent Hummingbird was split a few years ago into two species. The Rivoli’s Hummingbird from the north portion of its range, including Southeast Arizona in the US, and the Talamanca Hummingbird from the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. We spent the last days of both the ZEISS Birding trip and my Point and Shoot Nature Photography adventure in the Talamanca Mountains at Savegre Mountain Hotel in San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica where, of course, the Talamanca Hummingbird is common. This shot was taken at Miriam’s Quetzals, a small restaurant overlooking an Avocado tree where Resplendent Quetzals come in fruiting season. Miriam has built a small business out of the tree, serving coffee and hot chocolate and the occasional meal to birders who stop to see the Quetzals, and the other mountain birds that come to her feeders off the back deck of the restaurant. Miriam’s is a “required” stop for any birder on his or her way in to San Gerardo de Dota. Whatever they call this bird, it is still a magnificent hummingbird! Sony RX10iv at 600mm. My custom modifications of Program for birds and wildlife. Processed in Polarr. And, once more, you can join me on another Point and Shoot adventure in Costa Rica next December. Contact me.