Posts in Category: Osa Peninsula

Yellow-throated Toucan

Yellow-throated Toucan: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — We were on the van leaving Danta Corcovado Lodge to travel to Las Cruces Biological Research Station and the Wilson Botanical Gardens for the next adventure, but we did not get out of the driveway before we had to stop for this Yellow-billed Toucan eating palm nuts right beside the road…in the open…in the sun! Needless to say, we all piled out for some photos. Toucans, when you come right down to it, are not “nice” birds…they raid the nests of their neighbors for both eggs and chicks…but they certainly are big and bold and colorful. That bill is a hollow, fairly fragile, shell…otherwise they would be even more aerodynamically challenged than they are. Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.

Sloth down low

Two-toed Sloth: Playa Blanco, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — While we were watching the Macaws, folks at the house at the end of the long drive shaded by the Beach Almond trees were watching us. We were on their property, and it did cross my mind when a young lady and gentleman came walking up toward us that we about to the “told off”, but, of course, being Costa Rica, they actually wanted to invite us down to the house where they had a sloth low in the tree that shaded their picnic table. Did we want to come take photos? Well, yes, thank you! Really low as it turns out…just at eye level for the taller among us. The young couple enjoyed watching us ooh and awe and snap. It was the home of the young lady’s uncle, and yes, she had grown up right there in Playa Blanca. The young man was less talkative, but all smiles. You don’t often see a sloth so close, and in such good company. Sony Rx10iv at 300mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications with multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

One last set of Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws: Playa Blanco, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — One last set of Scarlet Macaws before we leave Playa Blanca and the beach behind. This bird was in a tree on the ocean side of the road, right on the beach, and more exposed to the winds off the water. More light, not necessarily better light. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3EV for the backlight.

Double-toothed Kite

Double-toothed Kite: Playa Blanco, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — It is, according to the field guides and eBird, rare to see a Double-toothed Kite perched…and I would guess even rarer to see one perched in amongst a flock of noisy Scarlet Macaws, but this bird was perched on the lower branches of the same tree the Macaws were in…bold a brass! The guides also say it can be “quite tame” when perched and it certainly was. It allowed us to move around under it and take as many photos as we wanted. I have included a deep crop of the head to show off the double-tooth, which again, according to the field guides, is “rarely seen.” It is pretty clear in this shot. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 640, 400, and 500 in the shade dappled light @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaw: Playa Blanca, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I told the story of these Macaws when I posted a first pic the day after seeing them in early December, but we will revisit Playa Blanca today to remember then again. We went two afternoons in a row to look for the colony of Macaws that feeds in the late afternoon in the Beach Almond trees right along the bay a few miles from Danta Corcovado Lodge in the little beach town of Playa Blanca. The first day we got rained out, but persistence paid off the next afternoon. I was able to direct our guide, Mario, to exactly the spot were we saw them in 2021, and, though they were not there to greet us when we got out of the bus, they came 20 minutes later while we were still looking…right to the same trees along a property line across the road from the beach were we had seen them a year ago. Scarlet Macaws are big, beautiful birds, but I am not sure I would want them for neighbors. They are noisy and messy, and could easily become a nuisance if you had to live with them coming through your yard daily. The Playa Blanca flock is at least 25 birds, so lots of Macaws when they come. We stood under the trees and took photos for 30 minutes before me had enough of Macaws for the afternoon and moved on…getting back to the lodge for some down-time before dinner. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Two-fingered Sloth

Two-toed Sloth: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — As we were coming back from the observation tower at Danta Corcovado, I looked up into the canopy (as birders are apt to do) and saw this looking back at me. I know it is called the Two Toed Sloth, but honestly, all sloths have three toes. One species has three “fingers” and the other, this one, has two. So it really ought to be the Two-fingered Sloth. Anyway. This one was doing what sloths do most of the time. If you don’t know the whole Sloth story…the moss in the fur, the moths in the moss, the whole up in the trees for days at a time, but not all the time, story…then you should look it up. Sloths are fascinating animals. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1 EV for the backlight.

White-whiskered Puffbird

White-whiskered Puffbird: Danta Corcovodo Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — On our way back from the observation tower at Danta Corcovado Lodge, we almost walked right under this White-whiskered Puffbird. They have a habit of sitting for long periods, in the understory, hunting for whatever happens along…from smaller snakes and lizards to larger insects. This one was clearly not upset by our noisy presence right next to it. They are pretty common, though somewhat hard to see, in the lowland forests of both slopes in Costa Rica. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 3200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Eventually we left the army ant swarm behind and actually made it up to the observation tower at Danta Corcovado…but we were late getting there and there was not a lot of action (and it was hot!). Due the rainy November, the flowers at the base of the tower were not in full bloom yet, but there were a few Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds working them. (We had Golden-tailed in those flowers in 2021.) I chased the Rufous around the tower a few times and got a few shots. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Orange-collared Manakin

Orange-collared Manakin: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Though it is not as closely associated with ant swarms as the others I have shared, this Orange-collared Manakin was with the mixed flock. The Orange-collared (this is a male) is endemic to the pacific lowlands of southern Costa Rica and northern Panama. They kind of glow in the darkness of the undergrowth under heavy canopy. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Ant birds! Chestnut-backed and Bicolored

Chestnut-backed and Bicolored Antbird: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I promised you more birds from the mixed feeding flock attracted to the army ant swarm we found at Danta Corcovado early one morning, and then I got distracted by our backyard birds 🙂 These are two of the birds closely associated with army ant swarms…among the many that are attracted to the insects and small vertebrates that are fleeing from the ants…so closely associated that they have “ant” in their name. They are indeed Antbirds: The male Chestnut-backed Antbird and either a male or female Bicolored Antbird (they have the same plumage, while the female of the Chestnut-backed lacks the black on the chest.) Again, because they are so intent on hunting when you see them, it is often possible to get very close. However, since they are hunting low to the ground in heavy canopy, there is never enough light! Sony Rx10iv at about 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications with multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/100th and 1/80th. (very little light!)