Posts in Category: OM-1 & 100-400mm
Costa Rica! Overhead
Scarlet and Great Green Macaws (and hybrids): Macaw Ranch, Sarapiqui Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Of course not all the flying Macaw shots I took were at eye-level. The flock put on a good overhead show as well. Two Scarlets in the first shot, and the mixed flock in the second. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 300 and 200mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Tricolor
Tricolored Heron: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — There are a two ways you can go on foot from the rest stop parking half way around Blackpoint Wildlife Drive at Merritt Island…or maybe I should say two ends of the big loop trail. You can go straight out, and a long way round, or you can walk out to the observation tower and back. I have only done the whole loop once, and was in some fear I might never get back, so I generally just walk out to the tower. I did not go to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival during Covid, of course, and they only got rekindled this year, but there was a Tricolored Heron sitting just exactly were I saw and photographed one sitting, just this side of the tower, 4 years ago. Maybe the same heron? OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Cuteness
White-faced Capuchin Monkey: Macaw Ranch, Sarapiqui Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Cuteness overload. This youngster must be reaching its last days of backpacking on mom. In fact it hopped off as she went up a tree trunk in search of food. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 200, 300, and 372mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos.
Florida! Anhinga
Anhinga: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Anhinga’s out drying. Female and male. Male entering breeding plumage. Called the “snake” bird for its habit of swimming with its body totally submerged and just its head and long neck showing above the water. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent (female) and 454mm equivalent (male). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! the business end
Great Blue Heron: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — A Great Blue Heron posing for a close up portrait along Blackpoint Drive. The bird was only a few yards from the roadside, and busy with its hunting. It had its spot. It was there almost every time I went around the Drive. OM Sysems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Hybrid incoming
Hybrid Scarlet and Great Green Macaw: Macaw Ranch, Sarapiqui Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — One of the results of the dominance of the male Great Green Macaw in the flock of Scarets, this hybrid bird was coming in fast and just swerved at the last moment to avoid a collision. Right place at the right time! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 200mm equivalent. (This bird was close!) Program mode with my custom birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! White bird in the sun
Snowy Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Always a challenge…a white bird in the sun. You want to catch the feather detail. The OM-1 handles it very well. And who could resist the pose? This Snowy Egret was sitting up only a few yards from the road. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! two Macaws
Scarlet and Great Green Macaws: Macaw Ranch, Sarapiqui Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Two, not of a kind, but closely related. This is a sight you don’t often see. These are both free flying birds that have settled at the Macaw Ranch and are habituated to human proximity. This is in the gardens outside the ranch house. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 300mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Great Green Macaw Portrait.
Great Green Macaw: Macaw Ranch, Sarapiqui Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — And here is the man himself…the Great Green Macaw that has attached himself to the flock of mostly Scarlet Macaws at Macaw Ranch. Posing nicely. Certainly the closest shot I have of this endangered bird. Efforts are, as I mentioned in a previous post, in progress to reintroduce the Great Green Macaw to its traditional range in the lowlands of Costa Rica…but researchers have discovered that success is limited by the available habitat and food sources. The country as it is, simply can only support so many Great Green Macaws. To increase the population will require habitat restoration, not just bringing in more birds. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 300mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! A Pelican Squad
American White Pelican: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — My first days at Merritt Island during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival I saw the Pelicans in the air several times, but never found the flock at rest and feeding. Eventually they settled down near enough to Blackpoint Drive and the main refuge road so I got some photos on the water. This is from my first day, and is just one squad of a large platoon going over. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.