Posts in Category: OM-1 & 100-400mm
Florida! Rim-light
Cattle Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, January 2024 — I did not see many Cattle Egrets around Blackpoint Drive on any of the days I visited during the Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival, but there were a few…just coming into breeding plumage. This rim-lighted shot shows off the yellow bill to good effect. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 698mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Goodby Volcanos
Volcano Hummingbird: Paradiso Quetzal, Costa Rica, December 2023 — We generally stop at Paradiso Quetzal for lunch and hummingbirds on our last field day in Costa Rica, on the way back from San Geraldo de Dota to San Jose. This year the hummingbirds were sparse. According to our guide they just suddenly stopped coming to the deck behind the restaurant a few in October of last year. No one knows why. There were still a few (like two) Talamancas, and at least one Violet-ear, and a few Volcanos, like the one here, captured in flight near one of the feeders. And this is goodby to the photos from December of 2023. I have another trip half planned for next March…my first in the spring. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Uncommon Gallinule
Common Gallinule: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Special light on these two Common Gallinules. The sun was still low enough in the sky to have a touch of warmth, and it was Florida light anyway, so, special. And the reflections help. I still struggle to remember that these are not Moorhens. 🙂 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! Early morning flower-piercer
Slaty Flower-piercer: Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Coming to the end of my Costa Rica photos from my trip last December. This is Slaty Flower-piercer from the gardens at Sevegre on the way to breakfast on our last day on the mountain. Flower-piercers make a hole a the base of the flower to draw out the nectar. That is what that specially adapted beak is all about. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Umbrella wings
Reddish Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Again with the umbrella fishing Reddish Egrets along Blackpoint Drive. Wings up and out to make a shadow on the water through which they can see the fish. Their success rate is not high which keeps them at it all day long. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS at 656 and 800mm equivalents. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Another okay Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — We talked our guide into taking 2 of us back for another dawn with the Quetzals. We sat on the bus waiting to see if the rain would stop, and when it got to drizzle I said now or never, and we made the hike down to the stream and then back up the other side to the shelf where the Quetzals come, when they come. It turned out to be another good morning for Quetzals. Never enough light, but we make do with what we have. If I go again this year, I have some new techniques I want to try to see if I can do better. (But I know better is really about more light from closer…and that is unlikely to happen at least at this spot.) OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Florida! Reddish lunge
Reddish Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Back to the hunting Reddish Egrets and some of the amazing postures they presume. There were two here interacting…they looked to be squabbling over territory but it might have been mating behavior, I don’t know enough to know. Lots of chasing and lunging and all kinds of wing action. But definitely some hunting going on too, with the umbrella wings. Lots of fun to watch, and to try to photograph. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at
Costa Rica! Violetear acrobatics
Lesser Violetear Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — a few more shots from the flower set-up at Batsu Gardens, on the mountain- side high above Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa. On the day we visited, in the misty rain, it was mostly Talamancas and Lesser Violetears. The Lesser Violetear is probably the most common hummingbird in Costa Rica at all elevations up to Cloud Forest. They are super active and aggressive defenders of nectar sources. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 570mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Florida! Rosey preening in the early light
Roseate Spoonbill: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Sometimes it is just (mostly) about color and light. Unless you know you might not even recognize one of these shots as a Roseate Spoonbill for sure. The second shot is more obvious but it is still really more about what the early morning backlight does to the feathers and to the colors, than it is about the bird. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800 and 454mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds in fight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Talamanca in the rain
Talamanca Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Batsu Gardens, high on the mountain-side above Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa in San Geraldo de Dota, was specifically designed for bird photography. There are two permanent metal roofed awnings for shelter from the rain when it comes…one primarily purposed for Hummingbird photography and one facing the moss covered structure against the backdrop of the mountains across the valley designed for the fruit and seed eaters. Generally Felipe Chacon, grandson of the original settlers in the Savegre Valley, and the garden’s creator, picks you up at the Hotel in a 4 wheel drive van for the sharp climb to the gardens, and then sets out an array of fresh flowers from the gardens to attract hummingbirds against a backdrop of the slope behind. You can have a cup of coffee or use the clean and pleasant rest rooms close by while you wait. He also puts out fresh fruit in front of the other pavilion, so you have your choice. There will always be hummingbird action near both awnings. We drew a partially rainy day with not the best light, but it is still possible to photograph the hummers without flash. This the Talamanca coming in to the set-up flowers in the rain. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 506mm equivalent (the hummingbirds are close!). Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. In the low light I was shooting at ISO 25600 to 32000 to get a shutter speed of 1/1600. I would, of course, have preferred a lower ISO and even higher shutter speed but we work with what we are given. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.