Posts in Category: Tico Rainforest B&B
Costa Rica! Posed Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Victor’s feeder by the corner of the 2nd floor deck is ideal of bird portraits…as in this portrait of a Orange-chinned Parakeet who posed nicely on the moss with the bromeliad. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Parakeets
Orange-chinned Parakeet: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Victor has a flock of Orange-chinned Parakeets that frequent his fruit feeders daily. They are noisy and aggressive and he often moves them on with feather duster on a long pole once they have eaten, otherwise they would dominate the feeder for hours, not eating, but preventing other birds from eating. It seems to be all part of the game to them. I am posting the second photo to show the orange chins, which are hard to see unless you catch them just right. The Parakeets fly as flock but often perch as pairs. I am assuming that is intentional, and reflects the inner structure of the flock…a flock of mostly pairs. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Dusky
Dusky-faced Tanager: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — According to Victor, many birders and photographers come to Tico Rainforest B&B specifically to see and photograph the Dusky-faced Tanager. And indeed, in all my trips to Costa Rica, I have only seen it at Victor’s feeders, on this trip…or maybe, if memory serves, had distant glimpses of it from the Sarapiqui tour boat on the Puerto Viejo river right behind Victor’s property. It is a fairy common bird and ranges down from Costa Rica all the way to Ecuador and Peru, but is maybe harder to see than some of the other more brightly colored Tanagers. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Green Honeycreeper close!
Green Honeycreeper: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — After an active morning around Victor’s place, and a mid-day rest, I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting and photographing birds at the feeder. Victor has a fruit feeder with plantains set up off one corner of the 2nd floor balcony, with a mossy branch that he replaces as needed, and a nice distant background…ideal for photography. And, closer to the house, between the balcony and the feeder, there are some bushes that frame the feeder and provide even closer perches for birds as they come and go. This is pretty much a full frame shot of the male Green Honeycreeper in one of those close bushes, just beyond the balcony rail. In a shot like this you can appreciate the subtle color variations and the texture details of the plumage. The artistry of creation. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-500 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. (The green in the name Green Honeycreeper comes from the female of the species who is bright leaf-green.)
Costa Rica! Brown woodpeckers of the Sarapiqui
Smoky-brown, Rufous-winged, Cinnamon, and Chestnut-colored Woodpeckers: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — In two days of active birding on the grounds at Tico Rainforest B&B with Victor, I saw and photographed 4 of the brown woodpeckers of Costa Rica. (Though the Cinnamon here is a photo of a more cooperative bird just down the road from Victor’s at the Pierrella Ecology Gardens.) As you might be able to tell the top two are closely related, and the bottom two are closely related, but the top and bottom pairs are not. The Cinnamon and Chestnut-colored are fruit eaters, while the Smoky-brown and Rufous-winded eat mainly insects. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! more Broadbills
Broad-billed Motmot: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — As I mentioned yesterday, this Broad-billed Motmot was very tolerant and allowed me to work around it quite close while it actively hunted for flying insects. It was super alert, but not bothered by me. In fact I may have been of use, as I was undoubtedly stirring up insects as I circled the bird. Happy to help, and I did get a lot of satisfying photos of this bird in return. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. ISO 16000 with some noise reduction in post.
Costa Rica! Broad-billed
Broad-billed Motmot: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — It was the call of the Broad-billed Motmot that drew us out into Victor’s little patch of second-growth rainforest early in the morning and we had glimpses of the bird right away…but then it was off on its rounds and it was not until a couple of hours later that it came back and sat so I could photograph it. It was pretty tame and allowed me to circle for angles and light for a good half hour while it hunted flying insects…eventually catching and eating a monster cricket. At one time it was thought that the little paddles at the end of the tail feathers were the result of intentional preening, but recent studies have suggested that the barbs along that section of tail feather are loosely attached and fall off naturally as the bird moves through foliage. Why? Of course, no one has been able to answer that question…but the paddle tails certainly add to the allure of an already beautiful bird. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. +0.3EV Processed in Photomator. (Including some noise reduction in these ISO 8000 shots).
Costa Rica! Trogon snack
Slaty-tailed Trogon (immature male): Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Eventally the immature male Slaty-tailed Trogon Victor and I had been watching caught a bug and flew into a perch only about 5 feet from me and just slightly above my eye-level. It sat there and worked the bug down, very aware of me watching it just over arm’s reach, while I zoomed in and out to frame it in several different ways. This shot is at 375mm equivalent. This was one case where I was very happy to have the full 75-600mm range of the Tamron zoom. Sony a6700. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. -0.3 EV. Processed in Photomator. (This, by the way, is at ISO 8000 with some noise reduction in Photomator.)
Costa Rica! Immature Male
Immature Male Slaty-tailed Trogon: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Shortly after photographing the full adult male Slaty-tailed Trogon at relatively close range, in Victor’s little patch of second growth rainforest, this bold young male flew in, taking insects from the air. This bird still has the gray shading between the green breast and red belly, and the top mandible is not completely orange yet. You can see the intricate grey patterning on the wings, which is typical of both immatures and adults. These two shots are at 600mm equivalent…so not as close as the bird eventually came. I have head shots at 600mm, and head and shoulder shots at less than 400mm. 🙂 Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Manakin
White-collared Manakin: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Victor, the host at Tico Rainforest B&B, has a wonderful little property right on the Puerto Viejo River…recovering Rainforest rescued from banana production 20 years ago…that attracts an amazing variety of the lowland rainforest birds. The thing about the rainforest is that it recovers fast once taken out of production, and the river corridor allows the birds to move in and out easily. Of all the Manikins possible, we only saw the White-collared in the days when I visited, but we had several encounters with what might have been the same male and one encounter with his mate. Manakins are active and fast and not easy to catch. We did not find a lek to see them dancing, but still, every encounter is to be treasured. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.