Posts in Category: action
Maine! Playing with his food
Common Eider: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — This first winter male Eider is breaking all the rules. While he did eventually swallow the crab whole, he did it on the surface, not underwater, and he was, so it seems to me, playing with his food before he ate it…to the extent that he threw it up in the air and then re-caught it as it came back down…before it could sink. I know there must be a better explanation than play…if there isn’t we have been seriously underestimating the intelligence of Eiders (or I have anyway). Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Shiny!
Shinning Honeycreeper: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Mirador El Pizote has a wonderful set of feeders, ideal for photography of the tanagers and honeycreepers and euphonias who frequent the lowlands of Costa Rica…including the Shinning Honeycreeper, which can be one of the more difficult honeycreepers to see. They have hummingbird feeders too, and large fruit feeders for the toucans, aracaris, and oropedolas. This Shinning Honeycreeper could not struck a better pose. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Yellow is the color
Yellow-throated Toucan: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — One of the most recognizable birds of the American Tropics, the Yellow-throated Toucan has a wide range, when including its nominate and 2 sub-species, all down through the lowland rainforests of Central America and along the north-west rim of South America from eastern Venezuela to southern Peru. It is still listed as “near threatened” by the IOU. No one actually knows how it is doing within its range…but there is a lot of deforestation going on throughout, and it is assumed numbers are declining. Big, bold, loud and just a little clumsy around feeders, it is one of those birds that you see in the air or perched and think, “How is that possible?” For one thing that huge beak is a thin, hollow shell, and weighs very little compared to the mass of the bird. Always a delight to see. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600 and 515mm equivalents. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Eider
Common Eider: York County, Maine, USA, January 2025 — When we first moved back to Maine in 1995, there were flocks of hundreds, thousands, of Common Eiders all along the coast of York County. Now I have to go looking to find one…or one small flock of maybe half a dozen. I am not convinced that there are less Eiders, though that could well be true. just for sure that they don’t come into the coast here anymore. This handsome male reminded me. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird 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! 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! Two toed (not!)
Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth: Tico Rainforest B&B, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, December 2024 — The two sloths found in Costa Rica, Hoffman’s Two-toed, and the Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth. are not actually closely related…they descend from two different ancestors, but are very similar in both appearance and behavior. The Two-toed is the slightly bigger and slightly more active of the two, but that is not saying much when talking about sloths. They both eat a low energy, hard to digest, diet of leaves. And, of course, they both have 3 toes…but the Hoffman’s has only 2 fingers. This Two-toed was resting in a tree about 25 feet up, just at the edge of Victor’s little patch of second growth at Tico Rainforest B&B. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
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! 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.
Costa Rica! Olingo
Olingo (or bushy-tailed Olingo, or Northern Olingo, three names for the same animal): Mirador ye Soda Cinchona, San Jose, Costa Rica, December 2024 — I know it sounds like a language learning program, but the Olingo is a arboreal member of the raccoon family, along with the Coatimundi and the Kinkajou. It looks very like a Kinkajou, but Kinkajous have a prehensile tail that tapers, and are primarily nocturnal. The Olingo prefers the night but is also more active in the daylight hours, especially when folks will put nice bananas out for the birds. Still, this was a rare enough sighting so that the young lady who keeps the fruit feeder stocked at the Soda for passing photographers had to be convinced that this critter was stealing her bananas. There were at least two of them. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 217 and 178mm equivalents. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.