Posts in Category: animals
Lesser Anteater (Collared Ant-eater or Tamandua)
There are always surprises on our Point and Shoot Nature Photography Adventures in Costa Rica. This year’s stand-out so far, edging out the Yellow Eyelash Pit-viper by a nose, is the Lesser Anteater…also called the Collared Anteater or the Collared Tamandua. This one, the first and only I have ever seen, was climbing a tree along the road beside the old botanical gardens at Selva Verde Lodge in the Sarapique River Valley. We watched it devour termites (its main food) from a termite highway leading up the tree to a termite nest above for 15 minutes or more before moving on. Very special! Sony Rx10iv at 150mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Red-eyed Leaf Frog, Costa Rica
On our Point and Shoot Nature Photography Adventure in Costa Rica, the Red-eyed Leaf Frogs have never failed us. We found 5 of them last night on our night walk at Selva Verde Lodge here in the Sarapique River. This is one of my best shots ever as the frog was posing nicely just below eye-level right beside the path. I am using a new flash-shoe mounted light cube that has just the right intensity (adjustable) for shots like this using the Sony Rx10iv’s Anti-motion Blur mode. It is certainly much easier then hand holding a flashlight. (No flash allowed when photographing leaf frogs 🙂 600mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr.
Mammal of the day! Costa Rica
So I posed a bird of the day (Spectacled Owl), and a creature of the day (Eyelash Pit-viper, on Facebook and Instagram) from the 2nd day of the Point and Shoot Nature Photography Adventure in Costa Rica already. This has to be the mammal of the day. A Three-toed (or more properly, 3 fingered) Sloth at Donde Cope…Jose Perez’s home in La Union Costa Rica. He has a pair of Sloths living in his tiny garden. This male was slowly working through the vines just above our heads. I was after dark and raining so this was taken with the light of my little light cube mounted in the flash shoe of my Sony Rx10iv in Anti-motion blur mode. It is only at 254mm equivalent and it is a full frame shot (not cropped) so you might be able to appreciated just how close we were. The difficulty was catching the sloth’s face exposed as it climbed the among the vines. Yes, we are having fun in Costa Rica!
Zebra with foal, variation
Another shot of the mother Zebra with her foal at Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. I am not sure how old the foal was. The foals are born with brown stripes, which darken as they grow. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And I missed publishing this shot yesterday.
Warthog piglet
During our Birds and Wildlife Safari in Uganda in September there were lots of young animals around…calves and fawns, cubs and piglets. This is Warthog Piglet at Lake Mburo National Park…not newborn, as they only weigh 1 to 2 pounds at birth…but maybe a few weeks old. This is perhaps as cute as a warthog gets (unless, of course, it is a Disney warthog). Sony Rx10iv at 1200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Mountain Gorillas, moving out
After about 30 minutes in the presence of our family of Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda, the silverback, who had shown signs of being increasingly uncomfortable, decided to move the family on. I put it down to one of the cell phone toting tourists (not one of my group) getting at bit too close and making eye-contact one too many times, but the silverback might well have just gotten bored with us. Once he had disappeared through the heavy vines at the clearing edge the others quickly followed. Mom patiently waited for the youngest to climb aboard before she moved off. She did not seem to mind when the infant grabbed fists fulls of her fur for climbing holds. Sony Rx10iv at about 200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. For the full story on my Mountain Gorilla Trek, visit here.
Mountain Gorillas, contemplation
The mother Gorilla taking a moment of rest while the male finished his breakfast and the youngsters played. As I said, in 30 minutes with the Mountain Gorilla family in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda, we had the opportunity to observe and photograph an amazingly wide range of behavior as the gorillas went about their morning routines. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr, Apple Photos, and TouchRetouch. For the full story and more photos on my Gorilla Trek, visit my post on Point and Shoot Nature Photographer.
Bwindi Monkeys
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is home to 10 primate species, from the Mountain Gorilla and Chimpanzee to small nocturnal monkeys. On our way to our lodge in the center of Bwindi, Moses, our sharp-eyed guide, spotted a group of monkeys working in a tree just off the road, and we stopped to see what was what. Of course, most of the monkeys took off deeper into the forest, but individuals of two species hung around long enough for photos.
This is the Red-tailed Monkey, also known as the “black-cheeked white-nosed monkey,” “red-tailed guenon,” redtail monkey,” or “Schmidt’s guenon”, depending on what reference you check. This is the best shot I managed before the whole troop disappeared, but you can pick out all of the features that give it its various names.
The somewhat larger Blue Monkeys in the tree were bolder and hung around longer, giving me more opportunities for photos. They were also more curious and actually came down closer to see what we were up to down on their road. Notice the length of that tail!
We had not been back and continuing our journey more than 5 minuets when we drove up beside another Bwindi monkey. It took two tries. The first scampered away and a few moments later we managed to roll to a stop beside this L’Hoest’s Monkey, who was busy with something in the short grass along the road. L’Hoest’s are generally shy, and I feel privileged to have gotten this shot.
Sony Rx10iv at various focal lengths as needed to frame. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Hippopotamus at eyelevel
As I have said before, the only safe way to get close to a Hippopotamus is in a boat…and the most dramatic views are from a small boat, where you are close to the waterline. On our boat tour of the Kasinga Channel between Lake George and Lake Edward in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, we had a smallish launch, maybe 14 foot, and were close to the waterline indeed, and eye to eye with the Hippos we encountered. The Hippos in the channel are used to people in boats, some smaller even than ours, and, though certainly aware of us, went about their business pretty much undisturbed. This shot is at 600mm equivalent. Sony Rx10iv in Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Chimpanzee again
I probably took 500 shots of the Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park in Uganda when we visited, and, using Anti-motion Blur mode for the low light, I was limited to single exposures, so there were no motor drive duplicates in there. It was such a rewarding experience to be there, close to the Chimps in the wild, seeing them interact naturally…or as naturally as is possible with Chimps that are used to human observation. They were obviously fully aware of their audience, even if they only gave us the occasional glance as they went about their chimpanzee business. I have to wonder what they think of the cell phone brandishing, noisy groups in their unnaturally bright colors who come to dance around them twice a day. I am sure they would love to get their hands on one of those phones…just to see what all the fuss is about. 🙂 This young chimp seems to have us all pretty well sized up. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.