Posts in Category: animals
White-fronted Parrot
White-fronted Parrot, Honduran Emerald Hummingbird Reserve, Honduras
Last year, we saw very few Parrots on the trip to the Lodge at Pico Bonito, Honduras and none photo-worthy. This year, we had several groups perched within range of the long lens on the Nikon P900. This is a White-fronted Parrot on the Honduran Emerald Hummingbird Reserve from yesterday morning.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 250 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Honduran Emerald Hummingbird
Honduran Emerald Hummingbird, Honduran Emerald Reserve, Hondruas
The Honduran Emerald is the only endemic species Honduras has. We traveled 7 hours by bus today to see them. It was not a great day for hummingbird color, but I got close shots.
Nikon P900 at 3595mm equivalent. 1/400th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
White-necked Jacobin
White-necked Jacobin, Rio Santiago, Honduras
We spent the day at Rio Santiago. The best bird of the day was the Specticaled Owl, but Rio Santiago is famous for its hummingbirds. This is a White-necked Jacobin.
Nikon P610 at 700mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/320th @ ISO 900 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Keel-billed Toucan!
Keel-billed Toucan, the Lodge at Pico Bonito, Honduras
This is my 3rd trip to the tropics and my first really close shot of a Toucan. We spent the day at Lancetilla Botanical Gardens, and found many interesting birds and bugs, but this is from the walk from the Lodge to my cabin after we got back. 🙂
Nikon P610 at 800mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 320 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Howler
Howler Monkey, Cuero y Salado NWR, Honduras
It is not all birds on the ZEISS/Eagle Optics VICTORY SF Experience at Pico Bonito Lodge in Honduras. One of the treats on today’s visit to Cuero y Saado Wildlife Refuge was a troop of Howler Monkeys resting in the trees. You may have seen them in zoos, but there is nothing like seeing them in the wild.
Nikon P900 at 500mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 200 @ f5. Processed in Lightroom.
Glossy Ibis. Very Glossy!
Glossy Ibis. Viera Wetlands, Viera Florida
You have to catch the angle of the light just right to see the iridescence in feathers…as in this shot. Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands, Viera Florida.
Nikon P900 at 1500mm equivalent field of view. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
Skimmers in the sunset
Black Skimmers. Merritt Island, Titusville FL
There is a small flock of Black Skimmers that hang out at the fishing area just over the bridge on your way to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They are generally there, huddled in a group, all facing the same way. Occasionally they must get up and go find food. Stands to reason. This year, however, I never saw them fishing. They did rise, just at sunset, to find a better roost for the night. I was there to see it. 🙂 And to catch some of the action.
Nikon P900 in my custom Birds in Flight mode. 200mm equivalent field of view. 1/1250th @ ISO 280 @ f4.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Florida Scrub Jay reprise.
Florida Scrub Jay, Scrub Ridge Trail, Merritt Island NWR, Titusville FL
With birds as cooperative as the Florida Scrub Jays were on Monday, of course I took too many pics. I had to try full body shots, like the one I posted yesterday, but also intimate close-ups like this one. That is, after all, why we carry a superzoom. These birds were so cooperative that when another photographer/birder came along while I was photographing them I invited he and his wife up to where I was standing for a better view. The birds just sat and looked at us, so they got what they deserved. Way too many photographs. 🙂 They were still sitting in the same bushes when all of us moved on, back to the cars. You just have to love the blue on this bird!
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Notice of possible interruption of service: For the next 12 days I will be traveling and photographing in Honduras, and will have intermittent internet, and not a lot of time to post. If I miss a day here and there, I will make up for it when I get home. Promise.
Florida Scrub Jay!
Florida Scrub Jay, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville FL
The Florida Scrub Jay is an endangered species. Loss of habitat as Florida is paved over and urbanized is the culprit, but there is still a population on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I have visited Scrub Ridge Trail at last 15 times in the last 15 years and never seen a Florida Scrub Jay. I was tempted to put a note in the suggestion box at the visitor center (supposing they had one) saying they should change the name of the trial to “No Scrub Jays Here” trail. And other people see them various places on the refuge…but not me. My daughter Sarah and my friend Rich saw them this trip…right on the Scrub Ridge Trail where they should be, so late in my last (unexpected: canceled flights) day in the area, I decided to give the trail another chance. As usual…I saw on Scrub Jays…until…most of the way around and almost back to the car…one teed up on the top of a bush. Hallelujah! I was working closer for a better shot when a rustling in the bush next to me turned my head. Woooh! Florida Scrub Jay at 8 feet! I had to zoom back to get the bird in focus. Now that is a Scrub Jay encounter and redeems the guy who named the trial in my eyes! Late afternoon light. 2 Jays. Close. It does not get any better than that!
Nikon P900 at 800mm equivalent field of view. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
My best duck! Hooded Merganser
Hooded Merganser, Viera Wetlands, Viera Florida
The Hooded Merganser is my favorite duck. Not only is it elegant and beautiful, but I don’t get to see it that often, and it is incredibly difficult to photograph well. That, for some maybe slightly perverse reason, makes it my favorite 🙂 Camera exposure systems have gotten very sophisticated…with built in Dynamic Range Optimization (or whatever your maker chooses to call it) that reads the brights and darks in a scene or subject and automatically compensates for excesses in processing. This shot, thanks to the camera, not to me, is almost perfectly exposed. Detail in the back, and detail in the white. Impressive for a machine.
It was also taken, hand-held, at just shy of 4000mm equivalent field of view. That is an impossible magnification for any camera but the Nikon P900, with its excellent lens, excellent image stabilization, and excellent Perfect Image zoom digital enhancement to reach. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.