The week we were in Costa Rica with the Point and Shoot Nature Photography Adventure a series of unprecedented storms crossed the US, and as they pushed out into the Atlantic, Central America got the backside of those storms. We spent a lot of time birding and photographing birds in the rain. This is a Golden-hooded Tanager, maybe the third most common tanager of the Caribbean slope rain forest (after the Blue-grey and the Palm), at La Selva Biological Station, one of several research reserves maintained in Costa Rica and elsewhere by the Organization for Tropical Studies. Tropical tanagers are among natures most colorful and most varied species, and are responsible for dispersing the seeds of many rain forest plants. This Golden-hooded is busy doing just that. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Even it though it was already the end of a long and satisfying day of birding, our first day with the Point and Shoot Nature Photography Adventure in Costa Rica, with parrots and wrens around the hotel in the morning, hummingbirds at La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and Emerald Toucanets and Black Guans at Soda Y Mirador, I could not resist grabbing my camera as soon as I had dumped my bags in my room at Selva Verde and heading to the feeders at the dinning hall to see what would be there to greet me. Of course it was the Yellow-throated Toucan…the largest of the 6 toucans of Costa Rica, and, in my experience, the easiest to see. This specimen was picking over the banana skins at the feeder and doing duty as the sentinel bird, waiting for the kitchen staff to put out more fruit before the supper rush. I got better Toucan shots later in the trip, but this was the first. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

My only really good look at the “other” barbet of Costa Rica, the Red-headed Barbet, came on my very first trip. Since then I have either not seen one at all…or, as on this year’s trip, only had momentary glimpses of the female. I put it down to simple bad timing. They are there. And this female which appeared for only a moment at the feeders at Soda Y Mirador in Cinchona, is proof. The male of the species is unmistakable, with its bright red head, but the female is certainly an attractive bird as well. I would not have expected the blues around the face, which are totally lacking in the male. A few of the folks on my Point and Shoot Nature Photography Adventure in Costa Rica were better positioned than I was and got killer shots of this bird. Hard not to be jealous. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

There were at least two Emerald Toucanets at Soda Y Mirador in Cinchona, Costa Rica, overlooking St. Francisco Falls. I know I already posted at least one shot of one of them, but I have a lot more, and they are such a striking bird. In addition, we saw more Emerald Toucanets this trip than ever before, by a factor of 10. They were common and aggressively present at mid-elevation wherever we went. They are really pretty birds, but they are not nice birds. They are among the major nest, egg, and hatchling predictors in the mountains…and their prey includes the Resplendent Quetzel where they overlap. Also, through they are currently considered the same species, the Emerald Toucanets of Costa Rica are considerably different, and much more complexly colored, than the Emerald Toucanets of Honduras. The Honduran birds are very basic by comparison. They lack the blue on the throat, the white edging on the bill, and many of the blue tones in the plumage. I would not be surprised the ornithology gods someday decided they are indeed a different species…but then I am not much surprised by anything the ornithology gods do or don’t do. Sony Rx10iv at about 400mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Just up the road (or rather down the road, since we are on the other side of the continental divide now) from La Paz Waterfall Gardens there is a little road-side Soda (a small mom-and-pop restaurant/gift shop: Soda Y Mirador) with a wonderful view of St. Francisco Falls off the back deck and active fruit and hummingbird feeders to draw in the birds. Walking through the Soda is very unassuming, and then you get to the deck and, if you are a birder, and it is the right time of day, are instantly overwhelmed by the bird life and photographic opportunities. Excellent coffee too! My kind of place. This is a Prong-billed Barbet, one of only two barbets in Costa Rica (the other being the Red-headed Barbet). Taken from about 5 feet at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.