Rufous Motmot: Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapique, Costa Rica — We had a cold front coming through our first two days in Costa Rica, and as I have said, our only significant rain of the trip. And did it rain! Pretty much steady rain for 48 hours. We were still damp from our first day’s wetting when we gathered for breakfast our first morning at Selva Verde (even after using the hair dryers in our rooms on our shoes and socks), but we were greeted by the usual assortment of tropical Rain Forest birds at the feeding station below the breakfast room…including this Rufous Motmot…which I believe is the largest of the Motmots in Costa Rica. It is a spectacular bird by any account. When I visited Selva Verde last, before the pandemic, the Motmot was in residence, but rarely came to the feeding station, and certainly did not perch out in the open. On this visit it was a daily visitor and highly visible. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/60th.

Northern Emerald Toucanet: Mirador y Soda Chinchona, Costa Rica — The last few years the Northern Emerald Toucanet has be a regular visitor to the feeders at Mirador y Soda Chinchona, and by now I would be disappointed not to see it when we visit. It held off this year until way late…as we were losing the light on an already dark day, during a another heavy downfall of rain. I can not say that it looks particularly happy, even with its favorite flute at hand. No singing in the rain at any rate. This is another extreme low light shot using multi-frame noise reduction. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode as above. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/160th. This is pretty much a full frame shot. I was that close.

Rufous-naped Wren: Hotel Bougainvillea, San Jose, Costa Rica — another of the birds that is very likely to be on the greeting committee in Costa Rica, at least if you fly into San Jose and spend your first night there, is the Rufous-naped Wren. Large for a wren, with a bright white belly, that rich rust across the shoulders, and the bold eyeline, it is a hard bird to miss anywhere on the floor of the Central Valley or in the North-west. It reminds me more than a little of our Cactus Wren of the South-west here in the USA. There are always several on the grounds of the Hotel Bougainvillea, and I have seen them on every stay at the Buena Vista as well, even in their little patch of old banana plantation. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th -.3EV.

Squirrel Cuckoo: Bougainvillea Hotel, San Jose, Costa Rica — I flew into Costa Rica a day early, because if you try to fly direct in one day from Maine, you arrive late in the evening, and, as the leader, I like to be there when the other’s arrive. That gave me a day to wander the extensive grounds and elegant gardens of the Bougainvillea, on their hill overlooking San Jose. And one of the first birds that graced me with its presence was this Squirrel Cuckoo, moving through the bare branches of a tall tree right over my head in the morning light. Squirrel Cuckoos are not uncommon in Costa Rica (except at the highest elevations), and range from Northern Mexico to Argentina, covering all of the lower elevation habitats of both Central and South America. They are unmistakable…big and brown with that black and white spotted tail…but their movement, very squirrel-like indeed running along branches, is enough to give them away. Still they like dense foliage and can be hard to see. I was delighted to find this one out in plain sight (after it did indeed move through several dense bushes below the tree when I first saw it). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

White-collared Manikin: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Pavilion, La Virgen, Costa Rica — We saw way more Manakins on these two trips than I have ever seen in Costa Rica before…or in Central America for that matter. And we got decent views of many of them. This was the most cooperative White-collared I have ever encountered. It came back repeatedly to work a particular bush off the hummingbird deck at Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Pavilion high on the bluff above the Sarapique River. Dave and Dave’s is one of my favorite photo destinations in Costa Rica…both Daves are excellent and knowledgeable hosts and they obviously take delight in providing birders (and photographers in particular) with the best opportunities to see and photograph the birds of both understory and canopy of the Caribbean lowland rain forest…while maintaining as natural a setting and environment for the birds as is humanly possible. It is not a zoo, and you never know what will show up, but it is a great place to spend quality time with a wide range of species. I had never seen a Manikin at Dave and Dave’s before this trip. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with multi-frame-noise-reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th. (And I would like to thank Dave and Dave again for their flexibility. Their willingness to change our appointment by a day and their under-cover observation platforms saved us from two days in a row of getting wet to the skin as we weathered our only serious rain of the trips.)