Slaty Flowerpiercer: Savegre Mountain Hotel, Reserve and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — This is my second post for the Slaty Flowerpiercer. The previous post featured close-ups of the female and one distant shot of the male, taken at Batsu Gardens on the mountainside above Savegre Hotel. This is the all male review…though it is all the same male, and we found him right on the grounds of the Hotel. You can see the flower-piercing beak very well in these shots and from several angles. 🙂 I was very happy to get these shots, as the Flowerpiercers are highly active birds and rarely pose. The Slaty is the only Flowerpiercer in Costa Rica, though there is one other species in Central America (the Cinnamon-bellied from Mexico and northern Central America) and 18 total, mostly in the Andean highlands of South America. Sony Rx10iv at about 500mm equivalent (I was really close to this bird). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 and 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. + 1EV exposure compensation.

Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher: Savegre Mountain Hotel Spa and Reserve, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — The Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher is a mostly fruit eating bird of the canopy in the highlands of Costa Rica, ruth up to timberline…but you can see it at eye-level when it is feeding on low growing fruit. Despite its common name, it is more closely related to thrushes and waxwings than it is to true flycatchers. These were seen on the grounds of Savegre Hotel, and down along the river near the lodge. Sony Rx10iv at about 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. All f4 @ 1/500th. 600mm, ISO 1250, + 1EV; ISO 800, + 1EV; Multi-frame noise reduction equivalent ISO 3200.

Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — The Resplendent Quetzal is, of course, the main attraction in the highland forests of Costa Rica. It is a stunning, relatively large, and almost impossibly beautiful, bird. Everyone wants to see it, and those who have seen one, want to see another. On our first December trip to Costa Rica last year, on our first morning in the mountains, we were up at 5 am, and on the bus by 5:30, for our first try at a Quetzal. We saw one. A single male flew into the wild avocado tree where it had been feeding at the time, and sat for maybe 5 minutes, just at dawn. Then it flew off, and did not re-appear in the time we had before breakfast at 7:30. Enough to say we had seen it, but not enough to satisfy. So on the second morning in the mountains, we were up again and on the road even earlier. The wild avocado trees do not all flower and fruit at the same time. Generally there will be only a few trees in the Savegre Valley in fruit on any given day, so finding the Quetzals is a matter of knowing which trees have fruit. A fruiting tree, if it is along the road where it is easy to get to, can attract 100s of birders and tourists from the lodges all up and down the valley each morning who are eager to see the Quetzal. It is also a waiting game. If you get there early you wait for the first bird to fly in. If you leave right after that, you take the chance of missing the real show. Our guide insisted that we wait, and indeed, as the sun crept down the slopes above us, two more male Quetzals flew in. It might have been hard to tell that we were seeing three different birds, but each of these males had different length “tail streamers” (the tail streamers are actually coverts…normally small feathers that grow from and cover the base of the true tail). Male Quetzals lose the covert streamers during nesting season as they fly into and out of the cavity nest, tending young, and have to grow them out each year, so the length of the streamers is a good indication of how recently the birds have nested. These three were clearly on different nesting cycles. Long, medium, and short. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reductions. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 and 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Golden-browed Chlorophonia: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — I may have told this story before, but on our first trip to Costa Rica this past December, we had a glimpse of a Golden-browed Chlorophonia, wee and far, in the canopy while hiking, and I, somewhat rashly, promised Dave (an avid birder and bird photographer) that I would show him one close up the next day when we visited Batsu Gardens on the mountain side above Savegre Resort. When we got in the van that takes you up to the gardens, I asked the owner if the Chlorophonia was coming to the feeders, and he said, “Some days”. Hum. So we sat there on the viewing platform all afternoon, watching and photographing hummingbirds, tanagers, finches, and toucanets. We were beginning to lose the light, and Dave had wandered off looking for photo-ops in the larger garden. I was beginning to think I was going to have to eat my words. And then suddenly, the Golden-browed Chlorophonia was there on the feeding station. Dave. Dave. DAVE! Chlorophonia. CHLOROPHONIA! I finally yelled. Dave came. We saw the Chlorophonia. We photographed the Chlorophonia. Whew. Close one. On the next trip I did not promise anyone anything, but we did see the Golden-browed Chlorophonia at Batsu again. And it is certainly a bird worth seeing. Such a bright little bird and such a striking color combination. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.