Monthly Archives: March 2022

Roadside Hawk

Roadside Hawk: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — The sun had set on our Macaw adventure, and we were headed back to the bus, when we came up on this Road-side Hawk, perched at eye-level, back in the foliage of a tree between the road and the beach…literally on the road side. 🙂 The Road-side Hawk is probably one of the most common hawks all though Mexico and Central America. I had already switched memory modes to use multi-frame noise reduction as the light levels fell and I managed this portrait. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Red-lored Parrot again

Red-lored Parrot: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — The Macaws, of course, were not alone in enjoying the fruiting fig trees behind the beach at Playa Blanca. Parrots are gregarious opportunists and where you find one species there are likely more. There were a few Red-lored Parrots feeding with the Macaws, and again, they were so busy with the fruit that it was easy to get relatively close shots. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Macaws!

Scarlet Macaw: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — This is my second post of the Macaws of Playa Blanca, Costa Rica, on the Osa Peninsula near Danta Corcovado Lodge. I posted just after we visited in December, but as I work back through my photos from the trip, they deserve another post. Especially as our guide, Edwin, worked so hard to find them for us. It is fairly certain that they will be in some fig tree behind a stretch of beach along the Gulf of Deluce, but where exactly varies from day to day and year to year. It turned out we parked the bus at the wrong end of the beach and it was a good hike up to where the birds actually were. Most of us had given up long before Edwin appeared in the far distance and beckoned us on. Worth it though. We found a large flock in the back yard of a vacation home (unoccupied at the moment) and were able to get pretty much as close as we could want to the actively feeding parrots. Only one of these shots is at 600mm equivalent. Macaws really are as spectacular as the Resplendent Quetzal of the mountains, but being so much more common, both in the wild and in captivity, they do not get the photographic love they deserve. Sony Rx10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. (My two Costa Rica trips are scheduled for next December. Search for Stephen Ingraham on the Holbrook Travel site 🙂

Magnificent Frigatebird

Magnificent Frigatebird: Playa Blanca, Costa Rica (Osa Peninsula) — One afternoon late, we drove out to Playa Blanca, a beach on the Gulf of Deluce near Danta Corcovado Lodge, to look for Macaws. While we were looking, I grabbed this shot of one of the many Magnificent Frigatebirds soaring over the Gulf in the evening light. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.

Smooth-billed Ani

Smooth-billed Ani: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — Anis are strange birds…members of the Cuckoo family, though you might not guess that…with floppy long tails and that massive beak. I have seen Grove-billed Anis in Costa Rica before, in flocks and on fence wires along the road, but you have to go to the Pacific Lowlands to see the Smooth-billed. This one was well out in an overgrown pasture and I had to crop heavily and enlarge even with my full zoom. Sony Rx10ivat 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Spectacled Owl chick

Spectacled Owl: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula Costa Rica — I shared one photo of this immature Spectacled Owl, just coming into adult plumage, when we first saw it in December, but it deserves more attention. Edwin, our guide to all things Costa Rican, managed to spot it deep back in the dense rainforest, well off the trail. Finding a line of sight was not easy, but it is such a good bird. Spectacled Owls roost out in daylight, and are among the most likely owls to see in Costa Rica, but still, a great find on Edwin’s part. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 and 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Purple-crowned Fairy

Purple-crowned Fairy (female): Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — Not as spectacular as the male, of course, but we were happy to find this lone Purple-crowned Fairy just at the edge of the Danta Corcovado Lodge grounds as took a short hike down the entrance road. The Fairy is a lowland hummer, common on both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Double-toothed Kite antics

Double-toothed Kite: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — More of the Double-toothed Kite from the observation tower at Danta Corcovado Lodge. Here the bird is showing its signature ruff of tail coverts…sometimes also seen in flight. The bird was a bit close in these shots, but still with that harsh direct light from the rising sun. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th

Double-toothed Kite

Double-toothed Kite: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — While we were on the canopy tower at Danta Corcovado Lodge shortly after sun-rise, this Double-toothed Kite came to visit. It sat on a tree well away from the tower, in the strong direct, somewhat harsh, light of the level sun just over the horizon. These shots are heavily cropped and enlarged to get the bird this big in the frame, as well as some extra processing to deal with the harsh light. The Double-toothed Kite has a extended range all through the lowlands of Central America, the Amazon basin, and the Atlantic coast of Brazil, around the horn from the Amazon’s mouth…where it hunts for mostly insects and small herps. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th.

Blue-throated Goldentail Hummingbird

Pic for today: Blue-throated Goldentail Hummingbird: Danta Corcovado Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica — After sunrise on the Canopy Tower at Danta Corcovado Lodge on the Osa Peninsula, we had a visit from a Blue-throated Goldentail. It was working the flowers at the base of the tower, so these shots are from 50 or 50 feet above and behind the bird…at or beyond the limits of my 600mm equivalent lens. The very definition of “wee and far” 🙂 Still a beautiful bird and a treat to see. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.