Daily Archives: December 30, 2022
Weavers of Bwindi: Strange and Brown-capped
Strange and Brown-capped Weavers: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Strange Weaver (yes that is its official name) is another Albertine Rift endemic and the Brown-capped Weaver is limited to the Albertine Rift and the highlands of Kenya and maybe Tanzania (eBird shows nothing in Tanzania but the field guide range maps show a small area). There are also isolated populations of Brown -capped Weaver on the west coast of Africa. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator Photo, and Apple Photos. Strange: ISO 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Brown-capped: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
Scarlet-rumped Tanager
Scarlet-rumped Tanager: Danta Corcovodo Lodge, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The world is a poorer place since they lumped Passerini’s and Cherrie’s Tanagers into Scarlet-Rumped Tanager. I am sure they had good reasons, but still. Passerini’s used to the be the bird on Caribbean slope and Cherrie’s on the south Pacific slope…which includes the Osa Peninsula and the foothills above. Granted, the males, like this one from the roadside almost into Danta Corcovado Lodge, are visually identical, but the females are distinct…distinct enough to make anyone not armed with DNA data suspect that these are different species, especially combined with the clear geographical separation. But no. They are now all just Scarlet-rumped Tanagers. We saw them here in the lowlands, and we saw them in foothills at Wilson Botanical Gardens. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.