Daily Archives: January 14, 2023
Uganda Edition: Kandt’s Waxbill
Kandt’s Waxbill: Mghinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Moving on from Bwindi to Mghinga National Park. We were scheduled for the Golden Monkey trek at Mghinga, but considering our trail experiences at Bwindi, I made an executive decision to forgo the trek in favor of some birding around the trailhead and up the trail for a mile or so. For one thing, close encounters with the Golden Monkeys had been rare for the past few days, with some groups not seeing them at tall, and for another, we were all pretty tired after Bwindi, and, I was assuming the Golden Monkey Trek would easier…no so! All in all it was a good decision. We saw lots of birds, many right around the ranger station. There was a flock of Kandt’s Waxwings…not easy to photograph because they are so active…but in great light! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ 4 @ 1/500th.
Double-toothed Kite
Double-toothed Kite: Playa Blanco, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica, December 2022 — It is, according to the field guides and eBird, rare to see a Double-toothed Kite perched…and I would guess even rarer to see one perched in amongst a flock of noisy Scarlet Macaws, but this bird was perched on the lower branches of the same tree the Macaws were in…bold a brass! The guides also say it can be “quite tame” when perched and it certainly was. It allowed us to move around under it and take as many photos as we wanted. I have included a deep crop of the head to show off the double-tooth, which again, according to the field guides, is “rarely seen.” It is pretty clear in this shot. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 640, 400, and 500 in the shade dappled light @ f4 @ 1/500th.