Monthly Archives: April 2023
India! Green Bee-eater
Green Bee-eater: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — The most common bee-eater we saw in Rajasthan was by far the Green Bee-eater. They were pretty much everywhere there were standing trees, even in the hedgerows between cultivated fields. Bee-eaters are ever active birds…never still a moment…even when perched, and with their attractive blends of greens and blues (and occasional reds) they are stand-out photographic subjects. I came back with way too many photos of Green Bee-eaters. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Chestnut-capped Brushfinch
Chestnut-capped Brushfinch: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — Batsu Gardens, high on the mountainside above San Gerardo de Dota and the Savegre Mountain Resort, is one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon when visiting Costa Rica. It is a great place for photography…designed specifically for photographing the local seed and fruit eaters and the mountain hummingbirds…in comfort, with all the amenities right there. For the bird and wildlife photographer, it honestly does not get much better! This is Chestnut-capped Bushfinch, a common ground finch of the Talamancas. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Oriental Honey Buzzard?
Oriental Honey Buzzard (?): Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We saw way more raptors than I somehow expected in India…most were way far and soaring, but we did see a significant number perched closer. This one on one of the small islands in the marsh at Saltanpur. Someday I will develop a method of associating the ids our guides are making with the photos I am taking that works better than my memory…someday…but I did not have one in place for this trip. Merlin says this is an Oriental Honey Buzzard, but it also gives several other choices, and I can not honestly remember what the guide said. If anyone can say more definitely I would appreciate it. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
India! Spotted Owlet
Spotted Owlet: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I was surprised to find this little Spotted Owlet sitting right out in plain sight a few yards in from the busy trail at Saltanpur, but the Spotted Owlet was to become one of the constant themes of the trip. We found them just about everywhere in Rajasthan we had a chance to look for them. This one was near a nest box provided for its convenience, but as cavity nesters they are common wherever there are mature trees. And their diurnal habits and apparent lack of any fear of man at all make them easy to see. In hindsight, we probably could have seen a lot more of them, if we had taken the time to look. It got so it was “just another Spotted Owlet”…and that should not be, as it is certainly an engaging little bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Peacock
Indian Peafowl: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — I grew up in eastern up-state New York, on a rural farm, with Peacocks. My grandfather, who was maybe a bit odd in many ways, but a wonderful man, kept, as a hobby, “fancy birds”, for no particular reason other than he liked them. He had a pair of Peafowl, and about 50 Guineefowl, a barn full of fancy bantam roosters and hens, ducks, and a huge bully goose that ruled the barnyard. (I still have scars, emotional if not physical, from that goose.) A Peacock in full display was then a common sight in my youth. I have since been places where escaped birds frequent the rooftops, but, of course, there is no where quite like India for Peafowl. It is the Indian Peafowl after all. In Rajasthan at least, they are everywhere. And since they seem to like to live in close proximity to humans, and they are so large, and so gaudy, they are seen everywhere too. This male was in full display in a broken lot off the circuit trail at Saltanpur. Pretty impressive. Even more impressive, I suppose, if I had not grown up with them. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! White-throated Mountain Gem, female
Female White-throated Mountain Gem: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The White-throated Mountain Gems, especially the females, like to feed at the flowers where the Flowerpiercers have been busy. They use the holes the Flowerpiercers have already made, which gives them access to nectar they would not otherwise be able to reach. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Grey Heron and Great Egret with lots of ducks and others at Saltanpur
Grey Heron, Great Egret: Saltanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Despite being often shrouded in the mirk of greater Delhi, the wetlands at Saltanpur are a vital resource for ducks, waterfowl, waders and other water birds, and home to a large herd of Nilgai antelope. I am always amazed at the resilience of nature. In this one image you can see three large waders, Black-necked Stilt, Painted Crane, Swamp-hen, and at least a few species of ducks. And the back end of a Nilgai. I had to work on it to draw the content out of the haze, but it certainly demonstrates how rich an area Saltanpur is for birds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
India! Indian Pond Heron
Indian Pond Heron: Sultanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — This was not the first, but my first good shot, of what seems, in hindsight, like at least 30,000 Indian Pond Herons we saw in Rajasthan. The Indian Pond Heron is very like the Squacco Heron of Africa and a few places on the Iberian Peninsula. The white wings in flight are very distinctive. Turns out they are a very common bird in India! Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Costa Rica! Torrent Tyrannulet
Torrent Tryannulet: San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Savegre River has carved a sharp steep valley out of the Pacific side of the Talamanca Mountains which has become a major birding destination for it relaiabe population of Resplendent Quetzels. But of course it it rich in other mountain and cloud forest species as well. The Torrent Trannulet is one of the most specialized flycatchers in the world. It needs fast flowing, tumbling, rocky river beds with the cleanest water…just what the Savegre provides. You can generally find a few between the lodges at the end of the road where it runs next to the stream. They are not always as cooperative as this one which we found right under a bridge. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/640th. Minus .7EV Wide shot, iPhone SE2.
India! Indian Spot Billed Duck
Indian Spot Billed Duck: Sultanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We were to see Spot Billed Duck in almost every open patch of water larger than a village tank every where we went in Rajasthan. (And I think they only avoided the tanks because they were usually clogged with floating plastic bottles.) Certainly the most common duck in Rajasthan. A really a beautiful bird! This one came close enough so that I could pretty much clean the murk out of the image and present the bird as it might have appeared on a somewhat clearer day. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3EV.