Monthly Archives: January 2024
Costa Rica! Green and Black
Green and Black Poison Dart Frog: Selva Verde Lodge and Reserve, Sarapique Valley, Costa Rica, December 2023 — By the time we got to the frogs, we were, to be honest, already loosing the light, but you do what you must. It put a strain on the cameras…shooting at much higher ISO than any of us would have liked. Most people were working close with macro lenses…I was standing back and shooting at the long end of my zoom, 800mm equivalent, with the digital 2x extender engaged for 1600mm equivalent and a 1 to 1 image magnification…so a true telephoto macro. This is Dendrobates auratus, one of two poison dart frogs common on the grounds of Selva Verde Lodge. They are actually quite different species and only associated by their common name and the fact that both can be used to make the poison that was used on darts and arrows for hunting in the American tropics. This is the larger of the two species by quite a bit, and it is still less than 2 inches long. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm x 2 digital for a 1600mm field of view. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Skimmer
Black Skimmer: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Another of my “most wanted” birds and shots for my Florida trip this year: the Black Skimmer skimming. The hardest part is keeping the skimmer in an 800mm equivalent frame as it is moving so fast over the water, especially when it passes close. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! focus stacked flowers
Flowers from the Botanical Gardens at Selva Verde Lodge and Reserve in the Sarapiqui valley of Costa Rica. We spent an afternoon doing macro and frogs at Selva Verde…not a great day as the rain threatened all afternoon and the light was less than ideal, but it was the day we had. These are all “focus stacked” in my Olympus OMD E-M5mkiii with the 12-45mm zoom. I had the camera set to take 8 exposures at different focus points and combine them in-camera to one shot with extended depth of field. The camera was on my tiny travel tripod. Program mode. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Social feeding
Great and Snowy Egrets: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — The mass mixed feeding flock of wading birds got up and left the pools behind the entrance kiosk at Blackpoint Wildlife Drive just as I arrived soon after dawn on Sunday and flew away to the west. I did not find them again until later in the day, congregated in the small pond right beside the main Refuge road where it crosses the railroad tracks. This mass feeding behavior is common among Egrets and other wading birds as they follow the most recent hatch in various ponds around the refuge…often spending 3-5 days at one pond, only to move on, in mass, to another when the prey get sparse and fresh ponds beckon. As you can see from the photos, it takes a lot of prey this size to keep a Great Egret topped up. (The second photo is a crop from the first, showing the prey and the Egret’s tongue action more clearly. ) OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 200 and 420mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Tricolored being Reddish
Tricolored Heron: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville Florida, USA, January 2024 — This Tricolored Heron has obviously been taking hunting lessons from the Reddish Egret, but it has developed it’s own routine which involves repeated leaps into the air instead runs through the water, and then the umbrella pose before the strike. It is a behavior I have never seen in a Tricolored…but then I have not, to be honest, spent a lot of time with Tricoloreds. I had a lot of fun watching this one hunt, and took way too many photos trying to catch the action. (I never think to switch to video until I get home to process the photos. Yes a video would have been nice 🙁 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 584mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight modifications (to catch the action). Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Most wanted for today
Limpkin: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, Florida, USA, January 2024. Another Florida specialty and one that is relatively easy to see most years at Orlando Wetlands Park. The Limpkin is a highly specialized bird, living mostly on a diet of Apple Snails…though they do take small reptiles and amphibians when other snails when the supply of Apple Snails is low. They are alone in a family of birds of their own but apparently most closely related to the cranes and rails. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Today’s most wanted
Purple Gallinule: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, Florida, January 2024 — One of the reasons birders go to Orlando Wetlands Park, the final natural water treatment plant for the City of Orlando, is to see Purple Gallinule, which are more regular there than almost any other place in this area of Florida. There is a whole story behind finding this cooperative bird, involving tired feet and asking directions and facing a reluctant march back out to the far reaches…only to find this one quite near where I got my final instructions…which was a relief to my feet! I took maybe 500 shots of this bird, just to be safe 🙂 Amazing bird. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Most wanted for today
Snowy Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, January 2024 — I am giving my first Easy Birds and Wildlife with the OM-1 workshop early tomorrow morning, so I will post this tonight…for tomorrow’s Pic for today. 🙂 I have only seen the Snowy Egrets tiptoeing across surface of the water a few times in my life…it is a feeding technique that they only do when the brine shrimp hatch in shallow pools in the marsh, and then dozens of Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Spoonbills, and gulls gather to feast and the Snowys dance on the water. It is amazing to see. I have a few photos from past years, but nothing I was really happy with, and mostly accidental. Today with the OM-1 it was easy…almost too easy. I have dozens of shots better than anything I have managed before. I have a short video I will post one of these days so you can get a sense of what it looks like “live.” OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at a 300mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. -1.0 EV. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Most wanted
Reddish Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, January 2024 — Another of my most wanted shots for my first trip back to Florida since Covid. Hunting Reddish Egrets are fun to watch as they are among the most energetic and erratic hunters among wading birds…often finishing off their act with an “umbrella” pose over the water to block surface reflections so that they can see and catch the fish. I stood and watched this one hunting for 15 minutes or more waiting for the umbrella pose. It happens in a second and then is gone so you have to be quick. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 614mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight modifications (used here to catch the action). Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Painted
Painted Bunting: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, Titusville, Florida, January 2024 — Another top of anyone’s list birds from this area of Florida has to be the Painted Bunting…arguably the most colorful of North American birds. Fortunately for us, there are almost always a few coming to the feeders behind the Visitor Center at the Refuge. This year there are at least 3 males and half a dozen females…perhaps more than that, but three males is the most I saw at the same time so we will go with that. If you have been to the Visitor Center to see the Buntings you know where the feeders are is pretty dark and surrounded by dense undergrowth, so I was happy to get what I got! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.