Laughing Falcon: Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Just down the road, maybe 10-15 minutes from the Soda, you enter the territory of at least one pair of Laughing Falcons. It is amazing how often the sharp-eyed bus drivers find at least one of the resident falcons as we drive by on the road. Sometimes there is room to stop for a quick photo, often through the window glass of the bus. Once we even managed to get the bus off the road far enough to get out. This past trip we stopped for a few moments on a dangerous curve…as long as the driver’s nerve held. These small snake-eating falcons are more typical of the lowlands, so this pair is nesting near the top of their elevation range. There must be a good quantity of snakes in the deforested area below the road…part of the landslide scar of the earthquake that destroyed much of Cinchona in the 90s. Though they look and act somewhat like hawks, Falcons are more closely related to the parrots…basically meat-eating parrots with less bright colors. We have been seeing and photographing these Laughing Falcons for at least the past 10 years, the same birds or succeeding generations. This is certainly my closest encounter to date. 🙂 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 and Photo Quality.