Daily Archives: January 14, 2025

Costa Rica! Golden

Golden-hooded Tanager: Mirador El Pizote, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, December 2024 — Tropical Tanagers (all tanagers for that matter) tend to be brightly colored, but the Golden-headed is certainly one of the more striking. It is not hard to see as it comes to fruit feeders with other tanagers and honeycreepers, and has range from southern Mexico down into western Peru, mostly in lowland Rainforest and along the edges. I have photographed it many times before, but Mirador El Pizote offers some of the best views I have had yet. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! Winter Pine

Pine Warbler: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2024 — I was surprised to see not one, but two Pine Warblers, a male and a female, in our yard over the past two days. According to the field guide range maps these guys should be in the deep south in January. So of course I did some research and found that there have been half a dozen e-bird sightings of Pine Warblers in Maine this January so far, as far north as Darmiscotta, and in the past 10 years there have been several hundred winter sightings. So not all that uncommon. I was thinking these were birds displaced by the unusual deep freeze and snow hitting the south right now…but maybe not. If any warbler can survive a Maine winter it is the chunky, seed-eating Pine. There were several reports of Pine Warblers hanging out with Bluebirds, and the ones in our yard are doing exactly that. They like the mealworms, but they are also attracted to suet and don’t seem adverse to picking up sunflower fragments the finches and nuthatches drop. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Taken through double-glazed deck doors.