Euphonias
Spot-crowned and Yellow-throated Euphonia: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2023 — when we visited Las Cruces last year, that is in 2021, there were only Spot-crowned Euphonias coming to the feeders…but this year (2022) there were both Spot-crowned and Yellow-throated. Such a treat! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/640th.
Uganda Edition: Red-faced Woodland Warbler
Red-faced Woodland Warbler: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Another Albertine Rift endemic. This small Woodland Warbler is common in the mid-canopy at in the highlands of western Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. This one was foraging much lower…or it came down for its photo, one or the other. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 541mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. I have never seen a photography of this bird, or an illustration for that matter, where the face actually looks “red” but then I have only ever seen this one bird.
Green Honeycreeper
Green Honeycreeper: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — This is one of those rare bird species which is obviously named for the female, who is indeed, very very green. The male, in his turquoise and black, can therefore, come as somewhat of a surprise, the first time you see one…which is likely to be at any fruit feeder in Central America or almost anywhere except the highest mountains and deepest Amazon in northern South America. Of course they do exist just fine where people are not feeding birds…but they are certainly among the most common “feeder birds” in American tropics, often arriving first and staying longest. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 and 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Uganda Edition: Chestnut-throated Apalis
Chestnut-throated Apalis: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — The Chestnut-throated Apalis is common in the highlands of East Africa with widely separated ranges in the mountains of the Albertine Rift and in Kenya on either side of the Great Rift valley. A perky little bird, seen here in a small sunny clearing near where we turned around to head back at Mgahinga National Park. Sony Rx10iv at 547mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 160 @ f4 ! 1/500th.
Mousam River in the snow…
Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2023 — It is very rare indeed for the snow to stay on the trees in southern Maine for more than a few hours. We are into our third day of this winter wonderland now…and it looks good to hold until we get some “wintery mix” late this evening into tomorrow. There are downed trees and branches all over town, and there will be more by morning tomorrow. Still, it is undeniably beautiful. This is two more iPhone 13 shots. One with the ultra-wide lens and, of course, a panorama. The computing power of the phone makes these kinds of photos possible and even easy.
Northern Puffback
Northern Puffback: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Here are a few more Northern Puffback shots, this time from Mgahinga. The Northern Puffback has a wide range in both East and West Africa, and at most elevations where there is scrubby brush. These birds were along the edge of one of the open fields along the Golden Monkey trek path. Sony Rx10iv around 550mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo. ISO 400 and 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Clinging snow…
Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2023 — We had one of those days on Friday. Heavy wet snow overnight, with, thankfully, no wind, and we woke to a world frosted in white. (The thankfulness is about broken branches, downed trees, and power lines…which would have been a major problem with any wind at all…as it was the lawn is littered with fallen branches buried in the snow.) I was out clearing the drive with the snowblower, and still had the energy when I finished for a few phone photos. I have a “new” iPhone 13 with the ultrawide lens to try out. If you follow my Day Poems on Tumbler or Facebook, that graze on the big pine is where the truck hit it a few nights ago…during the last snow storm. Anyway, it makes a change from constant photos of tropical birds and wildlife. 🙂
Uganda Edition: Western Tinkerbird
Western Tinkerbird: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — This little Tinkerbird would not come down low enough for photo showing off its bright yellow stripe from crown to tail, but it is definitely a Western Tinkerbird. The Western is pretty much restricted to the Albertine Rift in East Africa but there are populations along the border between Nigeria and Cameron and much further south in Angola. I would have to suspect that they are not actually all the same species…but I also doubt anyone has looked closely. Who knows, this might one day be the Rwenzori Tinkerbird? Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Photo and Apple Photos. Against the green: ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Against the sky: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.7EV.
Speckled Tanager
Speckled Tanager: Las Cruces Biological Research Station, San Vito, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Speckled Tanager is reason enough to visit the Wilson Botanical Gardens at Las Cruces Biological Research Station. It is a bird of upper and mid-canopy in the foothills of the Caribbean slope and the South Pacific slope, but it does come down to fruit feeders. They are regular visitors to the periodic feeding station on the terrace by the dinning hall at LCBRS. I say periodic since there is really only fruit out when a group of birders/photographers are visiting (it is a BYOF feeder, and we always stop in town for fruit on our way to Las Cruces). The Speckled Tanager of Central America and northern South America is very closely related to the Spotted Tanager found further south in South America. They might, at one time, have been the same species but they have become geographically separated. That’s one theory anyway. I have only ever seen them at the Wilson Botanical Garden and early in the morning when the rising sun makes them glow. 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.
Stuhlmann’s Sunbird
Stuhlmann’s Sunbird: Mgahinga National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — This used to the the Rwenzori Double-collard Sunbird, and is almost identical to the Northern Double-collared Sunbird. It is just just slightly larger and has a longer tail and a bit more red on the breast and is yet another Albertine Rift endemic, found only at high elevations in the mountains of western Uganda down through Rwanda, Burundi, and into Tanzania. We saw this one in the same area as the previous birds, just beyond the ranger station at Mgahinga. Notice the little bit of yellow just at the corner of the wing in brushy shot. That is, according to the field guides, rarely seen. I will remember this bird as the one I stood in fresh Buffalo dung to photograph…not by choice…I was just so intent on the bird that I did not look where my feet were. The nice folks at Birdnest Resort on lake Bunyonyi, where we spent the night, did a wonderful job of cleaning my shoes, but not the memory! Sony Rx10iv at 526mm and 567mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. With flowers: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th. Without: ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.