#BiggestWeek Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — the Prothonotary Warner is probably my favorite warbler to see on the Erie Shore in Ohio in May…partly because they are such a beautiful bird, and partly because we don’t get them in Maine. This is not a “field guide shot” of the warbler…but it has that certain something that lifts it out of the ordinary portrait class. It is a perfect demonstration of my wildlife photography mantra: right place, right time, and ready! It is also a testimony to the Sony Rx10iv’s focus ability. Auto focus. 600mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Maine spring edition: Purple Finch: Another pose
Purple Finch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2022 — another irresistible Purple Finch pose. Again from my backyard photo-blind. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Resplendent Quetzal in the morning
Resplendent Quetzal: San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2021 — This is, of course, the must see bird for any visit to Central America, and Costa Rica in particular, and the Savegre River valley near San Gerardo de Dota is the place to see it…or at least one of the best places. This was a new location in the valley for me this past trip and one I will be revisiting. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Grey Catbird
Grey Catbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2022 — The catbirds have come. We had at least 2, maybe 3, in the yard, yesterday. They love the suet, though they are poorly adapted to take advantage of it. They can’t “cling on” the way woodpeckers do, and they can’t get through the out cage the way the chickadees, nuthatches, and pine warblers do, so they kind of hover under the suet cage and grab a bite. I have a video which I posted (with a Native American Flute accompaniment) on Facebook and Youtube yesterday. 🙂 I will link it here. Such a handsome bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Evening Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal: San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2021 — It was getting on toward supper time when we finally drove down into the Savegre River valley (more of a gorge actually) and getting dark fast, but as we came around the corner where we see the Quetzals in the morning, our guide, Edwin, shouted “Stop” at the top of his lungs. Then he immediately hushed himself and hustled us off the bus in silence. There was a male Quetzal sitting in the usual tree…but at totally the wrong time of day. Evidently they had posted him there to welcome us to the the valley. 🙂 This is at about the low light limits of the Sony Rx10iv…using multi-frame noise reduction and some extra post processing. 600mm equivalent. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/320th. It was a life bird for two of the folks on the trip…and a life experience for the rest of us. What a welcoming party!
Evening Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal: San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2021 — It was getting on toward supper time when we finally drove down into the Savegre River valley (more of a gorge actually) and getting dark fast, but as we came around the corner where we see the Quetzals in the morning, our guide, Edwin, shouted “Stop” at the top of his lungs. Then he immediately hushed himself and hustled us off the bus in silence. There was a male Quetzal sitting in the usual tree…but at totally the wrong time of day. Evidently they had posted him there to welcome us to the the valley. 🙂 This is at about the low light limits of the Sony Rx10iv…using multi-frame noise reduction and some extra post processing. 600mm equivalent. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/320th. It was a life bird for two of the folks on the trip…and a life experience for the rest of us. What a welcoming party!
Maine spring edition: White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2022 — Another common bird this time of year (and only for a few weeks here), but another irresistible pose from my backyard photo-blind in the late afternoon sun. The White-throated Sparrows come through in flocks and settle out on their way north and up to higher elevations to stock up under our feeders. Sony Rx10iv at 591mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
Fiery-throated Hummingbird: La Georgina Restaurant, Siberia, Costa Rica, December 2021 — After leaving the Alexander Skutch homestead we headed up into the mountains toward San Gerardo de Dota and our final stay of the trip at Trogon Lodge in Savegre Valley. Of course we had to stop at La Georgina, reputedly the highest restaurant on the PanAm highway at 10,000 feet, and always a good stop for hummingbirds. They have a wonderful view at the back of the restaurant, overlooking lawns with native plantings and a few feeders hung at eye-level. The best shots through, on day warm enough to open the back windows (rare at that elevation) are of the birds perched in the tall flowering bushes under the windows. Even if you have to shoot through the single pane glass, this is a reliable spot for Fiery-throated Hummingbirds and not to be missed. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Maine spring edition: Purple Finch acrobatics
Purple Finch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2022 — Purple Finches are messy eaters…wasting as much seed as they eat as they sort through the seeds for just the right one…but they are also among my favorite feeder birds. The males, at least early in the season, before mating, are such posers…always putting on a show. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Streak-headed Woodcreeper
Streak-headed Woodcreeper: Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary, Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica, December 2021 — There are 15 Woodcreeper species in Costa Rica, 8 of which are at least possible in the low foothills at the Alexander Skutch homestead. This is the most commonly seen at forest edges…the Streak-headed which I found working the trees in the gardens around the the Skutch house and museum. Sony Rx10iv at 534mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.