More photos from the Costa Rica Bird Photography trip including Chestnut-Colored Woodpecker, Aracari ,Golden Hooded Tanager, Magnificent Hummingbird, and Snail Kite.
Chestnut-colored Woodpecker
Collared Aracari
Golden-hooded tanager
Magnificent hummingbird
Snail Kite
More photographs from Costa Rica of Birds,Reptiles, and Mammals. I am trying higher resolution images that might load slower but will see how it works. Also reducing copyright info size for a cleaner image. If you order prints they will be far higher resolution with a lot more detail and range – up to 50-60 mb.
Lessons Motmot
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Leaf-cutter ants
Common Black Hawk
Brown-hooded Parrot
Costarican Coral Snake
Eyelash Pitviper
Fer-de-Lance
Flame Tanager
White-necked Jacobin
Variegated Squirrel
Capuchin Monkey
Amazon Kingfisher
Eyelash Pitviper yellow
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
Hoffmanns Woodpeckers
Howler Monkey eating leaf
King & BlackVultures
Resplendant Quetzal
Here are additional photos from the Costa Rica trip spanning from 6 miles s of the Nicaraguan border to the mountainous highlands at 8000 ft of the south.
3-Toed Sloth
Fiery throated Hummingbird
Great Curassow
Magnificent Hummingbird
Northern Tamandua
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
sunset Rancho Solimar
Spectacled Owl
We just returned from a trip to Costa Rica and visited many different habitats from dry tropical forest, wet tropical lowlands, cloud forests and coastal mangrove.There were a wide variety of birds, mammals and reptiles photographed.The birds included many Hummingbird species,Trogons, Toucans, Motmots, Herons, Warblers, Tanagers, Owls, Hawks, Kites, Orioles, and Oropendola, Macaws, Parrots, and Woodpeckers.We stayed at remote lodges in at least 5 areas.Tropical Birding organized and led the trip and did an excellent job of finding birds and locations.It really is necessary to have a guide to find many of the birds as they are not always that obvious. We will be updating with new posts with more images in the coming weeks.
Black-mandibled toucan
Capuchin monkey
Capuchin monkey
Collared Aracari
Collared Aracari
Scarlet & Green Macaws
Green Iguana piggyback
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Cranes takeoff
Sandhill Cranes takeoff
Cranes at sunset
Snow Geese and Cranes takeoff
Snow Goose
Snow Goose
Gambel’s Quail
We went to Bosque del Apache south of Albuquerque,NM just after Thanksgiving to photograph the thousands of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese that winter at several wildlife refuges there. There are approx 15,000 cranes and 25,000 snow geese plus a few Bald Eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, and other wildlife. The birds are there from Nov into Feb and then migrate to nesting grounds in Colorado, Nebraska,and Wyoming. The birds roost in shallow ponds overnight and fly out to feed in corn fields on the preserve and nearby. In late afternoon they return to their protective water so they can be photographed taking off in the morning at sunrise or before and landing before sunset. The visitors center has bird feeders for other birds such as Gambel’s Quail, Pyrrhuloxia, Spotted Towhee, and others.
The Department of the Interior is recommending cutting in half several important National Monuments in Southern Utah including Bears Ears, and Grand Staircase-Escalante to allow “development”, which means strip coal mining, and oil and gas drilling. Bears Ears contains precious Native American artifacts, petroglyphs, dwellings, and archeological sites which could be destroyed. Also the Republican Tax bill includes drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Preserve which is critical habitat for millions of birds, Polar Bears, and other wildlife.
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS TODAY TO STOP THIS ASSAULT !!
For more info contact the Sierra Club or Nature Conservancy in my Blog Roll links
I photographed at San Jacinto Wildlife area yesterday and was able to get a juvenile Red-shouldered hawk and a Merlin in flight. There also was the first Golden Eagle that I have seen this year. Usually they don’t arrive until late Nov or Dec. It flew off before I was able to get close enough for a decent shot.
Merlin on branch
Merlin in flight
Merlin in fog
Merlin Takeoff
Red-shouldered Hawk, Juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk, Juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk, Juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk, Juvenile
Red-shouldered hawk, juvenile
Red-shouldered hawk, juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk, juve
Bull Moose
Bull Moose
Bull Moose with Cow
Moose Calves
Aspens in Fall Tetons
Black Bear Female
Dusky Grouse
Bull Elk
Leigh Lake and Mt Moran
Log Cabin Gros Vente Rd
Schwabacher’s Landing Sunrise
Mule Deer
We photographed around Jackson Hole, Wyoming in Teton National Park the last week in Sept. It rained, snowed, was partly cloudy, and warmed up to 60 one day but that didn’t stop us. Temps ranged from 25 to 60 over a week. The Moose and Bears are out rain or shine but of course the sunrises and sunsets aren’t too good when it is totally overcast. Some of the best landscapes came right after the rain or snow cleared, which it did. I used my new Canon 5d mark IV with a 17-40mm wide angle lens for landscapes and a Canon 1dxII for wildlife with a 300 mm f2.8 and 1.4 extender.
I photographed Allen’s Hummingbirds in my front yard. We have them year round, but there is an increase in numbers around August with some migrating south for the winter. They are extremely territorial and spend most of their time chasing away other hummingbirds. It takes standing approx 12 feet away from the flowers and waiting for sometimes hours to catch them feeding. If you try to approach closer they fly away. I was using a Canon 1dx II with a 300 mm f2.8 lens and 1.4 extender usually 1/2000 sec to freeze the wings.
Allens Hummingbird Male
Allens Hummingbird Male
Allens Hummingbird Male
Allens Hummingbird Male
Feeding baby Bluebird
Feeding baby Bluebird
W Bluebird feeding lizard to young
W Bluebirds with young
W Bluebirds with young
Feeding hungry chick
Our backyard Western Bluebirds have produced their second batch of young this year- April and now July with 3 young each time. They just fledged last night all at once and are nowhere to be seen today. Usually the parents take them away from nest and often return to the area a couple of weeks later. We have 2 bird baths that they frequent so we see the adults and last years young often.
Great Blue Heron Fishing
Great Blue Heron Landing
Heron Fishing
Heron Catching Fish
Heron Catching Fish
Heron Catching Fish
Great Blue Herons arriving and catching fish at Seabeck, Wa on the Hood Canal west of Bremerton, Wa. This is the same location for the Bald Eagles, both arriving at the same time for the abundance of the sculpin fish at low tide. The morning light was the best at around 8-9 am depending on tides. Once the Herons arrive signaling the low tide and availability of fish, the Bald Eagles follow.