Category: Birds

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An Elusive Toucan!

Though some flew over and I heard a lot of toucans calling out in the forest, I only got photos of this one, a Yellow-throated Toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus, about 30 feet up in the trees of the forest between my cabin and the dining room. Definitely not my best toucan photos, but glad to at least get one while at Macaw Lodge! 🙂

And though again I heard the squawking of many Scarlet Macaws, the namesake of the lodge, I got no photos. They told me that a flock came to the trees by the dining room in the middle of one afternoon, but of course none of us guests were there at that time! 🙂

Here’s four shots that are okay, though I have some better photos in my Yellow-throated Toucan Gallery. 🙂

Yellow-throated Toucan, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
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The “Perfect” Motmot Portraits

🙂 This Lesson’s Motmot, Momotus lessonii (formerly Blue-crowned) was healthy, with good color, and best of all, the tail was not broken like in most of my photos of Motmots, plus both medallions at the end of his tail were in perfect condition! Then to top that off, he posed on all sides, front and back, facing both left and right! These are my best ever Motmot photos and to think that I almost missed them because my lens was fogging up from the morning rain! 😊 But removing the protective lens solved that problem! And though it rained all night, we had sun all morning and it was a very good morning with lots of both birds and butterflies to photograph! My Thanksgiving Blessing! 🙂 And check out my Lesson’s Motmot GALLERY for more photos of this beautiful bird! And here’s three of many shots from this morning . . .

Lesson’s Motmot, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica.
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Orchard Oriole

Less common here than the Baltimore Oriole, this male is different from the Baltimore with his richer “chestnut” or dark orange (rust) color and a tiny curvature on his bill plus being a little smaller than the Baltimore Oriole. This was a difficult call for me because it is rarer here, though Merlin backs me up on calling it an Orchard, having run both of these photos through that A-I bird identification program on my cell phone. It is a lifer for me, Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, linked to the eBird description. And if you would like to compare with the Baltimore Oriole, see that link to my gallery on them where you will see that the male is a brighter yellow-orange and even part yellow. Both species summer in North America and winter in Central and northern South America starting in October. As you can see in the above gallery link, I’ve seen a lot more of the Baltimore here than the Orchard! My first today! Just these two shots from my Cecropia Tree this morning:

Orchard Oriole, Atenas, Costa Rica
Orchard Oriole, Atenas, Costa Rica

For more photos of this bird this morning, see my Orchard Oriole GALLERY, though my two favorite shots are here! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Morning Coffee & Wildlife

Friends up the hill invited me for coffee on their terrace yesterday where they have both a hummingbird feeder and a fruit feeder to attract more birds. And though they too have had fewer birds this year of El Niño weather, they get more than me because of their feeders and maybe their location adjacent the Calle Nueva Forest. Here’s what I was able to photograph while drinking coffee and talking a lot, though the one hummingbird never slowed down enough for a shot. 🙂

Lesson’s Motmot

4 birds, 2 insects and one iguana . . .

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Hoffmann’s Woodpecker

Though Black-cheeked Woodpecker seems to be more common around Atenas for me, this species may be the second most common woodpecker, at least in my garden. 🙂

Hoffmann’s Woodpecker, Atenas, Costa Rica
Hoffmann’s Woodpecker, Atenas, Costa Rica

See my Hoffmann’s Woodpecker Gallery

or read about on eBird.

¡Pura Vida!

And for Halloween see this Tico Times article with video of Spooky Creatures Inhabit Costa Rica’s Jungles.

Camera Trap Photo by Vincent Losasso for Tico Times.