Jim Swartwood 4/8/24 Jefferson County KY

It appears to me that it was spooked but didn't fly at that time. I am amazed to be able to see the feather detail on a completely black bird.

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Tags:   American backyard Bird Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos Jefferson County KOS Kentucky

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Itasca State Park, Minnesota

Tags:   Warbler Vermivora Parulidae

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Itasca State Park, Minnesota

Tags:   Warbler Seiurus Parulidae

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When our friend’s son visited Costa Rica a while back, he ate at a roadside restaurant that he highly recommended. As blessings tend to go, our transfer from the Peace Lodge to our next hotel in LaFortuna was going right past it.

None in our troop were very hungry, but when someone tells you that a particular place has the best empanadas, you stop! The restaurants name is Soda Y Mirador Cinchona…and since I do not speak Spanish, I going to guess that it translates to “Place of the gathering birds!” Not only does it have the best empanadas in Costa Rica but the best view of the Fortuna Waterfalls and they have a small area off the open back balcony where they place melons to feed the local wildlife.

Let’s just say that the empanadas took a back seat to the 8-10 new species who were sitting in the trees just off the balcony, including this lad. My personal modus operandi when it comes to wildlife photography is to walk/drive and see what God provides. But at a spry 63 now and in a mountainous jungle area where many things will kill you, sitting in a restaurant drinking a diet coke and capturing what was there was a gift in itself…possibly keeping me from doing something stupid in the future to “get the same shot!”

Tags:   7D Animals Bird Birder Birding Birds Birdwatching canon Dattilo EF100-400mm EOS MarkII MotherNature nature Ornithology Outdoors Outside Wild Wildlife WOW Aves Golden Hooded Tanager Perched Costa Rica Vacation Travel SODA Cinchona Blessings Male

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The first of two species of motmot that I was blessed to photograph. It is absolutely amazing how a bird so large (maybe a foot long, beak to the tip of its tail) can be so hard to see! Luckily, this one started moving its tail in a grandfather clock, methodic tic-toc pattern giving away its location.

This too was taken in a National Sloth Preserve (name lost in the cobweb covered recesses of my mind) near La Fortuna on 11 January 2024.

Update: I finally found where we were when this shot was taken...it has been constantly bugging me not knowing! It was on a privately owned, wildlife sanctuary called Bogarin Trail. The owners took a large chunk of farmland many years ago and allowed it to just grow back wild. The result...the animals have returned in droves and the trails are nice and flat! Expensive, but well worth the $$!

Tags:   7D Animals Bird Birder Birding Birds Birdwatching canon Dattilo EF100-400mm MarkII MotherNature nature Ornithology Outdoors Outside Wild Wildlife WOW Aves Keel-billed Motmot Costa Rica La Fortuna January 2024 Perched NGC

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