Day 4 at Laguna del Lagarto Eco Lodge of Sarapiqui – the one spot with highest birds count and wide range of species. Featuring the Honeycreepers and Caribbean Rainforest shorebirds in this blog.
Traveling as well checking-in and out during odd hours for this kind of birding trip is a norm when you want to maximize your shooting opportunities during available lighting. Similar to when we checked-in at Catarata del Torro past 2:00AM, we checked-out before dawn to make sure we reached our next destination in time to shoot during the morning golden hour. Unlike in the States where it’s cool in the morning, it was not so much in Costa Rica as it is situated near the equator which we know typically is hot and humid. We had the air-conditioner running in […]
Moss Landing is a historic fishing village located in the middle of California Monterey Bay coastline. It has an abundance of sea life surrounded by natural beauty with outdoor activities suitable for folks from all walks of life. These include strolling along the beaches, boating, observing wildlife/nature, whale watching, fishing, kayaking, and last but not least birding, which is what I will be focusing on in this blog. Since Moss Landing is a fishing village, naturally it provides ample of food source and natural habitats for both residents and migratory shorebirds. When it comes to bird photography, in addition to […]
For some strange reason, this subject came to my mind when I was looking for something to write in my blog. Apparently there are two camps with their own views. Although it is not something as controversial or debatable as in Nikon vs Canon, but certainly the subject deserves some air time in my blog as far as good photography is concerned. Judging from many of my shots especially those with shorebirds as the main subject, you can tell that I’m biased towards low angle shooting. I would even go as low as having my face just next to a […]
The Northern Harrier aka the Marsh Hawk flies low by gliding over a marsh or grassland when hunting. It has an owlish face which helps to hear mice and voles beneath the vegetation. All Northern Harriers have a white rump that is visible when they fly. The Northern Harrier is one of the a few raptors including the Red-tailed Hawk and Great horned Owl that are residents of CHRP and can be seen almost all year long at the park. They cover a very wide territory and can be seen gliding over all the marsh areas of CHRP. At times […]
As she was just about to gain elevation from the launch, searching for a new feeding spot, little did she know a pair of preying eyes had been intensely shadowing her every little move from a nearby tree. A golden window of opportunity finally opened up for the hungry, cold juvenile Red-tailed hawk, who had been hunting to no avail since the break of dawn. Not wasting such an opportunity, the young raptor simply seized the ill-fated female bufflehead in the mid-air with little struggle. It took over three hours for the hawk to devour its fresh catch. This was […]
We did not spend much time shooting the hummingbirds at Cinchona since we were occupied with the tanagers most of the time, as we knew we would have more opportunities at our next destination. I was hoping to see more toucans, but only a few flew by from afar although a toucanet seemed to try to make it up. Not only did it perch so close to us, but also did a few poses before taking off. From Cinchona we made a stop at La Paz Waterfall Gardens to photograph amphibians at night. La Paz Waterfall Gardens is a very […]
This is the first of a series of posts for the two-week trip I made to Costa Rica back in May 2014. Please click on each image for a better view. Costa Rica, a small country located in the bird-rich neotropical region is a must for avid bird photographers. To-date, a total of 850+ bird species have been recorded, which is more than all of the United States and Canada combined. It has an area smaller than West Virginia yet provides a wide array of natural habitats that include mangrove swamps, wet Caribbean coastal plains, dry lowlands, and multiple high […]
Many photographers take it for granted but we are blessed to have great lighting in the United States compared to several countries I have visited including Costa Rica, Malaysia, and Singapore. Good lighting allows us to have a good shutter speed setting for shooting handheld without the expense of a high ISO. My main go-to lens is the Canon EF600mm f/4L IS II USM coupled with Canon 1.4X extender III almost full time. I shoot with both the full-frame Canon EOS 1DX and the crop body EOS 7D Mk II. Even though the EOS 1DX produces superior image quality than […]
Since the eagles were in action all along the beach, we each went our own way in search of our targets. As I was tailing one of the eagles, whose undivided attention was on the water surface for an easy midshipman, a crow approached from behind, about 25 feet below the eagle. In my five years of capturing raptors and birds in flight, I have witnessed crows aggressively harassing other raptors that are much bigger in size in their territories, and usually these ‘intruders’ simply retreat without much fuss. It was absolutely mind-blowing when the crow did not appear to […]