Showing posts with label Black-bellied Hummingbird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black-bellied Hummingbird. Show all posts

Sunday, July 29, 2012

My Diary of My Trip to Costa Rica. Episode Four

Black-bellied Hummingbird
Black-bellied Hummingbird
After two great days photographing hummingbirds, we traveled to Catarata del Toro for another day of photographing hummingbird species that were not as common as at our lodge.  The species include the green hermit, black-bellied hummingbird, green thorntail and coppery:-headed emerald.  What makes this location so enjoyable is an impressive waterfall, that drops 300 feet into the caldera  of an extinct volcano.  There are lookout stations placed so that you can observe the volcano and take some excellent photographs.  A few of our group hiked down to the bottom, down 300+ stairs and then back again.  In Catarata Del Toroorder to accomplish this and so that the participants would miss out on the hummingbird photography, instead of a half-hour at the station photographing, we did an hour in the morning and in the afternoon.



_D8C5824_HDR-Edit July 21, 2012 NIKON D800
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
black-bellied Hummingbird
Black-bellied Hummingbird


Purplr-throated Moutaingem_D8C5288 July 21, 2012 NIKON D800
Purple-throated Mountain-gem
Green Thorntail
Green Thorntail
Coppery-headed Emerald (Elvira cupreiceps)
Coppery-headed Emerald






I did a few macro photographs before the mosquitoes and rain drove me back inside.

 _D8C6260 July 21, 2012 NIKON D800
Fern Head _D8C6259 July 21, 2012 NIKON D800


We were also treated to an excellent lunch.  After finishing and packing all equipment up.  We returned to our lodge for our last evening meal. That evening the leaders present some how-to-do information, and afterwards it was  packing for the trip back to San Jose in the morning.
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Saturday, July 28, 2012

My Diary of My Trip to Costa Rica. Episode Three

Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata)
Agoutis
What a difference a day makes, especially with a change in location.  We have traveled from the low lands rainforests would all it's heat in humidity to the cloud forest, where we were at 5000 feet and the weather was much cooler, requiring us to use extra layers of close.  Upon awakening, taking our cameras with us.  We went out to explore around the lodge and to photograph anything we could see.  On the hillside agoutis were rummaging around looking for food. Hummingbirds were flitting all over the area at the feeders that was set up, and also feeding on the native flowers.  Fresh coffee was available at 6 AM, I love Costa Rican coffee, drink it all in time, and have it shipped to me at home.
 _D8C3663 July 19, 2012 NIKON D800
Settin up for Hummingbird Photography
The meals at the lodge were excellent, 3 courses and for breakfast, the first course was fresh fruit.  After breakfast, we were given information instructions on how the next few days would be conducted, and which equipment, we would need. We were divided into three groups, far our turns at the multi-flash hummingbird setups.  Each session would consist of one half-hour and they would be 2 sessions in the morning and 2 sessions in the afternoon.  We were shown how to set up the wireless flashes and their location.  What the settings should be on manual for the flashes and how to set up camera camera.  Some of those species that we were able to photograph were the violet sabrewing (Costa Rica's largest species), the purple-throated Mountain jam, and the green-crown brilliant.  In between sessions.  We try to photograph the elusive black-bellied hummingbird and the scintillant hummingbird (The Scintillant Hummingbird is the smallest hummingbird within its range, which includes only the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama).
Green-crowned Brillant
Green-crowned Brilliant
"Waiting"
"Waiting"   Green-crowned Brilliant waiting for the sugar water
 _D8C5070 July 20, 2012 NIKON D800
Violet  Sabrewing
Black-bellied Hummingbird
Black-bellied Hummingbird
Scintillant Hummingbird (Selasphorus scintilla
Scintillant Hummingbird












In between sessions, we photographed the landscapes, macro subjects, and other bird species. 

 _D7K3563_HDR July 20, 2012 NIKON D7000
Running water
 _D8C3688 July 19, 2012 NIKON D800
Black Guan
 _D8C4142-Edit July 19, 2012 NIKON D800
Caterpillar (A number of Costa Rica's Caterpillars are Poisonous)
 _D8C4148 July 19, 2012 NIKON D800
Bromeliad
 _D8C4545 July 20, 2012 NIKON D800
Rufous-naped Sparrow

 _D8C5224-Edit July 20, 2012 NIKON D800
Moth
After supper, there was opportunity to photograph the moths and other insects that gathered at on the white cloth that was hung on the side of the building illuminated with a blue light.

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