{"id":1631,"date":"2014-06-07T19:15:55","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T00:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kandfoto.com\/blog\/?p=1631"},"modified":"2014-06-09T18:35:33","modified_gmt":"2014-06-09T23:35:33","slug":"the-gems-of-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kandfoto.com\/blog\/the-gems-of-costa-rica\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gems of Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just recently returned from Costa Rica where I participated in Glenn Bartley\u2019s Nature Photography<\/a>\u00a0workshop touring this beautiful country with such a diverse eco-system. Cattle, coffee, birding, scuba diving, fishing, eco-tourism . . . there is something for everyone. In a country no larger than West Virginia, Costa Rica boost 875 recorded avian species. And, for a non-bird photographer, that\u2019s a heck of a lot of birds.\"Fiery-throated \u00a0 You ask . . . why would I go on a bird photography tour if I\u2019m not a bird photographer? And, that\u2019s what others on the trip asked as well. Its the hummingbirds . . . I LOVE hummingbirds. But I was also after the elusive Resplendent Quetzal. A bird that will challenge any good bird photographer. But I digress . . . \u00a0 The hummers of Costa Rica are all over the map in color spectrum and variety. The three resorts we stayed had at least four to five, maybe more, different species. And did I mention the reptiles, deadly snakes, lizards, howler monkeys, spider monkeys abound. This country has it all . . .<\/p>\n

Selva Verde Lodge<\/span><\/h2>\n

Our first stop was in the lowlands, the jungle more or less. It was hot and humid, it\u2019s a jungle for pete sakes. Glenn warned us of the deadly fer de lance snake and told us to stay on the nature trails. Of course, while hunting for the green and black poison dart frog and the strawberry poison dart frog that was always on my mind. I\u2019m deathly afraid of snakes. And, for good reason, I have spent a \u201cshort\u201d period of time in a photo blind with an 8-foot rattler in South Texas.\"Green It was raining the morning I went out hunting for frogs. I brought both cameras, the Nikon D800 (thanks Jackie for the loan) with the 70-200mm lens attached and the Nikon D7000 with my 60mm macro lens. At first there was not a frog in sight. But, just as the rained stopped, frogs were everywhere. \u00a0 Green and Black Poison Dart frog and the Strawberry Poison Dart frog are toxic, and can make a human ill if touched. \"Green \u00a0 \u00a0 \"Strawberry \u00a0 Because the red-eyed tree frog is a nocturnal amphibian, and there was a \u201cno flash\u201d rule, Glenn setup a small impromptu studio with a clean background and some leaves to photograph the frog during the day. \"Red-eyed \u00a0 His assistant and our Costa Rican guide, Jose, had to wake up our little night creature so we could photograph him. During daylight hours, they close their eyes and hide under a huge leaf, usually around a pond making them much more difficult to find. But at night, they can be spot fairly easy, especially with a flashlight. But like photographing the mandarinfish, you should not expose them to the light for very long. Its just not birds as you can see . . . we had ample opportunities to photograph a variety of reptiles. The Common Basilisk lizard was one of the more interesting ones, with his funny looking frog-like feet. \"Common<\/p>\n

Jose got wind of the location of a nesting pair of Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, so off we went to see what we could see . . . \"Chestnut-mandibledIn the process of photographing the toucans, we found a small hummer nest with newborn babies. Oh my, what a sight to behold. These very small creatures no bigger than a human fingernail huddled together at the bottom of a nest just slight bigger than a human fist. I wanted to take a photo but we didn\u2019t think it would be a good idea so we left them unharmed and just marveled at how small these little birds are. And, just when you think you understand nature, she throws a curve at you and so you stand there scratching your head, asking why? \u00a0While we were observing the hummingbird babies, one of the student researchers studying plant and flower behavior at a complex nearby showed us a brilliantly orange flower growing on a tree trunk. I was told that this is the Brownea macrophylla, a tropical tree that grows flowers directly on trunk without the use of stems.\"Brownea<\/p>\n

I was lucky to get this Collared Aracari toucan, hanging around the trees near the restaurant at our resort.<\/p>\n

\"Collared<\/p>\n

A real treat for me was our adventure to photograph wild macaws. Having parrots as part of my family, this gave me such a delight to see them flying free, perched on limbs, grooming each other and squawking in a language all their own. We visited a fairly large cattle and horse ranch. The rancher\u00a0built a large aviary when people started bringing him rescue birds. Over the years, he has brought in other rescue animals and wildlife. Some cannot be rehabilitated into the wild so they live on the ranch. Now, he gets flocks of wild macaws, parrots and parakeets flying in to checkout whats for dinner.<\/p>\n

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\"Flying \"Artistic<\/p>\n

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Gems of\u00a0Costa Rica: Hummingbirds<\/h2>\n

As many of their common names imply, i.e., mountain gem, violet sabrewing, fiery-throated, emerald, hummingbirds are veritable avian jewels. Although these speedy characters are found in virtually every habitat in Costa Rica, the greatest species diversity occurs at middle elevations. Noted from \u201cThe Birds of Costa Rica,\u201d by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean, some Costa Rican hummingbird species are indigent to specific regions.\"Waterfall\"<\/p>\n

Even though we were based in the lowlands, we spent one day at a slightly higher elevation photographing hummers at a lovely restaurant. The owner had feeders everywhere and even along a nature trail, which led to a spectacular waterfall. Any where you walked, hummingbirds were abound fluttering around your head. Two that I found only at this\u00a0elevation was the Violet Sabrewing and the Green Hermit. The male\u00a0Violet Sabrewing\u00a0exhibits a glittering-violet breast and head. Isn\u2019t he a beautiful shade of violet-blue?\u00a0\"Violet<\/p>\n

As we waited our turn to photograph at the multi-flash stations, I roamed the grounds just amazed at the beauty that this country represents . . . the flowers, the birds, the geography, etc.<\/p>\n

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Rancho Naturalista\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Our second location was Rancho Naturalista<\/a>, located at an elevation of 4800 feet along the mountainside of the cloud forest. Every afternoon the misty clouds swept over the valley producing mystical vistas. The American owners setup bird feeders and hummingbird feeders throughout the property. There was never a lack of birds to photograph. Every morning, I had my coffee out on the veranda while enjoying both the vista of the cloud forest, the chatter of a flock of parrots, and the humming noise of hummingbirds getting an early start on breakfast. At this higher elevation, we needed warmer clothes. Actually, the weather was perfect, not too cold and not too hot. \u00a0\"female We hiked up to a platform where we got a rare opportunity to see the hummingbirds bathing in the natural pools below. Unfortunately, it was impossible to photograph since the ponds were at a lower level 200+ feet below the platform.<\/p>\n

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