A few birds from Costa Rica

anonymouscuban

I took some photos of birds during my visit to Costa Rica that I kind of like. I thought I'd share with you all to see what you think. I'm by no means an expert at this kind of photography and to be quite honest, I have no clue what type of birds any of these are so sorry for know IDs. I shot all of these with a Nikon 70-200mm on a D700 body. Not really a great setup for birds I think as I was constantly wishing I had just a bit more focal length. Since I couldn't get real tight, I tried to incorporate the surroundings in my composition.

Love to hear what you all think. Thanks for looking. Hope I didn't post to many.

1


2


3


4


5


6


7

System

They all look good but, #5 is the winner!

anonymouscuban

Thanks Jeff. #5 is for sure one of my favs. Not sure what type of bird that is but I saw one swimming and it doesn't do so like a duck. It's whole body was submerged and only the neck and head was above water. At first, I thought it was a snake. Then I realized it was a bird. Apparently, they sun themselves after fishing to dry off their wings. That is what this one was doing.

PGM

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Thanks Jeff. #5 is for sure one of my favs. Not sure what type of bird that is but I saw one swimming and it doesn't do so like a duck. It's whole body was submerged and only the neck and head was above water. At first, I thought it was a snake. Then I realized it was a bird. Apparently, they sun themselves after fishing to dry off their wings. That is what this one was doing.

We have them here along the Gulf Coast. It is called an Anhinga, sometimes known as a "snake bird" for the way its long neck is all that is showing above the water when it swims. They dive for fish, and their wings have little or no oil in them, which keeps them from being buoyant like ducks, etc. It makes it easy for them to dive and stay under water, but they do, as you said, have to dry their wings before they can fly.

Very nice set of photos! Best, Pam

anonymouscuban

Thanks Pam. Thanks for the I.D. It was interesting because I've never seen a bird swim like it did and like I said, thought it was a snake at first glance.

Anyone know what the last bird is called? I was looking up birds of CR after I posted these and I think it may be a Kingfisher.

racer

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Anyone know what the last bird is called? I was looking up birds of CR after I posted these and I think it may be a Kingfisher.

Yes, Kingfisher

#2 is my favorite, awesome color

EphTwoEight

#5 Awesome! I think I got the same guy! Here

Harryb

Good ste and variety of subjects. The anhinga capture is my fave.

anonymouscuban

racer wrote: »

Yes, Kingfisher

#2 is my favorite, awesome color

Thank you.

EphTwoEight wrote: »

#5 Awesome! I think I got the same guy! Here

Thanks.

Harryb wrote: »

Good ste and variety of subjects. The anhinga capture is my fave.

Thanks Harry. What does "ste" mean?

Harryb

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Thank you.



Thanks.



Thanks Harry. What does "ste" mean?

That is set. One of these years I will get this typing thingie down.

austinjames

really nice set of images

ashrugged

Nice set , but I will pick 7, Kingfisher , not sure of the variety. I find them very difficult to photograph, and I never seem to have enough lens.

anonymouscuban

austinjames wrote: »

really nice set of images

Thank you.

ashrugged wrote: »

Nice set , but I will pick 7, Kingfisher , not sure of the variety. I find them very difficult to photograph, and I never seem to have enough lens.

I tried several times before to capture these guys and failed. Too far or too fast or both. Then I got lucky with this guy while canoeing down a small canal.