Birds In Ariel's Backyard

[Ely Teehankee]

The day I arrived in Costa Rica, I was met at the airport by Ariel and he brought me to his house. I noticed a sparrow in his garden and he said it is just like our Eurasian Tree Sparrow except that it has a crest. When I saw the bird it look different and I got my camera and set it up on the tripod. It was a Rufous Collared Sparrow so different from the ETS that elicited Ariel to say that it looked better than he expected. In this thread I will only include the birds that I saw at Ariel's place and how I wish I were to live in a place like this where the birds come and go as they please. I have added the measured distance to give you an idea how close most of the birds were to me when I took their pictures.


Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 300mm
f/2.8L IS USM with Canon Extender 2X II.
Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, Wimberley WH200 head. Manual exposure in available light.



The Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) is similar to the Eurasian Tree Sparrow as it is very common and hops along in search of food. This was the first bird that I photograph in Costa Rica and I consider it my lucky bird as it led me to take pictures of a variety of birds in different colors and sizes.
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600, Measured distance 3.94 meters




The Blue-grey Tanager (Thraupis episcopus) is another common bird and you can see them almost everywhere.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400, Measured distance 9.57 meters




The Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) is similar to our Yellow Vented Bulbul. You will often see them but always moving about looking for worms to eat.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400, Measured distance 13.8 meters




This bird looks like it just took a quick bath. It is the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl). There are plenty of hummingbirds in Costa Rica. In places where they have hummingbird feeders they are always coming to feed on the sugared water and you can see and hear their wings humming as they flap their wings over 60 times per second that enables them to hover both forward and backward. The only bird in the world that can hover backwards.
1/640 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600, Measured distance 8.32 meters.




This Hoffmann's Woodpecker (Melanerpes hoffmannii) appeared right above my head and it was backlighted. Nevertheless it was a delight that I was able to capture it on my CF card with my camera.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600, Measured distance 6.02 meters




A migratory bird the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) is more known as a baseball team in the Major League Baseball. But the bird is brightly colored yellow and black and it was a lifer for me. Come to think of it all the birds that I saw in Costa Rica were lifers.
1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600, Measured distance 9.57 meters.




Costa Rica has a lot of colorful and beautiful birds. I was surprised that they chose the Clay-colored Robin (Turdus grayi) as their national bird. Carlos who is an excellent bird guide that I met in San Gerardo de Dota explained to me the reason. During the olden times when there was no weather forecast the indians would know that the rain will be coming when this Robin starts to sing his beautiful song. The Indians knows that in 3 weeks time the rain would come once the bird starts to sing. This gives them the time to harvest the corn so it does not get ruined by the rain. I never heard the bird sing but there were days that the rain would come. Perhaps they were already singing before I arrived.
1/200 sec.. f/5.6, ISO 1600, Measured distance 11.3 meters




I saw this Baltimore Oriole once again but this time it is an immature one. Probably born in Costa Rica.
1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 800, Measured distance 8.32 meters




Michelle who went to the garden to see how I was doing with my bird photography chance upon this Ringed Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata) and pointed it out to me. After taking a couple of shots I moved to another position to enable me to avoid the branch that was obstructing the bird. Just as I got into position, a little girl came running by to play with her friends. Bye bye birdie.
1/13 sec., f/8, ISO 1600, Measured distance 17.8 meters.




As I was passing by the swimming pool I saw a bird go in and take a drink. It was the Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) with its dark feathers with two dots of white shining eyes. Not wanting to spook the bird I took the picture from a distance. It is a good thing that I did for soon after that it flew away.
1/320 sec., f/8, ISO 1600, Measured distance 46.4 meters.




The Rufous Wren (Cinnycerthia unirufa) is another kind of bird that I saw near the swimming pool.
1/1000 sec., f/5.6, ISO 1600, Measured distance 11.3 meters.

[Mick Harris]

Another great set of shots Ely

[Sylvia Ramos]

Very nice set Ely!! You did great in Costa Rica!

[Ely Teehankee]

Apr 7, 2012 10:07:27 GMT Mick Harris said:

Another great set of shots Ely

Thank you Mick. I will be posting more birds as I get to sort and process them.

[Ely Teehankee]

Apr 7, 2012 10:55:17 GMT Sylvia Ramos said:

Very nice set Ely!! You did great in Costa Rica!

Thank you Sylvia. There are more goodies to be processed. Ariel is right when he says that the best birding place in the world that is safe for both the watchers and photographers is Costa Rica. According to the knowledgeable people that I met only Colombia would have more birds but you may have to deal with the FARPC? I am still sorting out the pictures and there will be more to come for me to share with everyone.

[Ariel Matias]

Thanks Ely and wonderful shots here! The collared sparrow keeps coming back on the same place where you took the picture. Meanwhile, we noticed last week that a pair of Clay-colored Robin is making a nest on a palm tree inside our garden. I'll keep you posted

[Burr Patterson, Jr.]

Nice, well done.

Thank You!

[Ely Teehankee]

Apr 7, 2012 22:21:17 GMT Ariel Matias said:

Thanks Ely and wonderful shots here! The collared sparrow keeps coming back on the same place where you took the picture. Meanwhile, we noticed last week that a pair of Clay-colored Robin is making a nest on a palm tree inside our garden. I'll keep you posted

The Rufous Collard Sparrow reminds me of me of the witch in Snow White. She keeps on looking at her own reflection as if to be assured that she still looks the same. Birds can be funny at times. I hope the nest of the Clay-colored Robin pushes thru so that you can take pictures of the feeding when the time comes. After all it is the national bird of Costa Rica. Also don't forget about the Fiery Aracari nest. It is about time now that the eggs should have hatch if any. I hope you will be able to take pictures of the hatchlings.

[Edwin Matias]

Great Series Sir Ely... Thumbs Up....

[Ely Teehankee]

Apr 7, 2012 22:46:19 GMT Burr Patterson, Jr. said:

Nice, well done.

Thank You!

Thank you Burr. There will be more in the coming weeks.

[Ding Carpio]

Excelent photos, as always, Ely.

Haven't keept uptodate, was not aware you are in Costa Rica. How'd you manage to bring your gear? Checked in?

[Ely Teehankee]

Apr 12, 2012 9:29:56 GMT Edwin Matias said:

Great Series Sir Ely... Thumbs Up....

Thank you Edwin. The birds there are also shy but not as shy as the ones here.

[Ely Teehankee]

Apr 13, 2012 23:24:39 GMT Ding Carpio said:

Excelent photos, as always, Ely.

Haven't keept uptodate, was not aware you are in Costa Rica. How'd you manage to bring your gear? Checked in?

I brought my 300 mm f/2.8 with the 1D Mark IV in my roller bag that is allowed by the airline to be place on the overhead compartment. I don't dare take the risk of checking it in. They do check the weight at times but are understanding enough when they see that it is a camera and lens.