Chestnut-Mandibled yellow fronted Toucan, Costa Rica

chestnut mandibled yellow fronted toucan costa rica

How many of us growing up thought the Toucan was a Kellogg’s bird? Froot Loops anyway?? Costa Rica has six different types of Toucans, this one being the Chestnut-Mandibled version. In real life they are highly energetic and dramatic in appearance, however much less over-the-top than Toucan Sam. The picture above is taken not long before sunset. My own observation being loud squawkers, rarely sitting still, and some not too bright.

The Toucan pictured below is standing on the hotel room balcony. He/she is repeatedly flying into the sliding glass door of the hotel guest’s room where food was left on the table. Can’t blame for wanting free food, but ouch! How many times does it take bumping your beak before stopping?

chestnut mandibled yellow fronted toucan on a balcany costa rica

Costa Rica Scarlet Macaw In Flight

costa rica macaw lapas in flight

Bucket list bird! Getting a good image of a bird in flight is arguably the hardest form of taking pictures… their moving fast!!! Off to Costa Rica we went recently for vacation and I had two types of birds to find (also was looking for monkeys in the wild and here too we did not disappoint): the Scarlet Macaw shown here and a Toucan which will be in the next post.

Macaws – also known as Scarlet Macaws and Lapas locally – are native to Costa Rica living in the tropical low land forests along the Pacific Coast. Its estimated 1,500 of the birds call this country home.

The one here has a mate (they mate for life which is roughly 60 years). I heard the pair flying into the area from their noisy unique call, and was able to walk the half kilometer to the tree they landed in. Very lucky to be shooting rapid sequences when this Scarlet Macaw took off towards me.

The second photo below is the pair leaving the area.

two costa rica scarlet macaws in flight lapas

Dripping ice cold Coca-Cola on an incredibly hot day

dripping ice cold coca cola on a super hot day

Can you taste the ice cold Coke just by looking at this bottle? Can you feel the heat of the day, so hot that the bottle immediately started dripping when it came out of the bar fridge? How about rolling it on the back of your neck to cool off?

Pssst goes the old fashioned bottle cap. A little bit of cool vapor rises from within. The bottle is raised to your mouth for the first loooooong gulp. The bubbles refresh as the dark liquid goes down. Its placed back in front of you, sun reflecting off the label. Always Coca-Cola!

Haunted Jack-o’-lanterns From Halloween

halloween pumpkins illumi light show

Boo!

Wild jungle animals in a rain forest at the Illumi light show

wild jungle animals rain forest light show illumi

Kind of speaks for itself. This is less about the image and more about the work that went into preparing this detailed light show. Look at the depth in this picture… how many animals of all sizes from front to back, scattered amongst grass and trees. And the color combinations! How many animals do you see? And which ones? Shout out to the engineers who put this together.

84 MPH in a Porsche 911 GT3 Around Turn 11 on the Streets of Toronto

porsche gt3 carrera cup parker thompson streets of toronto indy

Staying with the Porsche theme from the previous post, we go from one extreme (classic) to the other (a modern racer). This is a Porsche 911 GT3 Carrera Cup car piloted by Parker Thompson from Alberta, Canada. He is doing roughly 84 MPH around turn 11 on the Streets of Toronto course during the first qualifying session back in July.

Porsche 356 Speedster Washed in Morning Sunlight

porsche 356 speedster wailea hawaii

I love epic cars and this is one of them – a Porsche 356 Speedster from the late 1950s. It appears to have been re-imagined a little as the rims, paint, some body work and Porsche hood badge all look recent… but really who cares! This is in Wailea, Hawaii at the Marriott on a stunning morning with just the right sunlight washing over the Porsche. You know how well kept the car is when you can see my reflection in the perfectly polished paint of the rear quarter panel. Would you like to join me for a drive?

Surfing Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii

surfing ho'okipa beach park maui hawaii

Let’s start with the first answer… no, this is not me! I tried surfing once many years ago in Costa Rica and can accurately say its not my sport. For some reason I can hurdle myself down black diamond runs on skis or across the most gnarly mountain bike terrain, however ask me to stand on a surfboard and its instant face plant.

We are here at Ho’okipa Beach Park on the North side of Maui where the good surfers come out for some fun. I say good, as there is another area on the way to Lahaina where the beginners get going, and at the other extreme there is ‘Jaws’ at Peahi further up the road to Hana from Ho’okipa where the world’s most experienced surfers compete. This dude is one of 30 or so surfers out on this day.

Skier lodges at Big White Mountain, tucked in between the Okanagan Highlands and Monashee Mountains, British Columbia

big white mountain kelowna british columbia okanagan highlands monashee mountains

This is what fresh powder looks like hanging from trees! Sun setting after a ski day at Big White.

Toronto’s CN Tower framed by apartments

toronto cn tower appartments

Iconic for Canadians and many people globally, I really like how a community has grown right around Toronto’s CN Tower. Without counting I’d guess 50 to 60 apartment buildings in the area. These two are the closest, framing the tower so perfectly on this cold December evening. The picture is taken from Canoe Field on the West side, a turf soccer pitch easily identifiable by a larger than life red canoe next to it.

jeff haltrecht photoblog, toronto & muskoka, canada

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