Tag Archives: wildlife

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

You are being watched by the resident broad-winged hawk

broad-winged hawk
Broad-winged Hawk

This hawk is very impressive to be around. Starting with it’s awareness, it knows where I am all the time and tracks my movement continuously. To a certain degree it finds me curiously entertaining and I would say definitely not a threat. It visits each year for roughly 3 weeks bridging end July and beginning August. Sometimes its by itself (like this year) while others years there are two of them… adult and juvenile. Here its perched high atop a 75ft dead Birch watching me with the camera.

A good size Eastern Ribbonsnake checking you out

eastern ribbonsnake thamnophis sauritus muskoka snakes
Eastern Ribbonsnake in Muskoka

We are fortunate to have a wide variety of wildlife living among us. This year alone I have seen this Eastern Ribbonsnake, a Northern Ring-necked Snake, a broad winged hawk (which I may post next!), a pair of fresh water otters, a beaver, a coyote, a red tailed fox, and sadly too many skunks (why are there so many skunks this year?). I have seen this Eastern Ribbonsnake for 3 consecutive years now. Each spring it gives birth to a few baby snakes, one of which I saw eat a juvenile frog. That is how life roles…

Sally Lightfoot Crab Along The Turbulent Windy Shore

sally lightfoot crab grapsus grapsus red rock crab curacao
Hi there! You visit often? Let me show you around these rocky crevices… This is a Sally Lightfoot crab, known by its technical name Grapsus grapsus (I don’t make this up – Wikipedia says its true). They live along the rocky shoreline where the turbulent ocean meets land, feeding mostly on algae and sometimes dead animals or marine life. They also appear to be quite photogenic! We are at Sheta Boka Park, Curacao.

Blue Tailed Emerald Hummingbird nesting in a palm tree

blue tailed emerald hummingbird female nesting curacao
She is a Blue Tailed Emerald Hummingbird – Chlorostilbon mellisugus – nesting in a palm tree next to the ‘people’ pool we were hanging at while in Curacao. Within her nest are 2 incredibly small eggs, and the nest itself is a mere two inches in height. I’m not as close to the hummingbird as it appears, using a zoom lens so as not to disturb.

Baby Sea Turtle Hatchling On Way To Sea

baby sea turtle hatchling on way to the sea
This is one of the very last baby sea turtles to hatch and scurry its way to the sea. We came across him/her early in the morning with about 10 feet to go… and yes he/she made it to the ocean! We later found a bunch of nests up the beach where this and many others had come from the night before. You see this on National Geographic, but to observe it person is pretty sweet!

Free ride: California Sea Lion sunning itself on stern of fishing boat

california sea lion free rides fishing boat los cabos mexico
Yeah, this is an everyday occurrence! At first glance, one is incredibly surprised to see this California Sea Lion on the fishing boat’s stern, with a few guys taking photos… not normal.  Then after 5+ minutes, you realize this might actually be a regular thing when the captain comes back with a fish for the mammal.  Trained you wonder?

Male and Female California Sea Lions off Los Cabos, Mexico

california sea lions male female los cabos mexico
Life of leisure! This pair of California Sea Lions – male and female – are sunning themselves on a single large rock where the Pacific Ocean meets the Gulf of California, at the tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Monarch Butterfly Taking A Rest From Its Migration

monarch butterfly echo lake muskoka
On its way south this past September, this Monarch spent a day hopping between the flowers by the lake. Was very fortunate we could watch its activities while enjoying our early morning coffee and green tea.