Hit "L" then "Z" twice. This is a high res image made of three shots- he was WAY to close for my 600mm.

Costa Rica shots photographed on a photo tour led by Juan Carlos Vindas of Neotropic Photo Tours. I will not post in any particular order and out respect to our excellent tour leader, will not add GPS data.

Motmots were one of my target bird groups..we saw three of four species. This one used to be called the blue crested motmot until a taxonomists decided honoring Lesson was more appropriate. These guys sit motionless and are hard to locate (especially from the back, which is green). once you find one, they are the perfect model- siting still and looking pretty.
This is a high res image made of three shots- he was WAY to close for my 600mm.
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Tags:   Costa Rica Neotropic Photo Tours Juan Carlos Vindas Raphael Kopan Photography Nikon 600mm f4E VR 1.4x TCIII Nature Wildlife Z9 Monopod http://www.neotropicphototours.com

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The national bird of Costa Rica. Why, you may ask, with all the magnificent neotropical birds, Costa Rica select this dull, common bird? because its specific song predicts the start of the rainy season and allow farmers to time their crops. "Costa Rica’s choice of the yigüirro reflects the country’s practical nature. Surrounded by so much feathered beauty, they went with the bird that knows what’s going on" (Katherine Stanley Obando).

Tags:   Nature Z9 Raphael Kopan Photography Monopod Wildlife Nikon 600 f4E VR 1.4TCIII Costa Rica Turdus Neotropic Photo Tours Juan Carlos Vindas

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Back home, at work, and with 8000 of 28,000 images still to be sorted, processed, and posted. Here, a head shot of a bird we only saw once.

Shot on a photo tour led by Juan Carlos Vindas of Neotropic Photo Tours www.neotropicphototours.com. I will not post in any particular order and out of respect to ur excellent tour leader, will not add GPS data.

Tags:   Costa Rica Neotropic Photo Tours Juan Carlos Vindas Raphael Kopan Photography Nikon 600mm f4E VR Nature Wildlife Z9 Monopod

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Barbets are the inspiration for the angry bird cartoon.. they look to be perpetually displeased despite being gorgeous.
From Wiki: The prong-billed barbet is found in the mountains from Costa Rica's Cordillera de Tilarán to western Panama's Veraguas Province. In elevation it mostly ranges between 750 and 2,450 m (2,500 and 8,000 ft) on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, between 1,500 and 1,450 m (4,900 and 4,800 ft) on the Pacific side, and between 1,500 and 2,250 m (4,900 and 7,400 ft) in Panama. (Locally it occurs somewhat lower in both countries.) It inhabits the interior and edges of extremely humid montane evergreen forest, a landscape characterized by many epiphytes and mosses and frequent fog. Prong-billed barbets are monogamous and territorial in the breeding season. Their breeding season begins when pairs court in March and they begin excavating nest cavities in trees about in mid-month. Cavities are sited between 3 and 18 m (10 and 60 ft) above ground. The clutch size is four or five. The incubation period is 14 to 15 days; the time from hatch to fledging is not known. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for nestlings and fledglings.

What makes neotropical barbets so cool is that they are the closest relatives toucans! The prong-billed barbet, along with the toucan barbet native to western Ecuador and Colombia, forms the family Semnornithidae, that is closely related to the toucans.

Tags:   Nature Z9 Costa Rica Raphael Kopan Photography Wildlife Nikon Neotropic Photo Tours Monopod Barbet 600mm f4E VR Juan Carlos Vindas

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Seen only once in the Caribbean lowlands

Shots from a photo tour led by Juan Carlos Vindas of Neotropic Photo Tours www.neotropicphototours.com.

Tags:   Costa Rica Wildlife Nature Z9 Raphael Kopan Photography Nikon Neotropic Photo Tours Monopod 600mm f4E VR Juan Carlos Vindas Tanager

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