Welcome to my blog. My goal for the blog is to provide a venue for sharing information, photos, and stories related to wildlife species behavior, biology, and life history. Additionally, I hope to provide information related to wildlife photography techniques and issues from time to time.
Enjoy.
East Africa August 2023 - Part Two Tanzania
We next traveled overland, crossing the border into Tanzania. All our visas were complete and we had a smooth border crossing. Lunch in Ashura at a beautiful coffee plantation, then we continued our travels to Burunge Tented Camp near Tarangire National Park. The camp has an elevated dining deck and infinity pool overlooking a small waterhole. Tarangire National Park is considered to have the largest concentration of breeding birds in the world! This location provided great bird photography right off the dining deck.
Magpie Shrike
Red-Faced Mousebird
Tawny Eagle
I do not normally have allergies, but I had trouble breathing and slept poorly our first night at this camp. Becky also slept poorly. Through the tent screen she watched an elephant browse a tree within feet of our bed. I slept through it. The night guards confirmed it was an elephant who visited us and mentioned that the tent next to our also had nocturnal prowlers, six lions. After that we slept with out tent securely buttoned up.
African Savanna Elephant
The next morning we embarked on an all day game drive within Tarangire National Park. It was a long, dusty, rough drive to a swampy area with abundant wildlife. We observed vast numbers of African buffalo, and six lions, including one well up in a tree.
Arboreal Lioness
Elephants were numerous and close, including one whom had been lost from the herd and walked the shoreline trumpeting loudly. We observed a few new species here including, Klipspringer, martial eagle, long-crested eagle, black-faced sandgrouse, Verreaux's eagle-owl, wattled lapwing, red-billed quella, cut-throat, purple grenadier, ashy starling, D'Arnaud's barbet, speckled mousebird, and Von der Decken's hornbill. My allergies got worse and I resorted to wearing a buff to reduce dust inhalation. The group took a short drive to Lake Burungee to view vast concentrations of flamingo. I stayed at the elevated deck and photographed the numerous birds hanging out near the waterhole. I got some nice shots of the very unattractive marabou stork and had six tawny eagles in sight at one time.
Long-Crested Eagle
Lilac-Breasted Roller
Black-Faced Sandgrouse
White-Headed Buffalo Weaver
Marabou Stork -Primarily a Scavenger and Labeled as One of the African Ugly Five
Marabou Stork - Note the Enlarged Gular Sac
The next morning as we enjoyed a sunrise breakfast we were visited by eight elephants as they made use of the waterhole.
Breakfast Elephants
After breakfast we were on the move again and headed to Tloma Lodge near Karatu. This lodge was beautiful with large, individual bungalows within a shaded coffee plantation. This camp was at the highest elevation of any we visited. Each bungalow was equipped with a gas fireplace. We had some much needed downtime during the afternoon which allowed me to catch up on my photo downloads and backups.
The next morning we headed for Ngorongoro Crater. As we gained elevation we entered a dense, lush rainforest type vegetation where we encountered African savanna elephant and African buffalo at very close range.
We came upon two male giraffe posturing and shuffling. They suddenly began to beat each other by swinging their necks and smashing their heads into their opponent. Then they would take another break to posture and juke before repeating their attacks. Remarkable behavior that I never expected to observe. Very cool. They were still at it with no clear winner when we departed. However, using your head as weapon has some cosmetic consequences.
Masai Giraffe Dominance fight
There are Cosmetic Consequences to Using Your Head as Your Principal Weapon
We made a brief stop at the crater overlook. The crater was formed when a volcano collapsed resulting in a 100-square mile relatively flat plain about 2,000 feet below the crater rim. An estimated 25,000 large animals live within the crater and this abundance supports five lion prides.
Ngorongoro Crater
After descending into the crater on a very steep brick road, we entered the crater floor. The diversity and abundance of animals was amazing, quite unlike anything we had seen previously. The crater floor is flat and generally lacks tall vegetation, so visibility is excellent. We came upon a pride of lions snoozing next to the remains of a recent buffalo kill. One woke up and cruised on over to inspect the safari trucks. Nice close looks.
Secretarybird
Thompson's Gazelle
Young Lion Checking out the Safari Truck
Dwarf Mongoose
Around the next bend we found another lion pride feeding on a very recent zebra kill. Once the large males were done feeding the females moved in and fed. Hyenas and jackals circled at a distance waiting for their opportunity. Off in the distance we saw great clouds of dust as another hunting pride of lions produced a mass stampede of wildebeest and zebra. It was unclear if their hunt was successful. About thirty minutes later we encountered yet another pride of lions on a kill. Thirty-two lions in a morning. When we stopped for lunch at a swampy area we saw fifty of the striking gray-crowned crane in a single group.
Male lion on a Recent Zebra Kill.
Kori Bustard - Largest African Bird Capable of Flight with Reported Weights up to 40 Pounds
Wildebeest Stampede
Large Male Lion at our Third Pride of the Day.
Topi - Blue Jean Antelope
Displaying Gray-Crowned Crane
The next morning we headed to Lake Eyasi, home of the Hadzabe (Bushman). The visit was probably worth a blog on its own. Very interesting and friendly people. They live a very primitive, hunter/gatherer existence and communicate in an odd clicking language which our Datoga guide was able to translate. The bushman trade with the nearby Datoga tribe who are skilled blacksmiths and provide the Bushman with arrowheads fashioned from large nails. We followed our Datoga guide to the Bushman's current camp and in exchange for a handful of finely crafted arrowheads we were welcomed to the camp. The entire tribe sheltered inside a single hollow baobab tree. The wore a mixture of animal hides and modern clothing.
Hadzabe Encampment
Hadzabe Hunter
Hadzabe Singers - Note the Baboon Arrowhead in the Hair of the Singer on the Right of the Frame
Each morning the men depart with their bow and arrows and hunt the country for up to 10 miles around. The women, armed with pointed digging sticks collect edible plants and the odd rodent or snake. Every day is a new search for protein. We followed as a woman dug up a small mouse and the men killed a small sunbird with their bows. They quickly started a fire using two pieces of wood and cooked both prey items whole. The offered us the choicer morsels. Becky, oddly was not hungry. They gave the snacks to the children who happily consumed them.
Mouse Snack
Becky in the Bushman Trophy Room
They kept trophies tacked to the side of the baobab tree including several baboon skulls. Baboon brains are considered a delicacy and they use a special back-barbed arrowhead to hunt them. The barbs prevent the punctured baboons from pulling the arrow out. They use a variety of arrows, including poisoned ones for larger game. They urged me to try one of their bows and I was unable to pull it to full draw. They claim kills out to 200 yards using these bows.
We briefly visited a Datoga homestead where several skilled blacksmiths were using rather primitive tools in their work. We watched at they took a large nail and fashioned it into a baboon arrowhead. They added intricate designs to copper and brass jewelry which was smelted on a home-made forge. We met the headman of the village and his five wives.
Datoga Blacksmiths at Work - Note the Homemade Bellows.
Datoga Crafted Baboon Arrowhead Made from a Large Nail
Datoga Woman Grinding Millet
One of the Datoga Headman's Five Wives
Early the next morning we departed Tloma Lodge and crossed through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descended into Serengeti Nation Park. As we descended from the crater highlands the landscape began to change. It was an extremely desolate, windy, and dusty passage. We made a quick stop at the head of Olduvai Gorge. This is the location where anthropologists Mary and Louis Leaky unearthed one of our earliest ancestors. Shortly before entering Serengeti National Park, I photographed what I believe is an African wolf. They are very rare and difficult species to observe.
African Wolf
Serengeti means endless plain in Swahili. It fits. The Serengeti is about 5,700 square miles of savanna grassland with lesser amounts of acacia woodland and riverine brush habitats. It quickly became our favorite location of the trip. We spotted a pair of cheetah resting on a termite mound near a recent kill. They moved off as a young male lion checked out the remains of their kill. We followed the young male lion as he moved toward a stream occupied by a large lion pride. The lioness were on high alert and watched his every move until he disappeared. On the way to camp we spotted a large leopard lounging in a tree. Lots of cats.
Young Male Lion
Leopard Lounging the Afternoon Away
Our Serengeti camp was a temporary tent camp that OAT moves to follow the game. The tents were new and the staff and service were excellent. The camp differed from others in that hot water for showers was delivered by hand to a bucket behind each tent. The bucket was raised via a pulley to produce a gravity feed shower. The attendant waited patiently to determine if more than one bucket was needed.
Serengeti Camp Shower Arrangement
We spent four nights in this camp and enjoyed so many lion sightings on our game drives. I ended up with 108 lions for the trip, most in Tanzania. We watched two successful lion hunts and several unsuccessful ones. One lioness managed to snag a Thompson's gazelle out of midair as it tried unsuccessfully to avoid her.
Lioness with a Thompson's Gazelle Kill
She quickly took her prey down near the stream to keep it out of sight. She was unsuccessful as a large male lion charged in and took her kill. He only enjoyed his stolen meal for a minute when two additional male lions rushed in and created a dusty scrum as they fought for a piece of the small antelope.
Once the Dust Settled This Large Male Ended Up With the Biggest Piece
Other interesting wildlife behavior involved hyena and lion interactions at a recent lion killed buffalo carcass. We found the carcass after observing a lioness with a very distended belly. As she moved away from the carcass the hyenas began to move in. When another single lioness returned to feed the hyenas brazenly dashed in and made off with a foreleg. When a second lioness joined the first, the hyenas became more circumspect and retreated to a safe distance. Such cool interspecific interactions.
Spotted Hyena Circling a Recent Lion Kill
Spotted Hyena - Note the Distended Belly
On one of our all-day game drives we chanced upon a serval in tall grass. We had a few quick looks and then he disappeared. We were lucky to spot one as the guides indicated it was the first one that they had seen in three months. That same afternoon we had a mock elephant charge and had some nice looks at a distant leopard on one of the rock outcrops (locally called kopjes).
Serval
Leopard on a Kopjes
The next morning we dashed to a reported cheetah sighting. It turned out to be an adult female and five half-grown young. The female watched for predators as the young finished off a recently killed gazelle. Beautiful cats. Pretty amazing that she had been able to feed and protect the cubs in such a predator rich environment.
Female Cheetah with One of Five Cubs
Young Cheetah Practicing his Takedown Moves on Mom
Shortly after leaving the cheetahs we spotted a leopard asleep in a tree. Before his nap he had packed a lunch. A Thompson's gazelle was placed on a fork in the tree next to the sleeping cat.
Leopard with Gazelle.
We continued to find lions every day whenever we were near water. The lions knew that the prey had to have water and staked out prime drinking spots. We found a collared lion with very young cubs. The guides indicated that the cubs were probably less than two weeks old. At one point we had a pride of 14 lions surrounding the trucks. Quite an adventure.
Very Young Lion Cub
Surrounded by Lions
Hunting Lioness
Successful Lion Hunt
Lioness on the Move
We had been advised by OAT that we were limited to a total 33 pounds each. Becky and I packed and repacked attempting to get all of our luggage under 33 pounds. My downsized photo gear weighed 18 pounds, so I wore the same cloths a lot. We were fortunate that most camps provided laundry service. We were later told that limit was only for the flight from the Serengeti back to Ashura and did not include backpack weight. However, no bags were weighed for that flight including some very large suitcases. Frustrating!
After our flight back to Ashura we checked into an upscale hotel (Kimbo Palace) and were provided with a hotel room for the day. That afternoon we were transported to the airport to begin our journey home. Becky and I had elected a three-day stopover in Amsterdam on our way home.
This was an exceptional tour which greatly surpassed my expectations. All of the OAT staff were excellent and really seemed to enjoy their work. OAT travelers are almost exclusively American. OAT specializes in small group travel, advertising maximum group size of sixteen or less. OAT also does not charge a single supplement. We had a total of ten in our group ranging in age from 60 to 80 years of age. A good group.
I used two cameras, a Canon 7D2 and a Canon R5 mirrorless for almost all the photos in this blog and in the East Africa folder on this website. I used two lenses, a Sigma 150-600mm zoom and an 800mm F11 fixed. This proved to be an effective combination. We were frequently so close that the ability to zoom was needed and the 800 gave me the reach to capture small or distant subjects. I ended up with just under 15,000 images.
I used the Merlin app exclusively for bird identification and Stuart's African Mammals app for mammal identification. I was fortunate that two of our fellow travelers were avid birders, so between Ken and Clara and the guides, I believe that most of my bird identifications are accurate.
I highly recommend this OAT Adventure.
East Africa August 2023 - Part 1 Kenya
Becky and I visited Kenya and Tanazania during August 2023. We had visited some of the southern African countries including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in September 2018 (see trip blog on this site). The southern Africa trip was a great adventure and we knew we wanted to return to Africa. We chose "The Best of Kenya and Tanzania" offered by Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) for this current 2023 safari. We added a five day Kenya pretrip to the main tour. Our goal was to experience the landscapes, peoples, and wildlife of East Africa.
I was particularly keen to experience the "great migration" and photograph wildlife species and behaviors we had not previously seen. The great migration involves an estimated 1.75 million wildebeests moving from the vast Serengeti to the Masai Mara National Reserve.
OAT arranged our air travel from San Francisco to Nairobi. Flight cancellations the morning of our flight resulted in a deviation from the OAT itinerary. We flew from SFO to Detroit, Detroit to Paris, and Paris to Nairobi. After a day and a half of air travel, we and our luggage arrived at the Nairobi Airport where we were met by our OAT trip leader, Fred. We were transported to the downtown Nairobi Eka Hotel where we made it to bed by 2 AM. We had planned to get up at 10 AM and catch breakfast, but we ended up sleeping 14 hours and waking in time for happy hour. So much for getting in sync with the local time zone. The next morning we met five of our fellow travelers and departed on a smallish Kenya Air prop plane for the Samburu Game Reserve in north-central Kenya.
The visits to Samburu and Ol Pejeta Conservancy were a short OAT pretrip we had added to the regular tour. Both locations offered opportunities to observe wildlife species difficult to observe at other tour locations. The Samburu portion of the trip offered the chance to see the "Samburu Five" which included the reticulated giraffe, Somali ostrich, Greavey's zebra, beisa oryx, and gerenuk. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy provided the best opportunities on the trip to see both black and white rhino, including the last two northern white rhinos. Both of these rhinos are female, so they truly are the last.
Samburu Game Reserve
After a two hour game drive from the dirt Samburu airstrip we arrived at Savora Shaba Lodge, our home for the next two nights. This part of Kenya is hot and very dry. The lodge is on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River within a 10 acre cedar forest. This location proved excellent for birding, especially water dependent birds like herons, egrets, kingfishers, storks, ibis, hammerkops, and plovers.
Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird
Eastern (Pale) Chanting Goshawk
Golden-Breasted Starling
Gray-Headed Kingfisher
The lodge grounds are enclosed by an electric fence to exclude large animals. The fence proved ineffective at excluding baboons and vervet monkeys which were present everywhere on the grounds. We had 114 baboons pass behind our lodge unit one morning before daylight. The lodge employs several local Samburu tribesmen armed with slingshot to keep the baboons at bay.
Samburu Tribesmen - Note The slingshot used as baboon/monkey deterrent
Olive Baboon
Vervet Monkey
One of the unique features of this lodge is a treetop restaurant. I returned to the breakfast table one morning with coffee for my wife and found a vervet monkey perched on the back of my chair. I will never know if my wife in her uncaffinated state recognized that the cute, hairy primate sitting across from her was not her husband.
We were able to photograph the Samburu five. The Greavey's zebra is the largest of the zebras and the most threatened. They differ from the more common plains zebra in that they are taller, have larger ears, and tighter stripes. Between 2,000 and 3,000 of this species are believed to remain in the wild.
Greavey's Zebra
Greavey's Zebra
The gerenuk is a long-necked, long limbed, antelope. We frequently encountered them standing on their hind legs feeding on vegetation well above the level of other antelope. An interesting behavior that has lead to the unofficial name of giraffe gazelle.
Gerenuk Female and Male
Reticulated giraffe were very common in the Samburu Game Reserve. We saw dozens on every game drive. The bright white outline on their dark spots is quite striking. About 8,500 are believed to remain in Somali, Ethiopia, and northern Kenya.
Reticulated Giraffe
Reticulated Giraffe
We were able to observe and photograph a single male Somali ostrich. They differ from the common ostrich in that the males have bright blue necks and legs rather than the dull pink of the common ostrich. They are currently recognized as a full species and can be found in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya.
Somali Ostrich
The beisa oryx is a large, beautiful antelope. Both sexes carry impressive straight horns. We normally found them singularly but on one occasion we encountered a herd of around 60. Our guides indicated that many in a single group was quite unusual.
Beisa Oryx
Beisa Oryx
In addition to the Samburu five, we had excellent opportunities to observe African savanna elephant, impala, Thompson's gazelle, dik-dik, African buffalo, defassa waterbuck, warthog, common waterbuck, baboon, vervet monkey, and Grant's gazelle.
Young African Savanna Elephant
Young Impala
Dik-Dik
African Buffalo (What you see when you realize you have chosen the wrong bush as your bathroom)
Warthog
Common Waterbuck
Olive Baboon
Red and Yellow Barbet
Sweetwater Game Reserve
This location was one of my favorite locations of the trip. The food was very good and the tents the nicest of any on the trip.This tented camp is within the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Very nice tents are arrayed in a half circle around a large waterhole. We could sit on our front porch and the wildlife came close as they visited the waterhole throughout the day and night. The camp had some weak lights on the waterhole at night. Not enough light for photography, but enough for species identification. About 165 critically endangered black rhino are present within the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Southern white rhino were introduced in this area and currently the Conservancy supports 44 white rhinos. This location also offered some of the best birding of the trip. The Conservancy has invested heavily in wildlife protection employing tracking dogs, drones, and wardens on foot, motorbike, and truck patrols.
Black Rhino
Black Rhino
Becky Pets the Rhino
While at Sweetwater Camp we visited the nearby Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Jane Goodall had visited the sanctuary the week before we arrived. Chimpanzees are not native to Kenya. The chimps housed at the Sanctuary are all rescues. I believe they have around 35 total chimps separated in two populations. Very difficult photography as these animals were surrounded by a dense electric fence and visitors are kept well away from the fence and chimps. The chimps are quite intelligent. One became an escape artist after he learned to short out the fence using sticks. He is now doing hard time in solitary so that he does not teach others his trick. Chimpanzees and humans are closely related and share approximately 98.8 percent of their DNA with humans. Perhaps more with some humans.
Robust Chimpanzee
Robust Chimpanzee (Young)
Bushbuck
African Buffalo
We observed our first lions at Ol PeJeta. Other new mammal species included common eland, plains zebra, bushbuck, chimpanzee, hartebeest, spotted hyena, African hare, and black-backed jackal. We encountered a jackal den with 4 pups. Mom went off to hunt and they frolicked, just like puppies. Lots of fun to watch.
Common Eland - Note the Hitch-Hiking Yellow-Billed Oxpeckers
Black-Backed Jackal (Pups) at Play
Hartebeest
Plains Zebra - Stallions in Combat
Plains Zebra - Mare and Foal
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Impala
Sacred Ibis with Snack
We experienced a night game drive while at Sweetwater Camp. This was our only night game drive as they are not allowed in the National Parks. We ended up spotlighting several spotted hyena and black-backed jackals.
Spotted Hyena
The tent attendants placed a hot water bottle in our bed each night when they turned the mosquito netting down. A nice touch, but a bit of a surprise if you are not expecting it. I should note that we got the CDC recommended yellow fever vaccination and took malaria pills, but never saw a single mosquito.
The last morning before we left Sweetwater Camp, I skipped breakfast to work on my life bird list. It was time well spent. In 90 minutes I picked up an olive woodpecker, speckle-fronted weaver, Ruppell's starling, black kite, black-headed heron, Pemba green pigeon, red-fronted barbet, and yellow-breasted spurfowl. Quite a morning!
Black-Headed Heron
Lilac-Breasted Roller
Pemba Green Pigeon
Yellow-Necked Spurfowl
Nairobi
We traveled in our safari trucks from Sweetwater Camp back to the Eka Hotel in Nairobi. Nairobi is a city of about 4 million and downtown was similar to any major metropolitan area with malls and high rise buildings. It also contains Kibera Slum. This slum is immediately adjacent to the downtown and is inhabited by around one-million people all living within a square mile. We had a walking tour of the slum, learned its history and met many of the inhabitants. It was very interesting and also pretty uncomfortable.
Safari Trucks - Custom Toyota Trucks with a fully enclosed cabin and a pop-top roof.
We were joined in Nairobi by three additional travelers and experienced the open-air Carnivore Restaurant as our OAT welcome dinner. They serve Kenya style BBQ including, camel, ostrich, whale, and crocodile in addition to pork, beef, and chicken. Not really a favorite of the vegetarians in our group.
The Grilling Pit at The Carnivore Restaurant
We also visited the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage on the outskirts of the Nairobi National Park. They have about 35 young, rescued elephants and two young rhinos. These young elephants are gradually reintroduced to the wild and will successfully join wild herds. The elephants came out in two groups with the youngest group first. They each ran to a keeper and quickly guzzled a gallon or two of milk. The orphanage was the first to develop a formula suitable for elephants. After their bottles, they engaged in play in the mud hole. Lots of roughhousing and mudslinging. This is a very popular attraction in Nairobi and it was difficult to get photographs without people in the background. We adopted an elephant in our three-year old granddaughter Piper Magnolia's name. She was a little disappointed when we returned home without her elephant in our hand luggage.
African Savanna Elephant At the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
African Savanna Elephant at the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
Bottle Feeding an Orphaned Elephant
The next day we visited the Giraffe Center near Nairobi. This is a captive breeding facility for the endangered Rothschild's giraffe. About 2,000 Rothschild's giraffe exist in the wild. This species is one of the tallest species of giraffe (up to 19 feet) and is best differentiated from other species of giraffe by their creamy white, unspotted legs. The Center has an elevated boardwalk to allow hand feeding by visitors. Very popular activity with the selfie crowd.
Becky Receiving a Kiss from a Rothschild Giraffe
On our last morning in Nairobi, we caught a Kenya Air flight to Masai Mara National Reserve on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. I was very much looking forward to visiting this location as I believed it would offer the best photo opportunities of the trip.
Almost immediately we came across a pair of lions mating. With all the snarling and biting it did not appear that they were enjoying their interlude. The guides indicated that was normal lion mating behavior. This behavior includes up to 50 copulations per day for the three to four days that the lioness is in season.
Mating Lions
A few miles down the road while crossing a previously burned area we spotted an adult cheetah. We got some nice close looks at our first cheetah.
Cheetah
Cheetah
We stopped for a coffee and pastry break and had to rapidly dump everything when a male lion was spotted heading directly through the tall grass towards our gathering. He veered off and I was able to get some nice images of him as he cruised along the skyline. We also found a large pack of banded mongoose. A very good start for Masai Mara.
Young Male Lion (Going for the Mohawk)
Banded Mongoose
We headed for our lunch at our lodging (Mara Sentrim). This camp was our least favorite as everything was a little worn and the food choices were poor. However, the wildlife viewing on the game drives continued to be productive.
Over the local guides objections, our trip leader headed us toward the Mara Triangle. The Mara Triangle is separated from the Masai Mara National Reserve by the famous Mara River and was a rough three-hour drive from our camp.
Upon entry we immediately came across a wounded lioness on a wildebeest kill. A short distance later we crossed a ridgeline and found the great migration. Approximately 175,000 wildebeest and zebras had crossed into the triangle the night before. Truly an inspiring multitude. As we slowly parted the herd, the male wildebeest low moaning call was heard all around us.
The Great Migration
In the midst of the herd we found yet another pair of mating lions. The prey species must have known that the lions were otherwise occupied as they came dangerously close to the amorous felines.
Mating Lions
We spent a couple of hours with the herd and then headed for one of the Mara River crossing points in hopes of seeing a mass crossing. No luck on the crossing, but we were able to photograph a large pod of hippo in the river directly below us.
Common Hippopotamuses
This was the third attempt by two of our fellow travelers to see the migration. They were delighted. It turned out that our trip leader's brother works for one of the wildlife agencies and had provided the intelligence on the herd crossing into the triangle.
On our last full day in the Masai Mara we encountered a couple of spotted hyena and several other scavengers (lappet-faced vulture, tawny eagle, jackals, and bateluer) in a small area. The hyenas had killed and mostly consumed one of the Masai cattle the previous night. We followed the spotted hyena for some distance as he easily carried the cows head. He eventually found a shallow pool and submerged the head. Marinade? The guides indicated that this was standard hyena tactic. By submerging the head for later consumption he was reducing the smell for other predators or scavengers to track in on. So much interesting wildlife behavior.
Spotted Hyena with a Masai Cow's Head
Bateleur
Lappet-Faced Vulture
We also had our first leopard sighting. We were able to get quite close but photo options were limited as he was in a densely vegetated tree and distinctly backlit.
Leopard
Shortly afterwards we came across a pride of lions sleeping the day away. Apparently, there were 18 present, although I only saw six. No decent photo opportunities.
The next morning after a very rapid game drive to the airstrip we departed and flew back to Nairobi where we were met by two safari trucks. We left Nairobi and drove five hours to Amboseli National Park at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The country surrounding the park was desert. The park itself is fed by springs from Mount Kilimanjaro and contained some vast, lush, wetland.
Mount Kilimanjaro - 19,341 feet above sea level
Ambosoli National Park is known for its high elephant population and is home to a few of the remaining super tuskers.
African Savanna Elephant
After an afternoon game drive that added a few life birds to my list we checked into our next camp, Sentrim Ambosoli. This camp was an upgrade from Sentrim Mara and had beautiful grounds and abundant wildlife.
African Fish Eagle
African Jacana
The next morning we visited a local Masai village. The Masai have traditionally been nomadic cattle and goat grazers, constantly following the grass. However, the chief in the village we visited had realized the value of education and these Masai had become resident rather than nomadic, so that children could go to school. Other progressive departures from historic practices included discontinuation of female genital mutilation. While it is illegal, it still occurs. At a minimum FGM involves surgical removal of the clitoris. FGM has been practiced to insure virginity at marriage and fidelity afterwards. This village does not practice polygamy, which is still a common practice in other Masai villages.
Masai Singers
Masai Dancers
Masai wealth is determined by the number of cattle they own. A wife costs 20 cows. They proudly showed us their livestock. They had developed a contraceptive device fitted to the billy goat. Effective, but no doubt quite frustrating for the goat. All-in-all the visit to the Masai was very interesting. At this village at least, they have embarked on some major shifts in traditional practices in a single generation.
Masai Male Goat Contraceptive
That afternoon we had another game drive to another portion of the park. This area included extensive wetlands. Vast numbers of lesser and greater flamingo were present feeding in the shallow waters. African fish eagle, gray-crowned crane, great white pelican, pied avocet, African jacana, malachite kingfisher, blue-billed teal, red-billed duck, black-winged stilt, squacco heron, African spoonbill, and sacred ibis were all observed.
Greater Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo
Malachite Kingfisher
We saw our first reedbuck and discovered a spotted hyena den with numerous pups not far off the roadway. The dull black pups were very active and playful. Hippo and elephant were both commonly observed.
Spotted Hyena
Young Baboon
Due to the limits on blog size in Zenfolio, the Tanzania portion of the trip will be presented as a separate blog.
Aratinga Tours - Costa Rica April 2022 Part 1
We have been fortunate to travel to Costa Rica, Guatamala, and Panama on previous Central America trips. These were excellent tours and we both really enjoyed the beautiful countries and the friendly residents. Each tour offered at least some opportunities for wildlife photography. However, I wanted to plan a trip that was dedicated to wildlife photography. Two weeks of dawn to dark wildlife photography was not super high on Becky's bucket list, but she was up for an adventure. I found what I was looking for with Aratinga Tours. They offer a 2 week all-inclusive tour that features some of the best photo lodges, locations, and guides. I wanted to try and squeeze the trip in during April, before the start of the rainy season in May. I contacted Pieter Westra, the owner of Aratinga Tours www.aratinga-tours.com and attempted to book his featured wildlife photography tour on short notice. Pieter was unable to book us in all the locations, but countered with an amended schedule, which included at least some time at each advertised location and some nicely upgraded lodges. We accepted the amended itinerary and booked flights out of San Francisco.
We arrived in Costa Rica on the evening of April 6th and were met at the airport by an english speaking representative of Aratinga Tours. He transported us through downtown San Jose to a small boutique hotel, Hotel Buena Vista. The hotel is located in a small coffee plantation in the hills north of San Jose. Our room offered excellent views of the city.
The view from our balcony at Hotel Buena Vista
I was up with the sun the next morning and explored the hotel garden and coffee plantation. Difficult photography, but I did start adding to my species list. Most were common species like clay-colored thrush, rufous-tailed hummingbird, great kiskadee, red-billed pigeon, white-winged dove, brown jay, scarlet-rumped tanager and a few others. After a leisurely breakfast, we met with a representative of Alamo car rentals in our hotel lobby. We had selected a self driving tour, although Aratinga Tours also offers tours with dedicated drivers. The cost of the rental car and full insurance on it was included in the cost of the tour. Also included was a phone containing a wifi hotspot and a navigation program. Highway signage and street addresses are generally lacking in Costa Rica, so the nav program gave us confidence we could find our way around without getting lost. We also received very detailed turn by turn written directions, which included travel times, and distances. These written directions were generally excellent and we really only used the navigation system to traverse the major cities. The wifi hotspot allowed us to keep in touch with family at home through Facebook Messenger.
Clay-Colored Thrush. The national bird of the country of Costa Rica
Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird - Probably the most widespread and common hummingbird in Costa Rica.
The next stop on our itinerary was La Paz Waterfall Gardens (Alajuela Province, Sarapiqui) on the eastern slope of Poas Volcano. These gardens/zoo are a major Costa Rican tourist attraction which includes four waterfalls, over 100 species of animals, and 3.5 kms of cloudforest hiking trails. The park grounds/garden are beautifully maintained. Photo opportunities included hummingbird gardens, a sepenterium, a frog exhibit, a butterfly exhibit, an a large walk through aviary which contained birds from all over Costa Rica including some we were unable to see elsewhere. Exhibits containing sloths and monkeys were popular. My favorite exhibit was the big cat exhibits which included jaguars, mountain lions, margay, and ocelots in very lifelike setting. This stop was an excellent introduction to the biodiversity of Costa Rica. Photography was difficult, but I was able to get a few keepers. I kept several photos of hummingbirds on feeders. I normally try to capture wildlife in natural setting, but many of the hummingbirds were only observed on the feeders at this one location. We ended up spending about 2.5 hours at the garden (including time shopping for souvenirs for our granddaughter (Piper Magnolia).
Gray-Headed Chachalaca
Black-Bellied Whistling Duck bathing.
Coppery-Headed Emerald
Purple-Throated Mountain Gem
Green-Crowned Brilliant
Green Thorntail
Mountain Lion - Love the eye contact.
Spider Monkey
Our next venue on the itinerary was Laguna de Lagarto Lodge near Boca Tapada. This lodge is in the Caribbean lowlands near the Nicaraguan border. The last 22kms were on a potholed gravel road which did not allow for rapid travel. I did manage an image of a russet-naped wood rail and a social flycatcher as we were driving in.
Russet-Naped Woodrail - Cruising along the roadside ditch
Social Flycatcher - A very tame bird. I was probably less than 3 feet away when I took this image.
It was warm and humid at this location with at least one rain shower each day. It is a pretty basic lodge, lacking air conditioning and some other luxury amenities. There were very attractive setups placed at various distances from the covered shooting area. I was able to capture excellent images of many avian species at the feeders and spent most of each day at the feeders. One of the birding highlights at this location was a pair of great green macaws which did a flyby as I was unloading the car. Unfortunately they never came in to the feeders.
Brown-Hooded Parrot
Brown-Hooded Parrot - These parrots flocked to the feeders in noisy groups of two to eight birds at a time.
Red-Lored Parrot A pair of these large parrots came in several times a day checking out potential nest cavities.
Black-Cheeked Woodpecker
Black-Cheeked Woodpecker - A pair of these woodpeckers were nesting in a cavity next to the photography platform.
White-Ringed Flycatcher
White-Ringed Flycatcher - Apparently their diet is not restricted to flies. This one caught and ate a small tree frog.
Red-Legged Honeycreeper - I had previously observed this spectacular species in Panama, but had failed to get any satisfactory photos. I had many opportunities to capture this species on the trip. This is the male.
Red-Legged Honeycreeper - Generally it is considered poor form to photograph a bird if the bait is visible. However, this was my only image where the golden wing feathers were visible.
Red-Legged Honeycreeper (Female)
Red-Legged Honeycreeper - One of three honeycreeper species we were able to photograph at this location. Note the raised turquoise crest.
Shining Honeycreeper - Note the yellow legs.
Green Honeycreeper (Male)
Chestnut-Colored Woodpecker (Female)
Chestnut-Colored Woodpecker - Beautiful active birds which frequently came into the fruit feeders,
Chestnut-Colored Woodpecker (Male)
Summer Tanager (Male)
Summer Tanager (Immature Male) I originally misidentified this tanager as a flame- colored tanager.
Plain-Brown Woodcreeper - Appropriately named.
Scarlet-Rumped Tanager - One of the many beautiful tanager species we encountered.
Scarlet-Rumped Tanager (Male)
Scarlet-Rumped Tanager (Female) - Not quite as striking as the male.
Olive-Backed Euphonia - Subtle coloration.
Keel-Billed Toucan
Keel-Billed Toucan in the rain
Keel-Billed Toucan
Collared Aracari - Frequently encountered in groups of five or six.
Collared Aracari
Montezuma Oropendola - Crow sized bird eating fruit, nectar, invertebrates and vertebrates.
Montezuma Oropendola Nest Colony - Dense colony of hanging nests
Great Kiskadee - A large, colorful, noisy flycatcher
Great Curassow (Male) - While capable of flight, these large birds were generally observed on the forest floor.
Great Curassow (Male) - Similar in size to a small turkey.
Golden-Hooded Tanager - Small but colorful tanager species we observed in several locations and habitats.
Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan - These large cavity nesters dominated the fruit feeders.
Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan - Note the bright blue legs.
Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan - Feeds on fruits, lizards, snakes and nestling birds.
Buff-Throated Saltator - Literature suggests that this species has a wide range within Costa Rica. However, this was the only locations where we observed them.
Buff-Throated Saltator
Black-Cowled Oriole - I had previously seen this oriole only in Western Mexico
The lodge is know as one of the best locations in the world to view and photograph king vulture. We spent several hours in the ground level vulture hide. The vultures are baited using byproducts from the local slaughterhouse. The bait is placed in pits and is not visible, but the vultures can be observed at very close distance which allow full frame head shots. We had 3 adults and 2 juveniles come in while we were at the blind. I took hundreds of images. Unfortunately, we were sharing the blind with a Japanese foursome. One of their members had great difficulty keeping quiet. Constant movement and chattering was not condusive to closeup photo opportunities. Black vultures were abundant, but gave their larger cousins some personal space.
King Vulture - Note the full crop.
King Vulture - Lots of eye contact
King Vulture - A regal pose
King Vulture (Immature) - A face only a mother could love.
King Vulture - Bullies at the carcasses.
Black Vulture - A more common vulture species
Black Vulture - Posing for me on this vegetated stump
Black Vulture - Incoming
Another option included in our tour was night-time bat photography. I had never attempted this sort of photography and the guide was skeptical that my equipment was suitable. It took quite some time to set up. I used my 24 to 105mm landscape lens at 55mms and a single flash from a distance of about 2 feet from the banana flower we used as bait. The flower was sprayed with sugar water and almost immediately we had bats. These were orange-bellied nectar bats. They were very quick and my keeper rate was very poor. Lots of empty frames. I did manage to get about 6 useable frames. A new and interesting photo experience. Becky was a trooper as she was sitting behind me in total darkness as the many bats flew by, occasionally brushing her hair with their wings.
Orange-Bellied Nectar Bat - Very quick nocturnal pollinator.
The lodge also offers guided bird walks and a nighttime camian walk where a couple of largish caimans emerge from the lagoon and respond to commands in German.
Our next location was Hotel Lomas del Volcan at the base of Arenal Volcano. This lodge was a significant upgrade from the Arenal Observatory Lodge where this Aratinga tour normally stay. Excellent food, comfortable individual bungalows and beautifully landscaped grounds. We woke to the sounds of howler monkeys every morning and spent a few hours each day photographing wildlife on the grounds.
Mantled Howler Monkey - Dominant male surveys his family group
We visited Danaus Ecocenter, a small patch of intact forest. The primary attraction here was a small pond containing a boat-billed heron colony, These herons are nocturnal and difficult to photograph in the open elsewhere. While I was shooting the herons, Becky pointed out a tiny bird perched almost directly over us. It was an American pygmy kingfisher. A "life bird" for me. Other species included basilisk lizard, spectacled camian, and a white-collared manakin. The basilisk lizards are also called "Jesus Christ lizard" as they appear to be able to run on water.
Boat-Billed Heron - Gotta love that bill.
Boat-Billed Heron calling
American Pygmy Kingfisher - Becky spotted this tiny kingfisher perched directly over us. About 5 inches in length.
Green Baselisk (also called plumed baselisk)
The next day we were to meet our guide at Arenal Observatory Lodge for some trail hiking. White-nosed coatis were everywhere on the grounds of the lodge.
White-Nosed Coati - That itch!
White-Nosed Coati - Very arboreal
We were extremely fortunate to find and photograph a lattice-tailed trogon. This species is quite rare at this location. Photo opportunities in the densely vegetated trails were difficult. I did better in the more open gardens of the lodge where I took many shots of a gartered trogon. I photographed a number of life birds at the feeders at the lodge including bananaquit, Tennessee warbler, and red-footed plumeleteer.
Lattice-Tailed Trogon
Lattice-Tailed Trogon - This species has a limited range, from Costa Rica to western Panama
Bananaquit - A small, active warbler feeding primarily on fruit and nectar.
Arenal Volcano - A rare day when the cone is not covered with clouds. Note the steam emerging from this active volcano.
Crested Guan - Large and very loud.
Eyelash Pit Viper - This specimen was very small. They can be difficult spot even at close range. This species is arboreal and comes in a wide variety of colors including brilliant yellow/gold.
Great Curassow (Female) The colors and patterns on there female make them much more attractive than the uniform black plumage of the male.
Yellow Warbler - A common nesting species in northern California that I rarely seem to get this clean a shot at. Note the red streaking on the breast of this male in full breeding plumage.
Nesting Sulphur-Bellied Flycatcher
Blue-Black Grosbeak (Female)
We left the Arenal area and headed toward the Pacific coast. On the way we stopped for a last minute addition to our tour. Pieter had suggested that we stop in San Luis and spend the day with a non-english speaking guide named Rodreigo. Pieter indicated Rodreigo was an excellent guide he could really find the birds, including a difficult to find and photograph bird, the three-wattled bellbird. Our initial photo stop yielded a number of excellent birds in a pretty decent location for photography including speckled tanager, emerald tanager, blue-gray tanager, green honeycreeper, bay-head tanager, wood thrush, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, common chlorospringus, crowned woodnymph, and green-crowned brilliant.
Speckled Tanager
Bay-Headed Tanager
Common Chlorospingus
Emerald Tanager
Wood Thrush - Another life bird for me.
Crowned Woodnymph
Green-Crowned Brilliant
Next we took to the hills and quickly hiked to a singing and displaying three-wattled bellbird.
Three-Wattled Bellbird - I was pretty keen to photograph this uncommon bird and was able to capture a displaying male against the sky. We kept following him and eventually he dropped down lower in the canopy and allow a few longish shots with better light and background. Call is like a tiny ringing bell. He tosses the wattles as he sings as part of his display.
After another hike down a long ridge we encountered our first southern emerald toucanet and a collared trogon. The ridge was much steeper on the climb back out.
Collared Trogon - We worked hard to finally get this trogon to perch in the open.
Southern Emerald Toucanet - I ended up with hundreds of images of this species at different locations.
We had a quick local lunch at a local roadside cafe and then went in search of a nesting sunbittern. Along the way we also were able to photograph torrent tyrannulet, a golden-olive woodpecker, and a common tody flycatcher. A very productive day.
Nesting Sunbittern - Habitat included forested, steep rocky streams
Torrent Tyrannulet - A small flycatcher inhabiting high gradient streams
Golden-Olive Woodpecker - A beautiful woodpecker species
Common Tody Flycatcher - Common and widespread compact flycatcher
I should mention driving in Costa Rica is quite adventurous. Becky did all the driving as she is not enthusiastic about my driving while birding. Our rental car was a very underpowered Toyota Rush. We did not attempt passing on mountain roads. The locals were more spirited in their driving and passing on double yellow lines, hills and blind corners were commonplace. While driving to photograph the bellbird with the guide in the backseat we came around a corner and met a truck coming at us in our lane. I may have verbalized some concern. Becky says a squealed like a little girl. Somehow we avoided death and dismemberment and she and the guide had a good laugh at my expense. Defensive driving is a must. The ability read safety signage in Spanish is also useful.
After trying to load and save a more extended version of this blog three times I was finally able to determine that Zenfolio limits the size of individual blogs, so this is Part One and hopefully the remainder of the tour will be Part Two. Pura Vida!
Aratinga Tours -Costa Rica April 2022 Part 2
After leaving San Luis we traveled on the Interamerican Highway towards the Pacific coast. Our next lodge was Villa Lapas near the small community of Tarcoles. The lodge was less basic than Laguna de Lagarto, but not as upscale as Lomas del Volcan. It did have air conditioning which was a definte plus as both heat and humidity were much greater than in the cloud forest near Arenal Volcano. The lodge also had a hot tub, swimming pool, large outdoor dining area and two bars.
Villa Lapas is in an area where the scarlet macaw is relatively common. We frequently heard them as they noisily flew over the lodge.
Scarlet Macaw
The grounds were productive for bird watching, but less so for photography. I found a fascinated tiger heron foraging in the stream adjacent to the lodge as well as a Leeson's motmot and a a linnaited woodpecker on the grounds.
Fasciated Tiger Heron
The next day we were scheduled to take both an early morning and evening boat tour on the Tarcoles River. The Tarcoles River is known for it large population of oversize crocodiles. We had previously experienced a Tarcoles River boat tour on another visit to Costa Rica. Based on that experience, my expectations were low. It turned out to be a very worthwhile photo experience.
Basking Crocodile
Crocodile inspecting the lunch menu
Becky and I were the only passengers on a boat which could easily accommodate 50 passengers. Our morning guide was an excellent birder and understood photographers needs. He did his best to get us close in good light with a decent background. We ended up getting all five species of kingfishers (Ringed, Green, Amazon, Belted and American Pygmy). We observed lots of species of waterbirds including several species of herons and egrets. We photographed magnificent frigate bird, southern lapwing, black-necked stilt, bare-throated tiger heron, turquoise-browed motmot, mangrove swallow, anhinga, double-striped thick-knee, yellow-headed caracara and many others.
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
Turquoise-Browed Motmot - Ventral View
Turquoise Browed Motmot - Dorsal View
Southern Lapwing
Tricolored Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
Ringed Kingfisher
Ringed Kingfisher with Breakfast
Magnificent Frigatebird
Amazon Kingfisher
Mangrove Yellow Warbler
Green Heron
The afternoon cruise was also productive. We got stuck on a sandbar and both guides jumped in the river to try and rock the boat free. We got free and as we were backing out a very large crocodile surfaced nearby. We saw several crab-eating raccoons emerging from the mangroves to search for food just before dark.
Crab-Eating Raccoon digging for crabs.
Double-Striped Thick-Knee at nest
Displaying Great-Tailed Gackle
Common Blackhawk Fishing
Boat-Billed Heron
Great Egret in Breeding Plumage
Barred Antshrike (Male)
Bare-Throated Tiger Heron
Bare-Throated Tiger Heron Sunning
Anhinga - Drying his wings
American Pygmy Kingfisher - I am really amazed at this image. It was almost dark and he was very, very close. Shutter speed was ridiculously slow. He held very still even as the guides were pulling the mangrove limbs away to allow a clean shot.
The next day we met our guide Alvaro in the community of Orotina to search for dry tropical forest birds. We saw, but were unable to photograph, the long-tailed manakin. We photographed both the Pacific screech owl and the ferruginous pygmy owl. We also photographed the gartered trogon and black-headed trogon. We found pair of bat falcons. However, I was not able to get more than a documentation photo of these small predators.
Pacific Screech Owl The one on the right was not enthusiastic about the photographer.
Orange-Billed Sparrow
Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
Rose-Throated Becard
Gartered Trogon
Black-Headed Trogon
Hoffman's Woodpecker
We left Orotino and headed back to Villa Lapas and got caught up in horrible traffic. It took us several hours to travel a few kilometers. The friday afternoon before Easter in a catholic country is not a good time to travel. The next day we headed toward Savegre Lodge in the higher mountains of Costa Rica.
It was about a four hour drive from Villa Lapas to Savegre. We followed the coastal highway to the community of Dominical and then headed up into the mountains. Stunning mountain scenery, but we were in and out of the clouds at over 6,000 feet before we turned off on the steep, windy access road to Savegre Lodge in San Gerardo de Dota. This cloud forest is the home of numerous mountain species including the stunning resplendent quetzal. Early the next morning our guide Melvin took us to an active quetzal nest tree. They are cavity nesters in the trogon family and have extremely long back streamers that are several feet long. The male is stunning. We observed at a distance the adults bringing food items to the nest. The distance was long and the light was poor. I did get a few images that I like, but a camera with better low-light capability might have been useful.
Resplendent Quetzal (Male)
Resplendent Quetzal (Female)
Melvin invited us to shoot at his garden located on the Savegre property. He had numerous fruit and hummingbird feeders. Baltimore oriole, long-tailed silky flycatcher, lesser violetear, volcano hummingbird, slaty flower piercer, and a pair of nesting southern emerald toucanet kept me busy. We took a hike with Melvin and captured a few frames of a spotted wood quail under difficult lighting. Further, up the mountain we encountered and photographed a collared redstart. One of these striking little warblers was singing and displaying all around us. I was able to finally capture him in good light with a decent background.
Spotted Wood Quail
Volcano Hummingbird
Talamanca Hummingbird (formerly Magnificent Hummingbird)
Collared Redstart
Long-Tailed Silky Flycatcher
Tropical Mockingbird
I visited Melvin's garden for a few hours the next day and was rewarded with numerous tanager photos including scarlet-rumped, silver-throated, palm, and blue-gray. Spectacular flame-colored tanager and acorn woodpeckers were abundant. Toucanets are also cavity nesters and I was able to photograph the adults bringing food items to the nest on several occasions. One of those items was a large lizard.
Tennessee Warbler
Rufous-Collared Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole (Ventral View)
Baltimore Oriole (Dorsal View)
Silver-Throated Tanager
Lesser Violetear
Southern Emerald Toucanet
Southern Emerald Toucanet with a large lizard.
Blue-Gray Tanager
Acorn Woodpecker
Later that day we visited Batsu Feeders at an adjacent property. Excellent covered shooting areas with nicely setup fruit and hummingbird feeders. Because the background was a distant forested mountain, the backgrounds here were the best of the trip. Many of the same species were present as we had found in Melvin's garden, but we added a few new ones including yellow-throated brush finch, large-footed finch, sulphur-winged parakeet, chestnut-capped brush finch, and rose breasted grosbeak.
Chestnut-Capped Brush Finch
Flame-Colored Tanager
Large-Footed Finch
Yellow-Throated Brush Finch
Sulphur-Winged Parakeet
Slaty Flowerpiercer
Southern Emerald Toucanet
On our last morning at Savegre, I loaded up my largest lens with attached teleconverter and attempted to improve on my previous quetzal images. I was able to capture numerous distant shots of the male coming to the nest cavity and feeding the single young in the nest. Lots of action, but again low light and not quite enough shutter speed to freeze the action. As we were leaving Savegre I was able to photographed another life bird, the mountain thrush, as well as a tufted flycatcher.
Resplendent Quetzal feeding chick
Resplendent Quetzal
Mountain Thrush
We left Savegre and rejoined the Interamerican highway towards San Jose and our airport hotel (Hotel Bougainvillea). The navigation app was absolutely essential in traversing San Jose suburbs to reach our destination. We made no less than 35 turns as we wound our way through city streets and neighborhoods. An Alamo car rental representative stopped by and collected the car and phone that afternoon after we visited a nearby Covid testing facility. At the time of our travel a negative Covid test was required to re-enter the U.S.
Hotel Bougainvillea turned out to be much more than an airport hotel. We enjoyed good food, a comfortable room and friendly staff. I also enjoyed the 13 acres of gardens associated with the hotel. In a couple of hours I photographed brown, jay, Hoffman's woodpecker, mottled owl, chestnut-sided warbler, red-eyed vireo, rufous-naped wren, crested caracara, and Swainson's thrush. A very pleasant way to spend our last hours in Costa Rica.
Rufous-Naped Wren
Mottled Owl - I really wish that one strip of bamboo was not crossing in front of him.
Chestnut-Sided Warbler
Red-Eyed Vireo
After an excellent breakfast, an english speaking representative of Aratinga Tours transported us to the airport which was about 30 minutes away. All in all a very smooth, well planned photo tour. I took over 14,000 photos during our two week trip. I ended up with 160 total bird species for the trip including 82 life birds. Consider using Aratinga Tours for your Costa Rica travel.
Cabin Lake, Oregon
Cabin Lake Oregon is one of my favorite photo locations. I have photographed there for the last 15 years, usually several days per year. Cabin Lake is in Lake County and within the Deschutes National Forest about 10 miles due north of the community of Fort Rock. A good gravel road connects Fort Rock and Cabin Lake. A very primitive U.S. Forest Service campground is present just north of the Cabin Lake guard station.
Cabin Lake is an infrequently used U.S. Forest Service Guard Station. Behind the guard station buildings are two small concrete water basins. The basins are fenced to exclude cattle and each water basin has a permanent wooden photo/observation blind within 10 to 12 feet. The blinds are large enough to accommodate several users. These blinds generally face north toward the basins.
The facilities are currently maintained by Tom Lawler with support from the East Cascade Audubon Society. Tom is also the top e-birder at this location with almost 80 species. The basins are charged May through October in most years. I have visited the blinds in June, July, August, September, October, and November. The November trip was to photograph rutting mule deer and the basins were not operative. September had the highest species diversity with 33 species over 3 days. However, plumages are generally fresher in June.
The basins are located on the edge between Eastside Pine and Sagebrush Steppe communities. They are about the only available surface water for some distance and draw wildlife from both communities. E-bird lists 139 species for this site. I have photographed 45 avian species here. All of the following photographs were taken at Cabin Lake. I keep a list of observations and my occurrence and abundance information below is based on these lists.
These species include
Stellar's Jay - For me, these striking jays have been relatively uncommon. Usually one bird every 3rd or 4th visit.
Pinyon Jay - These jays are common and can occur in noisy groups of 15 to 20. They make use of the water basins and the suet feeders.
Spotted Towhee - Spotted towhee have been relatively common with individuals present on about one-half my visits. It is not always easy to get them off the ground and on a perch. The bird feed I spread keeps these towhees coming back all day to feed on the scattered seed.
Green-Tailed Towhee - These towhees are common, but not abundant with one or two observed on most visits. Like spotted towhee, these guys are ground feeders and difficult to capture on a perch.
Mountain Bluebird - Bluebirds are cavity nesters. Several bird boxes as well as large snags are scattered around the area and both mountain and western bluebirds breed locally. By late July or early August good numbers of young of the year are present. These bluebirds feed on the meal worms and drink or bathe in the basins.
Western Bluebird - Common and they can be fairly numerous after young have fledged.
Clark's Nutcracker - Noisy and common. I frequently have groups of 4 to 6 at the basins at one time. This species also makes use of suet.
Northern Flicker - Common and observed on nearly every visit.
White-Headed Woodpecker - Common and observed on nearly every visit. Suet eaters.
Hairy Woodpecker - Relatively uncommon with only a handful of observations over 15 years.
Lewis's Woodpecker - My favorite western woodpecker. Uncommon and very spooky. If you make noise or even a slight movement they are gone. I have photographed them here 3 times.
Red-Breasted Sapsucker - Very uncommon. I have only observed them at the basins on a single occasion.
Williamson's Sapsucker - This female is my only observation of a Williamson's sapsucker at Cabin Lake. I keep hoping for a male in breeding plumage.
Pygmy Nuthatch - These little guys are relatively common with observations on about half of my visits. They can be quite numerous in September.
White-Breasted Nuthatch - Common with observations made on most visits. Never numerous, but fairly regular visitors to the water basins.
Red-Breasted Nuthatch - Uncommon or absent during June, July and August. Fairly common in September
American Robin - Observed in small numbers on over one-half of all visits.
Townsend's Solitaire - Relatively uncommon with maybe 8 observations over 15 years.
Gray Flycatcher - This species was observed on only 3 occasions, primarily in June and July.
Bullock's Oriole - This female represents my only observation of this species at this location.
Lazuli Bunting - I have photographed this species at the basins on 3 occasions and never more than a single individual at a time.
Brewer's Blackbird - These blackbirds have been relatively uncommon for me with only a few observations.
Brown-Headed Cowbird - Cowbirds have also been uncommon with only a few observations.
Mourning Dove - These doves are common and come into drink but frequently stay to work over the seed. Like towhees they can be difficult to photograph off the ground.
Eurasian-Collared Dove - This invasive species is fairly common.
Lesser Goldfinch - Rarely observed.
Red Crossbill - Common and in some years quite numerous with groups of 40-50 individuals mobbing the basins. Cabin Lake is really an excellent location to capture this species.
Cassin's Finch - Common and generally abundant. However, numbers fluctuate from year to year.
Savannah Sparrow - Relatively uncommon, with most observations during September.
Lincoln's Sparrow - Uncommon with my only observations during September. Perhaps a migrating individual.
Chipping Sparrow - Common to abundant depending on the year.
Brewer's Sparrow - Common small drab sparrow.
Vesper Sparrow - Relatively uncommon. Most observations in August or September.
White-Crowned Sparrow - Uncommon. Only observed during September, presumably in migration.
Golden-Crowned Sparrow - Uncommon. Observed only in small numbers during September.
White-Throated Sparrow - Only a single individual observed in September.
Western Tanager - Irregular. Common but not numerous in most year.
Mountain Chickadee- Fairly common resident breeder. Present during most visits.
Yellow-Rumped Warbler - Fairly common breeding species. A few individuals observed on most visits.
Yellow Warbler - One brief observation during September.
Western Meadowlark - Normally a grassland species. I was surprised to see one at Cabin Lake.
Dark-Eyed Junco - Observed in small numbers only during September.
Sage Sparrow - I occasionally see this species in the tall sagebrush along the road north of Fort Rock. This individual was my only observation at the water basins.
Willow Flycatcher - This flycatcher was photographed at the site in June and was likely a migrating bird as suitable habitat is absent from the local environment.
Pine Siskin - Common species in September and October. Uncommon earlier in the year.
I use a portable "Doghouse" ground blind instead of the wooden blinds. This allows me to set up with the sun at my back mornings and evenings and obtain optimum light. I provide seed, meal worms, and suet to hold birds in the area. I place perches of different sizes and various distances from the blind. However, I generally set them up behind the basins so that the birds are looking towards the basin and the blind. These perches include several woodpecker poles (horizontal logs). My observations indicate that different species show a preference for different basins. The upper basin is more wide open and dominated by grass and low sage. This basin seems to attract more doves, bluebirds, robins, blackbirds, and woodpeckers. The lower basin has more shrub cover and is attractive to towhees, sparrows, and nuthatches. The lower basin also has better photo backgrounds.
I have also photographed a number of Great Basin mammals at this location including badger, long-tailed weasel, mule deer, gray squirrel, black-tailed jackrabbit, least chipmunk, golden-mantled ground squirrel, and cottontail rabbit . A few photos of these species are displayed below.
Badger - On my most recent visit in October 2021, an adult badger came in three times on consecutive mornings. A den was located within 10 feet of the water basin. This was my only sighting of a badger although I have seen their tracks on a few occasions.
Least Chipmunk - These little guys are abundant with 10-12 working the bird seed on most visits. They have also boldly enter my blind and attempted to help themselves to my lunch.
Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel - I normally have 1 or 2 of these present on most visits. Quite the posers.
Long-Tailed Weasel - I have 3 observations of these quick little subjects in 15 years. They hunt the numerous chipmunks. Once they come in they create a chipmunk free zone around the basin for at least one-half an hour.
Cottontail Rabbit - Very occasional visitor as are black-tailed jackrabbits.
Cabin Lake is an amazing location for bird photography. You never know what you might get. The action can be nearly constant and it is not uncommon to shoot 1,000 images in a morning. If the action suddenly slows, you may want to get out of the blind and check for hawks or falcons nearby. Even during the week other birders or photographers are frequently present. On one weekend morning 7 other photographers were present before daylight. Consider a birdwatching or photography visit to Cabin Lake.