Capt Mondo's Photo Blog

This Great-tailed Grackle comes by regularly in the mornings at Zumaloft to sip some of the pool water (which is not chlorinated, but uses some sort of mild salts). This picture brings out some of the underlying colour in the feathers of what is otherwise seen as a “black” bird.

Great-tailed Grackle Drinking Water by the Pool

Easily one of the most spectacular birds I photographed while in Costa Rica, this Turquoise-browed Motmot casually let me take a number of pictures of him while he sat and scooped up some berries while sitting on a fence on the Zumaloft grounds.

Turquoise-browed Motmot #1

Turquoise-browed Motmot #2

Turquoise-browed Motmot #3

Turquoise-browed Motmot #4

There are lots of little yellow birds here in Costa Rica, and this Yellow Warbler is one of them. They usually flit about everywhere, so am glad this one stayed still long enough for me to get one single, good shot with my camera.

Yellow Warbler

Shot on the grounds of Zumaloft, near Montezuma, Costa Rica.

Turns out it is not just the Fiery-billed Aracaris that like the ripened papayas on the grounds of Zumaloft, but also other birds like this Blue-gray Tanager.

Blue-gray Tanager #1

Blue-gray Tanager #2

After watching last night’s New Year’s pyrotechnics at the Ylang Ylang Beach Resort, the family spent the day relaxing and recovering on the ground of Zumalofts. A pair of toucan-related Fiery-billed Aracaris returned again to the ripe papaya tree to gulp down large chunks of the fruit, and putting on a great show. A wonderfully photogenic bird.

Fiery-billed Aracari Jan 1 2018 #1

Fiery-billed Aracari Jan 1 2018 #2

Fiery-billed Aracari Jan 1 2018 #3

Fiery-billed Aracari Jan 1 2018 #4

Fiery-billed Aracari Jan 1 2018 #5

Even the “blackbirds” are fancy here in Costa Rica. 😉

Great-tailed Grackle on Tree Branch

This toucan-related bird visited the ground of Zumaloft today, eating some of the ripened papaya straight from a plant. A very photogenic bird.

Fiery-billed Aracari #1 – Dec 29 2017

Fiery-billed Aracari #2 – Dec 29 2017

Fiery-billed Aracari #3 – Dec 29 2017

This was a tricky airshow to shoot, as the overcast skies meant that there was often little contrast between the skies and the airplane(s) I was trying to shoot pictures of. Much tweaking needed to be done in LightShop for many of these images in order to bring out detail but also keeping noise to a minimum. All pics shot using the trusty Olympus E-620 with the fast 200mm lens.

Pictures are arranged in the order the airplanes appeared in the show, and their names are derived directly from the emailed show schedule for the day courtesy of cias.org.

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours and the CN Tower

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

CF-18 Hornet in Canada 150 Colours

Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team

Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team

Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team

Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team

Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team

Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team

Mike Wiskus & Lucas Oil Pitts Special

Mike Wiskus & Lucas Oil Pitts Special

Mike Wiskus & Lucas Oil Pitts Special

Mike Wiskus & Lucas Oil Pitts Special

Mike Wiskus & Lucas Oil Pitts Special

Mike Wiskus & Lucas Oil Pitts Special

Sikorsky Helicopter

Gordon Price in the YAK-50

Gordon Price in the YAK-50

Gordon Price in the YAK-50

Gordon Price in the YAK-50

USAF F-22 Flying by Peace Statue on CNE Grounds

USAF F-22

USAF F-22

USAF F-22

USAF F-22

USAF F-22

USAF F-22 & P-51 Mustang Heritage Flight

USAF F-22 & P-51 Mustang Heritage Flight

Boeing B75N-1 – Stearman Bi-Plane

Beech 3NM Expeditor

As I was taking the last photo rain began to fall, which quickly led to a downpour. After about a half-hour the skies cleared again, but by that time I was across the CNE grounds, so that was it for me, until next year!