I had very good luck with scarlet macaws on our recent trip and have a lot to share, including some fun video. But I thought I’d start with this simple portrait that shows off the three primary colors of the feathers. “Scarlet macaw” is the most commonly used name, but they are also sometimes referred to as red-and-yellow macaws, red-and-blue macaws or red-breasted macaws. Photographed in Piedras Blancas National Park in southern Costa Rica. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1400, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second.

On one of my night hikes in Costa Rica’s Piedras Blancas National Park, I came across this small crocodile fishing by the shoreline. He/she was wading in the shallow water, with mouth wide open, waiting patiently for the surf to deliver an easy catch. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 6400, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second, light from handheld flashlight.

There are four species of monkey in Costa Rica — squirrel, howler, capuchin and spider. This is the latter, and usually the hardest to see. But they are much more common in the south, on the Osa Peninsula and across the bay in Piedras Blancas National Park where I spotted this one. In fact, I saw quite a few of them, but usually pretty high in the trees. I also saw white-faced capuchin monkeys and howler monkeys. The only species I didn’t see were the squirrel monkeys, which are usually the easiest to come by. You never know with nature. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1400, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second.

The Golfo Dulce in southwestern Costa Rica is the best place in the country to see dolphins. In particular, the pantropical spotted dolphins were, at times, all over the place. And occasionally they’d grant us a jump or two. The hard part was having the camera pointed in the right spot when they did. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 64, f/2.8 at 1/1250th of a second.

One of the species I was hoping for on last week’s trip to Costa Rica was the two-toed (or more accurately, two-fingered) sloth. I came up empty, but did see several three-toed sloths, including this baby that opened his/her eyes for just a moment before resuming what looked like a blissful sleep. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1800, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

To me, nothing says Costa Rica (and Central America’s rainforests in general) more than the red-eyed tree frog and the toucan. There are technically six species of toucan in Costa Rica, but that includes toucanets and aracaris. The two primary species of toucan are the keel-billed and the yellow-throated. This is the latter. I always love seeing these guys fly through the air, led by that oversized beak. We saw quite a few of them and I captured both stills and video. I’ll post some video soon as I get around to processing it all. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2500, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second.

You know you’re truly in the wild when the coatis run the second they see you. In many other areas of Central America, they can be incredibly tame around people, but these guys in Piedras Blancas were very skittish. It was quite early in the morning, still in dim light when this large male ran up into a tree, allowing me to grab a few photos and videos before he raced back down and into the woods. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 12800, f/5.6 at 1/80th of a second.

Karen and I arrived home from Costa Rica yesterday. We spent six nights in a single location within the Piedras Blancas National Park. A few weeks back, I posted a red-eyed tree frog that I photographed in Costa Rica back in 2007. That shot was taken in Tortuguero National Park, which is on the eastern, Caribbean coast. Piedras Blancas is in the southwest on a gulf of the Pacific. And although there’s only one species of red-eyed tree frog, there are two slightly different color morphs. Both have the classic and iconic red eyes, of course, but the eastern frogs have blue stripes on their sides and bright orange feet. The western frogs are a bit less colorful and have purple stripes on their sides and just a bit of teal on their toes. Either way they are one of my favorite subjects to photograph and I had a great time checking in on them nightly at around 6:15, just after it gets dark. The males come down to sing for the females, hoping to meet their match. If they’re unsuccessful, they retreat back higher into the trees around 8:00 and wait for another day. I didn’t always find them, but when I did, I used several lighting techniques, always being mindful of getting the quick shot and leaving them be to do their thing. This was one of my favorite poses and clean backgrounds. I also captured some video, which I will share in a future post. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, Kenko extension tubes, Godox V860iii flash with LumiQuest soft box.

Karen and I head to Costa Rica in the morning, so this will be the last post for a week or so. Last time I was in Costa Rica, down on the Osa Peninsula, I had great encounters with Baird’s tapirs, the largest land animals in Central America, weighing between 500 and 800 pounds and standing about 4 feet tall. But despite their bulky size, tapirs are excellent swimmers and divers. They use water to cool off, escape predators, and they feed on aquatic plants. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 86mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/60th of a second.