You might remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted a moose and his rather impressive dewlap. That dewlap looked like an extended goatee. Here’s what one looks like on an anole lizard. This is a male and he is displaying for any possible mates. If a female living in the area finds his colorfully extended throat sexy enough she just might stop by for a date. While displaying, the male also bobs up and down doing a sort of dance. Ironically, or perhaps not, he will do the same thing to ward off males who might want to challenge for territory. The territory in question for this guy was in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/20th of a second

I spent about forty minutes or so with a group — or band as they are called — of coatis consisting of about twenty to thirty members. They were all around me in the Costa Rican rain forest eating, resting, playing, and in this guy’s case, scratching his stomach.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/3.2 at 1/200th of a second

Baird’s tapirs are an endangered species, mainly due to habitat loss and pressure from hunting. Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica — where there has never been any hunting or human habitation — is one of the best places to photograph them in the wild. In four days in the park, I saw five different tapirs, including this large male crossing a river. I had my 200-400mm lens but decdied to go a bit wider, at 80mm, to frame the tapir with all the rain forest vegetation.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second

This was the first red-eyed tree frog that I saw in the wild, and the very first exposure. It was about six years ago in Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica. Very exciting at the time, as these colorful frogs were at the top of my wish list. I ended up seeing quite a few more of them on that trip but this initial shot is still one of my favorites. I remember hesitating for a second, making sure that all my settings were correct because I didn’t know if the frog would jump away never to be seen again. As it turned out, like most frogs, red-eyed tree frogs are very patient subjects. Still, I don’t like to take too many shots because the flash is obviously not a pleasant experience for any creature of the night.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/11 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units attached to an off camera bracket

At least it appears that this white-faced capuchin monkey is having a bit of a rough day. He/she was actually in the process of being groomed by a friend and was, in all likelihood, quite pleased with the afternoon. These two were part of a much larger troop of monkeys that were winding down the day in an enormous oceanfront tree in Drake Bay, Costa Rica.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/250th of a second

As I mentioned in a previous post, I saw four different eyelash vipers on the recent trip to Costa Rica — two yellow and two green. You can clearly see the “eyelashes” on this guy. They are actually raised scales above the eyes that are thought to aid in camouflage by breaking up the snake’s outline as it hides among the foliage. I’m not quite sure I get that explanation, but that’s what the experts say. I prefer the myth that the snake will mockingly flash its lashes by winking at victims after a strike. Apparently, this isn’t physically possible, but I still like the sound of it. Either way, eyelash vipers are not aggressive by nature, but if agitated can be deadly.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 1600, f/3.2 at 1/250th of a second

Meet the smoky jungle frog. These guys are big. Very big. They can grow to eight inches in length — and as you can tell from the picture, they pack quite a bit of girth into that length. They also happen to have a voracious appetite, eating frogs, lizards, snakes and even smaller mammals and birds. My guide told me that he once saw one eating a chicken.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units

The next time I start complaining about the size of New York City apartments, I need to think of the black shouldered antshrike. This little black bird could barely fit in its tiny nest. As with many of my recent posts, it was photographed in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/50th of a second

It seemed like everywhere I looked in Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park I saw anole lizards. These two clearly had a difference of opinion about something. It was pretty dark in the forest, so I had to up the ISO to 3200 and still could only get a shutter speed of 1/40th of a second. Luckily the lizards would stop for a second or so at a time as they danced around the tree with their faces locked onto each other. There are nearly 400 different kinds of anole lizards, so not easy to pinpoint this exact species.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/40th of a second

Peccaries aren’t the most glamorous mammals in Costa Rica but I’ve always been a fan. They are also sometimes called javelins, and even better, skunk pigs. There are two kinds in Costa Rica — the white lipped peccary and the collared peccary. This one is a very young collared peccary. It was foraging late in the day amongst a group of about twelve other individuals at La Selva Biological Reserve, about a two hour drive east of San Jose.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second