Green and Black Poison Dart frog with a tadpole on its back (bump at base of back). When eggs hatch on the forest floor, the tiny legless tadpoles wriggle onto the parent's back (usually the father) to get a ride to a safe pool of water. #herps #frogs #wildlife #CostaRica #nikon #z8

Tiny body, massive attitude! Pocket-sized Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl in #CostaRica. Only 6 inches tall and 70 grams, but that fierce look & piercing eyes prove s/he is mighty. They hunt during the day so we get the opportunity to see that intense gaze. #birds #owls #birdsseenin2026 #wildlife #nikon #z8

Always a treat to see. Male Resplendent Quetzal. This one's fancy breeding tail had broken. The male and female were busy feeding young in a nearby tree cavity nest. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Just had a surprise visit. Sitting at my computer working on Costa Rica pics, when these little guys walked up to our screen door. Just passing through with mom. One is already learning how to stand up and intimidate humans. #birds #colorado #cobirds #birdphotography #nikon #z8

Male Amazon Kingfisher tenderizing dinner in slow motion. Dinner looks big compared to his size but he got it down. Sorry about the vibration. The boat captain was fighting the river current to keep us in place so I could video. #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

You head to Costa Rica with a bird bucket list. Then along comes a little bird you didn't even know existed and it takes your breath away. Meet the Sungrebe. It's not a grebe and it dislikes the sun. What's in a name anyway! #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

A fancy Northern Jacana walking on some lily pads. Check out the toes. Slowed the video down since the bird was much quicker than this. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Great Potoo. Video shows the bird's gigantic, gaping mouth. Unlike nighthawks that fly around vacuuming up bugs, the potoo sits on a branch and swoops out grabs the bug, and returns to the perch to eat it; like a giant flycatcher LOL. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Great Potoo. Ebird describes as a monstrous nightbird and I can attest that they are very large. We were lucky enough to see two roosting during the day in a massive tree. Best camouflage ever! Will post video of the Potoo next. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Not all singing in the rainforests of Costa Rica are birds. Here is a Strawberry poison dart frog singing his heart out. May 2026 La Selva Reserve. #herps #frogs #wildlife #CostaRica #nikon #z8

Long-billed Hermit. One came up to sit on a vine after diving into a stream for a bath. The other sitting on a nest woven on a leaf. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Closer video of the Rufous Motmot showing its serrated beak. It has a omnivorous diet and the serrations provide a firm grip on lizards, insects, and fruit. Guess he stopped thinking of me as a predator since he would not wag his tail. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Rufous Motmot swinging his racket tail like a pendulum to signal to predators that they have been seen. "I see you, so don't waste your time trying to get me." I think we might have been the "predators". Volume up to hear their call. #birds #birdsseenin2026 #CostaRica #wildlife #nikon #z8

Just some monkeys hanging out in the trees. Mantled Howler Monkeys at La Selva Reserve in Costa Rica. #wildlife, #Nikon, #z8, #monkey

One of my favorite birds in Costa Rica. A Northern Emerald-Toucanet showing us that he does not have a bad side. May 2026 #birds #Nikon #z8

Back to editing Safari pictures from 9/2025. Extremely lucky on our last day. One final drive through Maasai Mara National Reserve on the way to the airport we finally saw a Leopard completing the Big 5 for the trip. #wildlife #leopard #nikon #z8 #safari #Africa #Kenya

Digiscope video of Evening Grosbeaks. Day after the snow storm. Four males and one female. #birds #colorado #cobirds

Hairy Woodpecker eyeing a suet feeder during a light snow fall. #birds #colorado #cobirds #birdphotography #nikon #z8

Ostriches walking in Maasai Mara National Reserve. #birds #nikon #z8 #safari #Africa #Kenya #wildlife

Video from our Safari back in Sept. This is a group of spotted hyenas that stole a lion kill. Video is a bit shaky since it was hand held with a long telephoto. Sound up to hear the hyena laugh. #Africa #Tanzania #wildlife #nikon #z8

Some pics of Pine Grosbeaks. #Colorado #Birds #cobirds

Some still images of the Rosy-Finches. These guys have been a bucket list bird for me for many years thus lots of posts. Brown-capped Rosy-Finch is endemic to #Colorado reaching a bit into WY and NM. Gray-crowned have a larger range from NM to AK and out to the coastal mountains. #birds #cobirds

A wider video view of Rosy finches. Got some good close up images that I will post next. The birds sit up in a tree all together and then swarm down grab some seed and then back up to the trees as a group. Feeder visit lasts 15 secs but the visiting lasts all day. #birds #cobirds #colorado

Out birding for Rosy-Finches. Found Brown-Capped & Gray-crowned. They breed at the highest elevations of any birds on the American continent at 14,000 ft but in winter they drop down to 11,000 feet in large flocks. Video of part of the flock we saw which we counted at 400. #birds #cobirds #Colorado

Since Jan 14th I have been working on imaging NGC 2359. Seeing conditions have been spotty. I collected over 21 hrs of data, but only used 15.4 hrs of data tossing the rest due to poor seeing. I have to say this is better than any previous attempts with OSC camera. #astrophotography #colorado #ZWO

Captured this Common Hoopoe in Maasai Mara National Reserve. He very obligingly posed for us in the evening sunlight. #birds #nikon #z8 #safari #Africa #Kenya #wildlife

Wrapping up post on data collected before Christmas. Pleiades open star cluster taken with ASI 1600mm and William Optics z63. 4 hrs of LRGB data. #astrophotography

Continuing adventures with mono. Took a bit since I was fighting cloudy nights; thought I would never get my Oiii data. And post processing can be a major time sink hole. I have 4 different color versions of this target. Attached are two. #astrophotography #colorado

#Astrophotography was not on the agenda during safari. But it was fun to observe constellations that are normally on the horizon at home straight over head. I did set up a go pro and captured a 1 hr star trail timelapse. Looking north with Polaris on the horizon. Bit different at 3° vs 39°

A juvenile American Goshawk hunting during yesterday's snow storm. He/she caught the squirrel in a tree and then proceeded to try and kill it by dropping it. Unfortunately the soft powder made that a challenge. Eventually seceded and flew off with dinner. #colorado #birds #cobirds