ATTN birders: ever see a motmot? (jpg images)

[Gato Moteado]

It's a national holiday in costa rica and on my day off i went to Parque Nacional Braulio Carillo. Saw a species of motmot i had not seen yet. i believe it was the broadbilled motmot. it was under the canopy of the forest so it was dark and i had to use a flash. Also, i was using a 200mm lens, which is really a 320mm lens on a digital SLR, with no tripod. my hands aren't as steady as they used to be. the photos didn't come out great but you can get the idea.

[scarlet_owl]

1. Cool pictures. I've never seen one before.

[GOPisEvil]

2. That's a gorgeous bird.

No tripod makes shooting with that focal length hard, but those are pretty good shots.

[Gato Moteado]

6. ah you're too kind

you know my photos are generally much better than that. check out the helmeted iguana thread....those shots came out great.

[GOPisEvil]

8. Yeah, those shots were really good.

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. That is a beautiful bird...

Happy to hear you had such a nice day.

Did you know that birding is a big pastime of the baby boomer generation? You belong to the tail end of it.

I have lots of cardinals around here. They have such great attitude.

[Gato Moteado]

5. ah, i love cardinals

we dont have them down here

[XemaSab]

4. WOW!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing those photos!

I've never seen a motmot!

I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gato Moteado]

9. this species is smaller than the more common species in CR

the big ones look surreal.

[XemaSab]

10. geez

I was hoping to maybe go to mexico this winter, but I might have to reconsider.

[Gato Moteado]

16. well, i say travel the extra miles and come visit us here in CR

it's a little more expensive than mexico but it's certainly safer. and there's more biodiversity so if you're into birding this is a great place. there are something like 850 species of birds in this small country, which is smaller than west virginia. and if you go a little closer to the equator the biodiversity in the birdworld practically doubles...ecuador has something like 1500 species of birds.

[Ksec]

7. Really cool

I know how hard birds are to photograph. Ive spent hours by my feeder.purple finches are my fav.

[Gato Moteado]

11. motmots are fairly easy to photograph.....

they're generally pretty bold. i've gotten very close to them on occasions. it's just that i needed my tripod for these shots with the lens i was using.

[Ksec]

13. Are those Mots in Ohio?

[Gato Moteado]

14. only in a zoo

they're tropical.

[MuseRider]

12. So beautiful!

I just posted on your iguana picture thread. Again, that must have been so much fun. I am going to make it to Costa Rica some day, it is on my list. I will go birding, looking around and scuba diving. The diving is the thing that is driving my big desire to go but the environment is also something to relish I hear. Someday...........

[Gato Moteado]

15. costa rica probably isn't the best diving......

....but it's probably not bad. i haven't done any scuba diving for at least 12 years and i never dove off the coast of costa rica.

but if you want to see the rainforest, it's definitely a great place.

[MuseRider]

17. Coco Island.

Hammerheads. THAT is what I am looking for. Excellent but difficult diving.

There are lots of diving places in Costa Rica but I don't know about any of them, it is Coco Island I am craving.

[Gato Moteado]

21. i never saw any hammerheads while diving.......

....plenty of other types of sharks though.

[MuseRider]

22. Beautiful aren't they?

I have not seen a hammerhead either and that is why I would like to go there. I love the pictures I have seen from there, usually taken by someone probably 60 feet or deeper looking up into circles of hammerheads. I would just love to see that.

[Gato Moteado]

23. yeah they are excellent.....

when i lived in florida i used to see a lot of black-tipped sharks, sand sharks and nurse sharks. one time diving in the keys, a bull shark swam within 15 or 20 feet of me. that was a rush.

[Goldeneye]

18. Broad-billed Motmot

The Broad-billed occurs where you saw this bird and I am sure that it what it is.

[Gato Moteado]

19. yeah, that's what i figured it was......

....i looked in a guide right after we saw the bird and it seemed to be the only motmot in costa rica with a green spot on the chin under the beak.

the photos dont do the bird justice. shortly after the photos, it flew to another nearby tree and joined its mate.

whenever i see any motmots, they always seem to be in pairs.

[Catbird]

20. Really cute birds. Thanks. nt/