Scarlet Macaws in Flight

Image # 1D2_06694

Roadside between Manuel Antonio and Jaco

Canon 600L/f4 IS with 1.4x II Teleconverter

ISO 200, f/8, 1/800 second

Manual Exposure

Gitzo 1329/Arca Swiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

Whenever we travel to the Pacific coast in Costa Rica, we always include a stop at the beach near a particular soccer field near Tarcolestown.  We have consistently found Scarlet Macaws (and other birds) in this area, feeding in particular on the Almond Trees between the beach and soccer field.  I even planned our trip here to coincide with low tide, to enable us to shoot the Macaws on the Almond Trees from the beach-side, with the sun at our backs, in late afternoon.  When we arrived there, I was shocked to discover that either a previous storm or "headwater" had basically obliterated the entire stretch of Almond Trees in this area, leaving nothing there in its wake.  The Macaws were nowhere to be found.

Costa Rican wildlife came through despite this, however, as we came across quite a few of them in some trees along the road, as we returned from Manuel Antonio Park to Jaco.  Further, the skies were blue, and the sun was just right, and we spent some time roadside, photographing these incredibly colorful birds in the trees, and occasionally in flight.  This photograph still doesn't do justice to seeing these birds with all their colors glowing in the sunlight as they fly from tree to tree.