DLC Photography, LLC - Costa Rica Photo Safari 2013

Amazon Voyage 2013

With International Expeditions: Nov. 15 - 24, 2013

I recently completed my second Amazon Voyage with International Expeditions, this time on their newly christened Riverboat, La Estrella Amazonica. This was a beautiful, comfortable and enjoyable ship, which served as a fantastic base to explore the Amazon River. During the course of the Voyage, we covered around 650 miles on the Amazon and various tributaries, and saw an incredible diversity of wildlife - birds, monkeys, dolphins, sloths and other mammals, snakes, frogs, various insects and reptiles, etc. In addition, we had opportunity to learn more about the local peoples and culture, visiting several small villages, a local school, participated in a ritual with a local Shaman, did some Piranha fishing, as well as touring Lima and Iquitos, Peru.

All together, we saw around 138 species of Birds, 16 Mammal species, and 42 species of fish, lizards, turtles, frogs, butterflies, etc. The beauty and diversity of all this wildlife was just spectacular. The photography itself was rewarding, though quite challenging, which is typical in tropical environments. As with my prior Amazon trip, I left my main birding lens, the Canon 600L/f4, back home, as it would generally be too large and unwieldy to use on a trip of this type. I therefore relied on the trusty Canon 100-400L zoom lens, most of the time with the 1.4x Teleconverter added, to get as much reach as possible. This resulted in a maximum aperture of f/8, and I often stopped down to f/11 to reduce some of the image degradation that occurs when using this much glass. This in turn necessitated the use of fairly high ISO (I went as high as 12,800 at times!).

So given all of this, I had to do substantial cropping of the original images to produce the photos shared here, along with applying Noise Reduction (I use Neat Image for this) to virtually all the shots I took. But all things considered, I'm fairly pleased with the results, and hope you enjoy seeing these images at least half as much as I enjoyed taking them! And as on previous trips, I used GPS to identify where the various shots were taken; you can click on the small 'Globe' icon at the bottom left of each full-sized image, and this will show the location using Google Maps.

All Content © Donald L. Cohen, MD
All Rights Reserved

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1D4_01241 Yellow-headed Caracara (Juvenile) While we had virtually no rain, blue skies were a rarity. We ran into this Juvenile and took advantage of the beautiful background. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/17/13 9:24 AM \| ISO: 1000 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01241	1D4_01243 Black-fronted Nunbird One of the many new species on this trip. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/17/13 9:39 AM \| ISO: 1000 \| Exposure: 1/500s \| Aperture: ƒ/8.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01243	1D4_01258 Black-capped Donacobius Also called the 'Car-Alarm Bird' we saw (and heard) a number of these. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 7:04 AM \| ISO: 3200 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/8.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01258	1D4_01281 Red-capped Cardinal A fairly small bird, we saw a number of these, but they were quite fast, and hard to shoot. This one was bathing in the river below, and perched ever so briefly on an overlying branch, to dry off. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:01 PM \| ISO: 1000 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/10.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01281
1D4_01285 Ringed Kingfisher I just love Kingfishers, which are generally quite skittish, and tough to get close enough to shoot. I was excited when this one flew right in front of our boat, and I was able to snap a few frames. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:28 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01285	1D4_01287 Roadside Hawk We saw a number of this beautiful raptor, which I've seen and photographed in Costa Rica as well. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:42 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01287	1D4_01288 Greater Yellow-headed Vulture A new species of Vulture for me, the yellow head provides a little color and beauty to these typically somewhat 'ugly' birds. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:44 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01288	1D4_01292 Oriole Blackbird We saw quite a few of this species, providing a number of opportunities to capture them in flight. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:46 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01292
1D4_01293 Yellow-headed Caracara Another raptor we encountered fairly frequently, this one posed nicely, in decent light, reasonably close. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:50 PM \| ISO: 1250 \| Exposure: 1/1250s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01293	1D4_01296 Peregrine Falcon I was pretty excited to see this small raptor - I think I've only shot one in the wild once before. It was perched very high up in the tree (about 145 feet away), with considerably cropping done to give the image above. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:57 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01296	1D4_01304 White-eared Jacamar Yet another new species for me. Although it was quite a distance away (the EXIF data shows about 100 feet) this very small bird perched long enough to get a few frames. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/19/13 6:56 AM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01304	1D4_01309 Slate-colored Hawk This is a beautiful raptor, with yellow eyes and bright red facial markings. We saw this one on one of the days where we had decent light, and blue skies, so I took a large number of frames, the one above being my favorite. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/19/13 7:10 AM \| ISO: 800 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01309

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Three-toed Sloth

I was excited when one of our Guides spotted this sloth basking in some open sunlight, which is a rarity, as we typically see them in deep, dark shadows.

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Wattled Jacana

I've also seen these in Costa Rica, in similar vegetation along the riverbanks.

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Bare-necked Fruitcrow

An unusual looking bird, this one was also around 100 feet away, with significant cropping needed.

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DLC Photography, LLC - Donald L. Cohen, MD

1D4_01241 Yellow-headed Caracara (Juvenile) While we had virtually no rain, blue skies were a rarity. We ran into this Juvenile and took advantage of the beautiful background. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/17/13 9:24 AM \| ISO: 1000 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01241	1D4_01243 Black-fronted Nunbird One of the many new species on this trip. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/17/13 9:39 AM \| ISO: 1000 \| Exposure: 1/500s \| Aperture: ƒ/8.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01243	1D4_01258 Black-capped Donacobius Also called the 'Car-Alarm Bird' we saw (and heard) a number of these. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 7:04 AM \| ISO: 3200 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/8.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01258	1D4_01281 Red-capped Cardinal A fairly small bird, we saw a number of these, but they were quite fast, and hard to shoot. This one was bathing in the river below, and perched ever so briefly on an overlying branch, to dry off. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:01 PM \| ISO: 1000 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/10.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01281
1D4_01285 Ringed Kingfisher I just love Kingfishers, which are generally quite skittish, and tough to get close enough to shoot. I was excited when this one flew right in front of our boat, and I was able to snap a few frames. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:28 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01285	1D4_01287 Roadside Hawk We saw a number of this beautiful raptor, which I've seen and photographed in Costa Rica as well. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:42 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01287	1D4_01288 Greater Yellow-headed Vulture A new species of Vulture for me, the yellow head provides a little color and beauty to these typically somewhat 'ugly' birds. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:44 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01288	1D4_01292 Oriole Blackbird We saw quite a few of this species, providing a number of opportunities to capture them in flight. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:46 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/800s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01292
1D4_01293 Yellow-headed Caracara Another raptor we encountered fairly frequently, this one posed nicely, in decent light, reasonably close. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:50 PM \| ISO: 1250 \| Exposure: 1/1250s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01293	1D4_01296 Peregrine Falcon I was pretty excited to see this small raptor - I think I've only shot one in the wild once before. It was perched very high up in the tree (about 145 feet away), with considerably cropping done to give the image above. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/18/13 4:57 PM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01296	1D4_01304 White-eared Jacamar Yet another new species for me. Although it was quite a distance away (the EXIF data shows about 100 feet) this very small bird perched long enough to get a few frames. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/19/13 6:56 AM \| ISO: 1600 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01304	1D4_01309 Slate-colored Hawk This is a beautiful raptor, with yellow eyes and bright red facial markings. We saw this one on one of the days where we had decent light, and blue skies, so I took a large number of frames, the one above being my favorite. Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV \| Date: 11/19/13 7:10 AM \| ISO: 800 \| Exposure: 1/1000s \| Aperture: ƒ/11.0 \| Focal Length: 560.0mm 1D4_01309