July KRM Branch Report.

The speaker for our July meeting was Bob Goodale, who presented a slideshow of flora and fauna encountered on a Coates Wildlife Tour of Costa Rica in late 2017.

Bob commenced by explaining that he has had a long-time fascination with tropical birds. He showed us a well-thumbed copy of a book on hummingbirds that he has owned for several decades. A stint as a zookeeper in the exotic bird section of Cologne Zoo in Germany added to this love of tropical birds. Consequently, a trip to see some of these birds in their native rainforest habitat in Costa Rica has long been on his “bucket list” (and that of most avid birders.) An opportunity finally arose in the form of a Coates Wildlife Tour of Costa Rica, which Bob and Lynette took late last year.

During the two-week tour Bob saw a total of 255 species of birds, thanks to the expertise of the excellent tour guides that accompanied them. Bob, a very keen and skilled nature photographer, explained that the rainforest is a very challenging environment for photography. It is very wet and humid plus the thick canopy reduces the amount of light available at ground level. To capture photographs of quick-moving birds in such conditions requires the use of high ISO levels, resulting in more noise in the shots than is usually tolerated. Nevertheless, Bob was able to capture some nice shots.

The presentation started off with a series of photographs of Hummingbirds. Bob explained that a total of 17 species was seen. The spectacular photos showed the birds in flight, at rest, feeding from flowers and at feeding stations and included shots of the Cinnamon Hummingbird (below, top left), the Scintillant Hummingbird (above) and the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (below, top right). These were followed by photos of other species,

¦
¦

including the Resplendent Quetzal (left above), the Black-mandibled Toucan (right above), Red-necked Stork, Black-headed Kite, Emerald Green Macaw, the White-necked Jakobin (below left) and the Acorn Woodpecker (below right). ( Bob then showed a photo of the Clay-coloured Thrush and explained that, despite being home to a host of other stunningly beautiful birds, this plain thrush is in fact national bird of Costa Rica*¹.

¦

The wildlife seen on the trip was not limited to birds and Bob presented photos of a female Sloth with a baby, an Agouti (below) Squirrels, and a Racoon.

These were followed by photographs of some reptiles including Iguanas, Dragons and a Basilisk together with several species of frogs. The presentation finished with shots of insects, including many species of moths attracted to a white sheet that was lit up with a spotlight. The audience thanked Bob for his presentation and commented that it indeed did appear to have been the trip of a lifetime.

Colin Prickett

*¹Chosen due to its strong, melodious song (Ed.)

Note: By clicking on any of the above images you can view a larger image in a separate page. All images Copyright Bob Goodale.