Day 1 of the Costa Rica photo tour and we are off to a great start! I have low expectations for this day since everyone is flying in from San Jose, getting situated etc., however we had lots of birds, monkeys and a sloth! This is a howler monkey with a little baby. Added bonus, all the people and luggage made it without incident!

Our Costa Rica photo tour begins tomorrow. I walked around the property today for a little scouting – these are just a few of the birds we found. Because the mammal viewing is so good here, people don’t think of the Osa Peninsula as a bird destination. However, the bird viewing is equally fantastic!

Speaking of mammals, while out for a run today saw a river otter. Because they are so prevalent in Alaska, I didn’t think much of it. But when I looked it up in the guidebook when I got home, it said the Neotropical River Otter is “Uncommon to rare (endangered through its range) Darn, I didn’t even take a cell phone photo!

A Black-mandibled Toucan. I captured this during a scouting trip to Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula last December.

I’m leaving Saturday to guide two 9 day photo tours on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. Since I couldn’t book them back to back, I’ll be down there for almost a month – not complaining!!! So I hope you won’t get tired of photos of monkeys, sloths, snakes and very colorful birds!

By the way, I actually have two spot remaining on the second trip in early December. It is not too late to get in on the action!

Well the Desert Photo Retreat is going to take some extra work to get up and running this season! My blind curtains have been eaten by mice, one of the buildings blew over for me the second time. Fortunately, my neighbor offered to give me a hand flipping it back over since I didn’t have a tractor this year.

I head to Costa Rica soon for a month, but when I return, I should be coming out with all the information for this season at the desert photo retreat, thanks for everyone’s patience

I created this image this morning. Even though I’m in Alaska right now, I created this with just a couple of minutes on AI, not with a camera! I can’t believe how fast this technology is changing – Chat GPI came out about this time last year – only a year old!

What do thing, scary, exciting, both?

A couple of first summer brown bear cubs from this past June in Alaska.

As I was walking to the gym, this great-horned owl flew low and slow right over me! Had to go back in grab a real camera!

A brown bear in the mist. The fog adds an eerie element. Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.