White-throated Mountain Gem: Savegre Mountain Resort and Reserve, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — I shared this same bird from Paraiso Quetzal Lodge at 10,000 feet, which we visited on our way up to San Geraldo de Dota, but we found this one on the grounds of Savegre Lodge at about 7500 feet a little further down the Pacific slope. It is a highlands hummer, but more associated with the cloud-forest than with the paramo. The other Mountain Gem of Costa Rica, the Purple-throated Mountain Gem, is a bird of the foothills and lower slopes. This bird is sometimes called the Grey-tailed Mountain Gem to differentiate it from the sub-species of Mountain Gem from Western Panama. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 4000 and 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation.

Stripe-tailed Hummingbird: Savergre Mountain Resort, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — This is another bird that is, in my opinion, “under-named.” I can think of so many more apt and flattering names than Stripe-tailed Hummingbird. And, honestly, the stripe on the tail is the last thing you are likely to notice about this bird. It’s “tell” (the memorable thing about it that is key to your recognition) is the rufous patch on the wings, and on the male, the bright green head and belly. It is not a common bird, but I generally see at least one on every trip to the Talamanca Mountains. This one was on the grounds of Savegre Mountain Resort. Sony Rx10iv at 547mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV.

Volcano Hummingbird: Cerro Buenavista, Talamanca Mountains, Costa Rica — I have seen Volcano Hummingbirds at lower elevations…down to about 8000 feet, but I found this one in its “native” habitat, above tree-line on the paramo of Cerro Buenavista at 11,400 feet, where there were quite a few around the parking area. I have to think they are pretty common at that elevation. The only other hummer that goes that high is the Fiery-throated, though the Fiery-throated is more common just below tree-line. The Volcano is a tiny hummingbird, half the size of a Fiery-throated, which is about the size of our Ruby-throated, and a quarter of the size of the Talamanca which it shares territory with in the Cloud Forests. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. For the second shot I had time to add some exposure compensation: +1…but after post processing it did not seem to matter. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 and 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Scintillant Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — there are two tiny hummingbirds in Costa Rica. Both are birds of the highlands and their ranges overlap in the Talamanca Mountains. You can see them both at Batsu Gardens above San Geraldo de Dota. The Scintillant is just slightly larger than the Volcano, but not enough to notice. In the right light the gorgets on the males are very different. Bright orange-red on the Scintillant and a deep purple on the Volcano (the color of the Volcano’s gorget varies from pinkish red on the central volcanos, through the violet seen at Batsu, to greenish near the Panamanian border). Both birds are hard to catch perched, especially if you want to see the gorget flash. These flight shots show some of the color of the Scintillant male. Sony Rx10iv at 595mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Lesser Violetear Hummingbird: Paraiso Quetzel Lodge, Costa Rica — the Lesser Violetear Hummingbird is a dominant species from the lowlands to at least 10,000 feet in the mountains. It attempts to dominate and protect any food source. In the lowlands other hummers sometimes struggle to get to the feeders. In the highlands, both the Talamanca (a much larger bird) and the Fiery-throat (equally as aggressive) contest its dominant attitude, and the conflict between species makes for a much more fluid dynamic which allows other hummers access to the feeders (and is a lot more fun to watch). At 10,000 feet at the Paraiso Quetzel Lodge, there are more Fiery-throats than Lesser Violetears, which is also a unique experience. The violetear, is like a gorget, in that the feathers can be raised to show aggression. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500, 1000, and 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Talamanca Hummingbird: Parasio Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica — Until relatively recently the Talamanca Hummingbird was the Magnificent Hummingbird. It is still magnificent, of course, being among the largest of hummingbirds and with what anyone would call magnificent colors, but the folks who study birds for a living have split the Magnificent into two species…the Talamanca in the mountains of Costa Rica and adjoining Panama, and the Rivoli’s everywhere else in the Americas (from extreme southern Arizona and New Mexico to Nicaragua). Rivoli’s was, in fact, the original English name for the hummingbird before 1983 when it was changed to Magnificent. Rivili’s has a purple gorget, while the Talamanca has this aquamarine blue, and their ranges do not overlap. They are common at higher elevations in Costa Rica at feeders, both in the Talamancas and on the slopes of the volcanos of the Central Mountains. Magnificent! Sony Rx10iv at various focal lengths around 500mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos.

White-throated Mountain Gem: Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica — Of course, it is not only Fiery-throated Hummingbirds at Paraiso Quetzal lodge. There just as many, if not more, Lesser Violet-ears, many Talamancas and Volcanos, and at least a few Mountain Gems. Here we have three shots of the White-treated Mountain Gem…two shots of the male and one of the very different looking, but equally attractive, female. If you know Costa Rica’s Mountain Gems, you know that the females of both the Purple-throated and White-throated look very similar…practically identical…but the White-throated are found at slightly higher elevations and pretty much exclusively south of San Jose in the Talamanca Mountains, and the Purple-throated are found at slightly lower elevations (still highlands), and pretty much exclusively north of San Jose, in the Central Mountain Chain and on the volcanos. Whichever you see, they are indeed gems of the mountains. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500, 800, and 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Fiery-throated Hummingbird: Paraiso Quetzal, Costa Rica — We made a lunch stop at Paraiso Quetzal, a lodge at 10,000 feet, along the PamAm highway in the Talamanca mountains south of San Jose, which is known for its amazing hummingbird garden and feeders. There is a deck off the back of the restaurant, where the ground drops off so sharply that you are standing at the tops of the vegetation on the slope below. They have a number of feeders, but the real attraction is the flowering plants surrounding the deck. I have never seen so may Fiery-throated Hummingbirds. The Fiery-throat is a hummer of the very highest slopes of the Talamanca mountains in Costa Rica and Panama, with isolated populations on the tallest of the volcanos in Costa Rica to the north. And it is among the most colorful of hummers, with a throat that flashes all the colors of flame in the right light…it is not really a gorget, as in most hummers, as it does not raise the feathers of the throat and chin…it simply burns. The rest of the body is black, turning sapphire blue and emerald green as the light changes. Amazing bird! This one decided to light on the deck itself, right at my feet. I had to zoom out a bit to fit it in the frame, and I could barely focus on it at 534mm equivalent. Sony Rx10iv as above. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Crowned Woodnymph: Donde Cope, Gaupiles, Costa Rica — I have been to Cope’s at least 7 times over the past years, and on each visit I have seen the Crowned Woodnymph male, but I have never gotten a photo of it. This is the female who sat nicely for me this year. Sony Rx10iv at 526mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction for low light. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.