Posts in Category: hummingbird
Costa Rica! Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Catching the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer hovering by the flowers is another goal of every visit to Dave and Dave’s. On a morning visit, when the birds are most active, the light is not ideal, but it makes for some dramatic backlighting. Gotta love the red feet! At one time this was called the “red-footed plumeleteer. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Photomator. These are natural light photos…no flash.
Costa Rica! White-necked Jacobin
White-necked Jacobin: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Costa Rica, December 2023 — This shot of the White-necked Jacobin with the tail flared against the sun is one you can hope for at Dave and Dave’s on any visit. Patience and anticipation are all that are required. A camera that is up to the job helps. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Park, La Vergin, Costa Rica, December 2023 — The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird showing off its name-sake tail with the sun behind it. The different gorget colors are purely due to the angle of the light. The scientific name of this bird comes from the Aztec for warrior, which is appropriate as in many places the Rufous-tiled dominates feeders and flowering plants…vigorously guarding them from all other species. At Dave and Dave’s the White-necked Jacobins dominate even the Rufous-tailed, but perhaps just because their numbers are higher. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Reserve, La Vergin, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Another hummingbird from Dave and Dave’s. More rare than the White-necked Jacobin, both in general and at the flowers at Dave and Dave’s, which makes it a more special bird to see and photograph. However the dominant White-necked Jacobins do their best to keep the Plumeleteer away from the feeding area, so they are quick in and out. This one managed a brief rest stop right in front of us. The only Central American hummingbird with red feet! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 472mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! White-necked Jacobin
White-necked Jacobin: Dave and Dave’s Costa Rican Nature Reserve, La Vergin, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Dave and Dave’s is one of my favorite stops for birds and bird photography in the Sarapiqui Valley. Perched on a bluff at canopy level above the river, their rewilded Banana plantation attracts birds of both the canopy and the forest. And their set-up off the back deck is ideal for hummingbird photography. White-necked Jacobin is the dominant species, but they attract several others as well. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Natural light (no flash). Processed in Photomator. ISO 4000 @ f6.3 @ 1/1600th. -0.3EV
Costa Rica! Green Hermit
Green Hermit Hummingbird: Mirador y Soda Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — I prefer not take photos of hummingbirds at feeders, but some hummers, some of the time, are just impossible to get otherwise. This Green Hermit, like most hermits, makes lighting raids on feeders at mid-elevations in Costa Rica and Panama, but spends most of its time out of sight deep in the forest understory. Again, if memory serves, this is a bird that I have only ever seen at the Soda in Cinchona. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 564mm and 334mm equivalent. (Close enough to hear the wingbeats 🙂 Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Coppery-headed Emerald
Coppery-headed Emerald: Mirador y Soda Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — One of only 2, (or 4, depending you who you listen to), hummingbirds endemic to Costa Rica. (Hunningbirds native to only Costa Rica and western Panama are sometimes counted). A smallish hummingbird of mid-elevations, I have only ever seen it at the Soda, and at the relatively nearby hummingbird feeders at La Paz Waterfall Gardens…though it is listed as common at its elevation, in the foothills and mountains of north and central Costa Rica. Males tend to stay high in the canopy, and females lower down…except along edges and at feeders, where they mingle at all levels. They tend to nest high in their range, and then to disperse lower after the chicks are fledged. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Female White-bellied Mountain-Gem
White-bellied Mountain-Gem: Mirador y Soda Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Among the many hummingbirds coming to the feeders and flowers at Soda Cinchona, the female White-bellied Mountain-Gems were probably among the rarest. I have only ever seen them here, and at La Paz Waterfall Gardens just up the road at a similar elevation on the same slope of the mountains. The male would have a purple gorget…but if memory serves, I have never seen a male. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Violet
Violet Saberwing: Mirador y Soda Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — The largest of the Central American hummingbirds, common in the foothills and at mid-elevations in the mountains of most of Central America, skipping Guatemala and Nicaragua. This bird, from Costa Rica, is a sub-species of the nominate, common to all of Costa Rica and Western Panama at the right elevations. A stunning bird, as this intimate portrait, taken in the rain, shows. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Green-crowned Brilliants drying
Green-crowned Brilliant Hummingbirds: Mirador y Soda Cinchona, Costa Rica, December 2023 — It was raining lightly much of the time we were in Cinchona at the Soda, so the hummers were bathing and fluff drying their feathers…providing interesting looks at these otherwise very elegant birds. This is a male and a female Green-crowned Brilliant. We saw the females at other places and at other elevations, but we only found males at Soda Cinchona. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.