Female Volcano and Lesser Violet-ear Hummingbirds: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — As the afternoon went on at Batsu gardens, Marino went out and picked some flowers from the gardens and brought them back to the edge of the upper terrace where he hung them on supports they have for that purpose and sprayed them with sugar water. The hummers came in for photographs! This is one of the first shots I took. That is a female Volcano Hummingbird and a Lesser Violet-ear. Over the next hour and a half, Marino tried different flowers and two different locations and we had a wonderful time photographing the hummers. It is kind of cheating, maybe, but then it looks much more natural than hummers at actual feeders. Sony Rx10iv at 586mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Lesser Violetear Hummingbird, Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Lesser Violetear is certainly the most aggressive of the hummers of the Talamanca mountains of Costa Rica and Panama (and in other high and lowlands where they live…it is one of the most widely distributed hummers of Central America). It attempts to dominate any food source, and especially feeders. Males apparently spend much more time guarding than they do feeding. (And no, I always feel compelled to point out, there is no Greater Violetear, or even just plain Violetear to compliment (or to justify) the the Lesser part of its name!) This is the male’s aggressive pose…sometimes the ears are flared even more than this. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Talamanca Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The Talamanca Hummingbird used to be the Magnificant Hummingbird with a range from South-East Arizona to Panama…but they split it a few years ago now, into the Rivoli’s and Talamanca…with the birds of Costa Rica and Panama being the Talamancas. It is one of the larger hummingbirds and certainly can dominate the higher elevations of the mountains. It is also one of the most colorful…and in my experience, one of the most likely to flash it gorget and cap. There are always good numbers of them around Batsu Gardens, on the mountainside above Savegre Mountain Resort. Always a treat to see and to photograph. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Scintillant Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — I have known Marino, the son of one of the original brothers who settled the Savegre Valley, for several years. He was our guide at Savegre the on our vary first trip, when just I an one other couple extended our trip for a visit to the mountains, and I have seen him there every trip since. He met my daughter on one of those trips and never fails to ask after her. We bumped into him while looking for Quetzals on the road above Trogon Lodge on our first morning in the valley, and he said he would see us at Batsu later in the week. Sure enough he had arranged to be our guide (though Batsu belongs to his son), driving us up the gardens and spending the whole afternoon with us. Marino is one of those people who is never happier than when showing folks birds and when he was not chasing down hummers for us in the larger gardens, he was setting up flower feeders where we could sit comfortably and watch hummers come and go. It was one of my best afternoons ever at Batsu, and that is saying quite a lot! This male Scintillant Hummer was one he chased down in the rain. We took turns following him out to its perch for photographs, doing our best to keep our gear dry. The Scintillant is one of two small hummers endemic to the high volcanos and the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. The other is the Volcano, but in the Talamancas at least, the Volcano has a bright purple gorget. When their gorgets are not lit, or with female birds, they are very difficult to tell apart. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Female White-throated Mountain Gem: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2022 — The White-throated Mountain Gems, especially the females, like to feed at the flowers where the Flowerpiercers have been busy. They use the holes the Flowerpiercers have already made, which gives them access to nectar they would not otherwise be able to reach. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.