Daily Archives: December 12, 2019

Coppery-headed Emerald

There are a few feeders right inside the entrance of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, right opposite the rest rooms, so while some of us are otherwise engaged, the rest are easily entertained. In fact, I warned my Point and Shoot Nature Photography group that it is easy to get so wrapped up in the hummers just inside the entrance that we might find it difficult to get to the real birding on the levels below. And, sure enough, this Coppery-headed Emerald was there to great us, and, along with the many other species using the feeders, keep us way too long. The Coppery-headed Emerald is one of only 6 endemic species in Costa Rica, and the only one with a wide enough distribution to be easily seen. (There are also, of course, 48 near endemics, shared only, mostly, with a narrow strip of northern Panama.) One of the reasons it is hard to break away form the upper feeders at La Paz is that there are lots of natural perches around them, and natural looking shots like this one are possible as the birds return repeatedly to the same perches. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Anti-motion Blur mode. (The feeders are in the deep shade of the entrance building itself.) Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.