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.