Hummingbirds- Iridescence Can Be a BITCH

The Rofous-tailed Hummingbird is probably the most common species of hummingbird found in Costa Rica.
D'Angelo and I never knew how much we loved birds until we moved to Costa Rica- Toucans, Oropendolas, Honeyceepers etc., and especially the HUMMINGBIRDS! We love watchin' those little guys jettin' around from flower to flower with such determination- little flying caffeinated pieces of artwork.

Needless to say we have about 8 feeders around our vacation rental property in la Fortuna (video below), which is precisely how Cynthia Walpole and her husband, Charles Fritsch, found us. They are professional photographers and love to photograph hummingbirds, and if you've ever tried, you know how difficult it can be too truly capture a hummingbird's beauty- iridescence can be a bitch. Anyway, they can, but you'll have to ask them how they do it, I'm supposing it's both daunting and technical (strobe lights and such) and you probably need as much patience as the hummers have energy.



After a few emails back and forth confirming that we do indeed have quite a few species of hummingbirds at our feeders, Cynthia, Chuck and Cynthia's brother, Julio, rented our place out for a few days to see if they could get the shots they were looking for. *I believe they were very interested in getting the White-tailed hermit, which we do have, but Hermits are typically shy and the more aggressive hummers chase them away from the feeders as soon as they see them. However, Hermits are fairly stealthy themselves, sneaking up on the feeders but quickly leaving when they sense another hummer, so needless to say, they can be even a little more tricky than the usual hummingbird to capture on film. *Here's a short video when a White-tailed hermit got stuck in our house. We're not exactly sure if they got all the pics they wanted but we're guessing probably not since Chuck was telling me it takes about 2000 shots to get the 'one' and I believe it. I know, D'Angelo and I have tried on many of occasions to get a decent pic. The above foto of the White-necked Jacobin is just one sample pic of what Cynthia and Chuck shot at our house. The most excellent pic of the Rofous-tail was also taken by Cynthia and Chuck but not at our house. After only talking them with a few minutes it's obvious they're passionate about what they do and talk about a WEALTH of information.... so if hummers are your thing, I would say check out their their website or shoot them an email- FocusFrog. Great stuff. ENjoY!

Our vacation rental video just in case you haven't seen it yet.



TONS of Costa Rica Tavel Info and VIDEOS on our website: Travel Costa Rica NOW and if you want to visit our YouTube Channel: iCostaRica24 ENjoY!