STL DPB On The Road - Hummingbirds of Monteverde

We are exhausted after walking up and down mountainside trails much of the day. Our first stop was a place called Selvatura Park, which has zip lines (not for us), an amazing system of trails and suspension bridges through the forest canopy (3 km with a serious uphill climb), and a hummingbird garden. 

Damn, these things are hard to photograph but I kept working the scene. There are probably twenty more of these I could edit. By the way, the spots in the first picture are raindrops. It was soggy.

Down to Tamarindo today to recuperate by the Pacific.               

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are plentiful in the cool mountain climate of Monteverde. Many places put out feeders containing sugar water to attract them (can hummingbirds become diabetic?). The local population is used to people and is not shy.

I'm told that depending on the species, the birds flap their wings 12 to 80 times a second. Most of these photos were taken at ISO 3200, 85 mm prime lens at f 1.8 and 1/5000 to 1/8000 sec.

We're down on the Pacific now at Tamarindo where it's nearly cloudless, hot and dry. Images on the way soon.       

Postcard From Heaven

Hi from Monteverde, Costa Rica. We have limited Internet access so a few words. This is one of the best places on earth. Our room is literally a tree house. The sunset views during happy hour are pretty good, too.