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| p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Resplendent quetzal - an unplanned encounter | |
Originally, we planned of staying and shooting only around Sarapiqui region, north of San Jose for 5 days. We planned of spending the last and 6th day in San Jose either at the museum and/or butterfly park there before heading to the airport. While in CR though, we found out that both the museum and butterfly park was not worth visiting. And at the spur of the moment we decided to hire our guide to lead us to the mountainous region to the south to try our luck to see and possibly photograph the most colorful bird in Central America, the quetzal.
So, we got up, checked out and left the hotel at 4:00AM. We drove to the mountainous region to the south for approximately 2 hours. We arrived early enough and saw only a few folks there. More and more started to arrive and by 6:45, around 25-30 photographers and/or bird enthusiast gathered there at the location in anticipation.
One of the main foods of quetzals is wild avocado. Those are tiny fruits that they swallow whole and regurgitate the pits somewhere else. That helps the propagation of the tree.. So, everybody was focusing on a wild avocado tree some 120 feet or so away from the dirt road but there is a fence right there for protection of the quetzal's habitat. We were repeatedly warned not to use fill-in flash.
Close to 7:00AM, a pair of quetzals, a male and female, showed up and folks started to move around and to change position for the best view. The quetzals snatched those tiny fruits in flight, and perched on a branch while "digesting". They did that a several times and in about 10-15 or so, the show was over and they flew away.
The first image here is the entire frame and I got lucky that the male quetzal was not only facing me but he was pretty much unobstructed but also framed by the branches/leaves/fruits he favors. The two hanging fruits with reddish stem at the upper border above the quetzal are the wild avocados. The second image is a crop of the same image. Actually, this is literally the last image of the series I took that morning. The other 2 were actually captured earlier and from a different position when it flew from one spot to another while feeding.
After the quetzal feeding time was over, then it was our turn to have our breakfast at a nearby place  . We are counting our blessing, the quetzal is awesome and well worth the visit.
Thank you for looking,
Joshua
Male quetzal perching on wild avocado tree, its favorite food.
Crop from above
Female quetzal
Male quetzal from behind
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The perfect location.
Yup, it happens quite a bit. Thanks, Eric!