I’ve been smitten by the Snowcap for a long, long time! This color-packed bird is only 2.5″ (1/4″ bigger than the smallest in the world) in length, from tip to tip, making it the second smallest hummer in the world. My first time to see them, experience them, and photograph them was in 2024. And I wasn’t thrilled with the results I came back with, so I returned this year to improve on them. Being so small, they can be pushed around by other, larger species somewhat easily. This combination makes getting “the” shot I had in mind … challenging!

There was a hedge, a different locale from the one I worked in 2024 at Rancho Naturalista, where the Snowcap were being seen pretty regularly. For five afternoons, I haunted that hedge, a slave to my desire and the flight of the Snowcap, looking for that better image. The ISO on the Z 6III was hiked up to 1200, providing a shutter speed of 1/400 @f/8. They played with me, appearing at one spot which I would dutifully move over to only to have them move to another spot once I was set up at the first. Then I would get one in the viewfinder only to see a heartbeat later, and before I could depress the shutter release, it would be chased off. I was starting to think I would go back home empty-handed. Finally, the last afternoon, one male hovered for what seemed like a lifetime (in reality only for seconds), giving me a better shot than the previous year. The last shot I got was the one that I really liked. With one wing going right and the other going left, it perfectly describes photographing hummers. They just can’t give a guy a break!

A couple of weeks prior to our heading to Rancho Naturalista, Costa Rica, Sharon’s sister spent some time at this birding heaven. While she was there, she sent Sharon an excellent photo of the Green Thorntail. It’s a great hummer species, one we had not seen or photographed, so that was exciting. But what blew us away was the photograph. Sharon’s sister is your basic smartphone photographer, so when the photo hit Sharon’s phone, a close-up, sharp, great color, photo we weren’t sure what was up. One thing is for sure, the bar was set for our Adventure.

One of my first questions of Harry, the guide at the lodge, was, “Where’s the Green Thorntail?” We found out it was being seen at Lisa’s hedge. The next five afternoons, I was at that hedge. We saw this small hummer almost first thing, so I got the Lifer, but no photo. It was harassed by the Rufous-tailed and Violet-crowned Hummingbird, keeping it far away from our glass. Day after day, I would be teased with a slightly better photo, but still nothing like what Sharon’s sister had sent. Then on the third day, we discovered that the photo was taken through Harry’s scope, which explained the frame-filling shot she sent. This knowledge though didn’t let me off the hook. I need that better photo. Finally the last day, I had figured out enough of Thorntail’s movements to stake out this one section of hedge it frequented the most. Parked there, I finally got the photos. Phew, I was feeling the self-induced family challenge!