I am very guilty of, at times, being really narrowly focused on what I want to photograph to the exclusion of other subjects. A good example is my current Adventure to Costa Rica. We were here last year after the amazing Snowcap, the 2nd smallest hummer in the world. I got it, but I can do better so, here I am. And I was in front of the bush where they’ve been seen, and I was staring really hard to find it (there turned out being two present). In the same shrubs were a dozen or so Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds. They are everywhere, a pretty darn common hummer here, so a lot of the time I give them no never mind. Then I started to watch them, they were perching a lot. They not only perched, but were “talking” with their tails. With the light, the tails glowed, and it was truly obvious how they got their name. Yes, I did get shots of the Snowcap but they weren’t improvements over last year. But I did accomplish even better for the day with a photo I really love, capturing the uncommon from the common … hummer.

Them drops of rain were big! They were so big I was cowering under the deck to shoot. The critters of the rainforest though are more than use to it so it was just another day for them. Many like this White-necked Jacobin were out taking it all in. Simply a marvelous way to spend time, singin in the rain!

When I first learned that the Pied-billed Grebe can submerge just like a submarine going straight down rather than diving, I wanted that photograph. That was a whole lot easier to dream of than to execute. Pied means multi-colored and if you look at the bill, you can see how it was named Pied-billed Grebe. This truly small water bird tends to be shy keeping its distance specifically from wildlife photographers. Late one evening at Green Cay a couple of weeks back, this individual was highly focused on some food source right next to the boardwalk. It seemed not to notice me, which was lucky as it was frame filling. It was a dark hole so the ISO was cranked up to 3200 just to get 1/60 shutter speed. The grebe was actively going down and chasing its prey. It ignored me and I tried to move to keep up with its chasing. The water was shallow enough to see it darting back and forth under the surface. That would give me a little window into where I should expect it to pop back up and make a possible click. The twenty minutes of entertainment only garnished a dozen sharp images but it just takes one to make me smile. This one made me smile, a pied moment.

Wood Storks are a massive bird, much bigger than, say a Great Blue Heron. Starting in the late 1800s, they were shot in mass for their gorgeous breeding plumes for ladies fashions. Nearly wiped off the planet, a few survived. Today, through the efforts of many, they are up for delisting from the endangered species act. It’s quite the success story!

My first bird photography trip to Florida decades ago was specifically for the Wood Stork. They weren’t easy to find back then, and when we finally did, they weren’t in a location that was conducive for photography. But I was hooked and in the years since, have spent many days at their rockeries. My time at Wakadahatchee last week was spectacular, in large part because I could just watch Wook Stork’s antics. This time of year, nest platforms are being built, and pair bonds are being renewed. We’re so lucky we have them to watch and enjoy. You gotta love a happy ending for the prehistoric survivor!

Like most beginning wildlife photographers, one of the birds I photographed was the friendly, neighborhood Great Blue Heron. This large bird found around the globe is, for the most part, very forgiving to us newbees. They let us make all sorts of mistakes, which most of the time do no more than make the GBH move off a short distance. Their large size permits us to capture nice images even though we don’t have the longest glass in the store. So it is only right that as we get better, we revisit our early friends and do photographically right by them. How?

Start with making them the star of the photograph, and we do that by being very picky with the background. With that long lens you now have in your bag of confidence, move left or right, up or down just enough to make the GBH pop in the frame. You do that when you have that gorgeous soft light. Light that brings out all the detail yet illuminates the elegance of this magnificent bird. While it might be common, with you since you, we, first started out in wildlife photography, it’s a great subject that teaches new lessons every time we have in the viewfinder. That’s why it’s wildlife photographer’s best friend!

These pint size balls of fluff are one of the funniest critters you’ll spend time with! The Burrowing Owl is unique in so many ways, tops is its living in “burrows,” underground. Whether modifying an abandoned burrow or digging its own, this diurnal owl can fly with ease yet prefers to walk and live under the earth. Their burrow complex can have many tunnels, a couple of entrances and placed is the oddest of places. That brings me to these goofballs.

We found about a dozen (hard to count when they play wack-a-mo) at a sports complex last week. Taking care not to disturb them the first time we ventured to their burrows, we were quickly rewarded by their presence. As the sun slowly sank in the west, it got later in the day. School was soon out and soccer practice was in the throws of starting up. Soon, green soccer balls were rolling on the field and up to the burrows. My first thought was, “There goes the shooting, the owls will go underground and that will be it.” I was so wrong, rather, the goofy owls seemed to be watching the balls roll within inches of their burrow and continued to watch as a munchkin ran over to kick it back unto the field! Seriously, they seem to be actively watching the soccer practice! They are a hoot to watch, even more to photograph and at this sports complex left me thinking the earth has eyes.