The Family Challenge

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!