Posted June 20, 2017
Quetzal came to the Cecropia (Guarumo) tree for food, 5:10 pm, Ranchitos del Quetzal, June 15, 2017.
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, Nikon D5, AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens on Gitzo tripod with Wimberley WH-200 gimbal tripod head II), overcast sky. Pure sunlight (almost no flash would reach as far away as this bird was).
This is cropped down since a 400mm lens will simply not capture a view of any bird at this distance. We hope to have a 600mm lens by July, but frankly I estimate that the only way to photograph a bird this far away would be to use a Swarovski digiscoping system.
The quetzals come to feed on the guarumo treetops about 5 to 6 am and 5 to 6 pm (the worst possible times of day for “sunlight” photography in a rainy cloud forest).
