The holy grail of bird photographers is here, in costa rica! Resplendence, elegance and much sheen, all combined into one flying pixie, the resplendent quetzal. The green wonder leaves behind a trail of glitter and aww and one cannot help but feel like experiencing a tale straight out of the fabled childhood chronicles.
About the image – I had been planning to come back to costa rica after my first trip earlier this year to get pictures of the RQ. Little did I know that my plans (even after being here) would be disrupted by the hurricane otto and our bookings at the resorts were cancelled as per government orders. Determined to see the bird, we travelled to the Talamanca Range Cloud Forest to try our luck with 1 session of quetzal and as always luck continued to shine on us. Guided by local farmers we got lucky with 20 seconds of a male in an open perch. So here it is, the resplendent quetzal.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF600mm f/4L IS II USM lens 600mm f/7.1 1/500s 800 ISO -0.7 EV