Giant hummingbirds on the top of Ecuador mountains
Apr 2, 2017 17:20:21 #
We flew into Quito, finally arriving at our hotel at 1 a.m. Promptly at six a.m. our guide picked us up to start our five day bird photo adventure. Whew. Then we drove right up to 11,500 elevation and hiked for a couple of miles. (If I had it to do over again, I would acclimate to the elevation for a day or two in Quito first.)
But, wow, were we rewarded for our shortness of breath. One of the first hummers we saw was the Great Sapphirewing. It is huge - as long as a robin or blackbird. Its wings don't buzz but more of a very fast flap, flap, flap.
Not to be outdone, soon a Sword-billed Hummingbird showed up. It is huge also - the bill alone is over 4 inches. Bill and all, it is about 10 inches long.
But, wow, were we rewarded for our shortness of breath. One of the first hummers we saw was the Great Sapphirewing. It is huge - as long as a robin or blackbird. Its wings don't buzz but more of a very fast flap, flap, flap.
Not to be outdone, soon a Sword-billed Hummingbird showed up. It is huge also - the bill alone is over 4 inches. Bill and all, it is about 10 inches long.
Great Sapphire wing is bigger than this song bird.
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Thus the name Sapphirewing
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Sword-billed Hummingbird
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Not sure what keeps them from falling over
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Apr 2, 2017 17:51:49 #
Apr 2, 2017 18:06:23 #
GregWCIL wrote:
We flew into Quito, finally arriving at our hotel ... (show quote)
Amazing and lovely birds Greg.
Apr 2, 2017 18:19:58 #
GregWCIL wrote:
We flew into Quito, finally arriving at our hotel ... (show quote)
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/tpr?p=7548264&t=448528
Such beautiful hummers and amazingly sharp photos! What camera and lens did you use?
Apr 2, 2017 18:20:56 #
Apr 2, 2017 18:48:08 #
canondave1 wrote:
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/tpr?p=7548264&t=448528
Such beautiful hummers and amazingly sharp photos! What camera and lens did you use?
Such beautiful hummers and amazingly sharp photos! What camera and lens did you use?
These were all taken with my D800 and 200-500 5.6 lens. I wish I would have had the D500 at the time. But the D800 held it's own for focusing and I really needed it's high ISO ability in the cloud forest.
Apr 2, 2017 20:47:05 #
...there's a lot of envy going on with that sword-bill...I like the last one...he blends nicely with the buds on the branch...
Apr 2, 2017 21:44:43 #
Apr 2, 2017 22:22:56 #
Thank you all for taking time to view and comment. I was very lucky to have the chance to go there.
Apr 3, 2017 08:37:26 #
Apr 3, 2017 10:02:08 #
Hi Greg,
Great photos!! My wife is from Quito and we try to visit yearly. What I look most forward to is going to Mindo, Ecuador which is probably now only an hours drive or so from the new airport. Where did your guide take you to see the hummingbirds ?
Great photos!! My wife is from Quito and we try to visit yearly. What I look most forward to is going to Mindo, Ecuador which is probably now only an hours drive or so from the new airport. Where did your guide take you to see the hummingbirds ?
Apr 3, 2017 11:41:55 #
Apr 3, 2017 17:19:19 #
je13quincy wrote:
Hi Greg,
Great photos!! My wife is from Quito and we try to visit yearly. What I look most forward to is going to Mindo, Ecuador which is probably now only an hours drive or so from the new airport. Where did your guide take you to see the hummingbirds ?
Great photos!! My wife is from Quito and we try to visit yearly. What I look most forward to is going to Mindo, Ecuador which is probably now only an hours drive or so from the new airport. Where did your guide take you to see the hummingbirds ?
It's easiest to describe our tour by providing this link. (Hope that's allowed.) We did a 5 day/4 night package. The next to last day we chose to see the Cock of the Rock and the last day we opted to see the Umbrella bird.
We went to different elevation zones which equate to entirely different species each day - from over 11,000 ft. down to about 2500 ft. above sea level.
http://www.mindosabinatour.com/photography-tours/choco-photography-tour/
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