In His Words
I’ve been on the road for the past week seeking warmer weather than those back in Chicagoland. Right now I’m in Jacksonville, Florida waiting for the Jacksonville Jaguar football game to begin (my brother Mark’s favorite team). Not much time to write so I’ll share a tale from Bajadreamer:
I sometimes have a tendency to forget my “age” limitations. That can be a good thing, but other times it gets me in trouble. While in Ecuador last summer, I spent 4 days at Zuro Loma Reserve. This is an absolutely wonderful place to photograph some of the great high altitude birds (8000 feet) that live there. One of the birds I wanted to photograph was a Green-tailed Trainbearer, a spectacular long tailed hummingbird. My friend and guide, Dario, said he knew a place where I had a good chance to see and photograph one. The only problem was that we would have walk a mile or so to get there. I was wary, but he said the spot was approximately the same altitude as Zuro Loma. I assumed that meant the walk was “flat”. I was wrong-there was a 750 foot canyon (walk down and then back up) between here and there. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late. Have to realize that “flat” to a 26 year old that was born and raised at 8000′ is different than a 75 year fat old man. Anyway, I did see and photograph the Green-tailed Trainbearer and will post pictures later, but this is my favorite shot from the trip. This is a Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager. Truly one of the spectacular high altitude Tanagers.
Great picture, Bajadreamer! So nice and sharp.
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