Sunbittern
Image # 1D4_00129
River near Plantanillo, Costa Rica
Canon 600L/f4 IS
ISO 800, f/4, 1/2500 second
Manual Exposure
Gitzo 1329/Arca Swiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick
This was one of the more exciting parts of our trip. The guides knew that Sunbitterns often visited this particular area, so we headed out, hiking along the gravel and dirt road/path that followed the river. After a little while, a pair of Sunbittern was spotted, and the chase was on! The river was in a valley fairly far below the road we were on, and the birds were moving along the shore at quite a pace. They tended to keep in the very deep shadows along the river, but other times emerged into extremely bright sunlight. Talk about challenging exposure! So we'd hustle in one direction to either catch up with them, or try to get ahead of them, and then abruptly they'd change direction, and we'd have to head back the other way. We definitely got some exercise that morning! This shot was taken during one of the few times when one was out in the sun, at a reasonably close distance (about 50 feet).