How I Botched an Unexpected Sighting of an Iconic Bird

A photographer is only as good as her preparation.

Cat at life+wild
Full Frame
Published in
7 min readMar 14, 2024

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A beautiful red flower is lit up by the sun in the dark cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Unknown scarlet flower. Image by ©life+wild

“It’s a quetzal!” the urgent whisper was a lightning bolt, cutting through my reverie.

I was photographing a brilliant scarlet flower, and my ever-patient husband had wandered ahead on the trail.

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Cat at life+wild
Full Frame

As a photographer, design freak and a champion of wildlife, I combine my passions to focus on biodiversity and imagine a thriving future for all life on earth.