American Dipper Spreading Its Wings Beside a San Gerardo Cascade

An American Dipper spreads both wings while gripping a wet rock beside white tumbling water, its compact gray body set against the dark mossy streambank at San Gerardo de Dota valley in Costa Rica. The American Dipper is specialized for fast mountain streams, using powerful legs and short wings to forage in and beneath rushing water. The exposure of 1/3200 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 5000 freezes the decisive body position and separates the principal wing and tail feathers while retaining only fine traces of motion at the fastest edges; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.