The Great-tailed Grackle (eBird link) is a lanky blackbird with a ridiculously long tail and what seems to me a rather haughty attitude! 🙂
They are seen from the western U.S. throughout all of Central American and I have seen in almost every area of Costa Rica. Though a land bird, I seem to see more near water or marshy areas like Tortuguero. Here’s just 4 of my photos from Tortuguero and I’m particularly proud of this portrait of a female (always brown while males are black with blue/purple sheen). And I think both shots of males below demonstrate the attitude I spoke of above. 🙂
Female Great-tailed Grackle, Tortuguero NP, Limón, Costa Rica
The only place I saw and photographed butterflies this trip was in the lodge gardens, totally on their Porter Weed flowers. I managed to capture 9 different species I think, but have only identified the 6 that are included in this post. See them in their own gallery below this anchor shot . . .
Julia Heliconian, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
Read thisTico Times online article in English about a really different kind of fox that actually climbs trees! Plus the author has camera trap videos put together with several different individuals of this beautiful tropical fox. Unfortunately this is not my photo but one by the article’s author, Vincent Losasso. Simply gorgeous!
I shoot my animal shots with a fast shutter speed in the Canon automatic “Sports-Action Mode” to freeze the action of always moving birds and butterflies! That is the fast click,click,click you hear sometimes from a camera, and it means I get lots of photos (thousands) that I have to go through to delete bad ones and sort according to subject, thus very time consuming! And with so many file folders on my computer I sometimes misplace images as I did with these Collared Aracari eating red berries in a tree behind my cabin one day. They are much better shots than the ones I used on that earlier 3 Toucan Species post, so I just have to give them their own post! 🙂 Occasionally you do luck into good sunlight from the right direction to make an okay image as with these (unlike the Aracaris in the other post):
Collared Aracari eating berries, Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero NP, Costa RicaCollared Aracari eating red berries, Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica
There’s one bird in the tropics that disguises himself as a bump, knot, limb or branch of a tree to avoid predators. And here’s a couple of shots in different light of a Common Potoo that was seen on one of our trips into the rainforest at Tortuguero.
Common Potoo, Tortuguero NP, Limón, Costa RicaCommon Potoo, Tortuguero NP, Limón, Costa Rica
To see other of my photos of this bird, some with the faces showing, go to CR Common Potoo GALLERY. I think they are related to the Nighthawks, Nightjars and Whip-poor-wills (at least they look similar and are grouped together in the bird books). 🙂 Read more on eBird. They are found only in Central and South America.
These Pale-vented Pigeonsdid not let the rain stop them from feeding and nesting in the daily rains at Tortuguero. The mother is on her nest under the eve of the outdoor restaurant at Tortuga Lodge and the others in the trees looking for food!
Pale Vented Pigeon, Tortuguero NP, Limón, Costa Rica
Yesterday was the Howler Monkey with the other two types in the Caribbean lowlands today, the White-faced Capuchin Monkey and the Central American Spider Monkey.
White-faced Capuchin Monkey in the Rain, Tortuguero NP, Limón, Costa Rica
Below is a two-photo gallery on each species plus a link to the trip gallery for each where I have several more photos, plus links to my Costa Rica galleries of each where I have even more photos from my 8 years of living in Costa Rica. Enjoy! 🙂
Some of the new friends that have come into my life in Costa Rica are “seasonal” or some say “Snow Birds” who come to our tropical climate as an escape from the snow & ice up north during the coldest months. One, who has in the past stayed in Roca Verde just up the street from me, is Margaret from British Columbia, Canada and like me, a birder in her 80’s.
This year she decided to go beyond Atenas and see the birds and other sights of many areas of Costa Rica and brought her friend Pat with her. Here’s the diary or journal of their very economical adventure by public bus and staying in local B&Bs, like I did in my early years here . She included 45 photos that I could not copy with the story and adding all individually to this blog post would greatly slow it down, so I chose 4 to scatter throughout the story. And her good “storyteller” way of reporting their adventures makes her words the “illustrations.” Her third person references (you and yours) are to Jill, one of their first hostesses she was writing much of this to. The sub-headings are my addition to indicate the general area of Costa Rica they were in at that time of their trip. Enjoy! And plan your own adventure! 🙂 ¡Pura vida!
While at Tortuguero I saw all three of the monkeys that live in that rainforest, but, as usual, the Mantled Howler Monkeys were the most photogenic with White-faced Capuchin next, often showing off, and the Spider Monkeys the most difficult to photograph as they frantically run through the tree tops like out of control hyper children. I’ll show these other two in tomorrow’s post as I continue a break from the many birds.
Mantled Howler Monkey, Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica – Fruit for lunch!
“Weird Bird” some might say, especially with some of his unusual postures when drying feathers or otherwise standing around! 🙂 But always one I enjoy trying to photograph! For more photos beyond these 4, see my Bare-throated Tiger-Heron GALLERY. All were photographed from a moving boat at Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica.
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica
