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! 🙂
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!
I’m up to photos of about 40 bird species plus at least 20 other animals and I don’t leave until noon tomorrow, so it will be a while before I report on all of those, thus here’s a few representative shots from the different boats I floated on through the Tortuguero rivers and canals . . .
The 6 am trip was rainy more than half the two hours but we still saw a lot of wildlife!
Here’s 10 more shots, some of which could be considered art (I think) . . .
Because the 2023 Xandari Trip Gallery is now ready for you to see all this year’s photos from this colorful nature resort, I will just summarize what was to be the last 4 posts on that trip and you can see the photos in the gallery which is more and better than a few here! 🙂 The last 4 categories each have a gallery that I’m linking to with the 4 pix below:
I photographed only 4 birds mainly because of the high winds we were having there that week. Here’s just 1 of those 4 and to see the others, click the above link or this image:
Clay-colored Thrush or Yigüirro, the National Bird
Though there did not seem to be as many Flowers on this trip as in earlier ones (different time of year), there were still a lot and you can see the ones I photographed by clicking the above link or this one image.
Bird of Paradise Flower, Xandari Costa Rica
Thirdly are some of the Leaves & Nature Things that I love to photograph out in nature anywhere I go! And I think I got a few interesting ones this trip including the feature photo at top of the post. Check them all out at the above link or click this one photo:
Nature as Art, Xandari Costa Rica
And last but not least are a few photos I made of only a sampling of the Trees & Trails at Xandari. Click that link or this one image to see more:
There is not a lot of water in many streams during dry season, though springs provide some, and this Waterfall #5 is the biggest one during the rainy season, but not much to look at on my last morning hike down the steep path to see it. Of course there is a much larger and nicer falls at Arenal Observatory Lodge and even better are the 3 giant falls at El Silencio Lodge in Bajó del Toro, but still I like all waterfalls, so here’s 4 shots of a little one from this morning. 🙂
I got 8 more butterflies today and at least one a “lifer” or new one for me, but identifying and processing hundreds of photos is just too much to share those today and the birds were just a very few! It is quite windy here this time of year.
So for today’s post, the easy way out, a handful of vistas from the hotel, many from my room and most of these are untouched straight out of the camera to facilitate my limited time for this post today! 🙂 One shot of last night’s sunset from my room just for the email announcement, and then all in a slide show that follows . . .
Sunset from Villa 19, Xandari Costa Rica, Alajuela, 31 January 2023
The White-winged Dove (eBird) is one of my faithful regularly seen birds in my garden. Here is in a Yellow Bell Tree behind my house. I also have quite a few photos in my White-winged Dove GALLERY, including what I think was my first bird to photograph here the hour I arrived for a birding tour in 2009. 🙂
And this will be the last of my Arenal posts for a while, realizing I’ve done more than 3 weeks worth! And this final post will be considered the weirdest one by some or what I used to call “Leaves and Nature Things” and now refer to as “Designed by Nature” or “Nature as Art” which is also my photography brand. I debated about naming each photo and then decided to let your imagination flow! 🙂 I will give physical identities to most items when I get them in my gallery – but for now, watch the slide show as a fairy tale! But first an image for the email! 🙂
