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is a common bird on both coasts and way up some of the rivers. And is the case most of the time for me, this one has no spots. You can look at my Spotted Sandpiper Gallery to see some with spots which is seasonal. Just one photo here that I liked from last week’s visit to Rio Tarcoles . . .
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
Sometimes you see the world different from a boat on water and this was the case while on Rio Tarcoles last week. Below one photo for the email version is a slideshow of 6 shots from the river.
. . . are one of the reasons a lot of tourists take boat trips on the Tarcoles River, though my priority is always the birds and why I choose this particular boat company (Jungle Crocodile Safari) which focuses on the birds more than any other and does not feed the crocodiles chickens like some boats do (which is illegal). BUT, the crocs are interesting and I usually make a few photos of them. 🙂
Here are just two photos from this trip, the feature photo at top being the face of a very old “grandpa croc.” They can live up to 80 years! (Old like me!) 🙂 While the other photo of the total croc is of a young adult or adolescent. In this Trip Gallery, which is now completed, I have 7 croc shots from this trip in a sub-gallery simply named “Crocodiles.” Or if you’re really into crocs, check out my Costa Rica American Crocodile GALLERY with croc photos from 8 different locations all over CR, though more from Tarcoles River which is the closest location to me. 🙂
And in “The Trip Gallery,” I also have photos of 26 bird species, White-faced Capuchin Monkeys, Basilisk Lizards, landscapes, other nature and even a photo of our group of 6 Canadians with a family from Denmark we shared the boat with! Exploring Costa Rica is always international! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
At 7:30 this morning I’m scheduled for “Needle Surgery” to get a bit of the spot or growth from one of the lymph nodes in my neck for a biopsy. I will go back in February for a report and to schedule any further action if needed. The doctor doubts that it is cancer, but he wants to be sure. The public health system here is huge and taking great care of me while creating a large database of all my health tests, surgeries, medications, and reports in the single system for any of my other doctors to see and be aware of. It is an amazing system! It even sends both me and my driver text message reminders of all appointments! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
Yesterday I shared photos of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and today the other 4 herons I photographed last week on Rio Tarcoles. A very good birding river! 🙂
One of the many water birds you find in rivers and mangroves near the coast is the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Nyctanassa violacea (eBird link) that you can see with his Yoga-like pose drying his wings. 🙂 Of course I have more photos from all over Costa Rica in my Yellow-crowned Night Heron Gallery. And here’s 3 shots from Tarcoles River this past week . . .
Our birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles was both in freshwater and in the brackish tidal water near the mouth of the river and of course mangroves there. Mangroves are near the mouth of all rivers and where you see lots of seabirds and many use the mangroves to birth and raise their young, just like a lot of the sea fishes. So it is a rich in nature place to photograph nature. Today I’m sharing the biggest bird we saw, the Magnificent Frigatebird, Frigata magnificens (linked to eBird) and you can see my photos from 7 different sightings since coming to Costa Rica at my Magnificent Frigatebird GALLERY. Here’s four shots from this sighting . . .
These were not a particular goal for me and of course there were many others, had I spent more time at water’s edge of the beach or on any nearby stream, but here are 5 very common ones I did see, with the Cormorant being the most frequently seen this time, though not always the case. And note that all of these can be seen inland on fresh water except the pelican, though all are more frequent near the ocean or nearby mangroves and estuaries . . .
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.
– Lord George Gordon Byron, 1813
9 more photos below . . .
Continue reading “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods”
Being quarantined at home with Covid means I can give more time to finishing my photos from the July trip to Maquenque Eco Lodge and I now have that “Trip Gallery” finished, which I’m pleased with. It is Costa Rica Trip #121 and I continue to feel my trip galleries are the best.
You can click on the first page below to go there or if prefered, here’s the web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2024-July-4-9-Maquenque-Eco-Lodge
¡Pura Vida!
One of my favorite ducks in Costa Rica, the Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna autumnalis, is found where there’s a lot of water. The only place I’ve seen more than at Maquenque was at Palo Verde National Park and the Rancho Humo next door. Here’s two shots and you can see more of my efforts to photograph them in my Black-bellied Whistling Duck Gallery, or read about them on eBird. They are found in Eastern and Southern U.S. south through all of Central America and most of South America. Here’s two shots from last week with more in the above gallery.
¡Pura Vida!