Category: Hotels-Lodges

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November Macaw Lodge GALLERY!

Finally, I have the photo gallery for my November trip to Macaw Lodge completed, just 6 days before I begin my Christmas Trip to San Gerardo de Dota! I have been very busy since that last trip! 🙂 I will now blog those 6 days before Christmas trip on my garden and some more from Macaw Lodge. :-)

This was just my second time to go to Macaw Lodge which is at the closest national park to where I live. And though I’ve visited 4 other lodges/hotels near that park, Macaw is my favorite and I’m likely to be returning! :-) You can read about the lodge on their website linked here: Macaw Lodge, and it is a lot more than a yoga retreat which the site seems to emphasize! :-) And now for my unique (and I think good) collection of photos from just 3 nights at Macaw Lodge last month, click the gallery image below or go to this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2023-November-21-24-Macaw-Lodge-Carara-NP

CLICK image to visit this gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

AND ABOUT MY OTHER BLOG POST TODAY: Back in January I read an article about fun or funny “Annual National Days” in the U.S. and quickly did a blog post on what I thought was the most interesting one for each of the 12 months and today is the last one on “Underdog Day!” I promise not to do anything like that again, though it was kind of fun when I put together all 12 posts! :-) Tomorrow I’m back to only one nature blog post each day! My real passion! :-) 

¡Hasta luego!

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2nd Sighting of Rare Butterfly!

On butterfliesandmoths.org I have the only reports of this Yellow-haired Skipper, Typhedanus cajeta. My first sighting was earlier this year in my garden and this time it was at Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park. The above link is to the online butterfly site I volunteer for with only my sightings included there now. Plus here is a link to my Yellow-haired Skipper GALLERY. And below are 3 photos of this simple brown butterfly from my November visit to Macaw Lodge . . .

Yellow-haired Skipper, Macaw Lodge, Carara, Costa Rica
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Rooftop Iguanas

Though I haven’t noticed them as much recently, I think they are always around, maybe a family, as one of these looks younger than the other.

Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Atenas, Costa Rica

The featured photo is of the older one on the roof, so email recipients have to go to the website by clicking the post title. 🙂 For more photos of this species, go to their gallery: Black Spiny-tailed Iguana.

¡Pura Vida!

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Yellow-bellied Elaenia

This common, little bushy-headed flycatcher lives all over Costa Rica on both slopes up to 1,800 meters, but generally stays inconspicuous and I rarely get to photograph him, though my Yellow-bellied Elaenia GALLERY has shots from 6 different locations over Costa Rica now, including multiple times in my garden. I was sitting on the porch of my little cabin at Macaw Lodge during and after a shower when these two came to a nearby tree for a few minutes. More patience and more sitting would probably give me more bird photos! 🙂 The Yellow-bellied Elaenia lives from Mexico south through all of Central America and much of South America. Read about him on eBird with the scientific name Elaenia flavogaster. Another refreshing bird find at Macaw Lodge!

Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Macaw Lodge, Carara NP, Costa Rica
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Both Iguanas at Macaw Lodge

Because Macaw is on the Pacific Slope, it can and does have both species of iguanas living in Costa Rica, the Spiny-tailed and the Green Iguanas. While the Atlantic or Caribbean side has only the Green. Here’s one shot of each at Macaw Lodge . . .

Spiny-tailed Iguana, Macaw Lodge, Costa Rica
Green Iguana, Macaw Lodge, Costa Rica

My Photo Galleries for each species:

¡Pura Vida!

And don’t miss this weekend’s BIG ART FAIR at Plaza Calle 2! JIT! Just in time for the Holidays with gift possibilities for everyone!

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Bare-throated Tiger Herons

The last time I was at Macaw Lodge the water bird I most enjoyed photographing was the Muscovy Duck who was not on their lake this week, maybe late migrating? But we had an almost as interesting small group or family of Bare-throated Tiger Herons (eBird link). Here’s three shots, all different, of this water bird I’ve seen most often on my Tarcoles River boat tours, but also on pretty much all river and mangrove tours. See my other photos in the Bare-throated Tiger Heron GALLERY.

Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Macaw Lodge, Carara NP, Costa Rica
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Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Michael, a resident naturalist at Macaw Lodge, told me that they did not see this bird much there. And I’ve only seen him in 3 other places in Costa Rica as shown in my Southern Rough-winged Swallow GALLERY. You can read more about him on eBird, the Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Stelgidopteryx ruficollis, a seasonal migrant here from South America who is slightly different from the Northern Rough-winged Swallow, who is both a migrant from North America and some a resident in Costa Rica. Several species have individuals who evidently like it here and just decide to stay along with the ones born here.

People living in the northern hemisphere often think that the only migrants are from the north flying south, but as the literal center of the Americas we get just as many migrants flying north from the southern hemisphere (like this bird). It also explains the two names of “Rough-winged Swallows,” the “Northern RWS” migrate here from the north and the “Southern RWS” migrate here from the south. That is why Costa Rica and other parts of Central America are meccas for bird-watching! You can see birds from both hemispheres! 🙂 Here’s 2 individual shots and 2 group shots of this southern migrant . . .

Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
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Central American Agouti

Just one of my last week shots of the Central American Agouti (linked to Wikipedia). It is one of the more common forest animals I see in most protected forests and national parks of Costa Rica, though it’s generally solo rather than in large groups like the White-nosed Coati. This shot was made in the forests of Macaw Lodge last week on one of my walks to and from my cabin. It is a type of rodent.

Central American Agouti, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica

See my Central American Agouti GALLERY with photos from all over Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

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An Elusive Toucan!

Though some flew over and I heard a lot of toucans calling out in the forest, I only got photos of this one, a Yellow-throated Toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus, about 30 feet up in the trees of the forest between my cabin and the dining room. Definitely not my best toucan photos, but glad to at least get one while at Macaw Lodge! 🙂

And though again I heard the squawking of many Scarlet Macaws, the namesake of the lodge, I got no photos. They told me that a flock came to the trees by the dining room in the middle of one afternoon, but of course none of us guests were there at that time! 🙂

Here’s four shots that are okay, though I have some better photos in my Yellow-throated Toucan Gallery. 🙂

Yellow-throated Toucan, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
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10 Different Dragonflies

Macaw Lodge is, like the nearby national park, a “Transitional Forest” near the coast and lowland rainforests, yet at a higher elevation but not quite high enough for a cloud forest, and though sometimes drier than a rainforest, definitely not a tropical dry forest like those in nearby Guanacaste, thus the indication of “Transitional Forest.” Yet they have a lot of water (mountain streams they route portions through lily ponds) which helps attract frogs and dragonflies. Here’s 10 dragonflies I photographed and though I’ve identified a few, not most, I will not identify any of the photos here until I’m sure of the identity, which continues to be difficult with over 300 species and a great similarity of many of the species! 🙂 One photo for the email version and then a gallery with all 10.

Dragonfly, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
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