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I saw him before breakfast high in a tree over the lagoon on the Manakin Trail and then after breakfast he stopped by my cabin to say hello! 🙂
For more shots from this and other trips here in Costa Rica, see my Roadside Hawk GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
One of my favorite Hummingbirds seen in the rainforest is the Long-billed Hermit (eBird link) found throughout Central America and the northern edges of South America. He can hover longer in one place than some hummingbirds and his tail can be long and straight or opened into a fan shape plus he seems to favor Heliconia flowers. Here’s four shots from the forest at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.
And I’m a little late reporting on what was this past Tuesday, but thanks to those who wished me a happy birthday (July 4) from around the world! And it was, as always, happy when I’m in a rainforest! 😊 The photo is of the birthday cake the lodge made for me, decorated with local fruits and topped with a sign that translated to all English says: 83 – Happy Birthday! – Charlie – We wish you a happy birthday full of joy and you enjoy it very much. From: Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.
¡Pura Vida!
Many of the rainforest birds find berries to be a major type of food for their sustenance, like this female Orange-collared Manakin (eBird Link) which is indigenous to the Pacific Slopes of Costa Rica and Panama. Only the male has the orange collar and I had not seen him here when I wrote this post yesterday. But you can see my other photos in my Orange-collared Manakin GALLERY which includes one male I found at Carara NP in his manakin “Lek” where he dances to attract a female. I love to try and capture a photo of a bird with a berry in his/her mouth like this! 🙂
FYI: This is the morning (July 6) that I leave Esquinas Rainforest Lodge (their site link) and head back home to my simple garden and fewer wildlife in Atenas, though I will continue sharing photos from this rainforest for the next week or two. 🙂 No other guest wanted to do the mangrove boat tour, which requires at least two participants, so I did not get to do that this time. But there will be more mangroves to visit! 🙂 And this was a very relaxing week with a lot of birds and butterflies plus a visit to the La Gamba Rainforest Research Station which I will share about later.
¡Pura Vida!
The Crested Guan (eBird link) is a fairly common large tropical bird in Central and northern South America, that flies more than the Curassow, that I shared earlier, who mostly stays on the ground and seems to be less able to fly while this guan soars high in the sky. See more of my shots of this bird in my Crested Guan GALLERY. It is fun to be in tropical forests like this and see so many colorful and interesting birds and other animals and plants! Here he joined me for breakfast, eating his palm berry. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
The Tayra, Eira barbara (linked to Wikipedia) is a tropical mammal in the weasel family native to Central and South America. He was also featured recently in the Tico Times article Meet the Tayra (with camera trap videos). You can see more of my photos in my Tayra GALLERY. In Spanish he is called many different names, depending on the part of Costa Rica you are in. Two of the more common Spanish names are: Tolomuco and Perico Ligero.
Here he is stealing a banana from the fruit feeder of the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge and is my first one to photograph “in the wild.” I have seen one before only in captivity as shown in my gallery. It is said that some indigenous people kept them as pets to help eliminate rodents. They are omnivorous. Read more in the two linked articles above.
Another common and fairly large bird here at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge is the Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Rascón Cuelligris, Aramides cajaneus (eBird link) is a wetlands & marsh bird found throughout Central & South America. There are many here at Esquinas around the several ponds or lagoons and I’ve seen in the lowlands of both the Pacific and Caribbean slope and coastal areas of Costa Rica. See my Gray-cowled Wood-Rail GALLERY for more pix. Here’s three shots at Esquinas . . .
“Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the trees.”
~Thomas Merton
It was in October of 2018, the peak of the rainy season, that I first visited Esquinas Rainforest Lodge at La Gamba Research Station, Piedras Blancas National Park, north of Golfito, Puntarenas. It rained pretty hard every afternoon with the mornings and short spaces between rain full of wonderful birds to photograph! And the planned boat trip to Rio Coto Mangroves turned impossible with high winds and heavy rain on Golfo Dulce, but the ingenious boat captain took me back into the smaller Gulf of Golfito (shielded from heavy wind by trees) for some of my better bird shots in between downpours – an unplanned but excellent substitute for an always good mangrove tour! Making Lemonade from Lemons! 🙂 And how could you not in this incredible rainforest? See more photos from my first trip there & a video link below . . .
Continue reading ““The Wind in the Trees””
Finally I have all my photos for the 5 nights in April 2023 at Maquenque Eco Lodge and Reserve including the sub-galleries I’ve already shared. This was another great photo trip to one of my favorite places in Costa Rica with photos of 62 bird species (6 lifers!), 10 butterflies and more than 30 species of other animals! Plus my usual “Nature as Art” photos of everything from flowers to weird leaves and beautiful landscapes. Just this one trip gallery will show you why I am so excited about being “Retired in Costa Rica!” the name of my blog and website. Enjoy the photos! Just click this image:
Or use this address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2023-April-9-14-Maquenque-Ecolodge
¡Pura Vida!
Although birds are the biggest category of wildlife for me at Maquenque Ecolodge, there are a lot of other wildlife and on this April trip I photographed 10 species of butterflies with one being a Lifer or first time seen (the Glassy-winged Skipper). Below is 1 photo of each of the 10 species for those who don’t go to separate galleries. Or here’s links to the online gallery with all my butterfly photos from this trip. https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2023-April-9-14-Maquenque-Ecolodge/OTHER-ANIMALS/BUTTERFLIES
Or below see just one photo of each of the 10 species . . .