This Tropical Checkered Skipper (my gallery link) and that linked gallery will show you that I have seen a lot of these in Atenas with this one at Maquenque the only one so far anywhere else. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Tropical Checkered Skipper
Cocoa Woodcreeper
This is another one of the fine birds that I photographed from my back porch at Maquenque in two different sightings. I’ve seen this bird in only 2 other lodges but these were my best shots ever while just sitting on the back porch. 🙂 See more photos from these sightings plus those from the other two lodges in my gallery: Cocoa Woodcreeper (linked).
¡Pura Vida!
Red Postman
The Red Postman, Heliconius erato (my gallery link) is found from Southern Texas in the U.S. south through Mexico, all of Central America and most of South America. It is easily confused with the Postman, Heliconius melpomene rosina (my gallery link), found only in Costa Rica and Panama.
¡Pura Vida!
Howler Monkey
While I was waiting on the arrival of Walter for my return trip the boat driver took me across the river to a tree with several of these Mantled Howler Monkeys (my gallery link). They are almost constantly looking for something to eat and here it is leaves. See more shots in the above linked gallery from my many trips all over Costa Rica..
¡Pura Vida!
Great Curassow
The other big forest bird (like the guans shown earlier) is the Great Curassow (my gallery link) and the first photo is of two females and a second photo of one male. Note that the male is mostly black like the guans, but has a bright yellow bump on his beak while the male Crested Guan has a red waddle. And interestingly to me is that the Curassows have bigger crests than the Crested Guans with crest in their name. 🙂 The above linked gallery has better photos than these two. I guess I’m getting “rusty” or “slow on the draw” as an action photographer! The birds wait for no one and never pose! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Spectacled Caiman
I don’t make reptiles a priority focus in my photography, but in a true rainforest of Costa Rica you will always see either the American Crocodile (my gallery link) which at Maquenque is only on a Rio San Carlos boat trip OR the smaller Spectacled Caiman (my gallery link) which is in the lagoons of the lodge. Snakes are seldom seen in the daylight and I no longer take the night hikes because I risk falling, but that is the best way to see them. This Spectacled Caiman was in a lower lagoon right at the water overflow location, probably hoping for a fish to wash over the dam. 🙂 Just one photo this time.
¡Pura Vida!
New Frog Species Discovered in Costa Rica
Read about the new species with the scientific name of Isthmohyla nacientes (linked article in Tico Times). It is a mountain tree frog living only above 4,000 feet.
For more information: A Facebook Page in Spanish
And Naturalista Costa Rica’s Post also in Spanish.
And a little bit on Wikipedia. All 3 articles can be translated to English by Google.
¡Pura Vida!
In the land of nature!
Banded Tigerwing
Maquenque is just the 4th place I’ve seen this Banded Tigerwing, Aeria eurimedia (my gallery link) and all four locations were on the Caribbean Slope of Costa Rica, with the other 3 right on the coast at Tortuguero, Cahuita and Gandoca-Manzanilla. A beautiful butterfly that seems to always give me opportunity for both top view and side view photos. 🙂 That’s the two views that “identifiers” want. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Rainforest Experience
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Just one of many photos with more available in the gallery: Yellow-throated Euphonia (linked).
¡Pura Vida!
Dragonflies & Damselflies
Here’s a little gallery of 4 of the 5 dragonflies I tried to photograph at Maquenque with the fifth one a pretty bad photo and not used here. Anywhere there is a lot of water there are a lot of different species of dragonflies & damselflies . . .
When I’m not sure of the species name, I use genus or family name as with three of these. Then hope that someone on iNaturalist will make a positive species identification. 🙂
And I have a pretty good collection of Dragonflies & Damselflies in that linked gallery of 50+ species! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Green Basilisk
One of the many common lizards in the rainforests of Costa Rica is the Green Basilisk (English common name) with the Spanish common name my preferred, Emerald Basilisk or of course actually Basilisco Esmeralda. 🙂 I have a lot of better photos in my gallery: Emerald or Green Basilisk (linked). But from this trip, just one shot of the whole lizard and then one “head & shoulder portrait.” 🙂
¡Pura Vida!