Wednesday I shared my photos of “Other Wildlife at Caño Negro” which was a different wetland world on a day trip away from Arenal and the 3 Monkey species seen there were shown in two separate posts. Now sometimes there are more monkeys and other animals in Arenal Observatory, but this trip I photographed 10 species and I’m sharing just 8 of the “other animals” (not birds or butterflies). All were seen on the grounds of Arenal Observatory Lodge, one of my favorite places. Later I will have my trip galleries completed and will summarize here all the amazing wildlife and other nature seen and photographed on this Christmas week trip. CLICK an image below to see it larger:
Red-eyed Tree Frog Sleeping in daytime camouflages.
White-nosed Coati
Agouti
Leafwing Butterfly
Water Cockroach
Brilliant Forest Frog
Eyelash Viper
Mantled Howler Monkey
“Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.”
Yesterday’s butterfly post was all photographed at The Butterfly Conservatory, El Castillo – Arenal, Costa Rica. I highly recommend it if you are at or near Arenal Volcano or La Fortuna. I always stay at Arenal Observatory Lodge which is less than a 10 minute drive to the butterflies while from La Fortuna would be about 30 minutes. It’s on Lake Arenal.
See yesterday’s post for the butterflies I photographed. Below are some shots of the facilities, the hiking trails, and flowers. There is a so-so insect museum with dead insects of many species stuck to boards, but not labeled. This competes with if not better than the Monteverde Butterfly Gardens for just the butterflies, my other favorite and both are better than the very commercial Selvatura Adventure Park in Monteverde. And another one surprisingly good on my 3 visits there is the small Restaurant Selva Tropical Butterfly Garden, Guapiles, Costa Rica and sometimes the butterfly garden at La Paz Waterfall Gardens has a good collection. All are up and down with many butterflies only living a day or two and thus a lot of work to keep hatching new butterflies! 🙂
The International Living Magazine again ranks Costa Rica the #1 Place in the world to Retire. I’m not a fan of the magazine because I found them too commercial, with too many ways to take my money, but they do have interesting articles and if you are considering retirement in any other country, read these short articles on the top 10 places to retire.
Here’s my photos of just 10 of the many I saw at The Butterfly Conservatory, El Castillo-Arenal, on Christmas Day no less! 🙂 Tomorrow I will do a post on the facility which is a little-known nature gem in Costa Rica. It equals if not excels both butterfly gardens in Monteverde.
My guide there identified a some of these with all other identities found in my usual source, A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America, Second Edition by Jeffrey Glassberg and all were verified with this book.
If you really like the butterflies of Costa Rica, check out my Butterflies of CR Gallery, at about 130 species now! 🙂 I have the largest Costa Rica Butterfly Gallery on the internet.
CLICK image below to see larger:
Bordered Patch
Tiger Heliconian
White-spotted Prepona
Thick-tipped Greta
Grinning Heliconian
Dot-bordered Heliconian, Blue Form
Dot-bordered Heliconian, Red Form
Common (Blue) Morpho
Gold-bordered Owl Butterfly
Ruby-spotted Swallowtail
Butterflies photographed by Charlie Doggett, Butterfly Conservatory, El Castillo-Arenal, Costa Rica
And this is it for that day excursion from Arenal Observatory Lodge, having done the birds post yesterday and earlier posts on 3 species of monkeys. Caño Negro is a wildlife-rich place for a 2+ hour boat ride and in our case lunch by the river before returning.
Male Green Iguana with two females!
Male Green Iguana in Mating Orange Color
Emerald Basilisk
Tropical Slider
Tropical Slider
Spectacled Caiman
Long-nosed Bats
Other wildlife at Caño Negro Reserve beyond the birds & monkeys already shown.
“By discovering nature, you discover yourself. “
~Maxime Lagacé
For more Costa Rica Wildlife see my OTHER WILDLIFE GALLERIES.
Here’s about 20 species from my Christmas week side-trip from Arenal Observatory to the Caño Negro Reserva. We saw more than I photographed of course and about 5 I tried to photograph weren’t good enough to show. This is a bird-rich reserve in northern Costa Rica near the Nicaragua border. CLICK an image to enlarge it:
Southern Lapwing
American Kestral
Wood Stork
Nicaraguan Seed-Finch
Anhinga Female
Green Kingfisher Male
Anhinga Catching Fish
Anhinga Swallowing Fish
Amazon Kingfisher Female
Black-headed Trogon
Amazon Kingfisher Male
Olive-throated Parakeets
Gray-cowled Woodrail
Mangrove Swallow
Great Potoo (disguised as tree part)
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Great Blue Heron
Black-collared Hawks
Great Egret
26 December 2020 at Caño Negro Reserva, Costa Rica.
Two of these were “Lifers” or first-time seen birds for me and unfortunately neither with a very good photo: The Nicaraguan Seed-Finch and the Olive-throated Parakeets. I’ve seen the American Kestrel in Panama but this was the first time in Costa Rica, though not close enough for a decent photo.
One of the most common monkeys in Costa Rica and I think the most aggressive in their begging tourists for food are also often the most “human-like” or fun to watch. Here’s a few shots I got at Caño Negro and you can see a lot more in my GalleryWhite-faced Capuchin from all over Costa Rica. You can also learn more about them on Wikipedia. CLICK images below to see larger:
From my Arenal trip I’ve had photo posts on Regular Mantel Howler Monkeys and an Orange Mutant Howler Monkey with today’s being photos of the only Spider Monkey we have here, Central American Spider Monkey, with our boat and the sunlight positions not helping me get good photos. 🙂 Tomorrow’s post will be on the White-faced Capuchin Monkey before I get back to birds! 🙂
On the Caño Negro river trip Saturday we passed this sow or mother pig with one or more babies between her and the tree and her unique Cattle Egret guard! 🙂
And yes, there was probably a farm somewhere nearby and she just wanted “to get away from it all!” – Down by the riverside! 🙂
Mama Pig with Cattle Egret Guard! 🙂
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
I use Walter’s Transportation for all my surface trips with Walter driving sometimes and other times one of his drivers, Cristian, takes me. Because Walter had shoulder surgery Cristian took me last Monday and brought me back today (Sunday). He asked my permission to bring his wife and daughter with him on the return trip and I was delighted to have them! A child makes going to a waterfall even more fun! 🙂 And I know . . . I’m actually a child too! 🙂
The Feature Photois my driver Cristian and his family at the middle overlook. The gallery below has different views of the falls and the stream below the plunge pool which is safer for families with children to swim, while teens & young adults go into the plunge pool. Both too cold for me! 🙂 But many of the young seem to enjoy it, including Cristian’s daughter who is wading in last photo below. CLICK image to enlarge or start a manual slideshow:
La Fortuna Waterfall
My Driver & Family
“Tough Guys” Swimming Under the Falls
A Lot of Tourists There – Mostly Tico!
La Fortuna Waterfall
Families Swim in Stream Below Plunge Pool
The Water is Crystal Clear! You Can See Fish Swimming! 🙂
!Pura Vida!
This makes Waterfall Number 43 that I have photographed so far in Costa Rica and I will be adding it to my “Arenal Volcano Area Waterfalls” sub-gallery of my Waterfalls CR Gallery.
I have serval more “significant” falls I want to add to my collection before I publish a Costa Rica Waterfalls book, but maybe in the next year or two! 🙂
“Playing together in nature is as much about us as it is about the child. Children get to celebrate and be themselves, while we are reminded of our inner child – the essence of who we are.”
I have a lot to share from today’s (Saturday’s) excursion to Caño Negro Wetlands Reserve, but the most unusual (and all I have time to present tonight) is the totally orange Howler Monkey. And of course the first question is why?
Albino? That is what the CostaRica.com website says and what I believe is the reason.
Pesticides? That is what this article in Costa Rica Star says, a mutant caused by the sulphur-laden pesticides sprayed on the nearby pineapple plantations. I guess possible.
Our guide today said it was caused by incest which might relate to or be the cause of #1.
Regular Mantled Howler Monkeys are black with an orange spot or streak on their backs (mantled). But this rare mutant fellow is all orange and the first I’ve seen like this.
Today’s (Saturday’s) trip was an all-day affair, not returning until 4 PM, so I am tired and can’t process all the many other photos from today now, but will share later.
Tomorrow morning I return home and will then finish processing many more photos from this great Christmas Week at Arenal Observatory Lodge inside Arenal Volcano National Park. Yes, we had some rain this week but that didn’t dampen my spirits! 🙂 And it was sunny the whole time at Caño Negro today!
