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.
My 83rd birthday cake in the rainforest!83 – Happy Birthday! – Charlie We wish you a happy birthday full of joy and you enjoy it very much. From: Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.
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! 🙂
Orange-collared Manakin female, Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica
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.
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. 🙂
Crested Guan eating a palm berry for breakfast, Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica. Crested Guan, Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica.
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 . . .
The Great Curassow, Crax Rubra (eBird link) was the first bird to greet me here at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge. It is a large “turkey-like” game bird found throughout Central America that was hunted to near extinction and today is seen only in reserves and national parks where they are protected. Here’s four of my photos from here, two each of the male and female.
There was surprisingly no rain my arrival afternoon yesterday (Saturday) but I did not get to a blog post because they have internet connection only in the restaurant and reception areas, not in the cabins. This afternoon (Sunday) it started raining about 12:30 and looks like an off & on rain will continue, but this morning was clear for my birding hike. 🙂
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 . . .
He was not in my garden, but nearby in the neighborhood on the zinnas that are regularly regrowing year-around at 8th Ave and 3rd Street on one of my walks to town.
White Peacock, Atenas, Costa RicaWhite Peacock, Atenas, Costa Rica
. . . in my garden, the Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush (eBird link) who is no longer singing his longing melody that tradition says is him calling in the rain for rainy season to begin. It began with June and we’ve had rain every afternoon since! So I think he is a happy bird! 🙂 But overall, this june I’m seeing fewer varieties of both birds and butterflies than usual. I’m hoping that won’t be true of the rainforest I visit next week! 🙂
Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Or was the other one an “early bloomer?” 🙂 Both the Nance Tree and the Maraca Flowers on the front slope of my house have finished blooming while the ones back of my house (up hill) are just now blooming. Maybe the difference is morning sun (back) and afternoon sun (front) or I’m just fortunate to have them blooming at different times of the year! 🙂
A Guatemala website tells Mayan stories of this tree that they question, while a produce website tells about the uses of the berries and the Wikipedia site has a great general summary about the tree and its fruits and uses. I tried to eat a raw berry once and did not care for it. All 3 of my trees are harvested by birds only and at two different times of the year!
Nance Tree Flower, Atenas, Costa Rica
You can see a few green berries in the upper right corner of the next photo which will turn yellow when ripe . . .
