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It is probably not unusual, but it was my first time to see a bird eating from a Bird of Paradise Flower, in this case a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (linked to my Rufous-tailed Gallery). It was before breakfast this morning near the end of our birding hike as we walked through some of the lodge gardens on our way to the restaurant.
Arenal Observatory Lodge (their website)
¡Pura Vida!
At least in this area, it is the time that most of the birds are nesting, meaning a different kind of bird activity. The feature shot at top is of a Yellow-throated Toucan coming out of her nest with a berry or seed in her beak. Below you can see a shot of how small the hole is that both the male and female squeeze through. I guess their beak determines the size of the whole, usually a remade or enlarged woodpecker hole. 🙂
And in the spirit of nesting season, there’s also a shot of an unidentified bird on her nest and a hummingbird nest. All this reproduction activity is an important part of the ecology of the rainforest that seems to be coming at the beginning of the rainy season.
This is my 5th time to spend five nights at Arenal Observatory Lodge and all 5 times in the same room because I liked it on my first visit! 🙂 It is close to the beginning of all hiking trails and just across a courtyard from the restaurant, and as a corner room, it has two great views! Looking north, I look up at the volcano and looking west I look out over Lake Arenal and this time of year at some magnificent sunsets. Here’s a shot of each of my two views and one of the courtyard between my building and the restaurant. As they say here, “Perfecto!”
This morning my usual transportation of Walter Ramirez Tours and Taxis is taking me away from my home “garden” or “mini-jungle,” featured above, to one of my favorite forest getaways for 5 nights . . .
Arenal Observatory Lodge, the only hotel inside the Arenal Volcano National Park, where I will spend 5 days hiking the trails of a forest with a great variety of plants and animals! Tree Ferns to Toucans and more!
Below are four shots of my little mini-rainforest garden in Atenas that I am proud of and in which I photograph much for this blog! Then following that, another 4-shot gallery from my last trip to the Observatory in 2022. I chose to go in May this year because that is the month I got good sunset photos over Lake Arenal in 2018 and my most monkey shots that year, though anytime is a good time to visit Arenal Observatory Lodge! (lodge website link) 🙂 Looking forward to just being there!
Continue reading “From Mini-Jungle to Rainforest!”
It seems to be taking me longer to complete my trip galleries – just a slow old man! 🙂
But one reason was that it is slow identifying 32 species of butterflies (several new to me), 29 species of birds (1 lifer), and 13 species of other wildlife with lots of nice frog shots this time! These trip galleries are my main photo galleries to which I link for photos in the bird, butterfly and other subject galleries. If you are considering different lodges in Costa Rica as a visitor or one who lives here and travels like me, these trip galleries are a good source of real information about what you can see in a particular place. Enjoy!
Or click this linked address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2022-December-22-28-Arenal-Observatory-Lodge
¡Pura Vida!
I just can’t quit talking about all the neat things you can see and photograph at Arenal Observatory Lodge! And another one are trees, all of their trees, but maybe the most unique are their Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees that were a part of their early development reforestation program which you can read about in an article on their website: The Rainbow Trees of Arenal, Costa Rica by Shannon Farley, my friend and fellow Atenas resident! 🙂 You will be amazed as you read the article and probably want to visit this favorite lodge of mine too! Where I could spend months hiking their 7+ miles of well-maintained hiking trails and never be bored! 🙂
Well, just 2 photos this time, then I encourage you to read my longer post of 2 years ago on all the trees of Arenal that I love!
And read my blog post on Arenal Trees I wrote two years ago titled: Enamored by Trees!
¡Pura Vida!
Though I always go to the lodge that is closest to the volcano (and surrounded by the most forest!), this trip Christmas week was the first time the volcano was covered in clouds most of the time. The only clear day, all day, was Christmas Day, with clouds and rain all the rest of that week! But with all the photos I’ve been sharing, you can see that the rain or clouds didn’t dampen my spirits too much! 🙂 Here are four different views of the volcano from four different locations including the one sun-shiny day shot! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Arenal Observatory Lodge Website
Or for what the volcano looks like this very moment:
And note that the camera is mounted on the side of the lodge building just above my room 29 or my room deck, so basically the same view I got from my room or would now if there. 🙂
There was more than this, but these are the ones I have useable photos of beyond the birds and butterflies already shown. All wildlife is so interesting and varied anywhere you go in Costa Rica. One pix for the email announcement and then a gallery of all 9 photos.
Possibly my favorite bird seen at Arenal Observatory Lodge with the only other place seen so far being at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge at Piedras Blancas National Park near Golfito. The rich colors make this bird very attractive though he/she tends to stay behind the limbs and leaves of trees with berries, thus difficult to photograph! 🙂
Three more shots below including one eating a berry, plus you can see my other shots of this bird in my Bay-headed Tanager GALLERY! I love my growing collection of Costa Rica birds! 🙂
This was my fourth time to visit Arenal Observatory Lodge (link to lodge website) and the second time as my annual “Christmas Getaway!” The first two days we had a lot of rain & wind unlike the other Christmas visit and I thought it was not going to be a good place for Christmas this year, but then Christmas Day was a bright blue-sky, sunshiny day and we had a mixture of weather my remaining 4 nights there, and though I initially thought I didn’t see as much wildlife, I actually did pretty good with 27 species of birds and more butterflies and “other wildlife” than before! So – No big toucans or monkeys! I had a lot of other wildlife and some of my best frog photos plus more butterflies! 🙂
Also, I had less energy than on the previous trips here (cancer recovery is slow) and I scheduled no early-morning guided bird walk like usual, so to have 27 birds on my own is okay! 🙂 And I will be sharing those bird and butterfly photos in future days on this blog when I finally get them organized.
So . . . YES! I continue to rate Arenal Observatory Lodge as one of the best places in Costa Rica for birds and for my nature fix AND also for the lodge services with an excellent room and gourmet food, surrounded by one of the largest rainforests in the country! And yes, it is not cheap, but worth what you pay in my opinion. Superb guides, the best of other services, plus the best maintained wilderness trails that are featured below in this post, a birding tower, a big waterfall, and more birds, butterflies and trails than almost anywhere else! So yes – I will return to Arenal Observatory Lodge! But next time I’m going in May again, for the beautiful sunsets over the lake every night, and maybe monkeys then! 🙂 I think the sun moves further south this time of year, putting the sunset behind the mountains, but in May, it’s right over the lake! 🙂
Below is a Gallery of some rainforest trails at Arenal Observatory, then links to the photo galleries of my other 3 previous visits with a comparison of birds and other wildlife photographed. 🙂