And another lovely sunrise! The two new birds are called “lifers” by birders, while the one new butterfly species is just generally called a new species! 🙂 And it is my favorite! The two new birds were identified by Merlin for the sake of any birders reading. 🙂 After I submit them to eBird, they will be reviewed and someone will notify me if they think misidentified. 🙂 The markings on both of these two birds are similar though their body builds are different and a tan color with white wing stripes is common to many species as is the white eye ring, but I’m trusting Merlin on these. 🙂 I’m now up to 10 bird species on this trip and 6 butterfly species, with there simply not being as many butterflies here this year or in October compared to my usual September trip. But I’m happy with what I’m getting and the sunrises alone are worth the trip, though I do miss hiking in Gandoca-Manzanillo & Cahuita! “Being old is not for sissies!” 🙂
In my slow state of activity with Covid I finished the birds gallery for my recent trip. 48 species is not bad but not as many as last year with 62! But let’s face it, I’m slowing down. And the good thing is that I got one Lifer this trip, the Yellow Tyrannulet! And from the back porch of my little cabin! 🙂
Both birds and butterflies are the two groups of photos from a forest trip that take me a long time to process the literal thousands of photos and this time I did the butterflies earlier and finally I have finished the birds with 28 species photographed and only 1 is unidentified. Click the first page of the bird gallery below to see it or you can go to this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2024-May-6-11-Arenal-Observatory-Lodge-Trails/BIRDS
CLICK this image of the first page of the gallery to go there.
Plus I have added the better photos from this trip gallery to my Costa Rica Birds by Species galleries, so they are found in both places. 🙂 And now I will more quickly finish the entire “Trip Gallery!” 🙂
Wednesday of my visit to Uvita I took a taxi back close to the Palmar Sur Airport I flew into for the Mangrove Boat Tour on Rio Sierpe – my sixth place to do a Mangrove or River Tour in Costa Rica which always provides a lot of birds and other wildlife to photograph. This one did not disappoint! (Not my best, but very good!)
A Couple of Coincidences
Carlos Gonzales
The big surprise for my solo boat tour with a captain and guide was that Carlos Gonzales was the guide – the same guide I had in Drake Bay at Aguila de Osa Hotel in 2017. He is one of the few “older” guides I’ve had in Costa Rica with the majority looking like they are fresh out of college. Carlos is 71.
Plus the funny coincidence was that the boat captain was also named Carlos and my name in Spanish is Carlos! 🙂 Tres Carloses!
Birds
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Tropical Kingbird
Barn Owl
Common Potoo
Bronzed Cowbird
Social Flycatcher
Gray-cowled Woodrail
Green Heron
Little Blue Heron
Purple Gallinule
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Heron
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
Spotted Sandpiper
Mangrove Swallows
Great Egret
Scarlet Macaw
Other Wildlife
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River Scenes
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“Oh, Eeyore, you are wet!” said Piglet, feeling him. Eeyore shook himself, and asked somebody to explain to Piglet what happened when you had been inside a river for quite a long time.”
― A. A. Milne
I am tempted to declare Esquinas Rainforest Lodge my best birding location yet! In 6 days I photographed 50+ species of birds with 12 of them first timers for me or “lifers” for Costa Rica with two seen before in other Panama. The Lodge name link above is to their lodge website. Or check out others’ reviews on TripAdvisor.
I highly recommend it! The lodging, food and services were all first class while immersed in a rainforest. You know that I have a lot of places I like all over Costa Rica, but this new one for me just moved near the top of my list! And realize that I was here during the wettest month of the year for them and still had a great experience! And it may have helped that I was the only guest there this week and had a personal birding guide! Plus a personal chef and maid! 🙂 Hey! This is living! Retired in Costa Rica!
My Trip Gallery is Posted!
See the birds, animals, flowers, lodge and Golfito in my gallery for this trip at 2018 Esquinas Rainforest Lodge Visit. Photos are the reason I make these trips and this collection is the result of this trip. A photo book will be coming soon! If no one else, the host lodges all love my photo books as I send one to each of them.
My Birds This Trip
Here are the birds I saw and photographed with the “lifers” or ones seen for the first time in boldface type. Presented in the order of the lodge’s bird list which is a little different from the Field Guide:
Great Curassow
Brown Booby (1st in CR, got some in Panama in June)
I was happy on my visit to Tambor Tropical Beach Resort to see the many nesting boxes that hotel provides for Scarlet Macaws helping to maintain the population in that part of the Pacific Coast, the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. The destruction of large trees with cavities is possibly the biggest factor leading to the endangerment of this species as has already happened to the Green Macaw on the Caribbean Coast.
Well, here’s a Tico Times Article about More Scarlet Macaw Nesting boxes even closer to my home at Hotel Punta Leona near Jaco/Tarcoles. The article includes a video that will not let me share here (only FB). Check out the article & video and even the hotel which I will try to visit myself eventually! 🙂
Scarlet Macaws near their nesting boxes at Tambor Tropical Beach Resort. And I also made the header photo of a flying Scarlet Macaw at Tambor Beach.
