Often when photographing in the forests of Costa Rica I’m compelled to photograph an interesting leaf or something that I don’t know what it is, thus I usually have a folder for photos of “Leaves & Nature Things!” And today’s photo is one of those! :-) They might be seeds or flower buds or nuts or who knows what? But I find this “whatever “Nature Thing” seen at Macaw Lodge to be worth sharing in my nature blog. And if you know what it is, leave a comment below. 🙂
I continue to find insects in Costa Rica to be so interesting and sometimes weird! And I quickly gave up on using a close up lens for insects because to get as close as is needed you scare off the bug! :-) Thus I use the same lens that I use for birds high in a tree, my 150-600 mm zoom lens and can get images sometimes nearly as good as a close up without scaring of the insect off.
One of those, besides the many butterflies that I prefer, was this blue and gray wasp with an fun face! enjoy these two shots and I have no good way to identify for sure, but think “Blue & Gray Wasp” is a pretty good temporary name for this one! And I searched several websites without finding this one out of hundreds of species here! :-)
Blue & Gray Wasp, Macaw Lodge, Carara NP, Costa RicaBlue & Gray Wasp, Macaw Lodge, Carara NP, Costa Rica
Finally, I have the photo gallery for my November trip to Macaw Lodge completed, just 6 days before I begin my Christmas Trip to San Gerardo de Dota! I have been very busy since that last trip! 🙂 I will now blog those 6 days before Christmas trip on my garden and some more from Macaw Lodge. :-)
This was just my second time to go to Macaw Lodge which is at the closest national park to where I live. And though I’ve visited 4 other lodges/hotels near that park, Macaw is my favorite and I’m likely to be returning! :-) You can read about the lodge on their website linked here: Macaw Lodge, and it is a lot more than a yoga retreat which the site seems to emphasize! :-) And now for my unique (and I think good) collection of photos from just 3 nights at Macaw Lodge last month, click the gallery image below or go to this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2023-November-21-24-Macaw-Lodge-Carara-NP
CLICK image to visit this gallery.
¡Pura Vida!
AND ABOUT MY OTHER BLOG POST TODAY: Back in January I read an article about fun or funny “Annual National Days” in the U.S. and quickly did a blog post on what I thought was the most interesting one for each of the 12 months and today is the last one on “Underdog Day!” I promise not to do anything like that again, though it was kind of fun when I put together all 12 posts! :-) Tomorrow I’m back to only one nature blog post each day! My real passion! :-)
On butterfliesandmoths.org I have the only reports of this Yellow-haired Skipper, Typhedanus cajeta. My first sighting was earlier this year in my garden and this time it was at Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park. The above link is to the online butterfly site I volunteer for with only my sightings included there now. Plus here is a link to my Yellow-haired Skipper GALLERY. And below are 3 photos of this simple brown butterfly from my November visit to Macaw Lodge . . .
Though I haven’t noticed them as much recently, I think they are always around, maybe a family, as one of these looks younger than the other.
Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Atenas, Costa Rica
The featured photo is of the older one on the roof, so email recipients have to go to the website by clicking the post title. 🙂 For more photos of this species, go to their gallery: Black Spiny-tailed Iguana.
This common, little bushy-headed flycatcher lives all over Costa Rica on both slopes up to 1,800 meters, but generally stays inconspicuous and I rarely get to photograph him, though my Yellow-bellied Elaenia GALLERY has shots from 6 different locations over Costa Rica now, including multiple times in my garden. I was sitting on the porch of my little cabin at Macaw Lodge during and after a shower when these two came to a nearby tree for a few minutes. More patience and more sitting would probably give me more bird photos! 🙂 The Yellow-bellied Elaenia lives from Mexico south through all of Central America and much of South America. Read about him on eBird with the scientific name Elaenia flavogaster. Another refreshing bird find at Macaw Lodge!
Because Macaw is on the Pacific Slope, it can and does have both species of iguanas living in Costa Rica, the Spiny-tailed and the Green Iguanas. While the Atlantic or Caribbean side has only the Green. Here’s one shot of each at Macaw Lodge . . .
Spiny-tailed Iguana, Macaw Lodge, Costa RicaGreen Iguana, Macaw Lodge, Costa Rica
The last time I was at Macaw Lodge the water bird I most enjoyed photographing was the Muscovy Duck who was not on their lake this week, maybe late migrating? But we had an almost as interesting small group or family of Bare-throated Tiger Herons (eBird link). Here’s three shots, all different, of this water bird I’ve seen most often on my Tarcoles River boat tours, but also on pretty much all river and mangrove tours. See my other photos in the Bare-throated Tiger Heron GALLERY.
Just one of my last week shots of the Central American Agouti(linked to Wikipedia). It is one of the more common forest animals I see in most protected forests and national parks of Costa Rica, though it’s generally solo rather than in large groups like the White-nosed Coati. This shot was made in the forests of Macaw Lodge last week on one of my walks to and from my cabin. It is a type of rodent.
Central American Agouti, Macaw Lodge, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Though some flew over and I heard a lot of toucans calling out in the forest, I only got photos of this one, a Yellow-throated Toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus, about 30 feet up in the trees of the forest between my cabin and the dining room. Definitely not my best toucan photos, but glad to at least get one while at Macaw Lodge! 🙂
And though again I heard the squawking of many Scarlet Macaws, the namesake of the lodge, I got no photos. They told me that a flock came to the trees by the dining room in the middle of one afternoon, but of course none of us guests were there at that time! 🙂
