Tag: Tarcoles River

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American Crocodiles . . .

. . . are one of the reasons a lot of tourists take boat trips on the Tarcoles River, though my priority is always the birds and why I choose this particular boat company (Jungle Crocodile Safari) which focuses on the birds more than any other and does not feed the crocodiles chickens like some boats do (which is illegal). BUT, the crocs are interesting and I usually make a few photos of them. 🙂

Here are just two photos from this trip, the feature photo at top being the face of a very old “grandpa croc.” They can live up to 80 years! (Old like me!) 🙂 While the other photo of the total croc is of a young adult or adolescent. In this Trip Gallery, which is now completed, I have 7 croc shots from this trip in a sub-gallery simply named “Crocodiles.” Or if you’re really into crocs, check out my Costa Rica American Crocodile GALLERY with croc photos from 8 different locations all over CR, though more from Tarcoles River which is the closest location to me. 🙂

Young Adult or Teen American Crocodile, Tarcoles River, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Senior Adult American Crocodile, Tarcoles River, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

And in “The Trip Gallery,” I also have photos of 26 bird species, White-faced Capuchin Monkeys, Basilisk Lizards, landscapes, other nature and even a photo of our group of 6 Canadians with a family from Denmark we shared the boat with! Exploring Costa Rica is always international! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Personal Note . . .

At 7:30 this morning I’m scheduled for “Needle Surgery” to get a bit of the spot or growth from one of the lymph nodes in my neck for a biopsy. I will go back in February for a report and to schedule any further action if needed. The doctor doubts that it is cancer, but he wants to be sure. The public health system here is huge and taking great care of me while creating a large database of all my health tests, surgeries, medications, and reports in the single system for any of my other doctors to see and be aware of. It is an amazing system! It even sends both me and my driver text message reminders of all appointments! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona

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Yellow-crowned Night Heron

One of the many water birds you find in rivers and mangroves near the coast is the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Nyctanassa violacea (eBird link) that you can see with his Yoga-like pose drying his wings. 🙂 Of course I have more photos from all over Costa Rica in my Yellow-crowned Night Heron Gallery. And here’s 3 shots from Tarcoles River this past week . . .

Adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Tarcoles River, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Yellow-crowned Night Heron”
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Magnificent Frigatebird

Our birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles was both in freshwater and in the brackish tidal water near the mouth of the river and of course mangroves there. Mangroves are near the mouth of all rivers and where you see lots of seabirds and many use the mangroves to birth and raise their young, just like a lot of the sea fishes. So it is a rich in nature place to photograph nature. Today I’m sharing the biggest bird we saw, the Magnificent Frigatebird, Frigata magnificens (linked to eBird) and you can see my photos from 7 different sightings since coming to Costa Rica at my Magnificent Frigatebird GALLERY. Here’s four shots from this sighting . . .

Mature Male Frigatebird (red throat pouch), Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Magnificent Frigatebird”
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Villa Lapas

My second overnight trip after moving to Costa Rica nearly 10 years ago was to this locally-owned & operated lodge/hotel near the village of Tarcoles, less than an hour west of Atenas, Villa Lapas. I did not get many bird or other wildlife photos compared to later trips other places, but you can see what I got in my Trip Gallery: Villa Lapas, July 2015. The appeal then and now is that it is located next to Carara National Park, where, with a good guide (that I did not have then), you can photograph a lot of different bird species as you also can on the right Tarcoles River Boat Safari. Since then I’ve discovered lots of better lodges for birds and other nature photography (even in that area – see bottom of post), so why am I returning now? Because of a recent announcement about this little-known place with some rooms arranged as a “Colonial Spanish Jungle Village” becoming a Marriott Resort . . .

Villa Lapas set up as a “Colonial Jungle Village”
in the Transitional Forests of Carara National Park.
Continue reading “Villa Lapas”
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Birding at Our Dam Yesterday

Taking someone else birding gets me into new locations sometimes and yesterday was my first visit to the very nearby dam on Tarcoles River named officially “Hidroeléctrico Chucás” which was under construction when I moved here. In addition to the expected water birds, the trees around the dam were just full of many small birds and a few larger ones. I got photos of more than 20 species and we heard a Scarlet Macaw, though we did not see him. Well, we heard a lot we did not see. :-) But I’ve always said we are too far from the coast for Macaws, but evidently not! It was a good birding walk before breakfast at Crema y Nata! It may be awhile before I get all those photos processed, but at least I did not erase or lose any this time! :-) Today is the last birding walk which will be at Reserva Madre Verde in Palmares, another new location for me which my neighbors Neal & Judy told me about. A report sometime in the future.

“Hidroeléctrico Chucás,” the dam on Rio Tarcoles in Atenas Canton.

¡Pura Vida!

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FAVE BIRDS – Great Egret

Oh so many of my Great Egret (eBird link) photos are favorites, but I chose this one because it is so simple from the close-up of face to the background. My Great Egret Gallery has one as a ballet dancer and others flying, but I like this one that I photographed on the Tarcoles River within an hour of Atenas!

Great Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

They are found almost anywhere in Costa Rica where there is water. Links to places where I’ve photographed them:

¡Pura Vida!