Category: Wetlands

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Rio Tarcoles ’26 Gallery Ready

Simply click on the gallery image below to go there or you can go to this address:

https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Rio-Tarcoles-Birding-Boat-Tour

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE to go to the gallery.

And if you don’t go to the gallery, here’s one of the pix of our little birding group from Canada & me. 🙂

2026 Canada Birding Tour at Rio Tarcoles

¡Pura Vida!

And I never said earlier, but we shared our boat with a larger group from France and a tri-lingual Tica Guide, who shared in French, English & Spanish! 🙂 I love the international nature of Costa Rica!

Plus there will be two more much smaller galleries from our group’s hike through Carara National Park after Tarcoles and another morning birding at Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Reserve.

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Tricolored Heron

Like the Reddish Egret, this one can be confused with others, including each other and the Little Blue Heron, but Merlin confirmed this ID for the two very different photos below, dark & light. See my other photos of this species and the variety of looks in my gallery: Tricolored Heron – Egretta tricolor.

Tricolored Heron, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Tricolored Heron, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Yellow-crowned Night Heron Juvenile

Yellow-crowned Night Heron Juvenile, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

They are captivating birds at any age, as you can see in my gallery: Yellow-crowned Night Heron. This youngster was on the Tarcoles River.

¡Pura Vida!

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Snowy Egret

One of my favorite water birds, especially when I can catch them flying or dancing, which I did not this time. See more images in Snowy Egret Gallery. Here’s 3 shots from this latest trip to Rio Tarcoles.

Snowy Egret, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Snowy Egret”
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American Crocodile

I can’t wind down my reports on Rio Tarcoles without mentioning the American Crocodile, Crocodylus acutus (my gallery link) which is what brings some tourists to the Tarcoles River, with the “Crocodile Bridge” on Ruta 34 over the Tarcoles being a popular stop for tourists to walk out over the river on the pedestrian lane of the bridge to look down on many crocodiles, often sunning on a sand bar. Warning if coming this year, they are working on the bridge, to widen it, and thus many traffic stops! 🙂 Plus you see the crocs up closer on one of the several boat tours from the village of Tarcoles. I always choose “Crocodile Jungle Safari” because they are the best boat to see the most birds, which have priority over crocs for me. Here’s 2 shots from our February 17 trip (with more in the above linked gallery) . . .

American Crocodile, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Continue reading “American Crocodile”
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Two Swallows, Front & Back

Getting photos of any bird’s front and back views really helps with identification and it just accidentally happened with the pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows (my gallery link), the first photo. Then the next two photos are of different individual Mangrove Swallows (linked to my gallery).

Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Rio Tarcoles
Mangrove Swallow, Rio Tarcoles
Mangrove Swallow, Rio Tarcoles

Why is one Mangrove Swallow Blue and the other Green?

“Mangrove Swallows (Tachycineta albilinea) often appear to be different colors—ranging from green to blue—primarily due to feather wear and the interaction of sunlight with their feathers. They have iridescent feathers that reflect light differently depending on their age and the angle of the sun.” ~Wikipedia

¡Pura Vida!

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Little Blue Heron

One of my favorites and one of the more common water birds is The Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea (my gallery link). Seen here fishing on the Tarcoles River.

Little Blue Heron, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Little Blue Heron”
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Green Kingfisher

Similar to the Amazon but smaller with several markings different including white spots not on the Amazon. See more photos of this common Kingfisher on both slopes at Green Kingfisher Gallery.

Green Kingfisher male, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Green Heron with Long Neck

I have never seen a Green Heron with this long of a neck (or a neck stretched out this long) as most look “short and squatty.” But the coloring and everything else matched the Green Heron and eBird’s AI, Merlin, agreed! See my other photos from other times and places in my GALLERY: Green Heron. Just one photo here from when our boat floated past it on a floating log. The only one I saw close enough to photograph that day.

Green Heron, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

And here is how Google’s AI answered my question about this stretched neck:

“Green herons are about the size of crow, but they can extend their coiled S-shaped neck to a length equal to that of their body. This “rubber neck” helps them stretch out to catch prey, swallow large critters and position their head without moving the body.” ~Google AI

¡Pura Vida!

🙂