Here’s a little gallery of 4 of the 5 dragonflies I tried to photograph at Maquenque with the fifth one a pretty bad photo and not used here. Anywhere there is a lot of water there are a lot of different species of dragonflies & damselflies . . .
Amberwings – Genus PerithemisSmoky Rubyspot – Hetaerina titiaSaddlebag Gliders – Genus TrameaDragonlet – Erythrodiplax Family
When I’m not sure of the species name, I use genus or family name as with three of these. Then hope that someone on iNaturalist will make a positive species identification. 🙂
And I have a pretty good collection of Dragonflies & Damselflies in that linked gallery of 50+ species! 🙂
One of the many common lizards in the rainforests of Costa Rica is the Green Basilisk (English common name) with the Spanish common name my preferred, Emerald Basilisk or of course actually Basilisco Esmeralda. 🙂 I have a lot of better photos in my gallery: Emerald or Green Basilisk (linked). But from this trip, just one shot of the whole lizard and then one “head & shoulder portrait.” 🙂
Green Basilisk, Maquenque Lodge, Costa RicaGreen Basilisk, Maquenque Lodge, Costa Rica
This large bird is one good sign that you are in a truly wild forest. I always see them at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge and also at Arenal Observatory Lodge, two of my other favorite places! See my photo collection in the gallery: Crested Guan. (linked) Just the one shot for the blog post today . . .
Crested Guan, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica
With several tourists here from around the world, it seems that one of the first things they want to see is a toucan, and the boldest one here is this Yellow-throated Toucan (my gallery link). Here’s two slightly different views with neither showing his patch of red, but still a handsome bird! We are on the Caribbean Slope here, where this Yellow-throated is more common than the Keel-billed which is more common on the Pacific Slope. Tomorrow I will share another variety of toucans which also has a different “cousin” on the Pacific Slope.
Yellow Throated Toucan, Maquenque Lodge, Costa RicaYellow Throated Toucan, Maquenque Lodge, Costa Rica
I did not do a post last night because I’m way behind on processing photos. I photographed 15 bird species just while eating lunch in partial rain yesterday and more yesterday afternoon and even more this morning on a pre-breakfast birding walk with guide Ronald! We were fortunate to have no rain for that hour and a half! 🙂 It is raining off and on just a little so far today, but so far nothing like yesterday!
So Walter would have a companion for talking with on his 4 hour return trip to Atenas yesterday, he brought his cousin who has a digital radio station in Atenas and here is the video he posted on the station or its Facebook or WhatsApp page (not sure how it works). It is of them leaving me at the boat dock on the flooded Rio San Carlos with Maquenque across the river. The first speaker in black is Walter’s cousin (forgot his name) and then Walter in the bright green cap speaks. My brief appearance is just waving at the camera from the boat. 🙂 I’m hoping that a WhatsApp Video works on this blog/website. I’m not a tech kind of guy! 🙂
Nope!
Well, it did not work, saying I’ve already used my one free video and must enroll in “VideoPress,” which I’m not doing, so I will just share two of Walter’s cellphone photos of their difficult return trip in a hard rain yesterday.
A tree blocked the highway for a while and then . . .
. . . they had a flat tire!
All that trouble just to get me to a favorite nature place! I’ll soon start sharing photos of the immense amount of nature here! 🙂
Today I will travel for about 4 hours to one of my favorite lodges and best birding place, Maquenque Eco Lodge (their link) near the Nicaragua border in Boca Tapada, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela Province, almost directly north of where I live in the center of the country. It will be my 6th trip there and 3rd time to celebrate my birthday there, which is July 4 and this year number 86! 🙂
3 years ago I planted an Avocado Tree there to help the endangered Green Macaws at Maquenque.
I may or may not do a post tonight from there, but otherwise a daily post from Maquenque reporting on my nature finds there for the next 5 days and as always a few more days after a trip. This will be my 6th time at Maquenque with, of course, lots of photos and a “Trip Gallery” from every visit there . . .
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.
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 RicaTricolored Heron, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
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.
