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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.
¡Pura Vida!
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!
Another species seen on Rio Tarcoles that I don’t see regularly across Costa Rica is the Streaked Flycatcher (my gallery link) and it is very similar to the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, which I thought the second of these two photos was (as did Merlin), but after more research, I decided that they are both Streaked and learned that many Streaked have some yellow on their belly. My final decision of putting both photos in Streaked was based also on other markings besides the yellow coloration. And, as always, I may be wrong! 🙂 If so, then this is two species and my total on the river was 41! 🙂
They were together in the same group of trees near the boat dock which is another reason I put them in the same species, but it is not unheard of for two species to hunt together and they would be related, like maybe cousins? 🙂 But also, I found many examples online of Streaked with more yellow like this second photo. You decide. And both eBird & iNaturalist have “checkers” and “identifiers” who also may correct my IDs when submitted to each. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
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.
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) . . .
Well, the ones in the tree appeared to be playing “Hide-N-Seek” with us with one trying to become part of the limb! 🙂 Both the village of Tarcoles and the Tarcoles River are one of the best places to see and photograph the Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao (my gallery link), along with nearby Carara NP. And of course these colorful birds are very popular with the tourists, along with all the other parrots and the toucans! 🙂 Just 3 shots here with more from this trip in the above linked gallery.
The Osprey (my gallery link) is an iconic bird and fisher on most rivers. We saw only one, briefly, as we floated by on the Tarcoles.
¡Pura Vida!
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).
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!
The mouth of the Rio Tarcoles is one of the best places to see this large seabird. For more images, see my gallery: Magnificent Frigatebird.
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.
