Rio Tres Amigos Safari

My 4th time at Maquenque Ecolodge, but first time to go on this particular float trip (their web description link) though I’ve canoed their lake and been on the bigger river, San Carlos, in a larger boat. The only reason I’ve missed this one is that they require a minimum of 2 paying customers and I travel solo! 🙂 This was the first time there were other guests interested in this same float trip to make up the minimum with me. They were a lovely couple from Europe, he Italian and she Swiss! We had a great time together and I got a lot of photos which is right now the only part of my Maquenque Trip Gallery that is completed. So you can see more photos at Rio Tres Amigos Safari GALLERY.   🙂

And note that the only wildlife (The cow doesn’t count!) that I show in this post is one bird, but it’s a rare photo of a female Sunbittern sitting on her nest! In earlier blog posts I’ve shown you 3 animals from this safari:  Crested Caracara, Green Iguana and Mantled Howler Monkey, yet there are still many more in the above gallery including 12 species of birds!  🙂  And here are 6 shots to give you an idea of what just one morning at Maquenque can be like!  🙂  Still my favorite lodge!

A fresh fruit & water break along the Rio Tres Amigos, Costa Rica.

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“Sometimes-Green” Iguanas

🙂   I say that because they are not always green as anyone who visits the tropics has noticed. I especially enjoy the males in mating season when they turn bright orange (not this time, though you can see them in my gallery). This time they were green to brown or greenish brown with some blue-gray and one black. And yes, I know that there is one called a “Black Spiny-tailed Iguana” or the “Common Spiny-tailed Iguana” (Ctenosaura similis), but it’s features are different and it lives only along the Pacific Coast and thus would not be at Maquenque Lodge which is on the Caribbean Slope where only the “Green Iguana” (Iguana iguana) lives. And it is interesting to note that the babies of both species are bright green.  🙂

Green Iguana, Rio Tres Amigos, near Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.

Below are 4 more photos (in different colors) from this trip and then a link to my photo galleries of both species of Iguanas . . .

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White Peacock Butterfly

I photographed 9 or 10 different species of butterflies at Maquenque and hope to soon have the trip gallery up including all of them. Here’s just one, the White Peacock Butterfly.

White Peacock Butterfly, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
White Peacock Butterfly, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

See my White Peacock Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

Mantled Howler Monkey

Called a “Congo” by Costa Ricans, the Mantled Howler Monkey is the largest and loudest of the four species of monkeys in Costa Rica and the only one I got photos of this trip, from alongside Rio Tres Amigos on float trip last Wednesday near Maquenque Ecolodge. I heard them at the lodge but never was close enough for photos and the same for the Spider Monkeys. I’ve been photographing Howler Monkeys since my first weeks in Costa Rica and have an okay GALLERY: Mantled Howler Monkey of Costa Rica.

Mantled Howler Monkey male, Rio Tres Amigos, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Immature Mantled Howler Monkey, Rio Tres Amigos, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

The Stately Crested Caracara

I photographed this beautiful bird along the road on our way to Rio Tres Amigos for our floating safari. The guides and drivers are all so good about stopping when a significant bird is seen. I would not have photographed this bird had we not stopped the van. The map on eBird shows this falcon type bird throughout the Americas, but more so in Central and South america.

Crested Caracara, near Rio Tres Amigos, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Crested Caracara, near Rio Tres Amigos, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica.

I was originally planning to do my post on Rio Tres Amigos today, but simply have too many photo of too many things to have them ready by today, plus this is a very full week with two medical appointments and tourist friends from the states stopping by!  🙂  So I may stick to individual birds, etc. for most of this week. But that Rio Tres Amigos was a great half-day trip that is going to make a super gallery when finished!

And oh yes, my Crested Caracara GALLERY!

¡Pura Vida!

Lizard for Lunch!

WARNING! The photos in this post are graphic and could be considered gross, especially if you are a lizard or have close friends who are lizards!   🙂

I was waiting for my driver from Atenas to arrive at Maquenque for lunch and our return trip home when one of the lodge staff come running in, excitedly telling me that there was a Toucan in a tree in front of the restaurant eating a lizard. Of course I grabbed my camera and ran out for some photos which were difficult because of the poor light in the tree at almost 12 noon! But here’s 5 shots of the Yellow-throated Toucan with his captured lizard and the final shot of another toucan either stealing lizard meat from him or having it shared. I could not tell which.   🙂

Yellow-throated Toucan eating a lizard for lunch at Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.

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Tree Planting

The only way we are going to save the earth for future generation is by “rewilding” or creating “new” old growth forests of about 50% of the globe by planting more trees. Yesterday I did one tiny part of that by planting an Almond Tree here at Maquenque, where they hope to reintroduce the endangered Green Macaws that eat mostly almonds! And soon they will add nesting boxes to replace the big old trees with nesting holes, one of several reasons they are endangered. It will be a few years before my little baby Almond Tree will feed Macaws, but we have to plan for the future! And that is symbolized by Vicky’s (lodge manager’s) children standing with me in the second photo.

Plus Maquenque does have a few grown Almond Trees here already, “los almendros.” But very few macaws on the ground now, mostly flying overhead as in the third photo below. Plus, since they are located north-central, close to the continental divide, they can have both Green Macaws (Caribbean Slope which they are on) and some Scarlet Macaws (from  the Pacific Slope). The Scarlets evidently fly over the Continental Divide which is not high mountains here in the lowlands. Scarlet Macaws are not as endangered as the green but are near-endangered because of habitat loss.

Charlie Doggett with the baby Almond Tree he helped plant at Maquenque Ecolodge & Reserve, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, April 13, 2023.

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Long-tailed Tyrant

Not a new bird for me but definitely in the best positions for photos! It was like he was posing for 3 or 4 of us photographers at breakfast this morning! 😊 You can read about them on eBird  – found from Guatemala south as far as Paraguay and from north to south in Costa Rica, though mostly on the Atlantic or Caribbean Slope in both Costa Rica & Panama. Here’s 4 shots I made this morning that I’m pleased with because I could get close enough. Usually I have to try and photograph from a great distance. Another beautiful and different bird found here. My GALLERY of them is linked at the bottom of this post.

Long-tailed Tyrant, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.

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Night Hike Frogs

Last night before a late dinner I took the “Night Walk” which is always a favorite almost everywhere I go in Costa Rica and especially here with the large variety of wildlife! I was the only participant and my guide favored frogs as I do, though we did see some spiders and other creatures, I will just share the 7 frog photos I got which included 3 or 4 new species for me. And thanks to Antonio for helping to make most of these photos! Young people handle cell phones better than us old guys!  🙂

This morning I finally got to go on the rubber raft “Safari” on the Rio Tres Amigos and though not a large number of birds, I did get a nesting Sunbittern! A Rare sight! I will share on some future blog post, but for now, last night’s 7 different species of frogs . . .

The Guide called it a “Green Bone Tree Frog” while online I found it without the green. Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

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Correction & Addition to Lifer Post

Well, I shared last night’s post with yesterday morning’s guide, Antonio, and the one I called “Yellow-bellied Seedeater” is actually a “Morelet’s Seedeater” (similar, but the other is on the Pacific Slope and we are on the Atlantic Slope or called Caribbean Slope here.

PLUS I shared with Antonio an unidentified bird photo from yesterday and he identified it as an “Olive-crowned Yellowthroat” which is another new bird species for me, thus now 4 Lifers for yesterday’s morning bird walk!   🙂   That is really good for someone with more than 360 species in Costa Rica already recorded!   🙂

Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

And the correct identification of this one . . .

Morelet’s Seedeater, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!