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The Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens (my gallery link) is seldom seen and usually in the mouth of a river as it was here in the mouth of Rio Tarcoles. Though I did see one upriver at Rancho Humo, Palo Verde NP, Rio Tempisque, a pale morph. This time it is a dark morph. It is rare and mainly seen on the Pacific Coast when seen. Only my second sighting and a different morph this time.
This tiny little bee on the Spadix of an Anthurium (not a large pistil) was, I first thought, a Green Orchid Bee, but the AI of iNaturalist says no, it is one of many different species of sweat bees and once I post it on iNaturalist, it may or may not be given a species name, just the Tribe Augochlorini. He will go in my general Bees Gallery with only this tribal name for now. 🙂 He is less than half the size of yesterday’s orchid bee.
¡Pura Vida!
Early this morning Walter will take me and a group of 4 Canadian friends to breakfast at El Jardin on our way to a birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles to its mouth on the coast followed by a birding hike in nearby Carara National Park, then lunch somewhere on our way back to Atenas. This is the second time I’ve arranged this always productive birding trip for this group.
Then on Thursday we go, at their request, to a mountain Cloud Forest Reserve north of San Ramon. There will not be as many birds there but all will be different from what was seen on the coast. Plus that 6:30am guided hike will be followed by a great “farm to table” breakfast at the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort. I spent a couple of nights there during my earlier years in Costa Rica (2017) and it is nice, but I photographed only 9 species of birds that one time there. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
One fun thing about going to the coast is seeing some of the many types of wading shorebirds. Below the email version pix is a slide show of 6 different shorebirds from the recent trip to the mouth of the Tarcoles River. And the mouth of a river is one of the best places to see birds because of the larger variety of food possibilities there plus the usual mangroves!
The humble banana plant flower, seen here along the shores of Rio Tarcoles but also found all over Costa Rica in lowlands and rainforests.
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
See also my gallery: FLORA & FOREST Costa Rica
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 . . .
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 . . .
Our trip to the river Thursday yielded more species of birds than any other of my now 9 trips on the Tarcoles River! I got photos of 35 species and know we saw several others, but I only count my photos! 🙂 And this was in less than 2 hours on the river! A good place for birding!
It has been a difficult and rushed job to get the photos ready to post while also getting ready for my trip Sunday to Heredia for Spanish Immersion! I’m only including one shot of each bird in this post, but for more of each bird plus crocs, other wildlife, and other photos, see my “TRIP GALLERY” 2020 Feb 20, Rio Tarcoles Birding Trip for more photos!
CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT
“TRIP GALLERY” 2020 Feb 20, Rio Tarcoles Birding Trip
¡Pura Vida!
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| American Crocodile “Crocodile Bridge,” Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| American Crocodile “Crocodile Bridge,” Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
American Crocodile on Wikipedia
Species Profile: Everglades National Park
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| Nice Trees and Plants Along the River from mangroves to forests and plains Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Surrounded by Mountains and the Pacific Ocean Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Tarcoles Teens Headed for School at 7:30 AM Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Welcome to Our Tour Boat Jungle Crocodile Safari Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| A Fishing Village, Thus Boats Everywhere! Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Mangrove Trees Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Lone Boat Anchored in Mouth of River That’s ocean waves just beyond the boat. Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Why do I want to photograph every boat I see? Low tide on a tidal river close to its mouth Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Other Tour Boats Going Out You have several choices, but ours is the best for birding. Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Our Guide Explaining Something to John Like me, he talks with his hands 🙂 Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Wood Stork Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| White Ibis Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Yellow-crowned Night Heron Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Boat-billed Heron Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Roseate Spoonbill Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Panama Flycatcher Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Great Blue Heron Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Lesser Nighthawk Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Common Black Hawk Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Green Kingfisher female Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Yellow Warbler Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Mangrove Cuckoo Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Tropical Kingbird Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
This two days of about 20 bird photos are with thanks to the boat facility we used, Jungle Crocodile Safari, my favorite because they emphasis the birds rather than the crocs! I recommend them if in the Jaco area or west-central Costa Rica. And it was only 20 photos, but we saw more like 30 species! I simply cannot get a useable photo of all birds seen on any of my trips!
And tonight I will be setting up a new “Trip Gallery” on this Tarcoles River trip at:
2018-February-27–Tarcoles River
ICE Builds Handicap Accessible Trail at Manuel Antonio National Park.
Online article in English about a new elevated trail in the Mangrove area of park that is wheelchair accessible and all signs include braille for the blind. This is real progress for Costa Rica since most of our tourist activities are not handicap accessible.