Category: Places

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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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Streaked Flycatcher

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! 🙂

Streaked Flycatcher, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Streaked Flycatcher (or maybe a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher), Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

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!

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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
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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
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Hide-N-Seek Macaws

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.

Hide-N-Seek Scarlet Macaw, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
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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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Magnificent Frigatebird

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.

Magnificent Frigatebird female, Rio Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (next image is a male)
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