These are my first turtles to be labeled Nicaraguan, but that is what iNaturalist’s AI said for every one of these photos (less the nose shot) and we’ll see if the experts agree after I post them there. It is very similar to the Central American Slider and thus could be either. But Maquenque is almost on the Nicaragua border, plus this species is supposedly all over Costa Rica.
This pretty little bird was photographed from the back porch of my cabin and when I put three shots from this sighting in my gallery Yellow Tyrannulet (linked), I found that the only two shots already in that gallery were made in the same tree two years earlier from the back porch of that same cabin of a more mature bird. 🙂 So Maquenque is the only place I’ve ever seen it.
Yellow Tyrannulet, Maquenque Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
I finally processed all the bird photos from my 2026 Maquenque Trip linked at: BIRDS (43 species alphabetically) with one “Lifer” (1st time seen), the Yellow-olive Flatbill.
That familiar idiom was seen literally during the several rains of my visit to Maquenque Lodge in early July, shown here in photos of a Muscovy Duck in the rain (link to my gallery). But I guess I could also use the phrase as the idiom it is known for when I read about the idiotic president and Republican politicians of the United States while living a more relaxed life in the nature and beauty of a tropical paradise country with no army, no wars, no enemies and no national hatred or fears . Pura vida! Trump affects me like water off a duck’s back! 🙂 (Though I do sometimes mourn for what is happening to my country of birth and shake my head in disbelief.)
Muscovy Duck, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
Trip BIRDS Gallery Finished
I finally processed all the bird photos from my 2026 Maquenque Trip linked at:
And yes, on previous trips I had 61 and 62 species, but I’m an old man now plus it rained every day this trip, so considering that, 43 was not a bad number. 🙂
Maquenque ranks up there with Tortuguero on seeing and photographing the Green Ibis, though this time I was not able to get a close as before plus the cloudy/rainy weather made them look darker or nearly black, but they are always dark as you can see in my gallery: Green Ibis (linked). Just 2 shots here with more in the gallery. And though they all have a green tint, it is difficult to get that green to show up in a photo.
Green Ibis, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Where there’s water there’s Green Herons and I have a lot of photos from all over Costa Rica of this interesting bird in my gallery: Green Heron. And as in this wet look photo below, they can have many different looks, particularly when fishing from a limb , , ,
Contorted Green Heron fishing at Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica
This Tropical Checkered Skipper (my gallery link) and that linked gallery will show you that I have seen a lot of these in Atenas with this one at Maquenque the only one so far anywhere else. 🙂
Tropical Checkered Skipper, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Costa Rica
This is another one of the fine birds that I photographed from my back porch at Maquenque in two different sightings. I’ve seen this bird in only 2 other lodges but these were my best shots ever while just sitting on the back porch. 🙂 See more photos from these sightings plus those from the other two lodges in my gallery: Cocoa Woodcreeper (linked).
Cocoa Woodcreeper, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Costa Rica