Always one of my favorite on the water as you can see in my Great Egret GALLERY.
Just on shot here. Go to the gallery for some of the several others made.
¡Pura Vida!
Great Egret
The Other 2 White Birds
Three days ago, March 2, I published a blog post on the Snowy Egret, an all-white bird, and here are the other 2 all-white birds at Tortuguero: the Great Egret and the Cattle Egret.
You can tell the Snowy Egret and Great Egret apart by the opposite colors of their beaks and feet: Snowy has black beak and yellow feet, while Great has yellow beak and black feet. 🙂 The Cattle Egret is much smaller with shorter neck and beak and often with pale salmon coloring on head and chest. After this introductory photo, there is a 3-pix gallery for each of these two new all-white birds . . .
Wet Birds at Gandoca-Manzanillo
This morning’s rain not only interfered with a beautiful sunrise but also dampened my birding expedition with a great guide this morning. I try not to give up too quickly on such efforts, but did cut our hike a little shorter after my camera fogged up on the inside. All 12 of the following birds were photographed in the rain even if not obvious! 🙂 And we saw more birds and other animals, even in the rain! 🙂 Just imagine what it would have been like with a clear morning!
Two Egrets
The Great Egret and the Cattle Egret (both links to eBird) are very common all over Costa Rica around water and these two were seen at CATIE, the Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Turrialba with both egrets nesting on an island in CATIE’s lake. And of course I have lots of photos of both in my CR Birds galleries:
- Great Egret gallery
- Cattle Egret gallery
¡Pura Vida!
More of this adventure in my “Trip Gallery” 2022 Guayabo Lodge.
Egret Fishing
I photographed so many birds today, but decided the fishing action shots were the ones to show. Note that the lake is very low during this dry season, even though it rained off and on all day today. ? Here’s the five steps a Great Egret took:
FAVE BIRDS – Great Egret
Oh so many of my Great Egret (eBird link) photos are favorites, but I chose this one because it is so simple from the close-up of face to the background. My Great Egret Gallery has one as a ballet dancer and others flying, but I like this one that I photographed on the Tarcoles River within an hour of Atenas!
They are found almost anywhere in Costa Rica where there is water. Links to places where I’ve photographed them:
- Jungle Crocodile Safari and Bird Watching Tour on Tarcoles River
- Rancho Humo next to Palo Verde National Park in Guanacaste
- Palo Verde National Park or Palo Verde Boat Tours (Tempisque River)
- Maquenque Eco-Lodge & Reserve, Boca Tapada
- Rio Sierpe Mangrove Tour near Golfito
- Tortuguero National Park, all lodges
¡Pura Vida!
Some Birds in Flight from Today at Tarcoles
Had a wild bus adventure to Tarcoles and back today with Ed Fair. More photos, stories tomorrow.
 |
| Roseate Spoonbill Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
l
 |
| Magnificent Frigate Bird female Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
 |
| Ringed Kingfisher Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
 |
| Great Egret Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
 |
| Oops! – Snowy Egret Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
Trip Photo Gallery: 2017-07-29- Tarcoles River
All of my photo galleries on Birds or just Costa Rica Birds
And the boat tour company we used: Jungle Crocodile Safari
Pura Vida from Costa Rica!
~Charlie
~Charlie
Egret Haiku
 |
| Great Egret on the Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
I am now playing around with Haiku, the ancient Japanese poetry method that only describes nature. I’m a novice and your advice or opinions are welcome. I will not stick to rigid rules and prefer the more modern English approach of 2-3-2 syllables as opposed to Japanese 5-7-5, but even that will be flexible. And of course my goal is to combine Haiku creations with my nature photos. It will be fun and may or may not develop into something meaningful or continuing. Pura Vida! 🙂
Visiting a BIRD NURSERY
Now I truly begin my report on the two day visit to Nicaragua in two nature reserves. In Juan Venado Refuge my boat tip included visiting what we called a “Rookery” in South Florida, a collection of tree islands where hundreds if not thousands of birds build nests, lay eggs, and raise their young until they can fly. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! He looks just like daddy! 🙂
And don’t miss my Nicaragua Birds photo gallery for 98 different species!
 |
| Little Blue Heron chick Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Little Blue Heron Momma near the above nest Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Great Egret Nests on one of the mangrove islands Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua The majority of the nests were Great Egrets, but other birds mixed with them. |
 |
| Great Egret Nests are very close together! Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Great Egret mother and chicks Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Great Egret Chicks (the closeup you wanted to see) Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Boat-billed Heron & Chick Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Boat-billed Heron Juvenile Learning to Fly Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Tiger Heron Chick Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
 |
| Anhinga Chick (we saw Momma nearby, the only Anhingas seen) Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
Wow! I’m having fun! There are so many neat places like this for short and brief trips and this is just the beginning of bird photos from these two days. There will be many more the next few days and some other animals and interesting sights too! So much to see!
And don’t miss my Nicaragua Birds photo gallery for 98 different species!
And remember that both my trips to Nicaragua were provided by Tours Nicaragua! Check out what they offer! I’m happy with them!
Egrets & Herons in Nicaragua
 |
| Snowy Egret flies in to Tricolored Heron Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua |
 |
| Little Blue Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
 |
| Green Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
 |
| Black-crowned Night Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
 |
| Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
 |
| Tricolored Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
 |
| Snowy Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
 |
| Snowy Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
 |
| Great Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
“Patience” is what the egrets and herons seem to say to me!
The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
~Ecclesiastes 7:8 NKJV