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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:
¡Pura Vida!
More of this adventure in my “Trip Gallery” 2022 Guayabo Lodge.
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:
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:
¡Pura Vida!
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| Roseate Spoonbill Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Magnificent Frigate Bird female Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Ringed Kingfisher Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Great Egret Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Oops! – Snowy Egret Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
Trip Photo Gallery: 2017-07-29- Tarcoles River
And the boat tour company we used: Jungle Crocodile Safari
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| Great Egret on the Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Little Blue Heron chick Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| Little Blue Heron Momma near the above nest Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| 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. |
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| Great Egret Nests are very close together! Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| Great Egret mother and chicks Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| Great Egret Chicks (the closeup you wanted to see) Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| Boat-billed Heron & Chick Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| Boat-billed Heron Juvenile Learning to Fly Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| Tiger Heron Chick Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua |
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| 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!
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| Snowy Egret flies in to Tricolored Heron Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua |
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| Little Blue Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
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| Green Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
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| Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
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| Tricolored Heron, Lake Nicaragua at Granada |
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| Snowy Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
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| Snowy Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
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| Great Egret, Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
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| Roseate Spoonbill, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Mangrove Hummingbird, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica (Proud of this! A rare shot! Got another of his back, all green.) |
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| Wilson’s Plover, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| White Ibis, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Great Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica (Our morning ballet?) |
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| Whimbrel strolling with big brother Spoonbill, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica (It’s kind of like me hanging out with Ticos!) 🙂 |
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| Juvenal Little Blue Heron , Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Juvenal Yellow-crowned Night Heron,Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Olivaceous Cormorants, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
I still haven’t processed all the bird photos from the 2-hour, pre-breakfast float on Tarcoles River last Saturday morning. Maybe I’ll finish them tomorrow, a week after the trip to a favorite place!
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| Boat-billed Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Cerulean Warbler, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Mealy Parrot, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Great Egret, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Green Heron, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica (I’ve many photos of them, but none like this front view) |
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| Ringed Kingfisher, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| White Ibis hanging out with Black Vultures, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Black Vulture, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |