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Another not often seen birds from Villa Lapas earlier this week is the Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Glyphorynchus spirurus (linked to eBird) which I’ve only seen one other time which was at Rancho Naturalista many years ago. They are another bird found throughout Central America and Northern South America. Here’s three photos from a tree by the bridge to my room.
If you don’t know, “Lapas” is Spanish for plural “Macaws,” and in Costa Rica the Scarlet Macaws (Lapas Rojas) are found only on the Pacific Slope. (The critically endangered Green Macaw is only on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica.) This particular parrot, Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao, (eBird link) is greater in number and found throughout Central America and Northern South America, and though at one time listed as endangered, they have now recovered with the help of nesting boxes to replace the big old trees with holes they nested in that humans cut down for lumber and cow pastures. But the other Macaw, Green Macaw (Lapa Verde) is found only in Central America in low numbers and is listed as Critically Endangered for the same human reasons!
If you stay long enough at Villa Lapas Hotel and keep walking through the gardens and grounds you will see Scarlet Macaws there, either flying over, stopping in an Almond Tree for their favorite food, or just stopping in other trees to rest and socialize as these I photographed on the “Early Bird Hike” before breakfast my first morning there. Here are 4 of the dozens of shots I made, and as is usual with photographing birds in trees, I struggled with the shadows, “de-shadowing” as much as I could. 🙂 You can see more of my photos of this species in my Scarlet Macaw Gallery. Here’s 4 shots from Tuesday morning at Villa Lapas, Tarcoles, Puntarenas, Costa Rica . . .
I had a good birding hike this morning with Vicktor as my guide and got a lot of birds but haven’t had time to process all the photos yet, so here’s just one – the Turquoise-browed Motmot, Eumomota superciliosa (eBird link), one of the two main motmots in Costa Rica and this one is only found in Costa Rica north to Southern Mexico!
I will eventually share the photos of the other birds photographed this morning and eventually some photos from the Sky Way Bridges and Trails (a lot of steps!) from the 2 km mountain walk with a family of 5 from the states (the Mom born in CR) and our guide Stephanie. It was a nice, brisk, hour and a half mountain walk with pleasant people and I was hot and sweaty when we returned. 🙂
Tonight is the night hike for hopefully some good frog pix and in the morning I changed from the jungle wagon to another birding hike, this time in the Carara National Park when they open at 8am. Then leave for home at noon.
See my gallery of Turquoise-browed Motmots.
¡Pura Vida!
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!
My lifer bird this morning on a trip to nearby Tarcoles River was a Black Skimmer. Read an Overview about them on Cornell’s “All About Birds.”
I took two new friends from British Columbia there this morning and we saw way more than 30 species of birds and I think I got around that many photographed! I’m still working on the photos, but maybe a full report tomorrow. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
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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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| Cinnamon Hummingbird Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| Turquoise-browed Motmot Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica My first to see in Costa Rica, though I saw many in Nicaragua. |
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| White-tipped Dove Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica I almost called them Inca for the scaling, but white tips on tails ID them. |
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| Warbler of Some Kind (I’m pretty sure but hard to ID) Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| Hoffman’s Woodpecker Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| Blue-gray Tanager Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| Boat-billed Flycatcher Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica Several flycatchers look similar, but the bill and red cap ID this one. |
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| Melodious BlackbirdCerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica Very similar to Bronze Cowbird which has red eyes an this one doesn’t. Only the Melodious Blackbird has everything black, eyes, bill, feet. |
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| Cerro Lodge Entrance Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica Last time I stayed down here it was at Villa Lapas which further off the highway,
closer to Tarcoles, & deeper in the forest, but services and facilities are similar.
This one is actually in the middle of an upscale housing development but with
plenty of land for privacy and lots of birds. The gate is like what the neighbors
have to enter their mansions. Good friendly service, views, birds and food.
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I’m saving the birds photographed at Carara National Park for tomorrow since I got a lot at the lodge and the park was my last stop before going home. Some nice birds at the park this time! Better than my last trip there.
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| Scarlet Macaw flying over the mouth of the Tarcoles River at Pacific Ocean. All Photos by Charlie Doggett, Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
Scarlet Macaws were the main reason I spent a couple of nights at Carara National Park, where one of the two breeding colonies of Scarlet Macaws live, the other being at Corcovado NP and the surrounding Osa Peninsula which I visited in 2009 and got a few distant photos there. I also photographed a couple of the macaws on my 2010 and first Tarcoles River Crocodile & Birds cruise. But there were more macaws this time as June and July is the breeding season. My guide for two days here was Victor Mora Shaves of VicToursCostaRica. He is not a serious birder, but knows most of them and many of their songs or calls. And he did know we could get closer to macaws in Tarcoles Village than in the national park, thus we went there first thing Friday morning where all but one of these photos were made. We returned to Tarcoles Saturday morning for a mangrove boat tour with just me and him for a lot of other birds but no Macaws except flying way overhead. A separate post on that is coming with other bird photos. I’ll also do a post of our hike in the park for tomorrow, though it was a little disappointing compared to other parks I have visited (for the quantity of birds). Well here are some of the decent shots of Scarlet Macaws, not a single great one here, but okay and typical of shots birders get. You just can’t get close like in the zoo. But no zoo shots here!
Names used in Costa Rica are Guacamayo Rojo o Lapa Note that I stayed in Hotel Villa Lapas which in English would be The House of Macaws. This artwork of Lapas is between the rest rooms off the lobby area helping define their location and name:
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| The blue is Guacamayo Azul and the red Guacamayo Rojo and both are Lapas. Hotel Villa Lapas is the closest to Parque Nacional Carara. Problem with painting is that there are not blue & yellow macaws here! They’re in South America and more rare than scarlet. Blue or Hyacinth Macaws are even more rare, but did live in Central America once. |
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| Scarlet Macaw, a typical shot in the trees. Tarcoles, Costa Rica. The one on right is upside down, also common. |
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| Scarlet Macaw “loving couple” – they mate for life! Tarcoles, Costa Rica. |
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| “Double-Dating” with one upside down! 🙂 Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| Scarlet Macaws in different light – Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
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| Scarlet Macaws above the Tarcoles River Mouth, Tarcoles, Costa Rica Colorful birds! And beautiful flying! |
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| Scarlet Macaws inside Carara National Park, Costa Rica. Photo made across pond with cell phone through spotting scope. Better photo ops with the fishermen in Tarcoles! |
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| Dog on Porch Roof, Tarcoles, Costa Rica |
Tarcoles Village is where the Tarcoles River goes into the Pacific Ocean near Jaco and Carara National Park. It is where I have taken four boat trips on the river including the one today. It is where we got our good photos of Scarlet Macaws yesterday morning before going into the park where they are even more difficult to photograph. (Sharing those photos in tomorrow’s post.) And it is just a typical Tico small town, quiet, lazy, hot, and humid with sights like above and below before you get on your boat for the cruise.
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| A boy brings in part of the morning catch at 8:30. You can buy fresh fish along the road. |
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| He caught those fish in a boat like this. |
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| Then repair the nets for tomorrow’s catch. |
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| The main road through Tarcoles. |
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| And the only sign seen more than Coca Cola, Costa Rica’s own, locally made, Imperial Beer. |
For you Nashville readers, Kevin Hunter has ridden through this village with me for our birding/croc cruise. I came here two mornings on this trip; Friday for Macaw photos and Saturday for photos of other birds from a private boat. Someday I will just come and photograph the village.
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| Great Blue Heron Catches Catfish for Lunch Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
I was asked to take a friend of a friend birding today (Friday). I gave several choices and he chose Tarcoles River because of the closeness for a day trip (in his rent car). I have dozens of photos to show and will continue tomorrow. Above is a special one you don’t have the opportunity for very often, watching a bird catch a fish!
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| Common Black Hawk in Flight, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
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| Baby Iguana, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica |
This is what I moved here for – just been too busy to do much yet. Expect much more in the future! Above is just 3 of 500 images made today. 🙂 Pura Vida!
My Trip Advisor Review of this trip with photos!