One Last Look at Costa Rica

This is my last post about Costa Rica...



This overlook was one of the hidden views most people never see unless you were a local. The path was barely used and trecherous, but worth it...








This photo was taken with a Blackberry camera phone. A bamboo tunnel greets you as you enter the resort...









Within the confines of the resort, here is the paver road leading to a restaurant and the bungalows we stayed in. What is nice about this resort is that they leave the jungle intact as much as possible.










A walkway









Here is where the restaurant tries to keep the monkeys and Coati Mundis at bay, by setting up a feeding station, offering fruits for them in the tray pictured here. Every morning after breakfast, we would visit this area and enjoy the show. (See the monkey on the roof and the coati in the foreground)









Here is a very large Angel Trumpet flower.

Let's All Go To The Beach!

I didn't want to carry an expensive camera to the beach, so I left all of my scenic shots to my lil ole iPhone. I didn't know how well it would perform, but I took the gamble anyway, and for the most part, it did o.k. The photos are 3 mg, and I did have plenty of blowout, but I am not complaining. My camera was safe, and that was all that mattered.



Playa Blanca Beach






Turtle tracks- How frickin cool is that? I wanted to come back at night to see the lil guys make their way to the water, but without a flashlight, it would have been quite difficult.













This area was our little piece of paradise at the beach. You know how beaches get soooo crowded? This one isn't and we had probably 75 feet of beachfront to ourselves!

Jesus Christ Lizard

The common Basilisk lizard is part of the Iguana Family. They have the nickname “Jesus Christ Lizard” because when fleeing from a predator, they are very fast and can even run on top of the water. Basilisks actually have large hind feet with flaps of skin between each toe. The fact that they move quickly across the water, aided by their web-like feet, gives them the appearance of “walking on water”. Smaller basilisks can run about 10-20 meters on the water without sinking. Young basilisks can usually run farther than older ones. Like most reptiles, basilisks are active during the day. Most are under a foot in length, but some may grow up to two feet. Their outstanding camouflage allows them to remain motionless and very hard to detect.



This frame was the least fuzzy photo of him running away. I can truly confirm just how fast these guys are, as not even the lightning focus-speed of the Canon 300mm 2.8L prime could keep up! It was awesome to see them running on just 2 legs! We tried to seek them out on the rest of the trip, but only found 1 other, and we couldn't get him to run out in the open for photographic purposes.

Potpourri of Tropical Birds Part 2

Rufous-naped Wren









Social Flycatcher










Spotted Sandpiper










Lineated Woodpecker

This concludes the "birdy" photos from Costa Rica. I hope you found them as interesting as I did!

Potpourri of Tropical Birds

Streaked Flycatcher- A pretty common bird to spot, I was sorry I only had the mindset to capture him once, as this one is on a wire.






These last 3 birds are a collection of photos taken from a bit more distance than the previous posts. I have just 1 more set of potpourri, and then I have completed my posts of tropical birds. I still have lizards and spiders coming up!



Orange-chinned Parakeet- We found this guy and his mate while going rogue. We were not supposed to be in this particular area, but the rebels we were, took the chance anyway and were rewarded with him, although it was quite distant. (We could "walk" the road, but we were in a golfcart. Small technicality I'd say...)









Yellow-throated Euphonia- Found this male on one of our guided morning birdwalks. He sang beautiful songs, hence the name...









Streaked-headed Woodcreeper- A bird found in the shadows, we saw one a few times, but always hidden from sunlight.

Click on any photo to see larger.

Groove-billed Ani

The Groove-billed Ani is an all-black member of the cuckoo family. At first glance, in my own experience, you walk right past this bird, giving it the "oh, you are just a grackle", then you find out differently and pay attention next time. Closer inspection of this bird was really cool to see! Their bills are enormous!

Grey-headed Chachalaca

Grey-headed Chachalaca, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.

The local birders call these "Flying Chickens"

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.

This guy proved to be quite elusive as most kingfishers are, but success was had after too many failures by approaching from a newer angle. Interesting note, he didn't chatter at all when fleeing, but I did hear him once in the distance.

The Green Kingfisher is smaller than the Belted Kingfisher and lacks the large white spot in the wing and in front of the eye.

Interestingly, the males have a chestnut breast band, not the female.

Blue-crowned Motmot

The Blue-crowned Motmot is one of my favorite birds found in Costa Rica. As with the Pygmy Owl, it has an easy call to replicate. They have a confiding nature and call with a soft double hoot "woop-woop'. This guy was perching right under our nose as we stopped and scanned an area we thought might be a good haven for motmots. As we sat there waiting for something to happen, for quite a while I may add, a glimpse of color finally caught my eye. Less than 10 feet away, 2 motmots perched on a low branch stared at us. We took hundreds of photos as one of them sat for the whole session. Unusually, seeing motmots during the day is a treat. We were lucky enough to have 2 of them in nice lighting! What a striking bird! For fine details, click on photo for large view!

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

A hint of this bird at a location was given by our bird guide one morning, and wouldn't you know, he was at that spot the next morning. I took some shots while on a walk and ventured on. What I didn't know the next morning, was that he was fishing there again, but upstream quite a ways. This location wasn't revealed until I accidently flushed him, while looking for a Green Kingfisher. This juvy actually flew into a better position for this photographer. Now that never happens, but this is the proof! What an interesting pattern!

You can see the "bare-throat" if you click the photo above!

Bare-throated Tiger Heron, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

A tiny owl of about 6 inches, they are a favorite of mine to find, though quite difficult to spot given their size. The call is easy to replicate and often gets answered. We found 3 on this trip which was quite the highlight, because in the previous trip, I could only manage a butt-shot that was worth keeping.

If you can imagine a baseball hidden in a tree, that is about the size of this guy without the tail. In this shot, it looks as though he is roosting in a branch a few feet from me and the shot is basically eye to eye, but in fact this is an overhead vertical shot, and the pygmy is looking down at me. My neck hurt alot on this trip, but I cannot complain!

Click the photo for a look at a jumbo sized pygmy owl! And...depending on your monitor, it is close to actual size!

White-fronted Parrots

This White-fronted Parrot was a very interesting flyer. Not only are they a loud and obnoxious bird, the flight of these distinct birds was odd. Their wing beats are short and rapid.

Cool Facts: The White-fronted Amazon, Amazona albifrons, also known as the White-fronted Parrot, or adopted slang term Spectacled Amazon Parrot is a Central American species of parrot. They can imitate a range from 30 to 40 different sounds. Like other large parrots, the White-fronted Parrot has a long potential life span, usually around 40 years.The White-fronted Amazon, at about 25 cm (10 in) long, is among the smallest of the Amazon parrots. This species is named for the bright white patch of feathers on their foreheads, although the amount of white varies from individual to individual. They have mostly green plumage with some blue coloring on their outspread wings. They have bright red coloring around their eyes (in some individuals almost like spectacles) and blue coloring behind the patch of white on their foreheads. We were lucky enough to see them twice!

Tamandua Anteater

This anteater was spotted on our first morning in Costa Rica way up high in the canopy at dawn while waiting for our morning bird walk to begin.



He worked his way down...



...to a tree directly in front of us...



..and we admired his interesting colors! I never knew just how cool his coat was!






I found his size to be quite a bit smaller than expected. I would gauge him at a about the size of a stout medium sized dog with a very long tail.

Giant Anteater, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.

Interesting Facts: South American anteaters have long noses, long sticky tongues, and strong sharp claws, but they do not have any teeth. The largest species is the giant anteater, or ant bear. While normally not aggressive, these animals can be quite dangerous due to their size and sharp claws; in 2006, a female zookeeper was attacked and killed by an adult giant anteater.

Oh, and don't forget to click on the photos for a detailed view!

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

The largest of the toucans to be found in Costa Rica, I loved seeing these guys every time, without getting bored. Who could with such interesting features? They were tough to find, but we managed to almost every day. Interestingly, their call is very muted, so we solely relied on sight to spot them.

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.

Interestingly, the toucan eats fruits and berries just like Toucan Sam of Fruit Loops cereal fame, but will steal eggs and nestlings from the nests of the endangered Scarlet Macaw!



Their long bill allows them to perch on heavier, stable branches and reach a distance for hanging fruits. They snip the fruit off, hold it at the tip of the bill, and then, with a forward flip of the head, toss the fruit into the air and into their throats.



Small fruit seeds pass unharmed through toucan digestive tracts and large seeds are regurgitated, also unharmed. Thus, these frugivores aid in the dispersal of tree seeds, and, together with other fruit-eaters, are responsible for the positions of some forest trees.



This last one is a Fiery-billed Aracari. It is much smaller than the toucan and has a serrated bill. He was a very cool bird to see with it's awesome colors! We didn't have the pleasure of seeing this guy but twice, and was very lucky to get the photos we did, as they scare very easily, and are spotted high up in the canopy in most cases.
I was thrilled with the luck we did have!



Click on photos to see better detail!