Some Photos

As promised:

Another abandoned puppy. 

To be fair, we also found an abandoned boot

Resplendent Quetzal

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

There's a bird in the cloud forest

Costa Rica: Day 15 - Savegre to Hotel Bougainvillea, The Last Full Day

Today was kind of a "free" day, meaning that all that needed to happen was to get from the lodge to the hotel. Of course, it also turned into a long but very good day. Sadly (for you), it's late and the pillows here are amazing. So stories and photos tomorrow.

Good night. 

Costa Rica: Day 14 - Savegre

Another good day today. A little pre-breakfast birding around.  Adopted a new abandoned puppy for about 30 minutes. I have a photo but it's not going up tonight. After breakfast we went up through the valley (where Dad got some great photos of the Quetzal) and to Cerro de la Muerte in the paramo high country.  Great views, and on clear days you can see both the Pacific and Carribean. Saw some birds up there.  Then back down the hill in the Parque Nacionale de Quetzales for lunch and some hummingbirds. After that, the rain settled in, and we had our first early night back at the lodge. So now it's 8:30, Dad's nearly asleep, and I'm hurrying through this to get some early sleep myself.

Photos of the day (and some from yesterday):

***These are Dad's favorites (they're great) that he took today and yesterday, other than the squash....that's kind of a joke***

Purple-throated Mountain-gem female

Grey-breasted Wood-Wren

Collared Redstart

Spot-crowned Woodcreeper

Tufted Flycatcher

Hepatic Tanager

Bare-shank Screech-Owl

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Resplendent Quetzal

Resplendent Quetzal

Noel (Guide)

Volcano Junco

Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

Costa Rica: Day 13 - Savegre

Up a little late this morning (5ish) to do some hiking around the lodge. Many birds by the cabins - hummingbirds, thrushes, parakeets, tanagers and the like. Once up in the cloud forest, the birds were a little more difficult to draw in. Photos were tough. We did get a look at the quetzal, but not a great chance for photos.

Fortunately, the afternoon and evening made up for it, including some owl hunting. 

Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher

Yellow-thighed Finch

Acorn Woodpecker

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Bare-shanked Screech-Owl

Costa Rica: Promised Photos

Apologies for any repeats. 

Spotted Antbird

Cinnamon Becard

Long-tailed Tyrant

Black-necked Stilt

Rescue Puppy

Fiery-billed Aracari

Smooth-billed Ani

Hondurian White Bat

Bare-shanked Screech Owl

Orange-collared Manakin

Trogon

Costa Rica: Day 12 - Cerro Lodge to Savegre Hotel

Good news, everyone! We have solid internet. But only in the bar.

Sadly, I'll not be putting up photos tonight, as I've run out of time.  But many many photos tomorrow. For certain.

Before I pass out, here's the recap:

Today I took a shower with a scorpion (I'm fine), Dad fell off of a road (he's fine), we survived a teacher's strike where they'd taken over the highway, rescued an abandoned puppy and found her a home, and saw a King Vulture. That was before lunch. 

Afterwards was a little more normal, with a fair amount of driving, some free coffee mugs, a hamburger,  and the now-becoming-a-regular-thing pestering of owls. 

Now I must sleep. 

Until tomorrow.....

Costa Rica: Day 11 - Cerro Lodge

Today we went up into Carara National Park after chasing a Collared Forest Falcon around the lodge property during breakfast. I decided to spend the day shooting in manual mode (meaning there are few if any automated settings) and by lunch I was about ready to throw the camera into the Tarcoles River. The first two birds were the worst possible two birds to start that with, one being a wren that liked to somehow move and hide at the same time, the other being a ground bird that lives in darkness and probably wants it's "preciousssss".

Fortunately, lunch plus caffeine plus a little more light and I started to get the swing of it. I'm still not great at it, but I got a few good ones this afternoon. 

We're well over 300 birds for the trip now, with more on the way tomorrow. 

There's a lot of road to cover tomorrow, and hopefully it will be full of many stops and many new photos. 

Oh, and FYI, I did get a beer tonight, so all is well with the world. 

Costa Rica: Day 10 - Cerro Lodge/Tarcoles

Great day today. 6am boat tour on the river, with just Noel, Dad, myself, and the captain. Saw crocodiles, kingfishers, ibises, cranes, and many more. Somehow the two hour trip turned into a three hour tour, and I was starting to get a little worried about who would be Gilligan.

Anyway, after that it was back to the lodge for Second Breakfast (hobbit style), then more driving after some more birds. Then lunch, a fast dip in the pool for me, then a quick cold shower (it's really hot and dry here on the Pacific side), then off for more birding. 

We got back well after dark, had some dinner, chased another bird around the yard here, filled out our bird checklist, and then called it a night. Sadly, 10 min before we were done the staff locked up all the beer and soft drinks and left for the night. Bummer. 

All in all today we saw (amongst others) Double-Striped Thick-knees, Bobwhites, two kinds of hawks, four types of owls, and a Brown Pelican or two. 

We also saw many lizards, many more butterflies, a few dragonflies, a million mosquitos, and a nice bunch of fireflies, not to mention cows, horses, and an anteater. 

Our total species count is now at 298. Averaging about 30 a day is pretty good, I think, but I'm not a birder, so what do I know?

While it is nice here at Cerro Lodge, in a very non-corporate kinda way, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone, the slow and limited internet and lack of beverages after 9pm has left me frustrated and thirsty this evening. There were many great photos yesterday and today, and I like beer. 

Oh well....now I know, so beer tomorrow, and hopefully photos the day after. 

Costa Rica: Day 9 - Arenal to Cerro Lodge

Today was a long one. Up at 5 (a little late), on the road at 7, lots of stops for photos, and to the new lodge at 7:30. It's now 9:15 and we just finished dinner and our bird list. Time for bed, as we have a boat trip on the Tarcoles River tomorrow at 6am.

Sorry, but it looks like no photos or vids for at least the next three nights, as the internet here is a bit more tortoise than hare. No worries, though. We'll make up for it later. 

Costa Rica: Day 8 - Arenal Volcano

Hey everyone. Apologies in advance for the short post again.

Here's the sum-up:

Lots of birding around but not in the lodge grounds, mostly around Lake Arenal. We spent well over 2 hours trying to call out and get pictures of just two birds - the Thicket Antpitta and the Bare-Crowned Antbird. Later in the afternoon, I also spent nearly half an hour trying to get the perfect shot of a Long-tailed Tyrant (more on that another day). 

To add to the excitement, we also got chased off by a swarm of Africanized bees, and we saw both a vine snake and a bird-eater snake. Dad got right up in the latter's face (Mom is gonna be soooooo pissed). 

Great food all day. Tomorrow is mostly on the road. Bird count is 226, putting Dad's life-list somewhere over 2,000' and mine somewhere over 50. 

Since all yesterday's pic were mine, tonight's are all Dad's. Enjoy. 

Spotted Antbird

Plain Xenops

Thicket Antpitta

Cinnamon Becard

Rufous Motmot

Vine Snake

Bird-eating Snake

White-fronted Nunbird