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.