White-nosed Coati and the iNaturalist win for best photo of the day! |
Life bird after life bird requires a homage to the Arenal bird gods |
Bananaquit |
Eyelash Viper |
There were so many trails to discover. We did our best to cover as many as we could. Each trail had a different group of birds.
Rufous Motomot |
our backyard view for several days |
Orange-chinned Parakeet |
During a storm, we were protected from the rain under the canopy of the forest. As it rained, several puddles formed. And that's when we noticed birds flying in and out of those puddles....
Spotted Antbird |
I could see that Gordon was very happy here. I got the sense that this was his favorite stop in Costa Rica. On our last day, I could see in his eyes that he wanted to stay longer. We only scratched the surface when it came to finding birds. Arenal is home to a great many birds. Plus the climate and lodging made it very easy to bird anywhere in the park. However, with that said, we had a lot of different types of habitat to cover across the country for specialty birds. My greatest concern was getting him to the place of his maybe lifer Resplendent Quetzal. They can be tricky birds. That was his top MUST SEE bird from our Costa Rica adventure.
Gordon loves butterflies and helped save this one trapped inside a lookout point |
Collared Aracari |
One night I went swimming with Micheal. It was a perfect evening alone in the pool. A nightjar flew over our heads several times. I suppose it could have been a lifebird but I was too exhausted to care due to the constant daily onslaught of new birds and information. At some point, you need to shut the brain down.
Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher-found in Arizona but still cool to see |
Long-tailed Tyrant |
Then there's the photographer. I see so many amazing things. Where do I even start? Sometimes, it's about putting down the camera and just watching it all happen as it happens. And that's not easy.
Then there's the damn curious citizen scientist inside of me. What's that calling? Who's behind that leaf?
male and female Passerini's Tanagers |
Black-and-white Owl |
Red-billed Pigeons |
Keel-billed Toucan |
Crested Guan |
As for Arenal, the volcano? Well, Arenal is an active volcano, but the last time it seriously "belched" was back in the 90's. It sent locals scurrying down the mountain side. Today, Costa Rica has seen an uptick in volcano activity around the country. Once dormant volcanoes are now active again. In fact, we had a day trip planned to Poas out of San Jose. That is until the volcano decided to spew hot rock and water all over the trails. Thankfully, we had a Plan B. It all worked itself out at the end of our trek.
Best dream of the year happened in Arenal. In my dreams, I saw the volcano erupt. In the morning, I saw this. |
Arenal Day 1
Arenal Day 2 AM and PM
Arenal Day 3
Arenal Day 4
I am enjoying your posts from Costa Rica immensely as it is bringing back memoreis of my trip
ReplyDeleteIt was fun going back there. What a great place for wildlife!
DeleteWow - you've been to Costa Rica - a place I would dearly love to visit - but reading your super posts and seeing your photos is the next best thing :) You have seen some wonderful species and it must have been a great adventure. Love the photo of the tree canopy :) Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHello there! I'm just starting to get back into the blogging world again. I had so much data to sort through from our treks and it was time consuming! Now I'm back and will be reading about everyone's fun again. There was a lot of info.
DeleteHope you are well! Talk to you soon. Me:)
Hello, Chris! This is an awesome post on your trip to Costa Rica. Amazing birds and sightings, I like the view of the volcano too. Beautiful series of photos. Happy Birding!
ReplyDeleteOne trek down. What an incredible place to bird. Happy birding to you as well!
DeleteI stayed in fortuna twice. Luckily, both times, arenal was active. I loved it. You are lucky to see so many birds. Not so lucky to not be able to eat out, as Fortuna has so many good restaurants!
ReplyDeleteI look back on the trek now. Fortuna would be great for the day trek stuff. It would have been a lot cheaper leaving out of that town. And the restaurants looked great. I loved the lodge because we did a lot of birding right out of our cabin door. But next time, I might elect staying in Fortuna.
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