We hate the cold, so every year we try and go somewhere warm in the middle of winter (mind you, coming back is depressing). These pics came from a Voyages Jules Verne trip. While not exclusively a wildlife trip, most days were spent looking for the stuff. We covered a few different habitats and had a brilliant guide.
Let's start on the Caribbean coast at Tortuguero. This is low and very swampy rainforest, cut by channels and only accessible by boat.
Bare-Throated Tiger Heron
Anhinga
Basalisk (or Jesus Christ Lizard, from it's ability to run across water)
Caiman
Common Black Hawk (possibly)
Great Kiskadee
Grey-Necked Wood-Rail
Little Blue Heron
Northern Jacana
Tree Snake
Tropical Kingbird
River Turtle
On the creek - William the guide is second left - with the bird book on the seat in front of him
Rustic, isn't it? Our hut at Evergreen Lodge, Tortuguero - woken up by Howler monkeys every morning.
From there we moved inland to stay at La Quinta de Sarapiqui - rather more luxurious huts. This is on the "wildlife corridor" between the two coasts and surrounded by pineapple plantations. While we went to La Selva Biological Station, we saw more wildlife around the hotel grounds. Here's some pics from both.
Blue-grey Tanager
As above - good feeding station, but the light was a bit poor.
Buff-thoated Saltator
Golden Orb-Weaver Spider
Strawberry Poison Dart Frog
Golden-Hooded Tanager
Green Honeycreeper
Keel-Billed Toucan
Masked Tityra at nest hole
Masked Tityra chick
Red-Legged Honeycreeper
Collared Peccary
Red-Throated Ant Tanager
Scarlet-Rumped Tanager
Chestnut Mandibled Toucan
Army Frog
Squirrels - always on the bird feeders!
Next we drove via Arenal (great volcano, usually hidden in cloud and not erupting) to Monteverde, in among the cloud forest. We also had a night walk in Bosque Eterno de los Ninos - birdwatching at it's easiest! Masses of hummingbirds at feeders, Quetzel (brief glimpse) and a real hotel to stay in.
Bananaquit
Black Guan
Black-Thighed Grosbeak
Blue-Crowned Motmot
Coppery-Headed Emerald (please note that my hummingbird IDs are a bit dodgy in some cases)
Green-Crowned Brilliant
Green Violet-Ear
Magenta-Throated Woodstar
Tarantula
Violet Sabrewing
Orange-Bellied Trogon (fast asleep)
This ball of feathers is apparently an Emerald Toucanet
Purple-Throated Mountain-Gem (female)
Monteverde
Leaving the beautiful cloud forest, six of us took a four day extension to the Pacific Coast, staying near Manuel Antonio National Park. Most of the pictures come from the grounds of the Hotel Parador - mmm, luxury. One of the highlights was a black vulture playing dambusters over the swimmingpool, getting lower and lower with each pass.
Black Vultures
Green-Backed Heron
The hotel Iguana, wanting feeding.
Capuchin Monkeys
Ani (smooth or groove-billed) chicks
Howler Monkeys
Millipede
Pale-Billed Woodpecker
Racoon
Three (count 'em) Toed sloth
Turkey Vulture
Great holiday - great country, nice people and we only skimmed the surface of the wildlife. There are more than 800 species recorded.
Just to finish...
"Let loose the Kraken!"
What a fantastic series of photos and a great report.......whatever can I say? Just wonderful, all of it! I especially love the Jesus Christ Lizard....you don't think it's so named because you go 'JESUS CHRIST!' when you see it?
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Stuart, you have taken my breath away with such an excellent selection of photographs. Birds I can only dream of seeing. Thank you so much for showing them and having the patience to load them on here. Fantastic.
Fascinating and interesting report with wonderful set of photos Stuart; makes me want to pack my suitcase and head off West LOL ...........especially with this current UK weather !
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Regards, Hazel