And we're off! So long Arenal, we gotta hit the road. We do appreciate the amazing send-off this morning. First among the "usual" assortment of hummingbirds was this pair of dueling white-throated Jacobin males. You can't tell because the camera thought they were something in the way of a nice landscape shot, but I love the picture just for existing. :-)
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| white-throated jacobin |
Trogons! A pair! Look at them, just sitting in the tree like it's nothing special. Ha!
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| orange-bellied trogon |
I think the yellow-faced grassquit might be my favorite field-of-grass bird. I mean, they have a big yellow x on the front of their face. How can you not love that?
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| yellow-faced grassquit |
A rare view of the volcano relatively unmasked. It's only ~mostly~ covered in clouds. There's a big difference between covered in clouds, and ~mostly~ covered in clouds.
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| volcano |
Yes, this one is awfully cute, but it's no yellow-faced grassquit.
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| white-collared seed-eater |
Dacnis! They are really quite good at avoiding the camera.
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| scarlet-thighed dacnis |
That was all walking around the grounds, now we head onto an actual trail through the woods. We searched for and found this wren, sadly I don't remember and can't figure out what kind it is.
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| mystery wren |
Whoa Nelly! A coral snake! It was not large, but it was large enough to eat another (different type of) snake, whose tail you can see sticking out of this snake's mouth. And that, people, is why we switched from open-toe hiking sandals to closed boots!
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| Central American coral snake |
Enough of the trail. To breakfast! On the way last these birds, gorgeous and everywhere down there, at last agreed to pose for a shot. It took several trips and probably hundreds of attempts, but look how pretty they look. :-)
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| Passerini's tanager |
Oh, did you want more pretty birds? Let's check the feeders. Just pick your favorites!
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| green honeycreeper, golden-hooded tanager |
Heading back to the rooms to pack up we finally had a good look at the crested guans. I got the crest nearly completely deployed. Well done Sir Guan!
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| crested guan |
Jacamar! The driver and guide spotted these guys as we were driving down the road, and we piled out to take a look. I took a few shots through the window before we all got out, and I'm glad I did. We did find the birds again (eventually) but the ones through the glass were still my best pictures. Weird. Anyway, how crazy and gorgeous are these birds? Again, these look to me like a giant hummingbird crossed with a kingfisher. Hahahahaha, the best of both worlds!
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| rufous-tailed jacamar |
Their jays are fancier than the ones we have in NYC.
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| white-throated magpie jay |
Another hawk spotted from the road, this time we were able to get a nice view.
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| gray hawk |
Another awesome sight - monkeys travelling around, with the adult making a bridge for the baby to make it across. Great timing!
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| Central American spider monkey |
Another few miles of road, another cool bird. Hello kingfisher!
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| belted kingfisher |
And hello sharpie!
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| sharp-shinned hawk |
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