Red frogs at last!

Another day of rising with the birds and enjoying the dawn chorus.  I had only four things I really wanted to see - the manakins, monkeys, a sloth, and the red frogs that this place was named for but still eluded me.  We didn't have any real plans today so we decided to walk around near the zipline to look for red frogs later.

lineated woodpecker

Montezuma oropenola

iguana

red-lored parrot

roadside hawk

 After breakfast, we took Jack's parents on the little trail between the restaurant and the hostel, which was great!  We found the manakins!!!!!!  We had a nice long look at this male.  He didn't dance, but he did pose.  Wish there had been more light!

golden-collared manakin

 Also this monkey crossed above us, so now I had seen two out of four!

white-faced capuchin

 Then there was some gold cart confusion and we ended up stranded at the restaurant.  So I started walking along the path , which as you can see has some quite inviting spots!

 These crabs were everywhere but were very hard to see.

crab

masked tityra

 This basilisk is still young, but wanted to demo its chompers.

basilisk

 Wow, what a view of the black hawk!!!  Right after seeing this I met up with Jack's mother again and we went to collect the boys at the restaurant and head back to the villa.

common black hawk

black-cheeked woodpecker

 Red frogs at last!!!!!  Finding the first one is really hard, and then they are just about everywhere.  Look how cute!  They are so tiny.

red frog

 Another great look at a roadside hawk.  This looked like it was going to be a courtship display sort of flight, but then the hawk took off, so, apparently not.  It was wonderful to see!

roadside hawk

Starfish Beach Day

 What a day!  It was another great time getting up with the birds, I will miss this so much.

Then down to breakfast where we saw the two roadside hawks, and after we watched them for a few minutes we went in to order.  I brought Jack's mother out to see the hawks, and they got frisky!  It was pretty exciting.  My camera was too riled up to focus properly.

 Ah, relaxation time.

 I decided to take a few pictures of the crazy (but quite small) spiders on the deck.  Jack has not noticed them, so I tried to be low-key.

 I went with the guys to talk to them about today's excursion, but it became clear that I didn't want to be a part of that, so I found some wrens making a nest.  Look how cute!

 Then it was boat time!  We had a great boat ride to starfish beach, where everyone got out except Jack and I - we went to Bird Island.  It's a little island nearby where seabirds next.  It was gorgeous!

 Back to starfish beach, where we enjoyed snorkeling and pina coladas.

Back on the boat to head back home, we went quite a ways into a really old (and beautiful) mangrove forest.  

 And got a good look at this frigate with a fish!  :-) We made it back tired and happy.

Monkey, but still no sloth

Today included a great walk, which included a roadside hawk and a manakin!  The morning was quite a bit darker and rainier than the other mornings so far, with less activity.  Still the best way to start the day.  :-)

scarlet tanager

yellow warbler

The hawk was in the hawk tree!

The views here are just gorgeous.

 When we got to the lunch place, it was packed so we went for a walk before eating.  Heading into the trail we saw these skittish but quite pretty crabs right away.

crabs

 These tanagers teased us and teased us before coming nice and close.  But they were so fast it was still hard to get a good look at them!

tawny-crested tanager

 At the end of that trail, this roadside hawk greeted us and tempted us to just turn left and keep walking.

roadside hawk

Then we heard manakins.  We followed their sounds and seemed to get really really close, but then it started raining.  Sad manakins!  We did get a glimpse of a male, who was gorgeous.  This female seemed to be the cause of the commotion though.  :-)

golden-collared manakin, female

Yes!  Monkeys!

monkey

We only had eyes for this gorgeous woodpecker, although the Cherrie's tanager was begging for attention.

lineated woodpecker

Excursion Day

Today we got up again for greeting the day as the birds did, and again it was lovely.  Our first time seeing this summer tanager, and love was in the air for the bananaquits!  Okay, love was on the branch.  Close enough.  :-)  The blue-grey tanagers are building a nest and chasing away every bird that dares to land in their bush.

Again we watched several small groups of parrots flying to and fro, and the oropendola flying and perching and calling, dip and all.

And I have some mystery birds.  I thought they were cinnamon becards, but looking at the book that seems not to be the case.  One-colored becards maybe?  I am not at all sure.  One cinnamon, one black, looking and behaving like a pair.

Oh, and our first sighting of a common black hawk!

summer tanager

bananaquits making more bananaquits

early morning parrot and mystery bird

mystery birds

bananaquit 

blue-grey tanager

Then we went on our first excursion!  Dolphins, snorkeling, and lunch on a pretty little island.

 The snorkeling was fine but not great, the best part was being back in the water!

 This butterfly looks crazy when landed, gorgeous when flying. Never seen that shape before.  We saw cool birds too but since we just had the underwater camera, no pictures.