Costa Rica: Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

During our stay at Arenal Observatory Lodge & Spa, we took advantage of a day trip to Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge that located about 2 hours north and is very close to the border with Nicaragua.  This is an amazing place of slow moving rivers and marshes and lagoons and it is prime habitat for many water birds.  This day trip was actually listed as a wildlife/nature trip.  The 3 of us along with 13 others boarded a bus (very comfy by the way!) and traveled through the countryside where we saw fields of pineapples and plantains among other crops.  We made a stop about midway in the small town of Muelle San Carlos.  We had a chance to visit the local restaurant Centro Tuistico Las Iguanas.  Just that name will tell you what this place is famous for: Iguanas!  As we were making our way to the bridge to view the iguanas in the trees, we were treated to a male and female Red-Legged Honeycreepers.  This bird was quickly becoming a favorite of mine!

Red-legged Honeycreeper - Male

Red-legged Honeycreeper - Female

But the iguanas were very impressive themselves!  They are quite large and the locals call iguanas 'chickens of the trees', because (get this!), they taste like chicken!!  These are Green Iguanas.

After this stop we headed on to Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge and once we arrived, we embarked on a boat ride on the slow moving Rio Frio.  What we quickly discovered was the fact that we were the only birders on board this boat.  The rest of the 13 were just interested in wildlife, especially mammals, which we did encounter as you will see.  But they got very intrigued with some of the birds that we saw and observed.  Always great to get others enthused about our avian world.  

 Amazon Kingfisher

 Anhinga

Black-headed Trogon

 Golden-hooded Tanager

This next bird was a highly prized bird for me on this trip, a Great Potoo.  It is nocturnal, but during the day it will perch on a tree snag and freeze and look just like an extension of the tree snag or branch.  Would be very easy to overlook for many people.  When nesting they lay a single egg on the top of a snag and that is where it is incubated and the chick is hatched.  How they manage all of that without the egg or the chick falling off is incredible. 

  

 Great Potoo

 Mangrove Swallow

Red-billed pigeon

As I mentioned earlier, this trip was a wildlife adventure and focused on a lot more than just birds.  Now you get to enjoy the mammals and a few reptiles that we also got to see on this boat ride.

We had Mantled Howler Monkeys at many spots in Costa Rica, but our guides were quick to get us onto this one in this location.  It is a red color morph of this species and they claim that there are only 2 known red-morph howler monkeys in Costa Rica; this one and another in the southwest on Osa Peninsula. The vibrant color of this male was outstanding and he did have a normal colored female with him.  My 4th photo of the howler monkeys show the normal color, however that photo was taken elsewhere.

  

 Mantled Howler Monkey - Red morph

Mantled Howler Monkey - normal coloration

We also were treated to a fairly large group of White-throated Capuchin monkeys.  They were a lot of fun to watch as they moved through the forest, occasionally showing themselves and it included at least one female with a baby.

 White-throated Capuchin

The third and final monkey species that we got to view was this Spider Monkey.  It was sleeping on a branch and not showing any activity.  Might say it was acting a bit like a sloth.

Spider Monkey

Speaking of sloths, our guides knew exactly where to find one and point it out to us.  We had to look quickly to make sure it did not get away from us and hide in the trees!  HaHa!  Have always wanted to see a sloth and it really is cool.

3-Toed Sloth

This next mammal is one that we never would have seen without our very experienced guides.  These are Probiscus Bats and they are nocturnal.  They spend their days on the undersides of tree trunks and branches where they are hanging upside down.  Very well camouflaged.  

 Proboscis Long-nosed Bat

In the reptile department, we got to see a few Green Basilisk Lizards.  They are really cool and note their extremely long tails.  They are nick-named the 'Jesus Christ Lizard' for their ability to 'walk on water'.  They can run across the surface of water for quite a long distance.

 Green Basilisk Lizard

This is also an area where Spectacled Caiman are common.  They can lie in the water almost undetected such as the one in the first photo.  Occasionally, they will bask in the sun on the banks.

 Spectacled Caiman

This day trip was outstanding for birds and mammals and reptiles and was well worth the cost.  If you ever get to Costa Rica and get the opportunity to make a visit to Cano Negro, I would highly recommend it.

Joining the 700/(800) Club

Way back last year, (mid 2016), I decided that I would love to go to Costa Rica for birding.  Chris Rohrer was also interested and we decided to go for it.  I had only been birding outside of the United States at a couple of places in Mexico; Sonora and Chiapas.  The trip to Chiapas took place in 2015 and during that trip, I found my 500th and 600th life birds in a matter of 9 days.  It gets harder and harder to add new life bird to your list once you reach a certain plateau.  You have to get out of the United States to rack up the numbers.  I certainly have a lot of birds in the US to add to my list, and will try working on some of them during my upcoming year.

As our trip to Costa Rica approached, my life list was slowly creeping to the next magical number of 700.  When I left for Costa Rica, my life list stood at 689 species.  I knew that 700 would finally come my way on this trip, but had no idea what I was going to end up with at the end of the trip.

Since I arrived the evening before Chris and Michael, I had the opportunity to do some birding before they arrived the next day.  How many new species could I find on my own before they arrived?  My first new bird, and #690, was Hoffman's Woodpecker.  They are fairly similar to our native Gila Woodpecker in Arizona, and fairly common.

 Hoffman's Woodpecker - Male

Hoffman's Woodpecker - Female

Number 691, was the Orange-chinned Parakeet and at the time, I had no idea how common this species was in Costa Rica.  We found them just about everywhere we visited and they were quite numerous and usually traveled in noisy flocks.

 Orange-chinned Parakeet

This was followed by Streaked Flycatcher, #692, and then the very good looking Rufous-naped Wren at #693.  I had looked forward to seeing the wren because it looked pretty handsome when I was studying my field guide prior to this trip.

 Rufous-naped Wren

Shortly after, I spied one of the less exciting lifers, the Tropical Mockingbird, #694, which looks a lot like a washed-out Northern Mockingbird that we have in Arizona.  Most definitely not one of the most colorful birds around, but at least it is a new 'tick' to the list.  (And relieved that it was not number 700!)

Tropical Mockingbird

The next bird was one that was a bit off my radar, and it was not until I checked my photos to see that I had found a King Vulture soaring the thermals high above me.  At 695, this was my best bird of the morning while being on my own. 

 King Vulture

I was able to add the Cinnamon Hummingbird, #696, prior to the arrival of Chris and Michael.  Once they arrived, we found our way to the casita that we had lined up for our next 3 nights just outside of the city of Liberia.  Once we got settled, we headed out the door to go birding and #697, was the Muscovy Duck.  

Muscovy Duck

Walking the tree lined road, we happened to stumble on a Black-headed Trogon, #698, which would have been an awesome bird for 700, but a birder can't always predict what will show itself at any given time.  

 Black-headed Trogon

Next up, at #699, was a unique and beautiful wading bird, the Southern Lapwing.  

 Southern Lapwing

And now for number 700, (drum roll please), and one that I am happy to call #700, the Turquoise-browed Motmot. It is a good looking bird and has an unusual name.  (Who doesn't like saying the word motmot?  It just rolls off the tongue.) 

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Hitting the magical number of 700 was fairly easy and was expected.  But how many more new bird species could I discover during the rest of the trip?  Would 800 species be stretching my expectations?  Only time would tell.

Our last few nights were spent in San Jose and at that time, I was so close to the 800 mark and I needed to go to a location that had a much different habitat than many places that I had already been to, so I actually had a guide take me to Carara National Park on the central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.  This place was hot, humid, and infested with mosquitoes, but the habitat was the home to a much different list of birds.  As we started walking the trail we heard Scarlet Macaws, but could not see them, so I did not write that one down on my list, because I needed to see one to add it to my list.  As we walked the trails, I started scoring new life birds in this dark, humid, tropical forest.  Birds such as Gray-cowled Wood-rail, Royal Flycatcher, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Bare-crowned Antbird, and Lesson's Motmot, were all added to my life list.  All this time Scarlet Macaws were calling and flying overhead and I at one time caught a very brief view of 2 of them flying overhead through the branches and leaves.  Finally, at one clearing in the trees we heard them and as their squawking became louder, we knew they were flying our way and 2 of them flew overhead and I got great views of these majestic birds with their bright red colors and long magnificent tails.  While I was unable to get photos, I was extremely happy to add this bird to my life list at number 800!

To be able to reach the 700 and the 800 marks both on the same trip is an incredible feeling.  I ended the trip with a total of 126 species of new birds.  Many were glimpses of some birds that were secretive and hard to find.  Photography was tough and many birds did not get photos and some got photos that are of very poor quality and some turned out OK and a few are some I can be proud of.  I will try to cover many of these birds in upcoming blog posts.  There will be some horrible photos in my blog post on some birds and there will be some good photos as well.  The horrible photos will never be seen on Facebook!  They will only be posted on this blog.  Stay tuned for further adventures! You will see photos of not only birds, but some mammals and reptiles as well.