Arenal Observatory — final 5 hours

No local guide today.  In fact we will leave after breakfast.  But still a fantastic morning awaits.  An amazing hike with beautiful views of the Arenal Volcano and some nice birds.

From the deck at 5:30 a.m. looking down at a Bananaquit.

Five of us plus our two leaders, Ted and Gil, did the morning walk. Our first bird was appropriately the National Bird of Costa Rice, the Clay-colored Thrush.

I had left my second Olympus body behind, just taking one with a long lens. So all of the scenic (i.e. non-bird) photos on this page were taken with my iPhone.  Here are two.

A Scarlet-rumped Tanager showed off its scarlet rump.

There was a Black-striped Sparrow working the leaves on the ground.

We walked through a storage area for old stuff and then down a road in a direction we had not previously travelled.

The morning fog was just lifting in the valley as we searched for birds.

I photographed a Montezuma Oropendola doing a mating dance.

We continued down the road lined with eucalyptus trees.

I found the multi-colored bark of the eucalyptus fascinating.  I knew Jann would love some photos, perhaps as inspiration for quilts.

We reached an area with Oropendola nests.

Montezuma Oropendola were nearby.

We got to a pond with an amazing background of the Arenal Volcano with a lenticular cloud.  I could not stop taking photos.  It was breathtakingly beautiful

This distorted view of the pond is a seven-photo panorama. Arenal is behind the mound in the center.

This walk surprisingly turned out more interesting for its trees and scenes, but we did see some birds.   We had a good look at Turkey Vultures, an Upper Valley species in summer.

A multi-colored Bay-headed Tanager was working on some fruit.

We saw a Yellow-throated Toucan, a species I photographed mating the previous day.

There was some cattle in the fields.

We had to cross another suspension bridge.  These were not as long or high as in Nepal.  And there were no yaks coming at us swinging their heads from side to side as we crossed.

For some reason I decided to walk ahead of the group back toward the lodge.  So I missed a Laughing Falcon.  But we would see a nice one tomorrow on the boat ride to Tortuguero.

I did photograph a Violet-headed Hummingbird on the way back to breakfast. 

At breakfast I had more glasses of their amazingly good liquid yogurt. 

While waiting for breakfast to arrive I kept thinking of the birds I was missing.  So I stepped out onto the deck for a few minutes and photographed a White-crowned Parrot on a distant perch and a Bananaquit just below the deck

Breakfast was great.  All the meals were excellent the Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails.

We had to be packed and back at the entrance area by 10 a.m.  That left well over an hour for more photography. I took a few photos from the deck and then headed toward my room.

 

 

It took me over an hour to get to my room to pack.  There was much to photograph along the way.  Besides I was pretty well packed by 5 a.m. anyway.

I finally managed to get a decent photo of a Brown Violetear.

We were leaving this amazing place, and I could not get enough photos of Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds.

I found a White-necked Jacobin.

There was a Coatimundi sniffing around.

Then I watched as it climbed a tree and went to work on the fruit.

Our 10 a.m. departure was delayed by some gift shopping.  But we were eventually on our way.  We did not get far down the long entrance road before Gil spotted a Rufous-tailed Jacamar. This is a beautiful bird, familiar from my trip the previous year to Brazil. It looks a bit like an oversized hummingbird.  I managed to get photos of it with an insect that looks like it could be a mayfly species.

If you ever get to Costa Rica, I strongly suggest you spend some time at the Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails.