Costa Rica 2011 Part 9: Pacific Coast

Leaving Palo Verde, I saw roseated spoonbill, great egrets, tiger heron, wood stork, turquoise browed mot mot, pygmy owl and a roadside hawk.  We headed for our final destination on the coast

On the Pacific coast we stayed at Villa Huetares. The hotel is within walking distance from the beach.

The view from our room

Snorkeling on the pacific coast we saw frigate birds, pelicans, brown boobies, octopi, needlefish, blue angelfish, three species of pufferfish, ocean triggerfish, blueheaded wrasse,yellowtail damselfish, dolphins and flying fish. I didn't see any squirelfish, grunts or blue tangs here.

The beach

I also found out the hard way that I am very sensitive to jellyfish. There were a lot of them and I felt very sick and luckily Liz gave me allergy medicine. I dumped a whole lot of vinegar on it but even hours after getting out of the water it felt painful long after everyone else felt fine.

Some of the girls

 

 The water seamed colder and there was a lot less coral and more rocks. The water was also deeper.

I found it very amusing that birds actually chase fishing boats and steal food from them. 

Birds following a fishing boat

It was sad that this was our last destination. The next day we had a 5.5 hour drive to San Jose where we stayed overnight. We went out to a bar called Cabana as a final hurrah before flying out the next morning. 

Costa Rica 2011 Part 8: Palo Verde Research Station

May the 4th be with you!

The Pacific side of Costa Rica is hot and dry. It is usually sunny here. On the drive down from the mountains the change is very obvious. There are more cacti and much less green. The leaves on plants are smaller so they lose less water.  One the drive I :
 turquoise mot mots
Inca doves
Intar meadowlark
great egrets
green herons
cattle egrets
yellow cortez tree
northern harrier
Double stripe thick knee
green speckled lizards
White tailed deer are about half the size

Getting dryer

Yellow cortez tree

Double striped thick knee- Alcaibn

 We stop for lunch at a restaurant on the Corobici River. There are a lot of herons along the river. 

Corobici River

We arrive in Guanacaste and Palo Verde Research Station. Here there are a new species of vine snake, iguanas, quatamonde, turquoise browed mot mots.

Quatimonde

 Palo Verde Park is 20 thousand hectares and is a RAMSAR site. There are seasonal wetlands that at the moment are very dry. The dry forest surrounding the wetland has streaked back orioles, mimosa, Hofman's woodpecker, Sardinllo, Quatimondes, grey headed kites and catasetum maculatum (orange orchid).

Walking the barren wetlands

Large tree in the dry forest

View of the dry wetlands from a hill

The research station mess hall

 Some cool insects were seen around the research station.

Tarra has a friend.

On our second walk that day we found crocs, wood stocks, Jacina, tiger herons, great egrets, crested caracara, black river turtle, howler monkeys, quati, white faced monkeys, black headed trogon and great curassow.

Crested Caracara stalking a turtle crossing the road

I felt bad for depriving the caracara of his lunch but I really just wanted to see the turtle.

Black river turtle and I

Walking up a hill through dry forest I saw many orange orchids.

The weather here has been gorgeous. The research station is a lot of fun and fresh mangos taste delicious!

Costa Rica 2011 Part 7: Monteverde Cloud Forest and Butterfly Garden

We see blue crowned mot mots alongside the road as we drive to Monteverde. In Monteverde we walk along the Sendero Nuboso Trail.

We hear the metallic call of a black faced solitary. We see Cecropia and Sheflera trees.  Cala is a very fragrant plant with white dots inside that will become fruits.

Black guans are dark birds that eat insects and fruit. We saw two of them in the trees.We saw a hummingbird with a blue head guarding flowers. A medium sized non venemous dark Clelia snake was seen nearby the trail.

At the lop of the trail there is a lookout but the view is completely blocked by clouds and mist and you can barely see 20m away. You can see the clouds moving as you watch.

At the lookout

Duchman's pipe

Little avocado have red and green fruit. This is what quetzels eat. A pair of quetzels were seen nesting at the begining of Sender Jose Tosi trail at the first turn. We watched as they chased away a quatemonde from their nest.

Questel

Small hummingbird

At the hummingbird gallery we see many hummingbirds of all different sizes and colours:
Green violet ear
Violet sabrewing
Green crowned brilliant
Purple throated mountain gem

 I wish we had more time to spend at Monteverde. This is one of my favorite places and even though I have been there twice now I still plan on coming back.





After going to the cloud forest we visit the Monteverde Butterfly Garden. We see scorpions, tarantulas, ox beetles, elephant beetles, bess beetles, jewel scarabs, milipedes, centipedes, walking sticks and praying mantis. Some of the many butterflies we see are: blue morphos, owl butterflies, halloween butterfly, swallowtail, zebra, postman, longwing, Julias, clearwing, ruby patch, Mecuna and Sarahs.

  At El Bosque Lodge I see a blue crowned mot mot, emerald tucan, tarantula hawk wasp catching a tarantula, cockroaches, brown jays and agutis.

Emerald tucan

Tarantula hawk wasp and it's prey

Blue crowned mot mot

Costa Rica 2011 Part 6: Santa Elana Preserve

Guanacaste is the national tree of Costa Rica. We see many of these as we drive from Adrenal to La Fortuna. They have seed pods that look like ears. The seeds inside are dark with a light ring around them. They are commonly used to make jewelry.

We drive very far to arrive at El Bosque Lodge stopping only to visit Santa Elana preserve.

Emerald toucans are small green birds and natural predators of quetzels.  This preserve has many interesting plants including wild tarrow, cecotia, heleconias, malasta massey, lemon ciparuna, ericacya and begonias. Gesnariad are a hummingbird pollinated epiphyte vine with a bright orange flower.

Some vines there are not as pretty and quite unpleasant to touch. When I was walking a lawyer vine hooked into me and wouldn't let go.  Chuskuia is a vine with hairs that stick into you if you touch it. Many plants in Costa Rica produce defense compounds and have uses in ethnobotany.

 At the lodge I found a scorpion near the path at night. It was very cool.