It only took me about two months to finish processing photos from my last photo tour. I’m getting better at this! The latest new gallery in the photo archive features images from my March Costa Rica adventure. I returned to this lovely country for the first time in two years to lead a sold out tour for a group of wonderful guests. This popular trip highlights a number of different environments and species spread across the country, from the bird-rich central highlands to the Caribbean lowlands, and over to the Pacific coast, so rich in biodiversity. Two of my clients also chose to join me for the optional extension in Corcovado National Park at the end of the tour.
It was an interesting trip from a wildlife perspective. Many of the “common” species folks hope to see were often elusive, while the uncommon species made rare appearances or exhibited unique behavior for us. The script was flipped, yet it was still a great experience!
See the full photo gallery of 126 new images in the archive. A preview is below.
The tour started in Costa Rica’s central highlands, home of the famed Resplendent quetzal. We usually have good luck with these birds, and while we didn’t have as many sightings as in years past, this spectacular male posed nicely for us on Day One!
We had the fortune of seeing some other colorful birds in the highlands that I’ve rarely seen. This was my first time photographing the Golden-browed chlorophonia.
We descended to the Caribbean lowlands, also a good place for birding. A beautiful species I often see in the rainforest during my Costa Rica adventures is the Rufous-tailed jacamar.
Though we don’t spend a lot of time photographing birds on feeders during my trips, there can be some excellent photo opportunities during such visits. Here’s a White-necked jacobin hummingbird.
The Caribbean is a great place for herp photography. This baby eyelash viper was perched low to the ground near the trail.
During our night walks we often find reptiles (like this small anole), frogs and bugs to photograph.
Next, we drove across to the Pacific coast. This Ridgway’s pygmy owl perched at eye level on the grounds of our lodge there.
This was a great trip for owls, with five different species seen. We went out looking for Black and white owls one night, and found a pair of Spectacled owls instead!
We are fortunate to see Scarlet macaws during our visits to Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
We saw a number of black iguanas in Carara National Park.
On the tour extension to Corcovado, we finally had good monkey luck, seeing our remaining three species on our first day, including Geoffroy’s spider monkeys feeding above the research station.
Corcovado is a great spot for mammal sightings. These collared peccaries crossed a trail in the middle of the secondary forest.
I finally had a chance to see the well-camouflaged Common pauraque during the day in Corcovado. Yet another unique sighting to end a wonderful trip!
View the full Costa Rica 2018 gallery. Remember that nearly all of these images are available as prints.
Want to join me on a Costa Rica tour? There’s still space available on next year’s trip! Learn more about the 2019 Costa Rica tour here.
