Carara served three ways

If you go to an excellent restaurant you might find a dish on the menu which is Pork/Beef/Carrot/Asparagus (take your pick) “served three ways”. One or more of the offerings will look and taste nothing like the aforementioned ingredient which apparantly shows how clever the chef must be.

Well in this post I offer the Carara National Park (NP) and surrounding area including the Tarcoles River served three ways – by day, by boat and by night. The star ingredient is nature and hopefully it shines through each offering unadulterated. We stayed at Cerro Lodge and the whole area was dominated by nature (mostly welcome). Our day started with the sound of about 40 Howler Monkeys moving though the trees above our cabin dropping fruit on our roof. Our day ended with a scorpion in the shower (no harm done to us or the Scorpion).

By Day

First up I need to mention our wonderful guide Santiago (WhatsApp +506 6080 1247 if you want to book him and you should). Honestly, in all our trip we haven’t had a guide who works harder than Santiago to find you exciting birds, he is also incredibly passionate about birding and wildlife. Highly Recommended.

Even before the NP was open we saw a Grey Hawk and once inside the park we had lovely and sustained views of a pair of Collared Forest Falcons.

I knew it was going to be a good day when Santiago pointed out a swarm of Army Ants. For a while, I have been reading about birds which are only found feasting on Army Ants and knew we were in for a treat. Two appropriately named Antbirds (Bicoloured and Chestnut Backed) and three woodcreepers (Cocoa, Tawny Winged and Northern Barred) were all present feasting on the ants. At times it was hard to know where to look or point the camera. These were mostly lifers for me and certainly offered photo opportunities I had never had as they feasted.

We continued birding in the park and found a lot more birds including bird of the day the Streak-Breasted Antpitta which offered sustained views as it fed along the path.

The park wasn’t only birds either we also saw Howler, Spider and Capuchin Monkeys, Green and Black Poison Dart Frogs, a Sloth hiding well and some Fritillary Bats hiding even better.

Our time with Santiago was long up but he offered to stay with us as the birding was good (for no fee), what a great guide!

First we went to a water location where we had great views of a Pigmy Kingfisher allowing me to photograph it for the first time.

Then we went back to the forest just as the Orange-Collared Manakin Lek was getting started with 5 or 6 males performing. We also heard and then saw the Rufous-Tailed Jacamar and White-Whiskered Puffbird.

Finally on the drive back to the lodge we pulled over to see a couple of Double-Stripped Thick-Knees. A fantastic and memorable day with 30 lifers and some wonderful experiences.

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By Boat

Next up we took a boat trip on the river with Jungle Crocodile Safari. This wasnt the type of trip that was likely so produce a flurry of lifers since most water birds I have seen earlier in the trip. But the relaxed pace and fact that you are sitting makes for a great few hours and it was great to add the American Crocodile to our list for the trip. The largest we saw was a 5.5m male estimated to be 90 years old.

So many shorebirds were on display too. Amazing point made by the guide on the boat that the Bare-Throated Tiger Heron actually eats baby crocodiles in the first few years of life. I also had the best view of Boat-Billed Heron I have ever had (they normally hide in deep foliage).

Birds of prey were on display too. Ospreys taking prominent perches and fishing. Several Common Black Hawks patrolling the river too. And a distant view of a Short-tailed Hawk. And the ever present American Black Vultures.

Once back at the dock we had a couple of final treats in store. First views of a Turquoise-Browed Motmot. Often in wildlife photography a constraint can be turned into an asset. in this case I had to work hard for a direct line of site to the bird. But this turned into a much more creative shot as the foliage provided lovely framing. Similarly a wonderful Green Lizard offered limited views at eye level. However the best feature of this lizard was the eye and I resolved to focus on this.

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By Night.

Santiago kindly offered to take us out again this time looking for Owls. As a trailer Santiago had showed us two roosting owls the previous day. A life tick in the Black-and-White Owl and two different Ferruginous Pigmy Owls.

At dusk we set out again and the first bird we saw was the Common Pauraque which offered sustained views on the ground and in flight. I had seen this bird before in Mexico but only as it took off from the road. This time the blur of the white on the wings left a marked impression and I know I would recognise the sound and sight of this bird again. We also spent about an hour looking for the Common Potoo and the Pacific Screech Owl. We heard both but alas no sightings.

Moving onto another location we had three owls in short succession. First a Striped Owl was hit by the car headlights sat on a wire exactly where Santiago said it would be. As I was photographing this a Barn Owl flew past hunting. Then moving to a wooded location Santiago found the Spectacled Owl.

We had now seen the 5 owls and the Pauraque with Santiago which was remarkable but, I mentioned earlier this guide was very quite hard working, and he wanted to make it a magnificent seven. On the way back to the lodge he suggested we stop in one last location to try for the Pacific Screech Owl and bingo within one minute I was taking photos of this smaller but wonderful owl with its dinner plate yellow eyes.

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A great time in Caracara and surrounding area. When we left we had a trip total to date of 540 birds and our total for Costa Rica had grown to 273.