Costa Rica Day 4 - Sarapiqui and Laguna del Largarto

Today was a day of rain.  We started at dawn with a heavy tropical rainstorm.  Eventually it cleared up and we birded around our hotel (Ara Ambigua) a little, then sat down to some rice, beans and plantains for breakfast at which point the rain started again.  Once it stopped we did a little more birding near La Selva (where we went on the guided tour yesterday).  

Our next stop was Laguna del Lagarto in the remote rain forest, 6 miles from the Nicaragua border. The lodge is a mildly above rustic, meaning we do have air conditioning, which is a good thing because I turn beet red with this heat (not sunburned) and am sweating buckets.  Given that it’s in the rain forest, you guessed it, it rains here.  The beauty of this place is that it is designed for bird photographers.  There are plenty decks, blinds, snags (no leaves to get in the way!), perches, and feeders all around, and abundant wild birds!

We are up to 112 species for the trip, 22 which were added today, and no new lifers.  It was rainy off-and-on all day, 87°, 67% humidity, 94° Real Feel.

mom and baby Brilliant Honeycreeper

male Red-legged Honeycreeper - the male Brilliant Honeycreeper looks the same but has yellow legs

Bay Wren

Golden-hooded Tanager

Black-faced Woodpecker feeding her baby

Green Honeycreeper

Northern Barred Woodcreeper

Black-headed Tityra

male and female Brown-hooded Parrots

And now for a little excitement… Avi saw a Scarlet Macaw fly and land behind that big bromeliad.  We took turns walking closer while the other stood and watched to see if it moves, then the other would catch up.  Avi turned down a  side road just in time to see a head pop out of the  hollow branch and he called for me to run to catch up.

Luckily I did, because it ended up being  nesting pair!  Never thought I would see a Macaw nest in my lifetime!

This is the second one leaving the nest.  We had  only a couple of minutes to watch them.

Keel-billed Toucan - little known fact, when I  volunteered at the zoo in Seattle, one of my tasks was to water the plants in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.  When I got to the toucan enclosure, they always greeted me at the front because they wanted to play in the shower!