Birds of Costa Rica – Part 4
We reached Laguna del Lagarto Eco-Lodge past dinner time since it was not easy to drive in the outskirt country site at night with no street lights. Laguna del Lagarto Rainforest Lodge, located in Northern Costa Rica near Boca Tapada and the Rio San Carlos River is operated in harmony with nature under ecological guidelines..
It is yet another private wildlife preserve covering 1250 acres of tropical rainforest with an incredible variety of fauna and flora where over 350 different species of birds have been counted. Perhaps this is the most highly concentrated species count in a single location of our trip.
After checking-in our rooms and enjoyed our simple dinner, we were surprised by the lodge manager with baby Nine-banded Armadillos.
They were so cute and purred just like little kittens. We took some shots of the little babies before we went to our rooms for the night. The next morning we started shooting right after breakfast without having to walk too far away from our breakfast table.
In fact, you can practically shoot while eating your breakfast since the birds just perched on clean tree branches a few feet away across the balcony since the balcony was high up at the same level of surrounding trees. We saw a few toucans trying to approach nearby trees but they were quickly chased away by smaller nesting birds like the tanagers and orioles.
Honeycreepers, tiny yet beautiful birds, were one of the species top on our list and we were able to capture two of the species at Laguna del Lagarto: the Shinning Honeycreeper, Green Honeycreeper, and the Red-legged Honeycreeper.
Click on each individual image for a better resolution view.
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/160s | f/5.6 | ISO 2500
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/500s | f/8 | ISO 1250
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/400s | f/9 | ISO 2500
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/250s | f/10 | ISO 1600
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/250s | f/7.1 | ISO 3200
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/400s | f/7.1 | ISO 1600
A Black-crowned Tityra beautifully posed for us right after lunch.
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/400s | f/7.1 | ISO 1250
iPhone Photo Courtesy of Dr. Anthony Chong
Laguna del Lagarto lodge situated on a little island surrounded by a river that provide yet natural habitat for shore birds like the Agami Heron, Purple Gallinule, Anhinga, and the Bare-throated Tiger Heron.
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/160s | f/10 | ISO 2500
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/1000s | f/6.3 | ISO 3200
Each pair of us paddled in a small boat along the river infested with caymans that gives you a chill when you come into eye-contact with them. The natural surrounding of the river gives you some kind of an adventurous mood while you look around while on the boat.
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/250s | f/10 | ISO 3200
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm | 1/640s | f/11 | ISO 3200
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/1250s | f/5.6 | ISO 1250
EOS-1DX | 200-400mm + 1.4x | 1/1000s | f/6.3 | ISO 3200
Coming up next the King Vulture and the night shooting of the Long-tongued bats at Laguna del Lagarto Eco Lodge wildlife preserve.. stay tuned..