2019 Costa Rica Journal - Day 3 - Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

This morning we had a private walk with Fernando.  We started at 6 a.m. walking around the grounds

Pineapple plant.

Mark and Fernando in the jungle.

The most commonly seen bird in the Esquinas gardens is the Scarlet-rumped Tanager. The male is a velvety black bird with a bright scarlet rump. They can "puff" it out in a territorial display. 

Scarlet-rumped Tanager male

On the Pacific slope the females are orange on their chest. On the Caribbean side they lack this coloring, leading many authorities to classify them as separate species. But for now, they are "officially" considered to be a single species. 

Scarlet-rumped Tanager female

Remember the "Caiman Pond" sign? It turns out that there are Caiman in the ponds here!

Spectacled Caiman

My, what big teeth you have...

There are not many monkeys or sloths in the Esquinas area, but we did see several Agouti. This Central American rodent looks like a large Guinea Pig!

Agouti enjoying a banana.

We headed back to the lodge about 8:00 for breakfast.

There aren’t many folks staying here right now.

After breakfast we went out again with Fernando to the Lagoon Trail. We came across a group of Red-capped Manakins. The males have bright red heads and yellow thighs. There is a research station nearby and we noticed that this bird has a green band on its right leg. Even more color!

Red-capped Manakin male

One of our target birds at Esquinas was the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. This bird has a incredibly small range, occurring only in the forests around the Golfo Dulce.

Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager

Another endemic species (species with a very restricted range) is the Baird's Trogon.  Trogons are a group of birds found in tropical forests around the world, but the Baird's Trogan is found only on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama. 

Baird's Trogon male

Baird's Trogon female

And you know that you're in the tropics when you see Toucans!  Yellow-throated Toucans were fairly common around Esquinas, and we always enjoy watching them. 

Yellow-throated Toucan

We got back in time for lunch then walked around the grounds some more and relaxed until dinner.

The pool is fed by a crystal-clear stream which has a year round temperature of 75 F.

Frog pond.  There were caiman here too!

Next: What goes bump in the night??