2019 Costa Rica Journal - Day 3 Part 2 - Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

After dinner we got together with Andrey for a night hike.  Andrey is very knowledgeable about the night critters around the lodge.

We started in the gardens near the swimming pool. Andrey seemed to be able to spot frogs everywhere! This Drab Tree Frog was sitting on a sign. With their sticky toe-pads they seem to be able to climb anything. 

 Drab Tree Frog

Drab Tree Frog

Next we saw a Common Rainfrog.  It turns out that most of these species have several different common names, depending on where you are. Biologists typically use latin names to prevent confusion, but who wants to call them "Craugastor fitzinger"??

Common Rainfrog

On the deck of the pool Audrey found this pair of frogs in what is called "amplexus". Amplexus is a mating behavior in which the smaller male grasps a female, in anticipation of her releasing eggs which he then fertilizes. What was unusual in this case is that the male is a Drab Tree Frog but the female is a Masked Tree Frog. Seems like the little fellow was a bit confused!

Amplexus - Male Drab Tree Frog on female Masked Tree Frog

We then headed out into the forest to investigate some small ponds. Here we found the largest frog in the area, the Smokey Jungle Frog, aka Central American Bullfrog. Correction!  Andrey has identified this as a Savege's Bull Frog.

Savege's Bull Frog

We came to a very small pool that was loaded with frogs and their egg masses. The most common was the Tungera Frog. These frogs make nests of foam when they lay eggs. But I apparently failed to get a picture of that species. What I did get was this Green Climbing Toad. 

Green Climbing Toad

The frog that Costa Rica is most famous for is the Red-eyed Tree Frog. It is used in a lot of advertising literature as they are cute and very tropical looking. We saw several of them near the final small pool. 

 Red-eyed Tree Frog

Red-eyed Tree Frog

The Red-eyed Tree Frogs on the Pacific side of Costa Rica aren't quite as colorful as their Carribean cousins, as those have orange feet. Here is a picture that we got two years ago at the Arenal Volcano Observatory. 

At Esquinas we also got to see several egg masses from the Tree Frogs. They are placed on the underside of leaves that overhang water, so that hatching tadpoles drop into the pond below. 

Red-eyed Tree Frog egg mass

As a final treat Andrey showed us the roost site of some Tent-making Bats. They were gone for the evening, but we came back the next morning to see them in their roost. 

Tent-making Bats

Tent-making Bats create their shelter by chewing through the ribs of palm leaves and causing them to fold over on themselves. The bats then roost beneath the "tent" which protects them from weather and predators. Pretty smart!

Tent-making Bats "tent"

Next: Golfo Dulce Boat Tour

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??

2019 Costa Rica Journal - Day 2 - Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

Our day started early again.  It starts getting daylight a little after 5 a.m.  We walked around the grounds a bit before breakfast.

Outside our room.

Bamboo Orchid

Walking around the grounds.

After breakfast we left for our Rio Coto Mangrove Tour.  We had a 25 minute drive to the boat ramp in the nearby town of Golfito.  This was a 6 hour boat trip.  We were on an Esquinas boat with Melvin as our captain and Andrey as our guide.  There were only 2 other people on the tour with us.

This map shows several boat trips offered by Esquinas Lodge. The Rio Coto Mangrove tour is shown by the heavy lavender line. It explores the mangroves in the estuary where the Rio Coto empties in the gulf. 

The beautiful Golfo Dulce

Just after leaving the dock several pairs of Scarlet Macaws flew over. These huge red parrots are found in only a few areas along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. 

Scarlet Macaws

We passed by a small lighthouse at the entrance of Golfito Bay that was being used as a roost by some unusual birds. 

Magnificent Frigatebird

This Magnificent Frigatebird male was stretched out enjoying the sun. The large red pouch on their throats is inflated as a breeding display. 

Brown Booby Adult and Juveniles

The striking brown and white adult bird is on the right side of the picture. Several juveniles seemed to be looking for attention!

After a short trip south in the bay, we entered the Rio Coto estuary. 

Our boat was very comfortable and great for wildlife viewing.

We saw four different species of Mangroves in this area. They grow in slightly different habitats but all have the ability to tolerate saltwater and the tides.

White Mangrove

There were a lot of birds to be seen from the boat. Many of the shorebird and wading birds are the same species that we see on the Texas Gulf Coast, but there were plenty of tropical birds as well. 

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk in flight

Boat-billed Heron is one of our favorite tropical species. They are similar to the Night Herons that we have in the states, but they have an enormous, oversized bill. They are a nocturnal species that roost quietly during the day in trees that overhang water.

Boat-billed Heron

Boat-billed Heron

Even though we'd seen this species several time on past trips, we had never noticed the groove down the center of the bill before. 

Another tropical species is the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. These fierce looking wading birds eat all sorts of fish and reptiles, including baby Spectacled Caiman.  Caiman are alligator-like reptiles that live in Central and South America. The adult Caiman will occasionally eat Tiger-Herons!  Payback, and all that...

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

We also saw a group of Crab-eating Raccoons along the muddy shoreline. This is a different species than the more common Northern Raccoon. They are slightly smaller, darker, and (you guessed it!!) eat crabs, among other things.

Crab-eating Raccoons

Our "Target Bird" for this trip was the Mangrove Cuckoo. We did spot a couple of individuals way up in trees along the edge of the forest. This picture was taken from a couple of hundred feet away and isn't the greatest, but shows the black mask and tan belly of the species.

Mangrove Cuckoo

We stopped on a stretch of beach for a picnic lunch.

Our lunch spot.

Melvin and Andrey bringing the food and drinks.

After lunch we had about 45 minutes to relax on the beach.

Our guide Andrey and Mark. 

We got back to Esquinas mid-afternoon and were ready to relax with a cold Diet Coke

The lodge made sure we had plenty of Diet Coke.

We walked around a little before it started raining.  We thought this was a cute name for a pond (we had no idea how accurate it was):

It’s very warm and humid in this area.  We were glad the afternoon shower cooled the air a little.

Next time:  A guided hike and a night walk.