It was a birdie day

J.Ready to go to go at 5:30 am.  The first of 3 birding trips today. 

Off we went into the canals around Tortuguero.   Amazing beauty.  Walls of green vines fom the tops of the trees to the water.  Little blue herons and jacanas hopping along the hyacinth as we cruise by.  Bare throated tiger heron (seriously that is the name) and other stranger looking birds. 

 

So many birds and huge orange iguanas baking in the morning in the tree tops.  We came across a family of Howler monkeys feeding and a group of spider monkeys swinging from tree to tree, quite exciting. The biggest thrill of the trip were a pair of red lored parrots in their nest. They were so adorable, all fluffed up and looking at us. MG actually got a great shot of the two of them snuggled up in their nest but we can't upload it to my iPad...so here is a canned shot of the cuties...

The bird that our guide was most excited about is the Crested Colored Woodpecker. I took a photo from my bird book because I was too busy looking to take a photo but you'll get the idea. Pretty special and not at all common.  

2nd and third  birding adventures were wonderful too (especially seeing the grey blue tanagers that look lavender) but nothing beat the perfection of the morning.  We are going again tomorrow morning at 5:30 it's just too good an experience to not do it again before we leave  this magical place later in the day. 

FYI. Walked the beach this afternoon only to see pink jellyfish and green pop bottles in the sand. The current brings them to the beach, not the native Costa Ricans who live here, we are told. "Jamaica is just out there" says our guide.  

Hot today and it rains every night because the heat of the day over the water.  Interesting water cycle.  Interesting life here in the rain forest.  Lots of fruit and vegetables, rice and beans and high end camping.    Life is good. Oh, and today we did actually get to see the Red Eyed tree frog, no longer elusive, just threatened.