Sierpe River

Today we were scheduled to leave our our jungle lodge around 10:00.  Getting up at 5:30 gave us an opportunity to get some last minute bird watching (well more like hunting) before and after breakfast.  We were able to see a few new species of birds along with some “regulars” including the yellow-throated toucan. We also saw an interesting behavior:  one adult crested guan delicately feeding fruit to, we presume, its mate. During the after breakfast walkabout we headed down to the beach.  There we witnessed a long line of brown pelicans flying southward along the coast line.  At 10:00, we boarded a couple of single propeller airplanes and headed to a more populated part of Costa Rica, about 60 miles further north along the pacific coast. 

We spent the afternoon on a boat ride on the Sierpe (serpent) River. We saw 24 species of birds, most of them new ones, as well as iguanas, bats, boa constrictors (relatively small ones), and a small crocodile. At one point we saw 21 scarlet macaws in flight at one time! We also saw all three species of monkeys (howler, white-faced capuchin and squirrel).  

More than the sheer number of sightings, today was memorable for the behaviors we saw.  Along with the guan feeding its mate, this afternoon we watched scarlet macaws mate discreetly behind a tree. We watched a capuchin monkey come down to the river, get wet, and then scamper back up out of the water to lick the water off his fur; this behavior enables him to quench his thirst without lingering in the water exposing itself to predators. 

Pictured: toucan, macaw and a very wet monkey.