Common Black Hawk

Streaked Flycatcher

Streaked Flycatcher

Turkey Vulture

Tricolored Heron

Neotropic Cormorants

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbills

White Ibis

White Ibis

White Ibis

White Ibis

Spotted Sandpiper

Semipalmated Plovers and Sanderlings

Great Egret

More Semipalmated Plovers

And more

Fuzzy Yellow-headed Caracara, on a snag in the water, as we raced by

Magnificent Frigatebirds, roosting on the mangroves

More Frigatebirds

Great Blue Heron

Plumbeous Kite

Black Vultures

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Female and male Magnificent Frigatebirds

Magnificent Frigatebirds

More Frigatebirds

Magnificent Frigatebirds

Juvenile and female frigatebirds

Closer view

Male Magnificent Frigatebird

Male Magnificent Frigatebird

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Another Common Night Hawk

Immature Little Blue Heron

Boat-billed Heron, hiding in the mangrove

Boat-billed Heron

Boat-billed Heron

Boat-billed Heron

Anhinga, on the left, and Roseate Spoonbills

Male Ringed Kingfisher, with what looks like a small catfish

We apparently watched him for a few minutes, because I got several photos.

Very acrobatic

Male Ringed Kingfisher

Male Ringed Kingfisher

Male Ringed Kingfisher

We left before he managed to get his fish swallowed.

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

Northern Tropical Pewee

Right profile

Left profile

Right again

Head-on

And a little closer

So cooperative

Back view of American Pygmy Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Finally, he turns around

American Pygmy Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Taking flight

And another back view

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Yellow-naped Parrot

Yellow-naped Parrot

Yellow-naped Parrot

There's the yellow nape

Yellow-naped Parrot

Yellow-naped Parrot

Yellow-naped Parrot

Yellow-naped Parrot

Whimbrel

Brown Pelicans, roosting

Brown Pelican, preening

Osprey, with a fish

Green Heron

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Collared Plover
A life bird for us

Collared Plover

Collared Plover

Scratching an itch

Collared Plover

Collared Plover

Collared Plover

Gray-breasted Martins?

Mangrove Swallow

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Back on shore, we found this White-winged Dove, browner than the ones we have at home.

Willet
Back on the bus, we rode to the cruise ship dock and beach on the Puntarenas Peninsula.

Another Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Sanderling

A Pacific Golden-Plover was reported at the beach in the days before we arrived and Erick was excited to find it, because it was a life bird for him.

Pacific Golden-Plover

Pacific Golden-Plover, taking a stretch

Pacific Golden-Plover

The cruise ship docking pier had a variety of birds perching on it, including Brown Pelicans, gulls and terns.

The pier was too far away to get good photos, but Erick identified birds through his spotting scope.

Brown Pelicans, gulls and terns
Photo taken by our guide, Erick Guzmán, using his spotting scope and my Pixel phone

Silver-throated Tanager
We left the beach and drove on toward Arenal Observatory Lodge, but stopped briefly along the way at a little place called San Luis Canopy. The staff had put out fruit that drew a variety of birds. Sometimes they were so close we couldn't focus our long lenses on them.

Common Chlorospingus

Common Chlorospingus

Common Chlorospingus

Back view of Bay-headed Tanager

Bay-headed Tanager

Bay-headed Tanager

The Emerald Tanager was, indeed, a gem.

Emerald Tanager

Silver-throated and Bay-headed Tanagers, with a fuzzy Clay-colored Thrush in the foreground

Full frontal Bay-headed Tanager at last

Silver-throated Tanagers, chowing down on banana

A popular spot

Male Green Honeycreeper

Green Honeycreeper and Silver-throated Tanager

Head-on view of the Common Chlorospingus

Common Chlorospingus

Female Green Honeycreeper and Silver-throated Tanager

Emerald Tanager, Green Honeycreeper and Silver-throated Tanager

Emerald Tanager

Close-up

Back view

Another back view of the Emerald Tanager

The national bird of Costa Rica, the Clay-colored Thrush

Female Green Honeycreeper and Silver-throated Tanager

Female Green Honeycreeper

Blue-gray Tanager

Female Green Honeycreeper

Profile of the Bay-headed Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager

This Rufous-tailed Hummingbird was sipping nectar from nearby plants.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Male Green Honeycreeper

We made one more roadside stop on our way to Arenal Lodge when Erick found this Green Ibis in the fog.