We started the day with an early pre-breakfast walk around the neighborhood adjacent to Cerro Lodge.

Mary and Steve posed at the sign to the Hotel Cerro Lodge on the way back from the morning walk.

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Yellow-green Vireo?

Hoffmann's Woodpecker at a feeder at Cerro Lodge, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica

Hoffmann's Woodpecker

Hoffmann's Woodpecker

Hoffmann's Woodpeckers

Melodious Blackbird

Three Rufous-naped Wrens

Rufous-naped Wrens

Rufous-naped Wrens

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Squirrel Cuckoo

Striped Cuckoo

Striped Cuckoo

Black-headed Trogon

Black-headed Trogon

Black-headed Trogon

Turqoise-browed Motmot

Turqoise-browed Motmot

Crested Caracara

Crested Caracara

Black-headed Trogon

Black-headed Trogon

Red mangoes on the tree

Becard nest

Red-lored Parrots

White-tipped Doves

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

Rufous-naped Wren

Rufous-naped Wren

Hoffmann's Woodpecker

Hoffmann's Woodpecker

Hoffmann's Woodpecker

Black Vultures

Groove-billed Ani

Groove-billed Ani

Rose-throated Becard at nest

Rose-throated Becard at nest

Laughing Falcon near Cerro Lodge, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica

Laughing Falcon

Butterfly

Rufous-naped Wren

Butterfly

Lizard on roof of one of the cottages at Cerro Lodge

Butterfly

Three butterflies

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Cashews

Parque Nacional Carara

Sign at the entrance to Carara National Park

They promoted recycling at Carara National Park.

Map of trails (senderos) at Carara National Park (Parque Nacional Carara)

Carara National Park is home to half of Costa Rica's animal species.

Yellow and black centipede with orange legs

'Cafecillo' explained

Cafecillo plant

Cafecillo plant

Cafecillo plant

Cafecillo plant

Cafecillo plant

Iguana near the entrance of Carara National Park

'Zebra' butterfly near the entrance of Carara National Park

Zebra butterfly

Butterfly

Hornet nest

Fritillary butterfly

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Inca Dove

Inca Dove

Steely-vented Hummingbird

Steely-vented Hummingbird and Fritillary butterfly on Jamaican verbena

Male Barred Antshrike

Centipede

Map showing development next to Carara National Park

Damselfly

Variegated Squirrel

Horse Chestnuts

Striped lizard

Spot-crowned Euphonia

More Cafecillo plant

Female Red-capped Manakin

Female Red-capped Manakin eating some kind of juicy fruit

Female Red-capped Manakin

Great Tinamou walking near the trail

Great Tinamou

Great Tinamou

Great Tinamou

Great Tinamou

White-lined Bat

White-lined Bat

One of the White-lined Bats flapped around awkwardly and landed on Mary's shoe. Eric told Mary to lift up her foot, so the bat could take off with a little altitude. She did and it did.

'Chocolate Mint' Poison Dart Frong

Poison Dart Frog

Cafecillo

Cafecillo

Strangler Fig enclosing a tree

Poison Dart Frog facing off with a beetle

Beetle decides to leave Poison Dart Frog

Poison Dart Frog

Agouti

Agouti

Lizard

Millipede

Millipede

Millipede

Millipede

Typical black nest of Yellow-olive Flycatcher

Curious plant

Plant

Toadstools on a decaying log

Toadstools

More curious fungi

Fungi

Close-up of fungi

Tiny white toadstools

More toadstools

Fungi

Unripe berries

Toadstool--there seemed to be an endless variety of fungi

Moth

Small bromeliad

Sign at Parque Nacional Carara--'For your safety'

Deceptive butterfly with ends of wings that look like a head with antennae

Butterfly

Where is the head of this butterfly?

One of many iguanas at Carara National Park

Butterfly

Butterfly

Long-tailed Butterfly

Long-tailed Butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly

Zebra butterfly

Fritillary butterfly--there were many of the Jamaican Verbena bushes near the entrance to the park and they were loaded with butterflies

Another iguana near the entrance to Carara National Park

We left Carara NP and drove into a wooded neighborhood of the seaside village of Playa Azul where Esteban hoped to find owls. Along the road we saw this Common Black Hawk calmly perched in a tree.

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

One of several Bible quotes on ragged signs along the road: Looks like Ephesians 2:8-9.

Inca Dove on a wire above the road

Butterfly on the ground

Ann, Joanie, Jane, Sarah and Bob looking for the Black and White Owls

Esteban found two Black-and-white Owls

Black-and-white Owl

Black-and-white Owl

Two Black-and-white Owls in Tárcoles, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica

Black-and-white Owl

Black-and-white Owl
digitized image

Black-and-white Owl
digitized image

Black-and-white Owl
digitized image

Black-and-white Owl
digitized image

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Rufous-naped Wren with nesting material

Our lunch place, Soda Las Lapas, at Playa Azul, Costa Rica

We had a great lunch at this open-air café, Soda Las Lapas at Playa Azul, Costa Rica, before walking the beach to look for birds.

Dr. Kim Smith, leaving Soda Las Lapas

Kannan, Steve, Esteban, Wendy, Karen, Dru looking for birds across the road from Soda Las Lapas, above the beach.

Playa Azul, Costa Rica

Black Vulture flying over the shore

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Black Vulture and Wood Storks

Scarlet Macaw looking for almonds near the beach

Three Scarlet Macaws eating beach almonds

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaw

Wood Stork alighting on the rocky beach

Black Vultures and Wood Storks on the beach

Wood Stork

Wood Storks

Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird flying over the beach

Great Egret

Wood Stork

Brown Pelicans on the beach at Playa Azul, Costa Rica

Female Magnificent Frigatebird

Male Magnificent Frigatebird

Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Macaws in a tree away from the beach

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws grooming each other

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaws

Scarlet Macaw

Neotropic Cormorant on a rock at the edge of the water

Black Vultures, Wood Storks and Brown Pelicans checking out the fishermen and their boats along Playa Azul, Costa Rica

Birds, boats and people at Playa Azul, CR

Houses along the beach at Playa Azul, Costa Rica

Playa Azul, Costa Rica

Driving to Tárcoles for our riverboat ride, Esteban spotted three Bat Falcons on the wire along the road.

It appeared to be a family of Bat Falcons, two adults and a juvenile.

Bat Falcons

Juvenile and adult Bat Falcon

One of the adult Bat Falcons caught a dragonfly.

The adult seemed to be showing the juvenile how to hunt, rather than feeding it.

Adult Bat Falcon with a dragonfly

Bat Falcon eating a dragonfly

Apparently the wings were not tasty.

At the riverboat ride, there was a Crested Caracara in the field between the gift shop and the shore.

We road a tractor down to the river and passed these Groove-billed Anis along the way.

Butterfly on the underside of the canopy at the gift shop

Butterfly

We got a closer look at the Crested Caracara as we road to the river behind a tractor.

Crested Caracara

Crested Caracara

Green Heron at the river's edge

Green Heron along the Tárcoles River

Green Heron

Betsy, Wendy and Kim, on the riverboat, looking at a big crocodile at the edge of the river

That big crocodile at the edge of the Tárcoles River, Costa Rica

Zoe, Kannan and Karen, looking at a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron near the big alligator on the shore of the Tárcoles River

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Mangroves along the river

Crocodile on the Tárcoles River

Immature Little Blue Heron

Big 'wide body' crocodile

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Crocodile

Crocodile

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Crocodile with young on the edge of the Tárcoles River, Costa Rica

Young crocodiles at the edge of the Tárcoles River

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret striding along the edge of the Tárcoles River

Immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Crocodile in the Tárcoles River, Costa Rica

Young crocodile along the Tárcoles River

Young crocodile in the Tárcoles River

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron extending its neck and vocalizing to another nearby Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron chasing after another

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Iguana along the Tárcoles River, Costa Rica

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron flaring its neck feathers

Male Cherrie's Tanager

Male Cherrie's Tanager

Yellow-headed Caracara

Yellow-headed Caracara

Yellow-headed Caracara

Yellow-headed Caracara

Great Blue Heron

Pearl Kite

Pearl Kite

Female Masked Tityra

Male and female Masked Tityra

Immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

A dirty White Ibis

White Ibis

Dirty White Ibis

White Ibis

Neotropic Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

Male Green Iguana--'chicken of the trees' according to Esteban

Tucked in Roseate Spoonbill

Panama Flycatcher--like the Great Crested Flycatcher but paler

Panama Flycatcher

Panama Flycatcher

Panama Flycatcher

Raccoon

Raccoon

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk eating a crab

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

Common Black Hawk

American Pygmy Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Mangrove

Roseate Spoonbill preening on a branch above the Tárcoles River, Costa Rica

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Neotropic Cormorant

Ruddy Turnstone and Semipalmated Plover

Great Egret

Wood Stork and Tricolored Heron

Brown Pelicans

Brown Pelicans

Brown Pelicans and Black Vultures roosting

Semipalmated Plover and

Snowy Egret

White Ibis

White Ibis

White Ibis

White Ibis

White Ibis

Snowy Egret showing us its yellow feet

Female Ringed Kingfisher

Female Ringed Kingfisher

Scarlet Macaw

Back on shore, as we walked from the tractor to the gift shop, we spotted this Brown Jay.

Brown Jay

Clouds rolled in over the Tárcoles River.

Sunset near the Tárcoles River, Costa Rica

Sunset on April 29, 2017, in Costa Rica