The last lodge I stayed at in Costa Rica was Bosque de Paz (literally, Forest of Peace). I found it on the internet and didn't know much about it, other than it was in a forest reserve and had trails I could explore on my own. When I arrived I was a little surprised at how "rustic" it was. But it turned out to be a great choice. The rooms were nice, the wifi was fast, the food was great. It was set meals, but they accommodated me being vegetarian. And it was in the middle of forest with nothing around for miles. I already covered the moths here, now onto the birds.
One of the first things you notice, right in the front of the lodge, were the numerous hummingbirds at the feeders. They were used to people and you could get quite close to photograph them. Of course, that doesn't mean they sat still for you. Although there were lots of hummingbirds there were only a few kinds. The most numerous were the Green-crowned Brilliants. At first I thought these were several different kinds due to the variation in coloring. Some had white on their chest, some had rust color around their throats, and some had a violet patch on their throat. I took a ton of photos of these ones. Here are a few, there are more in the full batch if you want more.
First thing in the morning, the sun was right behind the feeders. It was challenging shooting straight into the sun, but I like the backlit effect when it works.
Or the opposite - shooting against the dark shadows.
The next most common were the Violet Sabrewings. They were slightly bigger and were the bullies at the feeders. When they arrived the others would leave.
I think this last one is a Magenta-throated Woodstar. They were smaller and more shy than the others. They would dart in when there was an opening and then zip away.
The wasps and bees also liked the feeders. The hummingbirds seemed to respect the wasps and give them space.
There was the beginning of a paper wasp nest in a nearby bush. When it was in the full sun the wasps would fan the nest with their wings to keep it from overheating.
The lodge is over 1500 m (5000 feet) in the hills/mountains so it didn't have as many "tropical" birds like macaws or parrots. But lots of colorful birds came to the fruit the put out for them. Most of them were "tanagers", although recently genetics have split that group of birds. These Flame-colored Tanagers had quite different coloring between the red males and the yellow females.
Some of the bird watchers pointed out this Collared Trogon. I would never have spotted it high up in a tree, even with the bright red.
There were also a few cute little Black Phoebes hanging around.
And a Great Kiskadee that I'd seen lots of down lower.
I thought I'd get through this last batch of photos in one post, but I realize there are too many of them. Stay tuned for the second half.
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