STL DPB ON THE ROAD - AVES

Aves is the Spanish word for birds. Yesterday we went with a guide for a boat ride on the lower Tempisque River. It's flat and tidal for a long way upstream and a great place for wildlife photography. The birds were out in force. From top to bottom, a tiger heron, a great blue heron and a pair of mot mots. We've seen the latter up in the mountains but never so close to shore. It is hard to see against the reeds, but look for the mot mots' unique tails. They look like two long, thin sticks ending in heart-shaped black paddles.

Nothing on the schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday. Ellie will be happy with the pool and the beach. I'll probably work on photos.             

Angry Birds

At least that's how the first one strikes me. A snowy egret, I think, with a bad attitude. Mean claws, too.

We took a two hour boat ride on the estuary between Tamarindo and Playa Grande with a local guide, Gerardo Santana, who knows his stuff. Almost all of the waterway is undeveloped and wildlife is left to itself but for a few small tourist boats. At one point we went up a small side channel, pulled up to the shore and walked through the forest looking for howler monkeys.

The bird taking off is a great blue heron. My traveling companion and family naturalist tells me that the third is a yellow banded black heron. Not sure about that - the beaks are so different.

Oh, and not a good idea to take a swim here.