El Rey wetlands with Johan Chaves
April 16th, 2014
In the dry season, El Rey was shallow marsh, productive of wading birds like gallinules and herons, plus the occasional kingfisher. (In the wet season the adjacent fields flood and breeding waterfowl move in.) One of the high points for me was a tiny American Pygmy Kingfisher. This guy is less than half the size of the kingfisher we're familiar with in North America (Belted), and eats very small fish and aquatic insects.
Familiar Green Herons were everywhere in Costa Rica, anywhere they could find the tiniest bit of water to fish in. This time of year the resident Green Herons were joined by wintering birds from North America. Like so many of the wintering birds, they seemed tamer than back home.
1680x1050 wallpaper
The beautiful adult Purple Gallinules eluded my camera. I saw them only in brief glimpses. But this juvenile was a lot more willing to come out in the open--perhaps because his camouflage was better! Typical of his species, he stayed expertly out of the water by scrambling over aquatic plants.
As did the jacanas. You can see below the ultra-long toes that allow jacanas to even balance on floating lily pads.
April 16th, 2014
In the dry season, El Rey was shallow marsh, productive of wading birds like gallinules and herons, plus the occasional kingfisher. (In the wet season the adjacent fields flood and breeding waterfowl move in.) One of the high points for me was a tiny American Pygmy Kingfisher. This guy is less than half the size of the kingfisher we're familiar with in North America (Belted), and eats very small fish and aquatic insects.
Familiar Green Herons were everywhere in Costa Rica, anywhere they could find the tiniest bit of water to fish in. This time of year the resident Green Herons were joined by wintering birds from North America. Like so many of the wintering birds, they seemed tamer than back home.
1680x1050 wallpaper
The beautiful adult Purple Gallinules eluded my camera. I saw them only in brief glimpses. But this juvenile was a lot more willing to come out in the open--perhaps because his camouflage was better! Typical of his species, he stayed expertly out of the water by scrambling over aquatic plants.
As did the jacanas. You can see below the ultra-long toes that allow jacanas to even balance on floating lily pads.
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Mustang Sallie
April 16th, 2014 at 11:16 pm
What a beautiful collection of colorful and interesting birdies you have here. The little Pygmy Kingfisher is so cute! I can see that your Costa Rica trip will be a wonderful memory for many years to come, and you have documented it quite well.
dagibbs
April 17th, 2014 at 12:50 am
Those are quite some toes!