Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge
This was a bonus trip for us -- because of an impending storm, we changed our flight and arrived in Costa Rica one day earlier. We decided to take a tour to Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge.
And what a great bonus it was! The refuge itself was not much in terms of scenery, but it has habitats for a diverse group of wildlife -- we saw Caimans, Howler Monkeys, Iguanas and Basilisk Lizards ("Jesus Christ" Lizards) and birds of many species. On the way back, we also saw a Three-toed Sloth in good light.
(Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)
Caño Negro
While we were on the shuttle, suddenly the tour guide exclaimed "toucans!", and I got my first glimpse of these colorful, huge-billed birds. These were the Keel-billed Toucans, otherwise known as Sulfur-breasted Toucans or Rainbow-billed Toucans. Unfortunately I had to shoot this picture through the bus window and it was heavily backlit, but its colorful bill still shone through.
Keel-billed Toucan
We made a stop at the Pizzeria Crazy Iguana where there were many Green Iguanas basking in the trees outside. This allowed me to take some closeup pictures.
Iguana
Iguana
As we approached the refuge, we turned off the paved road unto an unpaved gravelly road, and we started seeing more wildlife that inhibit the river valley. From the shuttle, I shot through the window a Bare-throated Tiger-heron and a Northern Jacana, both new birds for me.
Bare-throated Tiger-heron
Northern Janaca
Finally we reached the river, and I immediately noticed the bluw-and-white swallows flying above the water. They look very similar to the Tree Swallows at home, but they turned out to be Mangrove Swallows, another new bird for me.
Mangrove Swallows
We embarked on a boat to tour the river. The most exciting sighting of this trip is an orange colored Howler Monkey (they are usually black), which our guide calls "albino", but which I think is just leucistic.
Orange Howler Monkey
Orange Howler Monkey
Orange Howler Monkey
Orange Howler Monkey
The following are pictures of normally pigmented Howler Monkeys for comparison.
Howler Monkey
Howler Monkey
Howler Monkey
Howler Monkey
The other star of the river are the Caimans, cousins of the Alligators of North America.
Caiman
Caiman
Caiman
Caiman
Caiman
But Caimans are not the only reptile on the banks of the river, we found a few Basilisk Lizards basking in the sun too. Nicknames as the "Jesus Christ Lizard", they have the amazing ability to walk on water (check out this NatGeo Video for yourself).
Basilisk Lizard
Another interesting sighting is a group of bats sleeping under a log.
Bats
We saw a family of Northern Jacanas foraging along the river, as well as other birds that were new to me.
Northern Jacanas
Boat-billed Heron
Green Kingfisher
Sungrebe
Of course, not every bird I saw was new -- there were Green Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, etc. in or along the river that I had seen in North America. The following picture is of an Anhinga which I had seen in Florida and Texas.
Anhinga
My finaly new bird at Cano Negro was an Amazon Kingfisher perched on a branch by the road, again I had to shoot through the bus window, but I was happy to
Amazon Kingfisher
But we had yet another exciting sighting awaiting us -- on the way back, the driver or the tour guide spotted a Three-toed Sloth on a tree by the road! This was a very large male (identified by the dark line down the center of its back), climbing leisurely in the tree, in bright sunlight. I seized this opportunity and took many succulent pictures.
Three-toed Sloth
Three-toed Sloth
Three-toed Sloth
Three-toed Sloth
