There are over 900 bird species recorded in Costa Rica. Over 600 are considered resident. I really want to visit again; it’s a beautiful place with friendly people and the highlight of my limited  travelling experience. Sadly with travel restricted  2020 there’s no telling when I will go again. Enough doom and gloom. Birding brings joy to all.

Most of the birds I’ve pictured were seen on the River Tarcoles and in the Cano Negro National Park where boat trips can be arranged. The bird above is the tri coloured heron which can be seen on the Tarcoles River, despite it being a little polluted by car tyres, old bikes and plastic. Thankfully, the Costa Rican government are working hard to put ecology and pollution high on the country’s political agenda.

Another delight from the Tarcoles River , a shore bird with tell tale straight black bill and long pink legs. If you see one, there’s usually another close by. Resident to Costa Rica.

The picture above was taken from the Tarcoles bridge; it’s much the same as the UK’s Little Egret in appearance. No other white egret has yellow feet.

Great egret

In contrast to the Snowy egret , the great egret has a yellow bill and grey feet and it’s much bigger ,the largest in fact. Once again, it’s seen easily from boats on the Tarcoles River.

The American White Ibis

 The American white Ibis has bright red legs and a pink bill. As I mentioned before, the Tarcoles is heavily polluted rather like the Thames in the UK. You can see the plastic bottles on the edge of the river.

I hope this blog will inspire a birder somewhere to go to this fantastic country, teeming with wildlife. I will post more images in the future. Pura vida (which , to Costa Ricans, means ‘live a simple life’).

The date for reposting is 28/7/2021 we are still having to restrict travel from the UK .When I retired I hoped that I would be allowed to travel the world,sadly it is impossible at the moment.This post reminded me of what I and the rest of the world are missing.