Bats at Reserva Playa Tortuga

Picture this: you're a fruit bat in Costa Rica, hanging from the holes in the center of leaves from a invasive banana tree. At night, you fly though the air, searching for insects and delicioso fruit.

Birdwatching at Reserva Playa Tortuga

Time flies by so quickly- today is already our day 3 volunteering at the reserve! In the morning, when it is still not too hot outside, we went for a birdwatching walk. Josue, a worker here took us on the walk and taught us a lot about the birds. Starting from 7 am, we went on a trail surrounded by plants and animals. 

We each got binoculars to observe closely at the birds, and Josue brought a camera to take pictures of birds. 

As we were walking, we could hear a tweet-tweet sound of Chestnut-Backed Antbird. They are small and black, and they usually stay in couples. Josue told us that sometimes if we copy their tweet-tweet sound, the male Antbird will come out to check the sound. 

We walked past a river where some rocks and logs are, to find some more birds. We were able to see some bigger birds: Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, and Bare-throated Tiger-Herons. Tricolored Herons looked mostly grey except for their beaks and legs. Little Blue Herons looked a bit similar to Tricolored Herons, but their feathers will change to white in winter. Snowy Egrets on the other hand are white at all times. Bare-throated Tiger-Herons are interesting because when they are kids, their feathers are brown, but once they grow up, their feathers will turn grayish-blue. We also saw some Kingfishers, which were small green birds.

Although we couldn't take any pictures, we were very lucky to spot a toucan flying. 

Later, we walked down to the beach. I found some footprints on the sand which would likely to be from a Heron. We were also able to find a Masked Tityra on a tree nearby the beach. It was mostly white, but had some black parts, and some pink around its eyes. 

We didn't see any on the birdwatching walk, but I saw two Macaws earlier in the morning on a high tree. 

I was surprised by how Josue knows so well about birds. And in the conversation during the walk, he told us that he was a local, and had been watching the birds since he was a kid. So, whenever he heard a sound of a bird or see it from far away, he knew what species it was.

I really enjoyed today's birdwatching. It was an amazing experience for all of us in Costa Rica. I never really had a chance to look closely at birds before, so I am very glad that we had such a chance. 

Thank you, Josue, for sharing your knowledge and time with us!

By Rika