I'm still here...

It’s been awhile! The last month has been very busy with my family (minus my workaholic brother) and my grand parents visiting for two weeks.  It was certainly the time of our lives and we squeezed as many things as possible into those two weeks while still allowing for some relaxation (and many Mai Tai’s). Among our many adventures was an overnight stay in Curu, a remote wildlife refuge, many early morning bird walks, and many evenings spent relaxing at the five star accommodations of the H and B. We also spent a night in the cloud forested mountains of Monteverde and walked the entire perimeter of the park early the next morning. This took us six hours (sorry grams and gramps) but I got 15 new life birds! (thumbs up). It was very special to have my family together in such a unique part of the world. Thank you Mom, Dad, Gram, Gramps and Christina, for having the courage and trust to follow me around such a beautiful part of central america. Thanks for putting up with bats in the outhouse, the ants in the rooms, the monkey's howling at 4am. The six hour hike in the cloud forest, the biting ticks (sorry gram) the red tide and the midnight adventure  through a jungle stream. Thanks also to the the folks at H and B who were incredible in making it an unforgettable experience. The expertise and professionalism that is delivered by this small, quaint establishment is truly inspiring. A huge Thanks goes out to Carlos, Jeimy, Mora, Fernando, Patrick, Adonice and Jose.

Now for some photos...I left the camera at home for most of our trip, but I couldn't resist the urge to bring it to Monteverde.  We really lucked out with some amazing views of the resplendent quetzal as two males and one female fed directly above our car.

Resplendant quetzal male

In the tropics, Fruiting trees can attract a huge number of species of birds and we were lucky to have one such tree in the parking lot. We watched as the quetzals carefully plucked fruit after a quick sally from the low hanging branches. Other birds joined in the feast, such as this black guan...

Black guan

We also spent plenty of time at one of my favorite places, the Monteverde hummingbird garden. We saw over 8 species of hummingbirds as well as this little bird, the bananaquit. 

Bananaquit

Green crowned brilliant hummingbird

Once the family left I got back to work on a new image I had in mind for awhile now.

I am always entertained by the antics of a particular bird that lives around the gardens of most homes in northwestern CR. Rufous-naped wrens live in family groups that behave more like little troops of monkeys then birds.  I wanted to photograph a pair singing a duet so I spent an afternoon setting up the shot I wanted and I used a recording to bring the birds to the perch I had selected.  

Rufous-naped wrens

Well that’s it for now, tomorrow I am off to the Osa peninsula, labeled by National Geographic as the second most biologically diverse place in the world and home to more then half of all Costa Rican species. Currently I am at 199 Costa Rican species and hope to hit 230 after this trip.
Spring is just around the corner!
Cheers,
-Nick