My experience in Costa Rica has come to a close and after a couple of busy travel days I now find myself at home in Canada. It was the hardest goodbye I have ever experienced, three months in Costa Rica had left me feeling as though I had family there, and no, I’m not just talking about the birds.
I made the best of my last week in CR, getting up early to walk through the forest and along the beach. With no tours during my last week I had a lot of free time. On one particular morning I went up into to the mountain to try one more time at photographing the long-tailed manakins and their strange dances. Although I heard many of these dances going on, I was unable to get very close. I did however manage to find myself in rather exciting situation…while walking down a narrow path I was suddenly attacked from above by a large animal. I turned and ran, unsure what beast descended upon me from the tree tops. Once safely back at the main road I stopped and listened. Whatever had driven me out was still making a lot of noise and I could not resist the temptation to find out what it was. I slowly walked back into the thick forest, following the strange grunts and growls that led me to its exact location. I peered through the dense undergrowth to see a spectacular bird; the Great Curassow. A huge bird, about the same size as your christmas turkey. I was incredibly lucky to find this bird, to give you an idea of just how rare it is…people have lived in these mountains since childhood and never seen one. But why had it driven me off so aggressively? The broken eggshells at the foot of a small tree revealed what she was protecting; not only had I stumbled one of the rare birds of Costa Rica, I had also found it’s nest.
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| Great Currasow (female) |
It was also on this day that I discovered something else. In the previous week I had spent some time trying to photograph hummingbirds outside the cabinas where I stayed. Hummingbird photography is extremely challenging, as they are the smallest and most agile birds on earth. Getting a picture of them at all would be next to impossible if it weren’t for one thing…hummingbirds are sugar addicts, and they can be tempted to any precise location by the sweet promise of nectar. The feeder I had hung was attracting a good number of hummers to my set-up, and I experimented with using high-speed flash to freeze hummingbirds in flight (kind of like bullet-time in the matrix).
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| Rufous-tailed hummingbird |
However, I really wanted a photograph of a hummingbird feeding naturally. So I experimented with all the red flowers I could find, fixing them to a tree to see if the hummingbirds showed any interest, but to no avail. It was here in the mountains that I found a small tree with red-flowers that was attracting a large number of hummingbirds, so I collected a few of these flowers and brought them back with me. I fixed it to the tree next to the feeder and didn't have to wait very long…
I have to admit that I have been holding back on you guys. Keeping perhaps the most exciting member of Costa Rican avifauna all to myself…Seeing as this will be my last Costa Rican post for a while, it is only fitting to finish with the best. Tambor is one of a very few areas in the world where you can still see the Scarlet Macaw in it’s natural habitat. The birds were extirpated from here (locally extinct) but later reestablished through a successful reintroduction program. Now, a few small groups of Macaws can be seen flying overhead, moving too and from their favorite feeding grounds. They add a truly tropical flavor to the Costa Rican landscape…
On that same day I found another fascinating bird tucked away in the mangroves of the estuary. The Anhinga is closely related to the cormorants we are familiar with here in Canada. It feeds on fish that it catches in a rather unique way; it cannot produce waterproofing oil seen in most other aquatic birds, so it’s feathers quickly become water logged, helping the anhinga to become neutrally buoyant and move swiftly under the water. It holds its neck in a kinked shape that springs forward to impale small fish. It is often seen with only its long neck protruding above the water, giving it the nickname “snakebird”
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| Anhinga |
The question now is what to do with the blog…I have decided to continue writing and sharing some of my photography with anyone who is interested. However, this time I will be posting pictures of the incredible wildlife that is found just off our own “Rich Coast”. I will be guiding kayak tours off of Deer Island this summer, as well as working as a marine biologist interpreter on the Quoddy Link whale watching boat. I will try to keep the blog up to date with the latest happenings of the bay of fundy and the coming and goings of the many spectacular animals that depend on it’s productivity for their survival. Minke whales, humpbacks, endangered right whales and the gigantic fin whales are common residents of our coastal ocean here in southern New Brunswick. Seals, porpoises, eagles and a myriad of other seabirds and sea creature make this area one, if not the most productive and ecologically important coastal zones of Canada. I urge you to come visit this summer, send me an e-mail and we can plan your adventure.
I spent a lot of time in Costa Rica thinking about the difference between a tropical country and a seasonal one like Canada, where four distinct seasons bring about every mix of elements imaginable. I often found myself asking…why do we do it? I began thinking about this more and more and spending time in the tropics helped to answer this question. I believe that it is the contrast between the seasons that makes up the true beauty of the north. The birds may seem to abandon us, the trees will shed their leaves and heavy snowfall will wrap our lives in a cold blanket. But every winter holds the promise of spring; that winter will loosen its icy grasp and the snow will melt away, leaving a fresh palette to be painted by the budding leaves and spring flowers. The birds will come to feast on the life emerging from every forest, lake and river. Serving as a reminder of the riches to be found in these places and urging us to go out and experience it. The seasons bring about a transformation that makes our lives more interesting, changes our activities and brings family closer together. They bring about exciting alterations in times when our lives may seem monotonous, and always gives us something fresh to look forward too. To stand tall as witnesses to this emergence of life is our reward for being the hardy Canadians that we are.
It was hard to leave Costa Rica, the beauty of the land and its people make for an experience never to forget. Thank-you to Bruce Smith, who took me under his wing and taught me what it means to be a guide; you were a great mentor and I am very excited for what the future holds. Carlos, Jeimy, Rosy, Mora and the rest of the folks at H and B; thank-you very much! I will look forward to my next stay with my new “tropical” family who greatly enriched my experience and to whom I am forever thankful. I will miss you all and look forward to our next adventure. Until then, it is nice to breathe the cold air of the north once again…
Thank-you for all your support and kind words.
-Nick
-Nick
