Costa Rica river boat ride – 03/08/2018

Before the trip into the Costa Rican mountains, we enjoyed a boat ride on the Tarcoles River. On the way to the Tarcoles River, we saw this view.

The Tarcoles River is quite wide and ends up at the Pacific Ocean. It is not only very scenic, but there is a chance of seeing many birds and every tourist’s favorite, the crocodile.

Sitting along the bank was a Black Hawk looking very tough and impressive

Hiding in the bushes was a Boat-billed Heron. I was hoping it would be a little more visible, but it is still a very interesting bird.

As our boat got closer to the inlet with the Pacific Ocean, we started seeing a lot of Magnificent Frigate birds. They were fishing at the mouth of the river. Frigate birds are extremely interesting birds. After leaving the nest, Frigate birds live for months on end at sea,  mainly coming ashore to breed. 

For birds that live on the wing at sea, Magnificent Frigate birds do not swim and their feathers are not waterproof. They have an interesting technique of putting only their head in the water to catch fish at the surface.  Our guide told us that the frigate birds have to be very careful when fishing  because getting their feathers waterlogged can cause disaster. From the pictures below, you can see that the fishing technique can involve splashing, but they evidently aren’t getting the feathers wet. Frigate birds are known as world class thiefs, snatching food from another bird in flight.

The beautifully patterned green heron uses the mangrove roots as a platform for hunting.

A crocodile doing the crocodile walk.

Sadly the day following our Tarcoles River boat ride, daughter Katy had to fly home to California. We were sad she wasn’t available to come with us up into the mountains for our next Cosa Rica adventure. Below Robert and Katy are at the San Jose airport, posing with a very congenial toucan.