Photo Gallery
Photos by Rich Hoyer unless otherwise noted
Many skippers are drab and difficult to identify. Not so with the showy and unmistakable Guava Skipper, here on our hotel grounds.
Also on our hotel grounds and almost everywhere else will be the national bird of Costa Rica, the Clay-colored Robin—noted for its lovely song although its appearance isn’t at first arresting.
The Blue-crowned Motmot, an iconic tropical family, is yet another bird that could be seen on some of our our hotel grounds.
Among the cloud forest butterflies are the delightful clearwings (this one Heterosais adelpha)…
…and Marchal’s Eighty-eight (even though this one really looks like a ninety-eight).
If you peer closely, you could discover something quite lovely…
…such as this Crithona Crescent.
Many of the Adelphas are a challenge to identify, but the Smooth-banded Sister is one of the more distinctive species.
Before we depart the highlands, we’ll search for the Replendent Quetzal, a sight that never fails to take your breath away.
La Cusinga Lodge on the Pacific Coast is not only a great place for birds and butterflies, but a delicious place to take a siesta in the hammocks.
A Violet-crowned Woodnymph, a common bird of the forest understory, perches in a rare shaft of sunlight.
If we find a group of White-faced Capuchins, likely at La Cusinga Lodge, we’ll have to keep an eye out for Double-toothed Kite, which preys upon lizards flushed by the monkeys.
The satyrs at first all seem brown and non-descript, but some are actually quite pretty. This is a White-banded Satyr…
…this Chloreuptychia arnaea is appropriately known as the Blue Satyr…
…and this large, handsome one is the Chocolate Ur-Satyr.
A Mangrove Black-Hawk at home on the Pacific Coast.
The tropics are full of mimics—though this butterfly looks like a cattleheart swallowtail, it’s actually Archonia tereas, a member of the white family.
We take time also to look at other critters, such as this anole.
Some people are just sweeter than others, a great way to get close views of a Morpho.
The distinctive larva of the Caligo owl butterfly feeds on heliconia leaves.
The diminuitive jewelmarks are always a good find; this one is probably Sarota dematria.
A Laughing Falcon surveys the forest floor, ignoring the butterflies, birds, and birders—this raptor prefers snakes.