Costa Rica Raptors

Crane Hawk

I've decided to resurrect the photoblog. I enjoyed utilizing the photoblog to share what we were up to when we were living abroad. I sort of abandoned it in favor of Facebook shortly after we returned. On reflection, I think it is a better choice than Facebook - mainly because not everyone looks at Facebook. Also, there seems to be some unknowable algorithm in Facebook that (seemingly at random) shares postings with friends or not.

As many of you know, Margot and I took a trip to Costa Rica back in August. I participated in wildlife photography workshop and Margot relaxed at the resort and took a couple of trips into town.

Crane Hawk

Here is another shot.

Rather than chronologically, I thought I would share some of the photos by category. Today's category is raptors. I was surprised by the number we saw over the 6 days we were there.

Click any image to enlarge it.

We stayed at the Botánika Osa Peninsula in Puerto Jiménez in southern Costa Rica. It was very nice.

Roadside Hawk

This is a Roadside Hawk. Apparently, it is pretty common. We saw several during the trip.

Roadside Hawk

Here is another Roadside Hawk.

Click any image to enlarge it.

Yellow-headed Caracara

Another fairly common raptor is the Yellow-headed Caracara.

Yellow-headed Caracara

Here is one in flight.

Spectacled Owl

This is a Spectacled Owl. It did not want to come out in the open. We were lucky to spot it, actually.

This is a Central and South America species.

American Barn Owl

This is an American Barn Owl. It was roosting underneath a bridge over the river we were floating down. This is very common in the U.S. - really everywhere from Northern U.S. down to the tip of South America.

Double-toothed Kite

This is a juvenile Double-toothed Kite.

Click to enlarge.

Double-toothed Kite

You can see the double tooth a little better on this on if you click on it.

This one seems to be a little more mature.

Common Black Hawk

This is a Common Black Hawk.

Crested Caracara

This is the Crested Caracara. I don't think I have ever heard of this bird but it's range includes much of south and central Texas and small parts of Florida and Arizona.