Dry Pak Expedition Team's Costa Rican Bird Encounters 2 of 2
Back on the beach Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius), Willets (Catoptrophurus semipalmatus) and one Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) run up and down chasing ghost crabs and tiny little pieces of whatever the Tarcoles River have brought them along with the currents. We cruised over a rocky end of Playa Mantas and point our bows towards Limoncito Beach, a lonely sandy beach were we have planned to settle camp for that night.
We spend the day paddling around the area spotting the pelicans fish for sardine. This is a bird that always reminds me of David Andrew, a man of the seas, a man of the world, who once told me a poem by Dixon Lanier Merritt in his own relaxed version:
What a wonderful bird is the pelican,
He can hold in his beak more than his belican,
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for the week
But I'm damned if I see how the helican!
Flying up high two Magnificent Frigate birds (Fregata magnificens) couldn’t care less about the activity down below, they seem to have a pretty clear objective in mind and I’ll guess it’s the fisherman’s wharf in downtown Puntarenas some 40 kilometers away.
Back at the edge of the rocks, Common Terns (Sterna hirundo), King Fisher (Ceryle torquata), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)and for our great surprise: Mr. Bared Throated Tiger Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum)!!!
Back at camp ground and right as the sunset turn into orange the whole sky the mysterious call of the Great Tinamou (Tinamus major) reminds us that the rainforest comes all the way down to the edge of the ocean.
The forest activity does not stop with the sunset, it just switch into a whole different channel were intriguing sounds mixed with a sky full of stars. The day has come to its end; the bats are emerging out of their shelters searching for insects and fruit, hermit crabs move every little dry leaf on the forest floor and with the sound of mild surf on the background it is time for a long night sleep.
We would like to thank our friends at Airhead Watersports and Moosejaw for supporting us on these expeditions. Their equipment makes a huge difference when it comes to dealing with drastic changes in weather conditions.
A weekend out in tropical waters have come to an end but this is just the beginning of many expeditions to come.
Keep an eye on the blog at Airhead Watersports for more updates and remember… paddle hard!
