Inca Dove

A few Inca Doves flushed ahead of us on our 8 July 2017 Ensenada, Costa Rica, hike. I have posted a couple of times on Inca Doves we’ve previously seen in south Texas. The species’ range is expanding north and, in Central America, south. We should have heeded this dove’s call, “no hope, no hope,” as we made our way into the hot swamp.

Slender Skimmer

On 8 July 2017, we had a morning and an afternoon adventure at Costa Rica’s Ensenada Lodge. In the morning, our bus took us near the lodge and parked on the roadside, while we hiked to and along a long pond. The heat index was over 120 degrees F. Our group quickly became spread out, making it easy to miss things. Although Erika and I paced ourselves, at the end of the morning we were worn out.

We saw a fair number of birds but I have only three dragonflies to show you from the hike. A couple of other dragonflies went unidentified or were better photographed elsewhere on our travels. The dragonfly in this photo is a Slender Skimmer. This dragonfly is found from Mexico to Venezuela. They fly from low vegetation, making hunting forays or guarding their territories against transgressors.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls appeared to be very common in the trees on the Ensenada Lodge in western Costa Rica on 8 July 2017. These tiny owls range from the southern Texas and Arizona south to central Argentina. They can be found in almost any wooded habitat. I have written about a pygmy-owl that we saw in 2014 in southern Texas.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl calls are a long series of staccato whistles. Playing tapes is often a good way to attract pygmy-owls, along with a host of songbirds, hoping to attack the owl. The whistles are also fairly easy for people to mimic. I have, occasion, whistled up small birds in the northern United States. The whistle works best for birds that spend the winter in the tropics.

Mobbing behavior is typical of small birds, even when the songbirds are potential prey for the owl. Pygmy-owls also eat other small vertebrates and large insects (Larsen 2012).

Pacific Screech-Owl

The first creature we saw on 8 July 2017 at the Ensenada Lodge was a Pacific Screech-Owl asleep in a tree within the lodge grounds. I am not sure how our guides found it for us—perhaps via hotel workers. These birds are not often seen in the day. These owls are found along the Pacific Coast from southern Mexico to northwestern Costa Rica. Interestingly, they are not closely related to our screech-owls, and are in a different genus—Megascops rather than Otus. In any event, they are found in dry woodland and secondary growth, and survive on arthropods and small rodents (Cornell).

La Ensenada

We arrived at La Ensenada hotel on the afternoon of 7 July and spent two nights. Despite ominous Internet reviews, and despite not being our preferred destination, we saw dragonflies, birds, and enjoyed adventures in the surrounding countryside. The hotel grounds were spectacular and looked over the Nicoya Gulf of the Pacific Ocean. La Ensenada is a working cattle ranch, also producing salt. The hotel boasts of reforestation projects and of being a wildlife refuge.

Purple Dancer

Purple Dancers are common from Mexico to northern South America. We saw several during our tour, but this image was my best effort. It was taken near the Rio Corobici on 7 July 2017 in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We found it along a small stream along a road between forest and fields—perfect habitat for this species.

Purple Dancers are in the genus Argia. Curiously the word Argia comes from the ancient Greek for laziness. But these damselflies or not slothful, being known as dancers due to their rigorous, if jerky, flight. Dancer wings are often held slightly raised above their abdomen and are narrow at their bases (Wikipedia).

Nathalia Shadowdamsel

Nathalia Shadowdamsel, Palaemnema nathalia. has to be one of my favorite dragonfly names. I must be fascinated with nomenclature. I was wondering about who Nathalia Shadowdamsel is named for. The ode was described by Selys in 1886. That disqualifies quite a few women named Nathalia. Nathalia in Palaemnema nathalia, however, does not appear to be a Latin possessive. My Latin ain’t great. Nathalia does refer to Christmas Day. Perhaps Selys found in on Christmas.

We found this Nathalia’s Shadowdamsel on 7 July along the Rio Corobici in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We were walking up a rocky, muddy road that ran from a cafe to the river. The roadsides where steep, with overhanging vegetation. The shadowdamsel hung under the vegetation—perfect habitat for the species. This damselfly prefers shady, rocky streams. This species, found from southern Mexico to Venezuela, is the most wide-ranging of the genus.

River Dancer

Our intrepid dragonfly guide, Dennis Paulson, predicted we would see River Dancers on the rocks in the Rio Corobici. We stopped for lunch there, on 7 July 2017, along the Pan American Highway in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Dennis collected the species there in his youth. In 1967 these were the first records for Costa Rica. We quickly found them basking on the river rocks. Dennis announced that he lacked a good photo of this damselfly. I did my best to remedy this situation, but the dancers perched too far out for me to capture the detailed closeup Dennis desired.

In Central America, River Dancers are found along forest streams and rivers in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. They are also encountered through a large area of northern South America.

Two-striped Leaftail

Two-striped Leaftails are found from Mexico to Costa Rica. We found this one in a forested area along a small stream draining into the lake at Hacienda La Pacifica on 7 July 2017. This habitat is typical for the species. I am surprised that this image appears to be my last from the hacienda. Next we stopped at the nearby Rio Corobici for lunch and a few more dragonflies. After Corobici, we headed further south to the Ensenada Lodge for the next two nights.

Apple Snail

When you find Apple Snails, you should look for Snail Kites. These kites eat almost nothing else but Pomacea snails. These raptors’ long, down-curved bills are adapted for extracting their prey from the snail shell. As we walked along the large wetland at Hacienda La Pacifica on 7 July, we found both Apple Snail shells and Snail Kites. Unfortunately, the kites flew too far and too fast for me to take a pictures of the kites.