Spotted

One of my own pics, then several stolen from the web.  Just to give an idea of the variety of wildlife seen in Costa Rica.

Mine - Black witch moth.  It was as big as my hand and wandered in and out of the house the whole week.

Also seen, blue morpho and postman butterflies:

 Plenty of monkeys.  We saw 3 of the 4 species, but I didn't get a photo of a howler myself.  They were too far up in the canopy and often heard rather than seen.  The males are, um, rather distinct.

Greater white-lined and common tent-making bats seen on trees and under fronds in the park:

 

Hermit and ghost crabs at the shore.  And the halloween crab, a land crab, on the forest floor:

 

 We had a nest (den?) of agoutis in the yard:

 

And varigated squirrels:

 

And, of course, birds.  Some folks saw a flock of some sort of green parrot a couple times and hummingbirds.  I missed both.  But still added several to my life list in addition to the chestnut-mandibled toucan spotted both on the way to the villa and at the villa itself.

The yard was constantly full of kiskadees and groove-billed anis:

 A blue-crowned mot-mot visited a couple days, and chasing him was how I got into the fire ants.

 

A Cherrie's  tanager was also spotted a couple times:

 A couple raptors were regulars, too:

Common black hawk

 

Laughing falcon

 

Sea birds of course, like the magnificent frigate bird:

 

Some folks got to see some other things, too.  The zip-liners spotted a poison-dart frog, and one of the guests who were staying in another nearby villa startled one of the ubiquitous iguanas off their porch right into the coils of a happy boa constrictor.

Which means, of course, that I need to go back so I can see more wildlife.  I'm torn, though.  We were on the middle Pacific coast this time, and I so loved the combination of jungle-covered hills and ocean. 

But there are volcanoes and cloud forests and I want to see quetzals and there are places with hot springs and butterfly gardens like the Blue Mountain Resort.

I hope this is a decision I have to struggle with some time in the relatively near future.