Hoffman's Woodpecker

     The other day I had a few hours to kill after school so I brought my camera and was hoping to maybe photograph a few birds. I set out hoping to see a few Yigüirros, better known as Clay Colored Robins. I saw quite a few of them and hope to share some pictures in a later post but I happened to see one particular bird that really stood out. This bird was the Hoffman's Woodpecker. The Hoffman Woodpecker is unique to Central America ranging from southern Honduras to Costa Rica. At first I spotted a bird that had the wings of a Woodpecker but looked small. Turns out that it was a baby and I was able to observe and watch the to parent Woodpeckers feed this youngster. I managed to get lucky and get a picture of the Male Woodpecker feeding the youngster.

Male Hoffman's Woodpecker feeding Youngster

Young Hoffman's Woodpecker

 ²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:20-21 

Backpacking Corcovado National Park

     On Friday March 9 my Dad and I left on a four day backpacking and camping trip to "Corcovado National Park", located on the Osa Peninsula which is the smaller and Southernmost peninsula on the Pacific Coast in Costa Rica. Along with us were my friends Josh and Caleb, and their dads Brian and Nathan. The Osa Peninsula is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, and that said, the amount of wildlife that we saw on the trip was incredible.

     Starting Friday afternoon when we arrived at the where we were going to park the car we geared up with our backpacks (weighing ~40lb) and set of towards "La Leona Ranger Station which was located 3km (1.86mi) into the park. The 3km hike was all on the beach and it was absolutely beautiful. That night Dad and I set up our tent but it was so stinkin hot that we ended up sleeping on top of a pick-nick table.

La Leona Ranger Station, Friday Afternoon

Sunset on the beach Friday Night

     The next morning we got up around 5am and packed camp and ate breakfast. We started hiking at 6am and began what would be an 18km (11.18mi) hike through jungle and down long hot beaches. On the kike a ton of monkeys, along with deer, pumas, tapiers, and all kinds of birds. The hike was very difficult but well worth it. We had to leave early that day because we had to make it to a river (Rio Claro) during low tide in order to cross it. We arrived to "Sirena Ranger Station" that afternoon and took it easy and rested the remainder of the day.

Trail in the Jungle along the coast.

     We stayed at "Sirena Ranger station " for Saturday and Sunday night. Sunday we did a few small hike
s but mostly messed around on the beach and caught crabs and tried to get coconuts down. Sunday night we managed to arrange a boat to come and pick us up Monday morning.

Sirena Ranger Station

White Faced Monkey

Squirrel Monkey

Spider Monkey

Small Jungle deer of some sort. Not sure what its called.

      Monday morning at 8:30am our boat named "Sea Crab" came and picked us up. The boat driver was named Mario and he was very nice. The boat ride was about half an hour and we were able to see how far we had actually hiked two days previous. Because of the waves the boat dropped us off on the beach about a fifteen minute walk down the beach from our car. We got off and hiked tho the car and drove the 7 hour ride home that evening, out of which 2 hours were bumpy dirt and gravel roads getting of the peninsula.

Our ride: The "Sea Crab"