The Arenal Lodge provides fresh fruit pieces two or three times a day for the local birds to enjoy – but not TOO much or TOO often, lest birds become dependent on ‘hand-outs’. 
This male Yellow-throated Euphonia and his friends were looking a little forlorn at first when they didn’t see any treats laid out for them in the early morning rain. 
The Palm Tanager above and the striking little Emerald Tanager below arrived in time for the remains of some melons…worth the effort in the drizzle. 😋
Blue-gray Tanagers were plentiful everywhere at Arenal Lodge, and even the Black-cheeked Woodpecker pecked away at the juicy treats.
This chubby female Green Honeycreeper above and the Clay-colored Thrush below joined their feathered friends before too long for the leftovers.
It was really starting to feel very overcast by the time we saw this Brown Jay above, and the lighting was so poor when the Aracaris (below) arrived, their vivid colors looked rather drab unfortunately.
Saving the big guys till last . . . Female Great Curassow in the center above, and behind her in the upper left, a Crested Guan is almost out of view.
Last but not least, the noisy Montezuma Orapendulas were also frequent visitors. 
We saw and heard the Orapendulas everywhere . . . I’m re-posting an image below that I took of one of their remarkable hanging nests!
Birder's Journey 
These birds are so gorgeous. 😊
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Glad you enjoyed them, Irene! This Lodge was such a perfect setting and the birds were everywhere!
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Oh my goodness, so many new birds to me, and all so gorgeously well-captured! Bravo and woohoo!
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Thank you, Donna. They were almost all new to me too. We’d been to Panama and to Costa Rica once before, but our guide Christian was a master at pointing out and telling us about every bird we saw….I had to use my field guide as a refresher for this post – hope I got all the names right!
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Our God is an amazing artist and you have captured some of his artistry BJ
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I kept thinking this very same thing at every turn, AB. Such a gift to enjoy these wonders in this setting.
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Looks like paradise! Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos of gorgeous birds. A true learning experience for me as I haven’t had the privilege of travelling there. Thanks! William — “What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.” Psalms 104 The Message
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You’re so right, William, it really is a paradise. Quiet, tranquil … just heavenly. We’d been there briefly last year and just had to go back.
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What GORGEOUS birds! Thank you so such pretty pictures!
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Thank you, Pam! I only wish I’d gotten better quality shots, as these birds and the many others we saw, are just fabulous. I was reminded that the rainforest does tend to have rain, drizzle, or at least be overcast sometimes!
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It’s like one of those fancy restaurants in Beverly Hills frequented by all the A-listers!
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Haha! Yes… all the best birds go there. ☺️
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Great day and shots. Thanks.
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It really was a wonderful time… the place is a joy for birders.
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These are great friends of mine from previous trips to Central A. and oh my, I can never get enough of the endless avian beauties who populate CR. Your photos are terrific and this post was a fantastic highlight to my day, and it’s not even light out yet. I have heard of the Arenal Observatory Lodge from traveling birders; and often thought if I returned to CR, I would check it out. I looked at their website and it looks wonderful. Were the resident guides excellent? Did you have a great time here? Thanks so much, BJ, for this colorful array of delightful photos and descriptions. I see bananaquits were the previous post, I’ll go explore more of your delights.
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Your enthusiasm about Costa Rica is palpable in your words!🇨🇷 Yes, this was our second trip and I absolutely loved it. We’d been at Arenal Observatory Lodge just for the afternoon last year, so I knew right away I wanted to stay there this time – we were there 3 nights. A terrific young man named Christian led a 2+ hour walk all around the grounds (free for lodge guests) on our first morning, and we also had Christian give us a private birding walk from 6:30-8:30 am the next day. He’s incredible – amazingly knowledgeable. I couldn’t ask for a better experience! Highly recommended 😎
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Oh so kind of you to share this info about Christian, BJ, thanks so much.
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👍🏼
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There are 5 species here that I’ve never even heard of – I’m off to Wiki for some quality self-education…
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I’m pretty sure I matched the list from our wonderful human guide with my Costa Rica field guide and my Costa Rica online guide. Hope I got all the names right! ☺️
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