Bill Tuckers Field Journal

I had an amazing time visiting Costa Rica. I only regret not allowing more time.

I was not overlay impressed with the city of San Jose. Very dirty, and run down except for the tourist hotels. This of course may be typical of larger South America cities. It was sad to see how bad off some of these people are.

They say San Jose is safe to walk during the day but not after 9pm. I however had no problems walking short distances in the evenings. There are taxis everywhere and they are relatively cheap, less than a dollar to go five or six blocks. The real problem is the taxi drivers rarely speak English (as is the same for the majority of the population) and they don’t seem to know where anything is. The taxi driver I had from the airport had no clue where my hotel was despite saying he did and I even had a map of downtown showing where it was. What they do is start calling their friends / other cabbies etc. till they find someone who knows where their destination is.

Another problem I found throughout my whole trip is the lack of street signs. I had a great map of downtown, trouble is very few intersections are marked. Every five or six blocks you may find an older well-kept building with a sign indicating it’s name imbedded in the side. When you do this will only identify one of the streets of the interception. In all the driving I did to places outside of the city I never found a sign identifying what road I was on. There are many signs advising you of the speed limit and a few saying what town you are approaching but nothing say you are on Route 141 for example. I honestly doubt I would have found many of my destinations without a GPS. Most all the rental car companies rent them and will tell you up front you need one. 

While I scouted a number of lodges and areas to photograph from in the future, I visited the following two locations:

Wildlife Rescue Center / La Marina Foundation-

This was truly the harder of the places to find until I found it listed in the GPS as Eco Zoo La Marina. It was a very nice place, and well kept. I would not recommend a visit if your strictly looking to photograph animals or birds. A majority of the enclosures are dark and next to impossible to photograph in. There are some open areas with various animals and an area where free flying Macaws come and go to feed. Unfortunately at the time I was there I only saw two Scarlet Macaws around that were free. If you are in the area and have an hour or two to spare it is certainly worth a visit.

Being listed as a wildlife rescue center I was not expecting that much photographically. I was more interested to see the facility and how things differ from facilities I am familiar with in the U.S. After visiting I am unsure how much they are a wildlife rescue center vs a zoo. Certainly not a zoo in comparison to a typical U.S. Zoo. Most likely in these countries places have to double as both to survive as I am sure getting donations is much harder.

With the presence of Muscovy Ducks and Black Vultures it certainly felt like a Rescue center back home.

For me the best part of the visit were the pair of Spider Monkeys, they have a pair in an open enclosure and they are just adorable and friendly. It appeared they crave interaction from any outside source. As soon as they spot you they will come down from the trees to the fencing near you. This makes photographing them hard but if you act like you are leaving they will move back into the field or in their trees where you will have better opportunities. While they both will come over to visitors the one sticks his hand through the fence looking to touch or shake hands with you. He was extremely curious about my camera.

The facility has a number of snakes, various birds, and species of cats. It was sad to see these smaller species of cats have small cages and no real habit. While they looked well kept these guys certainly could not be happy. I suspect the facility is doing the best they can with the funding they receive.

For more information:
http://www.zoocostarica.com

Sloth Rescue Center

This facility is the city of Limon, which is about a three hour drive from San Jose. They provide rescue & rehabilitation to almost only Sloths. These are amazing and adorable animals. They mostly become orphaned or injured much like squirrels and opossums do here in the U.S., they fall from tress and mom doesn’t retrieve them / they wander off or mom gets run over and the babies are found by some caring person.

This facility is spacious and well maintained. For a photographer there are many opportunities to photograph some of the resident sloth’s in a natural environment as well as finding some wild ones on the hiking trails. They also offer an early morning canoe trip, which will give you the opportunity to photograph other native birds and animals. A 300mm – 400mm lens is recommended. Another opportunity here is to spend a night or two in their hotel.

The sloths that are non-releasable are kept as residents for educational purposes. Many are quite habituated to people and the interaction you can have with them is priceless. When you stay at the center meals are provided and many of the resident Sloths will eat theirs in the same area.

For more information:
http://www.slothrescue.org

There were a number of interesting moments during the trip. Some of the best and easiest places to eat in San Jose were the tourist hotels/ casinos when you don’t speak or read Spanish. The food was good and the staff was somewhat fluent in English. Unfortunately the street peddlers and con artists hang out at the entrances to these places. One offered me a shoeshine despite the fact I was wearing sandals. Another offers to take your blood pressure. Many are trying to sell you things from cigars to drugs. Trying to return home even proved a bit challenging. Seems the planes third engine was not working, this engine isn’t needed to fly but rather runs the a/c and starts the two main engines when on the ground. When the third engine doesn’t work a ground pack runs the planes a/c and provides the power to start the other engines. Well the ground pack was not working properly and a full plane waited about an hour while they either fixed the one hooked up to our plane or found another one to get us on our way. It got a bit hot and I for one was hoping they would just cancel the flight!

All and all it was excellent trip. I am already looking at dates to return.

Saturday September 19^th was Coastal Clean-up day in this area. I did my part, I think, as I had both boats out over the past three days cleaning various Rookery Islands in Charlotte, Sarasota, & Manatee Counties. I was mostly removing fishing line that littered the islands but did haul back a fair amount of other debris too. Removing fishing line from these islands is something I really do all year long as it is a major problem especially in the winter months. At some islands you can clean a bunch of line off and a week later there is fresh batch just waiting to entangle some poor bird. Then I have one island on a river I have never found an inch of line on, go figure.

I removed hooks and line from five pelicans. Only one had to be taken in to a rehab center the others were fine to be released once the hook was removed.

Weather over the three days was great, not once did I get rained on. Seemed like it would rain to the north or south of me or later in the night after I returned home.

I was very surprised to find one Island in Manatee County still had a good population of Magnificent Frigatebirds still hanging around including many mature males who are displaying the bright red inflated pouches. Normally these birds have mostly headed south by this time of year you begin nesting. I guess with the mild storm season thus far they have hung around longer. While the weather was perfect for an afternoon shoot at this location I had not brought camera equipment as I was only intending to clean up islands. I do know better than to do this. I will have to watch the weather and tides and see if I can get back out there in the next week or so..

Of course I ran into Mooch the dolphin a few times.

At this time of year in Florida we are in the rainy season and there are many areas that are flooded. Some of these areas make excellent spots to photograph our local birds as they forge for food. This was an excellent nesting year for the wading birds and there are more than normal out there.

One such local area is County Road 74 here in Charlotte County. It runs from US RT 17 to US RT 27. Much of the land on this road is either farmland or cattle pastures. The drive from one end to the other takes around forty-five minutes without stopping. Nothing is guaranteed along here but there normally is a wide variety of subjects from every wading bird to Owls & Crested Cara Cara.

Subjects can be a bit more skittish out here but if you move slow and quietly you should have no trouble. Through the years I have found the morning hours to be better. Ones longest lens is probably the best choice.

One note of caution, best to pull completely off the road along as CR74 has a lot of  truck traffic.