Outrageous Birds of Volcan Arenal

 Black-cheeked woodpecker

I would love to claim to be a fabulous bird photographer. Nope. What I am is a decent photographer with a fabulous photo op. All these photos were taken on the grounds of Arenal Observatory Lodge in Costa Rica.  They've done it up right, with gorgeous, well-tended plantings of hummingbird-attracting flowers and some strategically-placed snags and perches.

Scaly-breasted hummingbird. It's rather dull in color, but it has a powerful lisping chirp with which the males advertise their presence from a dead twig.

 

Black-cowled orioles

Golden-olive woodpecker in cecropia...see him down on the stem?

Hepatic tanager, a Neotropical migrant that makes it up into the American Southwest. I've grown to love this bird's unusual dried-blood red, severe toothed bill and slightly mean face.

 

Great curassow, male.

And his fabulous mate. These turkey-sized birds are usually the first to go when people colonize primary forest. They're tasty. Seeing curassows generally means you're in a reserve where hunting isn't allowed. But nowhere in Costa Rica is hunting allowed. It's a concept...

  Coatimundi.  You may wonder how I got these fabulous photos. Am I that good? Nope. What's good is the setup.

All these creatures are wild and free-living, but they're being brought in by what must be one of the most wonderful and imaginative feeding stations I've ever seen.

The whoosh of wings, and two turkey-sized great curassows flump down on the feeding table, scattering tanagers and oropendolas alike. 

Now THAT's a feeder bird!

This just don't happen in southeast Ohio. Maybe if I put out bananas and papayas, I'd get curassows? Worth a try. Just crazy enough, it might work.