Ducks and Monkeys

     I received an email request for information on Costa Rica from a friend yesterday, in preparation for an upcoming trip, and this spurred me to look at some of the records from my first trip to that magnificent country, where the study of natural history in all its forms is ever at hand.
    One of the memorable places I visited was the Parque Nacional Palo Verde.

    This park is a wetland paradise located in the driest province of Costa Rica, Guanacaste; it is situated at the head of the Golfo de Nicoya.

     One of the birds that was most numerous was the Black-bellied Whistling Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis, a very handsome duck indeed.

     There were literally thousands of them present. 
     It was interesting to see wild Muscovy Ducks Cairina moschata also, as compared with the domesticated versions most people are familiar with.

     When we had lunch at a picnic table under the shade of trees to shield us from the hot noonday sun, we were surrounded by a troop of White-faced Capuchins Cebus capucinus. 

     Even though they must be very habituated to humans bearing food at no time did these monkeys approach us and try to beg for, or steal, food. They seemed to be perfectly content to feed on the food they gleaned from the forest.

     They were endearing creatures and certainly enhanced our visit to the national park.

     AS I look at these images and remember the phenomenal experience that I had in Costa Rica it makes me realize how fortunate I have been to have experienced the natural world in some many corners of the globe.