Epic Nature Tours

We witnessed a miniature battle of the titans today in Costa Rica - a Tarantula Hawk Wasp attacking a Brazilian Wandering Spider! The Tarantula Hawk has the second most painful sting of any insect on earth, and the Wandering Spider is the most venomous spider in Costa Rica. The sting from the wasp instantly paralyses the spider, and she proceeds to drag the still living spider to her burrow, where she will deposit a single egg on it and then bury the spider and egg both. When the egg hatches, the larva begins to eat the paralysed spider alive. It starts with non-essential tissue, so the spider will be alive for a month as it is slowly consumed by the wasp larva.

Coatis at La Sirena, Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

It’s important to have all of your Coatis in a row!

This is just a few of the incredible hummingbirds at Dave and Dave's Nature Park. We saw lots of White-necked Jacobins, as well as Purple-crowned Woodnymphs, Scaly-breasted Hummingbirds, Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, and a Bronze-tailed Plumleteer, a Green-breasted Mango, and a Violet-headed Hummingbird.

Today we say goodbye to the incredible Pantanl. We ended our tour with 275 species of birds, as well as 18 species of mammals and 19 species of reptiles. We will certainly be back again. As we were leaving a Jabiru stopped by to give us an escort!

Jabiru with three chick's in the nest!

Canada Warbler at Magee Marsh, Ohio

I'm back from an Epic trip to Northern Ohio (words I honestly never thought I would ever say!). After leading trips for the Biggest Week In American Birding Festival for 9 days we had a great two person tour of the area for another week. Millions of warblers and other migrating birds have been flying north this spring, and lots of them stop on the southern edge of Lake Erie to rest and feed before they attempt to cross. This Canada Warbler was far more interested in finding food than avoiding a few bird watchers at Magee Marsh.

We take our guests to new heights on our tours. Today we ascended the Irazu Volcano, Costa Rica’s tallest active volcano with an elevation of 11,260 feet. It turns out, some of our guests have a fear of heights.

Black River Turtles on the Punta Uva River

Abandon ship! 🐢 🏴‍☠️

Mantled Howler Monkeys are very common in Costa Rica. They are more often heard than seen and are among the loudest animals on the planet! They have black fur all over their bodies with a striking patch of long, chestnut colored hair along each side. Males have two white spots near the tail…

Mantled Howler Monkeys are very common in Costa Rica. They are more often heard than seen and are among the loudest animals on the planet! They have black fur all over their bodies with a striking patch of long, chestnut colored hair along each side. Males have two white spots near the tail…

Collared Pecary in the Jungle

We saw several of these Collared Pecaries (a native species of wild pig) along the trails at Hacienda Baru. These small pigs are not destructive like the much larger and invasive wild pigs in the US.

There’s more to #costarica🇨🇷 than just incredible birding. Check out how the indigenous Boruca people dye natural fibers using plants from the jungle! #culture #history #nature #travel

Laughing Falcon at Parque Nacional Marino Ballena

We found this beautiful Laughing Falcon at Parque National Marino Ballena in Costa Rica a few days ago. These striking falcons make a call that sounds like a person laughing, but this one stayed quiet (I guess it didn’t like my jokes).

Sometimes wildlife can get a bit snappy when you try to help them across the road. 🐢

The wildlife in Costa Rica go bananas for Chocolate! A local troop of Spider Monkeys frequented the fruit trees outside our rooms every afternoon. Here you can see how acrobatic they are, hanging by their long prehensile tail that acts as a fifth limb, allowing the monkey to use both hands (and feet) to dig in to this delicious cacao fruit.

Almost Spring in the Mountains of NC! 😅

🦥🌴🐵Dreaming of waking up to the sound of toucans, howler monkeys, and the waves crashing on the Caribbean Coast. 🏝 🦜🦋 Happy (almost) Spring from Epic Nature Tours! Don’t forget to set your clocks an hour ahead tomorrow before you go to bed. We are hoping that “Spring Forward” is more than just a time change 🌼🌱🌞🌷

After ‘while crocodile! We still think it’s just a prop, but just to be on the safe side, we thought we should stay in the boat. Our tours are full of fun and adventure!

Halloween Crabs - it’s what’s for breakfast! That is if you are a Coati. Here we have a family of Coatis in search of breakfast at Corcovado National Park.

Baird’s Tapir munching on some greens! -Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Yellow-throated Toucan pair calling at sunset this evening. Captured with iPhone through binoculars