Well … not exactly. Instead on this day with a temperature of 37F yet rain, sleet, thunder and lighting as air masses reach Lake Superior, it is time to finish up my Costa Rican posts, and wish I was in that sunny, warm location. A great place for birding are any Tidal Lagoons you find. These small ponds get recharged almost daily with water when high tides breach their “sand barriers”. The incoming tides bring food into the lagoons … fish and other yummies for birds. When the tide recedes the small fish and other delicacies are trapped which makes for each fishing / hunting / etc. on the part of birds. Should the lagoon have a small fresh water source during Guancaste’s “rainy season”, so much the better! While in Costa Rica I went birding at tidal lagoons at Zapotal, Las Catalinas, and Playa Potrero (featured in this post)

I will add that while the North Shore of Lake Superior’s rocky coast does not have any lagoons, the south shore with its much milder landscape has some really nice wetlands where rivers empty into the big lake, and those are also great spots to go birding … just no tides!

Playa Potrero Tidal Lagoon

Northern Jacana (trying to scare small fish with its wings, and carry a “tool” in its beak which it would also drop to startle small fish)

Bare-Throated Tiger Heron (adult)

Scissor-Tailed Fly Catcher (catching bugs next to the Lagoon’s calm water)

Snowy Egrets and White Ibis (fishing both the lagoon and surf)