Monday, February 15 - Cabañas Cañas Castilla
After the hectic pace of the last three days, DMM suggested that we have a real day off for a change – no excursions anywhere! And, even though there were a whole bunch of interesting locations to visit nearby, I had to agree with her; I was thoroughly sick of driving, anyway. Fortunately, as it turned out, there was no shortage of great birding right here on the property…
We took two, very short (only ~1km or less!) walks on our “day off” at Castilla. For our first, we started out just before sunrise, taking a farm track that went up the hill behind the cabañas into the orange grove. Even though the sun was still a bit below the horizon, we could already see that it was going to be a beautiful, blue-sky day; the only blemish on it was that, even at this early hour, the wind was already beginning to pick up just a bit. (Winds of varying degrees of severity were our constant companion – one might say, “adversary” – throughout our stay in Guanacaste. They do help relieve the heat a bit, but when it comes to hearing (and therefore, finding) birds, they were a real pain. Nothing to do about it, it just comes with the place in this season. And yes, we had been warned.)
The small orange grove was pretty dead, birdwise – I think the only bird we actually ID’d, on the way up, was a solitary Inca Dove. Now, I hadn’t really been expecting much from this habitat – just a gently sloping few acres of tough, wiry grass with a rough array stunted fruit trees growing in it – but I thought that there would be some sort of granivorous bird here, aside from the dove, some Mesoamerican equivalent of Savannah Sparrow or Goldfinch. But no,
nada – perhaps it was just the case that these birds being elsewhere for the dry season, or perhaps they were out there somewhere, but just not singing.
But no matter! After only about 300 - 400 m. of this, we came to a thin line of green trees that marked the limit of the grove; and here the bird situation improved immediately, because we had found the first of those dry creek beds I mentioned in the intro. Though it was a very skinny bit of “forest”, literally only a few metres in width, it was really hopping with birds! We very quickly picked up White-tipped Dove, Dusky and Yellow-olive Flycatchers, Grey-headed Tanager (great looks at the latter!) and, quite a surprise in such a dry climate, a glorious Mangrove Cuckoo! There were also a pair of very large butterflies feeding on an orange (which had conveniently rolled into the shade of the trees) – I don’t really
know butterflies, but I suspect they were
Caligo sp. (?), sometimes called Owl butterflies.
Past this wonderful little spot, the track led into a very dry expanse of cattle pasture. But we could see a side-trail that seemed to be heading down towards the Rio Sonzapote again, so we took that. It turned out to be not the river itself, but just another dry creek – similar to the one we had just left, except a bit wider. Under the shade of these trees, we encountered another good flock of birds, which included some new ones. I can recall that Olivaceous Woodcreeper, Rose-throated Becard, and White-lored Gnatcatcher being among them; and then, there was the well-seen but annoyingly obscure tyrant with a grey breast, which we took extensive notes about but never could ID. But I don’t remember what else we saw, because my brain was practically wiped clean soon afterward, when I spooked up a truly AWSOME bird, a Thicket Tinamou!
Actually, “spooked up” is a bit of an overstatement. I walked within about 5 m. of it – quite unwittingly, they blend in like woodcock – and it stalked off about a metre before freezing again. It was a beautifully barred bird, in rufous, grey and buff. I was in heaven – I mean, I know the Thicket is relatively easy to see (for a tinamou), but they’re such amazing birds! They look like something out of prehistory, the Jurassic forebear of all things feathered that walk around over leafy forest floors. Silly me, of course, I was so awed that I didn’t even think to get the camera out – our American friends have a useful idiom that applies here, I believe it is “D’oh!”
Oh, yes, and I forgot something in all the excitement – we saw our first manakin here too, a female (HY male?) Long-tailed. Normally this would be a cause of some excitement, but under the circumstances…
After that, I figured, well, that’s the highlight of the day over, might as well go back home. So, rather than trying find our way down to the river proper from there, we retraced our steps back to our room.
The sun had fully risen now, and fortunately, it was behind us as we walked. A tall, spindly, yellow-flowered tree (a
corteza, I think they’re called) in the orange grove, which had looked quite dull as we passed it the first time, was now brilliantly illuminated. Better yet, it was now being visited by several hummingbirds. There were Cinnamon and Steely-vented Hummingbirds here, but the one that
really stood out for me was the little Canivet’s (Fork-tailed) Emerald. This is a
very aptly named bird, especially when seen (as now) in ideal lighting – with the sun hitting it at just the right angle, its breast feathers make it look like it is wearing a tiny waistcoat of shining emeralds. Fan-bloody-tastic, as my dad used to say.
And all this, before breakfast!
[Aside] A word about breakfast - both DMM and I agree, that the “typical” country food here is a real treat, especially the breakfasts. This particular morning, as we were on our “day off,” we decided to treat ourselves - we purchased breakfast from the Castilla people, rather than make it ourselves in our room. It was pretty good – so nice to have some real pineapple and papaya, instead of the pale imitations of same that we get imported to Canada.
But ultimately, the meal as a whole was a big disappointment – where was the gallo pinto? Nowhere to be found, that’s where! I couldn’t believe it – it’s one of those things that we feel we have the right to look forward to, on each return to this country, along with the Great-tailed Grackles screeching at us at the airport, and warm air smelling faintly of sugarcane; a Costa Rican breakfast must include gallo pinto! (oh, yes – and fried plantain – but that’s of secondary importance). But this trip, we didn’t get it anywhere, not here, not at Poas, not at Ceiba Tree. What happened? Did the red bean crop and the rice crop fail, simultaneously?
Jeez. [/Aside]
Photos:
1) The tiny, delightful, Inca Dove.
2) White-tipped Dove in the "mini-gallery" forest
3) Butterfly, I believe of the genus
Caligo. Huge.