[Hamhed]

Day One - Dec 12

From Charlotte, North Carolina, US, on US Air, we arrived without trouble or delay at SJO in Alajuela, Costa Rica, in mid-afternoon to cloudy skies and warm temperatures. Patrick O'Donnell (http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress) met us at the airport in a borrowed sedan and we headed west and south, stopping at Orotina to see the famed Black and White Owls in the town square. With dusk approaching and light fading, we almost missed them but for the help of a vendor, whom we made sure to tip for his efforts.

Stopping at several ATM's trying to get our debit cards to work and a food market, it was just after dark by the time we drove up to Cerro Lodge (http://www.cerrolodge.net), adjacent to Carara National Park. Our host, Federico Ferraro C., met us immediately, speaking excellent English and led us to our nearby rooms. We settled in, freshened up a bit and came to the main patio and dining area for our evening meal of eggs, vegetables, beans and rice, mashed potatoes, flan for desert. Then, it was a walk around the grounds of the lodge where, despite using a Pacific Screech Owl recording, we saw two Black and White Owls and a huge Rhinocerous beetle. Both owls and beetle were impressive.

On the lodge website, the map compass should be ignored but the other information seems correct. One landmark for the turn onto the gravel road that leads to Cerro Lodge is the Guacimo Soda and restaurant directly across the main highway from the turn-off.
According to Federico, the road to Cerro Lodge is called La Barca road, for it once led to a ferry that crossed the Tarcoles River. Liz and I walked that road to its end, but that's another day.

[Hamhed]

12-13-09

You would think we'd be too exhausted from traveling to have any trouble sleeping but exciting night sounds and local dogs barking managed to break up the passing of the night. Black and White Owls, Ferruginous Pygmy Owls, and Pauraques made up the more pleasant noises. We were birding at first light and before breakfast at 7 had seen many common tropical species. Rufous-naped Wrens, Groove-billed Ani's and Great Kiskadees were common in the shrubs below the patio. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds worked alongside Cinnamon and Steely-vented Hummingbirds in the purple Verbena that edged our breakfast area. Yellow-throated Caracara's, Scarlet Macaws, Orange-chinned Parakeets, Muscovy Ducks flew over as we enjoyed our sumptuous breakfast. Locally made cheese, beans and rice, several fruits plates, including plantains on hot dog buns!, eggs and plenty of good coffee. Liz and I are not meat eaters, so we appreciated the variety of non-carne items. Supplied with abundant calories, Patrick drove us to Carara National Park, minutes away.

There we spent the morning birding on the trails that led from the ranger station. Our entry fee was $10 each; Patrick got the generous Tico discount. There was a break at midday, driving the short distance back to the Guacimo soda. Several meals of cheap but excellent birding food later, we took a side trip down Guacimo Road, which starts out adjacent to the restaurant and heads off like La Barca Road to the Tarcoles River. We found some good birds there but truck traffic from road construction became to noisy and disruptive to continue there for long so it was back to Carara for a few afternoon hours until closing time at 4. We had seen close to a hundred species before we left the National Park before Patrick drove us on to the town of Tarcoles to try a few wetland spots and get our feet on the Pacific beach. That only added to our impressive list which grew to about 122 for the day. Some of the better birds for us to see were Great Tinamou, Crane Hawk, a good variety of Antbirds, Rufous Mourner, Spot-crowned Euphonia, and two tiny birds - Northern Bentbill and Golden-crowned Spadebill.

Back at the lodge and wilted by a day in the 92F heat (32C), we opted for a light evening meal. Requested was a grilled cheese sandwich; served was pan de tostado con queso a la plancha. Having never been to the US, the cook was not bound by preconceived recipes and so we got the local cheese on a warm hot dog bun, with mayonnaise and shredded carrots. It was amazingly good and just the right amount. I tried owling for a short time that evening but didn't have any luck.

[Hamhed]

12-14-09

Because of a early side trip to Guacimo Road, the parking lot at the head of the Meandrica Trail in Carara NP had a number of cars already there. We stepped out of our own car and spied a Gray Hawk perched close by. With several groups ahead of us, birding was not very active though it's hard to complain about our first Slate-headed Tody-flycatcher, Purple-crowned Fairy and Rufous-tailed Jacamar. We finished that walk hours later and tipped the attendant at the lot who was there mainly to prevent vandalism. The temperatures were even higher than the day before by 2 pm when we said goodbye to Patrick. He was headed back to his home in San Jose to prepare for a holiday trip with his family to the States.

Liz and I passed the next couple of hours in the warm afternoon catching up on bird lists, rinsing out sweat-drenched clothing, and watching the ever present hummingbirds in the verbena bushes. Later, when the sun dropped slightly and shadows began to lengthen, Liz and I did an exploratory walk down La Barca road. It was a pleasant and inviting walk, with very little traffic so we planned on continuing that walk in the morning.

The only other guests we had seen so far was a couple from Canada who were staying at the lodge for one night and on the way to their way to the Nicoya Peninsula. They joined us for an owl walk and we found an active Black and White Owl just below the dining area but no other owls responded to the tapes I played. I don't want to ignore the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl that roosted next to our cabin and could be heard morning, evening and often in the middle of the day. By his constant presence, he became common.

[stephennj]

Bravo Hamhed !
I see you hooked up with Patrick for a day which must have been exciting !
I missed the Cararra area when in CR so this info is interesting to me.
stephen

[Hamhed]

12-15-09

After breakfast at 7, the Canadians joined us for the beginning of our planned walk on La Barca road. I don't recall that many birds but morning birding is often pleasurable and, despite their lack of equipment, our new friends seemed to enjoy the process. A pair of Trogons, a pair of Parakeets, some Euphonias, a quick look at a White-throated Magpie Jay, likely a Tropical Kingbird and a few Inca Doves. They stuck with us for a short while then left for the next part of their own adventure in Montezuma. The gravel road is about 4 km to where it ends short of the river at a watermelon field. From Cerro Lodge, most of the walk is mildly downhill and passes through mostly cattle pasture with scattered trees, with occasional patches of shrubs or young forest. We passed one area with Barn Swallows flying over a small pond but little else in the way of water. The morning cool had us moving slowly, enjoying the birds and scenery, vehicle traffic was almost non-existent. It took us 2 and a half hours to reach the end but only 90 minutes to return, the temperatures climbing quickly as the long shadows disappeared.

We spent the midday hours lounging and catching up on traveler's chores and taking pictures before a 3pm scheduled walk that Federico had arranged for us with Antonio, who spoke no English but knew the trail we were to use. The trail wandered off the lodge property and passed through a gate or two; more extensive than we had imagined. We passed through a horse corral and mingled with the chickens before finding ourselves going steeply down into tall forest. There were monkeys almost immediately, both White-faced Capuchins and Mantled Howlers. Antonio spied a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron above a small creek but we saw few other birds. The forest opened up into a tall grass meadow with widely-spaced, large trees. We saw much more bird activity - Varible Seedeaters, Rose-throated Becard, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Hoffman's Woodpecker, and a few undetermined Empidonax Flycatchers. Paradoxically, getting out of the tree cover and into the reach of the sun, there was initially an increase in mosquitoes. The walk finished by climbing uphill through shrubby habitat, where we surprised a Gray Hawk. There was no set fee for Antonio's two hours of service so we gave him 7000 colones, which works out to about $12.50 American. That brought a big smile and when I later learned that head carpenters make about $4 per hour, I realized why.

That evening, we cleaned up, packed for tomorrow's departure and had a long, confiding talk with Federico, a genuinely nice guy with ambitious plans for his property. Six other guests were there; two were bicyclists traveling from the States to South America (Wow!). Our bill was pleasantly lower than expected. Many of our meals were not on the "official" menu and we weren't sure what to expect. Patrick's lodging, which was on our tab, was greatly reduced as well. We went to sleep early listening to the "Wheer!" of the Pauraques and the tooting of our neighbor, the Pygmy owl.

[Hamhed]

Hi, stephennj -

Carara was great fun and we didn't cover it all.
I'm trying to keep the report somewhat brief (more readable) and leaving the bird list until the end. If you have any specific questions, email me or fire away! I have many more pictures.
There's another 10 days to this report. I'll post as time and work allows.

[Hamhed]

12-16-09

Today was a travel day. With one last accommodating gesture, Federico drove us to the Guacimo soda and, minutes before 6AM, literally pushed us onto the bus from Quepos. It was our first experience with flagging a Costa Rican bus down on the highway and we contemplated that move as we stood in the aisle of the crowded bus. Thirty minutes later, in Jaco, enough passengers disembarked to allow us to sit to watch the passing scenery. There were a few hills in the Carara area but the road leveled out as we traveled south through cattle pasture and patches of forest in the puddles of last night's rain. Occasionally, we could see Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans over a slice of the ocean, Rock Pigeons and Clay-colored Thrushes in the developed areas.

The two hour and twenty minute ride cost us exactly $2.20 US, a traveler's bargain. We disembarked in the Quepos bus station, finding out we had three hours before the Tracopa bus left for San Isidro del General. That time passed more quickly than we might have guessed; the steep, wooded hillside across from the station was active with birds but my 8X binoculars could not pick up enough detail to i.d. them. There were a number of Gray-breasted Martins in the area, though in the light rain that had developed, none were easy to view. The omni-present Black Vultures made up the bulk of bird activity.

The highway to Dominical is now paved except for the last 10-12 KM, still under construction. It was sad to see the machines at the edges of the rivers, gathering stone for the road bed, muddying the downstream water.

An unexpectedly quick change of buses in San Isidro, then thirty minutes up into the mountains, to just past Hortensia, where the driver dropped us off at the entrance to Bosque del Tolomuco (http://www.bosquedeltolomuco.com/). After a short but steep walk up a partially paved drive in the wonderfully cool temperatures and curling mist, we met with Rolf Zersch and dropped our bags in the nearest cabin. For our evening meal, we decided to eat in Hortensia, giving us just a few minutes for the new cast of birds (Cherrie's Tanager, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Silver-throated Tanager, Black-throated Green Warbler, Green-crowned Brilliant, Paltry Tyrannulet), before we made the 1.5 KM trip down the highway to restaurant Midador del General. With excellent food, English-speaking owner and reasonable prices, I could see we'd be back regularly. The walk back to the lodge in the dark was an unwelcome chore but stretching our legs after a meal and a long day in a bus was not. We met Rolf's wife, Lise, remet the three dogs and settled into the Hummingbird Cabin for the night.

[Dave B Smith]

Great report. Looking forward to more!

[Hamhed]

Thanks, Dave! It feels like payback time for all the info I've gleaned from others.

Steve

[Hamhed]

12-17-09

As usual, we were up before dawn, out at first light, greeted by the cheerful song of the Plain Wren just outside our door. Full of morning energy, we hiked to the highest point of the property and watched the colors of the dawn glow through the morning fog. Birds of the Costa Rica highlands were somewhat familiar to us after our stay at El Toucanet Lodge (http://www.eltoucanet.com) in 2008. Common Bush-Tanager, Yellow-thighed Finch, Townsend's and Golden-winged Warblers and Yellow-winged Vireo were all present. Common Hummingbirds at the sugar water feeders were Scintillant, Green-crowned Brilliant, Rufous-tailed, Magnificant and Violet Saberwing. Rolf and Lise had bananas out as well, attracting Blue-gray and Silver-throated Tanagers, Buff-throated Saltators, multiple Cherrie's Tanagers and many Baltimore Orioles. In hindsight, if I could find fault with Federico's Cerro Lodge, it was the lack of fruit feeders. We certainly enjoyed the many feeder species at Tolomuco Lodge. Did I mention Clay-colored Thrush, Flame-throated Tanager, Tennessee Warbler at the feeders as well?

The middle of the day disappeared under our restless feet as we explored the many well-maintained trails through the forest above the lodge area. Birding was slow but the vegetation so unique and the temperatures so comfortable, we didn't mind. In mid-afternoon, we crossed paths with a mixed flock and had 30 minutes of non-stop action, including our first Tropical Parula, Red-faced Spinetails, Golden-olive Woodpeckers, Philadelphia Vireos and Scarlet-thighed Dacnis.

After a short break monitoring the hummingbird feeders, we walked below the lodge and reconnected with the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird we thought we had seen earlier. Fog began to crept up the mountain and combined with the late afternoon light. Bird were active but harder to see. In the evening, after another of Lise's delicious meals, the inventive Rolf and I spent some time in his workshop repairing my aging day pack with a screwdriver and baling twine. Sounds crude, but it is still holding up.

[Hamhed]

12-18-09

Long ago, we had planned on a day at Los Cusingos just outside of San Isidro. Getting there without a rental car could have been a problem but Lise solved that for us by a well-placed call to a taxi driver, who agreed to take us at 5:30 AM to the front entrance of Alexander Skutch's farm (http://www.cct.or.cr/) for 10,000 colones or about $18 US. We arrived almost an hour early than the official opening time but were let in by a friendly employee. The short stretch of road before the house was somewhat quiet but that changed when we entered the gardens. White-faced Capuchins were squabbling fiercely in the palms as we found our first Turquoise Cotinga in the same tree as a Blue Dacnis and Double-toothed Kite. Honeycreepers, Tanagers, Swifts, Orange-billed Sparrows - we needed several sets of eyes each to take it all in. For just a minute or two, Skutch's favorite birds, a pair of Laughing Falcons landed nearby.

Tearing ourselves away from action that really never died down, we failed to find the entrance to the forest trail until one of the workers there, Andres (sp?) helped us. In the process, he got us on to a threesome of Riverside Wrens, impossibly elusive at Carara and only quickly visible here. Not long in the wooded trails, we ran across our first antswarm, hosted by Gray-headed Tanagers and numerous Woodcreepers. Exciting to witness, we spent a good bit of time watching the birds, (Bicolored Antbird, Ruddy and Tawny-winged Woodcreepers, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Roadside Hawk) and watching out for the ants. We left reluctantly but soon found another swarm and more good birds, including a female Baird's Trogon.

The trail looped back to the main house and the feeders freshly equipped with bananas, thanks to Andres. It was hard to eat with our mouths agape and binoculars in constant action but we managed to stay until the Capuchins chased away the birds and finished off the bananas. Andres opened up Skutch's house and gave us a personal tour before we left in late afternoon. Incredibly, we heard him tell us we were the only people to visit this place in two days. We had called for a taxi, expecting to pay $18 for a trip back up the mountain but the driver was incredulous that we would expect so much for so little and would only take us to the bus station in el centro for that amount. We picked up a bus without waiting for long and were dropped off at our favorite restaurant in Hortensia.

The day's birding was not over. The restaurant maintains feeders in a small clearing below the seating area and the flowering shrubs attracted a Purple-crowned Fairy and Bananaquits. Once again for that day, we watched with mouthfuls of food while birds we had never seen before (Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Red-headed Barbet) fed nearby. Cherrie's and Speckled Tanagers were there also.

In the final light of a wonderful day, we walked up the steep mountain road to the lodge, greeted by non-blinking fireflies. Later that evening, while we reviewed our bird list and talked with Lise, rain began to fall.

[Hamhed]

12-20-09

The rain had stopped by morning. We walked many of the nearby trails in the morning's lingering clouds and cool air. A few new birds, (Mountain Elaenia, Golden-winged Warbler, Golden-olive Woodpecker), kept us occupied until we returned to the lodge for coffee and a chat with Rolf. He got us interested in a 1 KM trail that led from their property to the town of Hortensia. By late morning, we were on it, heading up at first, muddy and overgrown with grasses, then rocky and wooded before we came to a power line right-of-way. The path followed the cut over area until Hortensia, passing by a newly-built but unoccupied house. The sun had come out and warmed up the day; we saw few birds but spent time taking flower and butterfly pictures in the perfect temperatures.
Our destination was lunch at the Mirador Valle del General Restaurant and a worthy destination it was. Another inexpensive and tasty meal of Gallo Pinto and refrescos con leche with Bananaquits and Hummingbirds fluttering past. After eating, we walked on a prettily planted track leading below the restaurant and feeder area to a set of rooms with a excellent view of the land below. They looked very nicely appointed and rented for $55 US, including breakfast.
Back up along the highway and the entrance road, we found a mixed flock in the accumulating fog as we entered Bosque del Tolomuco, including Yellow-throated Vireo, Wilson's Warbler, Red-headed Barbet , Tropical Parula and some flycatchers we couldn't pin down. After a short break at our rooms, we continued walking above the lodge in the late afternoon light. It was getting too dim to enter the forest, though there were Tolomuco trails we hadn't seen yet. Light rain became stronger as we left the upper part of the trail system.
Just after the light left the sky, a Bare-shanked Screech Owl came in to my recording, landing close to our porch in a shrub, tooting an answer. Later, we tried a different owl recording but the Screech Owl continued to answer so we decided to stop. Lise fed us a delicious dinner and we talked for a good while. Then, it was time to organize what we could for the next day's mid morning departure.

[Birdingcraft]

Cool photos of the wood rail and the barbet! Happy to read that you guys got the Turquoise Cotinga and Tolomuco sounds pretty nice!

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

hamid lovely pictures of the barbet and the rail..i looked the ?cuckoo picture..it is a dream for me to read and see pictures from afar..thank you my friend.

[Hamhed]

Thanks for the comments, Patrick and Dr. Singh - more to come -

Steve

[Hamhed]

12-20-09

Our last morning at Bosque del Tolomcuo was spent searching without success for the crafty Black Guan. Still, a walk on a beautiful tropical mountainside is a fine way to start the day. We did stake out a thin scattering of Verbena and found the White-tailed Emerald we caught a glimpse of the day before. A Collared Trogon calling non-stop allowed us to get a good views. On the way downhill, we stopped for a few birds in a small clearing and saw a Blue-headed Vireo, a common bird where we live in North Carolina but apparently rare here.

New guests had arrived late the previous evening. Conveniently, they were leaving in late morning and passing through San Isidro so we hitched a ride to the Musoc bus terminal and caught the 11 AM bus bound for San Jose. We were not going that far however and got off less than an hour later near the top of Cerro de la Muerte at La Georgina, part restaurant and part motel.

La Georgina, as we were to find out, mostly exists as a stop for the various bus lines that travel up and over the mountain from San Jose to San Isidro del General and vice versa. The activity in the restaurant peaks with the arrival of each bus and its 40 or so passengers who are ready to stretch their legs and grab anything edible. Not a good time to be in the buffet-style food line. We settled into our cold but cheap ( $15,000 colones or $27 US) room below the restaurant. And, after a short exploratory walk, we went up for lunch, which turned out to be very exciting with constant hummingbird activity just outside our window and good food at excellent prices.

Calorie equipped, we left on one of three trails below the restaurant, walking steeply downhill, through small stands of bamboo and epiphyte-laden trees, an unfamiliar combination. We found the Silvery-fronted Tapaculo in the bamboo and a pair of Silvery-throated Jays soon after. A fast moving flock of birds passed overhead but we identified very few of them, Flame-throated, Black-throated Green and Wilson's Warblers and Yellow-winged Vireo. The sky had been overcast all day and light conditions for birding the old growth forest weren't ideal. Lighting got worse when light rain began to fall and we soon returned to the restaurant to watch the hummingbird feeders.

Back in our room, we discovered the hot water showers were not getting hot. Inexplicably, there were no heaters in the room either and the temperature had dropped to 14C (58F). Their answer for that was an electric blanket, which might have been okay except for getting out of the cold shower but the blanket didn't work either. The manager at the restaurant admitted the blanket was broken and offered us a small space heater which we tried but it would not run constantly but would shut off on a regular basis for minutes at a time. After an hour, it had raised the temperature of the room 1C or 3F. It didn't help that we had a lot of damp clothing at that point. We decided to spend the evening in the restaurant, discovering that it was also unheated! When they closed at 8PM, there was no choice but to walk through the steady rain to our rooms and crawl into bed with whatever reading material we could scratch up. Tomorrow could only be better.

[Hamhed]

12-21-09

Poor lighting in the room made for difficult reading so we turned in early, the portable heater rattling away, largely ineffective in the concrete-walled room. Some time later that night, the need for heat was overwhelmed by the need for quiet and we turned the heater off and added another layer of socks. It was 9C (49F) outside at dawn and only a degree or two warmer in the room. The massive power lines outside our cabin were sizzling and shaking in the light rain. Large-footed and Yellow-thighed Finches were flitting it and out of the nearby shrubs. Mountain Robins were common in the rose garden and we had a Black-capped Flycatcher 6m or 20' from our door. Up the short hill at the restaurant, someone was mopping the floor and for some reason, had all the windows open. The cold air and moisture from the fog and misty rain floated through the building. Soon, the cooks and wait staff were hovering around the thermometer, shaking their heads and pretending (or not) to shiver. Of course, two hummingbirds accidentally found their way into the building and I had to direct them away from an area without opening windows. One Flame-throated Hummer was so exhausted, I came within an inch of the bird, hoping to lift him on my finger to an open window but he didn't want the assistance and eventually found his way out.

We left after a hearty breakfast, spending some time across the highway on a short track that led above the restaurant level and passed through various habitats. Sooty-capped Brush Finches in a shrubby area and a Tapaculo in another but quiet otherwise. Light rain persisted as we took on the well marked and well maintained Los Quetzales trail, leading steeply down from our cabin. Photography was too risky for our digital cameras; even using binoculars to look into the canopy necessitated frequent lens cleanings. The forest was obviously mature vegetation, dripping with bromeliads, and beautiful in the fog. We did manage another Flame-throated Warbler, a Collared Redstart and a Ruddy Tree-runner. Many other birds played in the upper level of the forest, out of range for the conditions. We gave up several hours later and trudged back up the trail in steady rain.

It wasn't hard to make the decision to cut our losses and leave Cerro de la Muerte. The weather and lack of basic utilities in our cabin made that choice for us. By 12:45, we were packed and waiting at the roadside for the 1 pm bus to San Jose, after having negotiated 2/3 of our prepaid night's lodging back. The expected bus didn't leave until 1:30 and passed through heavy traffic entering San Jose, arriving at the Musoc terminal three hours later. A 2000 colones taxi ride to the Los Caribenos bus station, missing the afternoon bus by minutes. We found an internet cafe, bargain bathrooms (75 colones), and a 2600 colones ($5 US) dinner for two before climbing on the 6 pm bus to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui.

In the rain and dark, the 2 hour trip out of the Central Valley and down to the lowlands was uneventful. The first stop was at the crossroads for the turnoff for Puerto Viejo where a restaurant, much like La Georgina except flatter, was welcomed by most passengers. Multiple stops were made from there to our destination and we arrived with less than half a bus of riders. Less than a dozen steps from the bus stop was Mi Lindo Sarapiqui, with downstairs restaurant and rooms available for about the same price we paid at La Georgina. We covered the floor and second bed with wet gear, assorted food items, bird guides and Spanish dictionaries, water bottles, all stages of dirty or clean clothing and walked down to stretch our legs in the night lights of Sarapiqui.

[Motmot]

Originally Posted by Hamhed

12-20-09

Our last morning at Bosque del Tolomcuo was spent searching without success for the crafty Black Guan. Still, a walk on a beautiful tropical mountainside is a fine way to start the day. We did stake out a thin scattering of Verbena and found the White-tailed Emerald we caught a glimpse of the day before. A Collared Trogon calling non-stop allowed us to get a good views. On the way downhill, we stopped for a few birds in a small clearing and saw a Blue-headed Vireo, a common bird where we live in North Carolina but apparently rare here.

New guests had arrived late the previous evening. Conveniently, they were leaving in late morning and passing through San Isidro so we hitched a ride to the Musoc bus terminal and caught the 11 AM bus bound for San Jose. We were not going that far however and got off less than an hour later near the top of Cerro de la Muerte at La Georgina, part restaurant and part motel.

La Georgina, as we were to find out, mostly exists as a stop for the various bus lines that travel up and over the mountain from San Jose to San Isidro del General and vice versa. The activity in the restaurant peaks with the arrival of each bus and its 40 or so passengers who are ready to stretch their legs and grab anything edible. Not a good time to be in the buffet-style food line. We settled into our cold but cheap ( $15,000 colones or $27 US) room below the restaurant. And, after a short exploratory walk, we went up for lunch, which turned out to be very exciting with constant hummingbird activity just outside our window and good food at excellent prices.

Calorie equipped, we left on one of three trails below the restaurant, walking steeply downhill, through small stands of bamboo and epiphyte-laden trees, an unfamiliar combination. We found the Silvery-fronted Tapaculo in the bamboo and a pair of Silvery-throated Jays soon after. A fast moving flock of birds passed overhead but we identified very few of them, Flame-throated, Black-throated Green and Wilson's Warblers and Yellow-winged Vireo. The sky had been overcast all day and light conditions for birding the old growth forest weren't ideal. Lighting got worse when light rain began to fall and we soon returned to the restaurant to watch the hummingbird feeders.

Back in our room, we discovered the hot water showers were not getting hot. Inexplicably, there were no heaters in the room either and the temperature had dropped to 14C (58F). Their answer for that was an electric blanket, which might have been okay except for getting out of the cold shower but the blanket didn't work either. The manager at the restaurant admitted the blanket was broken and offered us a small space heater which we tried but it would not run constantly but would shut off on a regular basis for minutes at a time. After an hour, it had raised the temperature of the room 1C or 3F. It didn't help that we had a lot of damp clothing at that point. We decided to spend the evening in the restaurant, discovering that it was also unheated! When they closed at 8PM, there was no choice but to walk through the steady rain to our rooms and crawl into bed with whatever reading material we could scratch up. Tomorrow could only be better.

Silvery-fronted Tapaculos and especially Silvery-throated Jays are usually very difficult birds to find and see so not everything was that bad! Sorry about the crappy conditions in your room though, sounds bad...

[Hamhed]

Motmot - We really liked La Georgina and the area around it. I maybe made it sound like we didn't. Our timing, weather-wise, was bad, nobody's fault, of course. The lack of heat in the room is puzzling though. It occurred to us that maybe the bus passengers were in and out so fast that they didn't care or notice and the cooks were in the warm kitchen. Considering the mammoth power lines just outside our door, it seemed strange not to have electric heaters in the cabins.
The forest trails were very nice and the forest itself was spectacular. Had the light been good, we could have spent a good deal more time there. Naturally, we'll have to go back in dryer weather. They had a great selection of snacks there.

Steve

[Hamhed]

12-22-09

Our concerns for trying to sleep in a motel at an intersection did not prove to be much of a consideration. We had no trouble sleeping through until dawn at which time we were awakened by Howler monkeys, no better sound to remind my half-awake brain that I'm still in the tropics. Liz and I took an early morning walk to locate a bank, a supermas, and a place for morning food (Mi Lindo Sarapiqui didn't open until 9am for breakfast!). We saw Passerini's Tanagers immediately, the Carib version of the Cherrie's Tanagers we had seen just two days ago. Our only House Sparrows of the trip were here though not in any numbers. I'm sure we must have just missed them in other towns. We ate cakes, bread and hot drinks at a panaderia just steps from the hotel, checked the schedules at the bus station across the street and bought a few bags of food at the supermas.

The 8 km from Puerto Viejo to Heleconia Lodge (http://www.heliconiaisland.com/) was a $6 taxi ride. More than double the bus fare but so very convenient and saved us a half km walk from the highway to the lodge. We crossed an unusual metal bridge over a dry streambed and were greeted by Henk and Carolien, who showed us our room, a snake and the restaurant. I'm not sure which came first since gawking at the plants and birds was getting most of my attention. We hadn't time to put our bags away when Henk called us out to see a pair of Chestnut-mandibled Toucans. Strewing wet clothes over the deck rail, we left to see some of the excellent birds that never stopped coming to the fruit feeders. Dusky-faced Tanagers were pretty common and Olive-backed Euphonias fed with them. Clay-colored Thrush, Passerini's Tanager, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Green Honeycreeper, Collared Aracari and Blue-gray Tanager were other feeder birds that day. The balance of the morning, we spent getting acquainted with the boundaries of the 5 acre gardens. A section of the grounds is flowering plants, many Heleconias, while there is a large wooded area, bordered by two rivers. The non-stop action of Kingfishers, Swallows, Ducks, Herons, Cormorants, even Spotted Sandpipers, as well as the beauty of the clear, quickly-moving water would be a constant draw during our time there.

We took a lunch break on a riverside deck for two, eating our peanut butter and crackers and starfruit drink provided by Carolien. Not a combination I've had before but it provided the calories to walk back across the bridge and do some birding in the approach road to Heleconia Lodge. This area held many birds also. There was a short section of second growth trees, then an overgrown field, another field with small shrubs and tall grasses and finally an upstream section of the river that bordered Heleconia. Here we had Barred Antshrike, a single Gray-headed Chacalacha, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker, Montezuma Oropendula, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Bay Wren, Common Tody-flycatcher, Golden-hooded Tanager and Grayish Saltator, among others. Two special birds were White-throated Crake in a path beside one of those fields I mentioned and Mourning Warbler, a tough one to get in the States. The constant day's activity might have been due to the overcast and pleasantly warm conditions. Whatever the reason, we logged 67 species that day.

By 5pm, we had ordered our meals from their suggested but flexible menu and sat to watch the feeders until dark. As dusk approached, Henk led us a short distance down a small trail next to the restaurant and we got a good look at the Spectacled Owl that had just started to call. Back at our table, Pauraques came out to use the lawn areas as launching pads for their pest control service. We talked after eating with our congenial hosts for a good while before retiring to our room to prepare for our journey to Rara Avis the next day.

[Hamhed]

12-23-09

Out at first light, we had a couple of hours of birding before Henk was to drive us to Horquetas and the Rara Avis headquarters around 8:30. Black-striped Sparrow, a new bird for us, a pair of Barred Antshrikes, the Canebrake version of the Plain Wren, and Green Ibis, on the lawn of Heleconia, were included in the morning's birds. We ate breakfast at the lodge while watching Collared Aracari's eat their own fruit plate.

By 9, we were being introduced to the driver of the Unimog truck at Rara Avis. We were the only passengers though a couple from Germany were traveling a parallel route by horse to meet with us later. The Unimog is somewhat rough ride on a growling, mechanical beast over a bumpy or rutted road. Giant mudholes were partially filled with rocks the size of basketballs or cut sections of trees. An hour and a half later, we had served our time on the Unimog and got off at a crossroads where we were to board the real test of endurance. Johanna, a Tico guide and masseuse who had the luxury of riding in the cab of the Unimog with the driver, and Diego Nunee, a biology student spending his Christmas holidays working at Rara Avis, boarded the trailer drawn by a farm tractor and we set off on the next stage of the journey. Ten minutes later, we wished we were back on the Unimog, where the danger of being thrown out of one's seat was unlikely and body part damage was not uppermost in one's mind. It was far too long until the tractor found the road too rough to cross in a single pass. When the driver got out to fill a monstrous hole with rocks, all of us elected to hike the rest of the way.

We came a large cleared area and the El Plastico complex of buildings not long afterward and took a short break, using the pit toilets and picnic tables in the covered area. I could see the potential for showerless camping there. Or maybe a small hospital, to complement the "transportation". There we met the Germans, Thomas and Christina, who survived their horseback riding. Led by Johanna and Diego as a group of six, we walked up the road under cloudy skies and onto the El Plastico trail for an hour and a half to Rara Avis.

We reached the grounds of Rara Avis at about 700 m (2300ft) in early afternooon, found out that due complications of a large group arriving, we had been "upgraded" to a less private cabin, just uphill from the restaurant. Our luggage was still in the tractor, due to arrive later with the new arrivals. With nothing to unpack, we ate a late lunch of rice and beans, cauliflower in a white sauce (!), blackberry (mora) juice and other vegetables and immediately set out on the Sendero Azul trail with Diego for a couple of hours. We found a mixed flock at the entry bridge that included a Black and Yellow Tanager. On the trail, we worked hard to get Mealy Parrots in the canopy and also found a Black-faced Grosbeak. At the lodge hummingbird feeders, we saw our first Bronze-tailed Plumleteeer, Green Hermit and Violet-crowned Woodnymph. It is unfortunate they do not maintain any fruit feeders at Rara Avis. In hindsight, we should have set out fruit ourselves.

With the group of 14, our luggage finally came after dark and we unpacked by kerosene lantern, a little smoky and smelly in the cabin as we played with adjusting the wick. Dinner at 6:30 was a humbling experience as we mingled with many people who were bilingual (we're working on it!) or even trilingual. They generously spoke English when we were part of the conversation. Showering by kerosene lantern was an experience of another type; we also had trouble adjusting the hot water, getting extremes of hot or cold and very little of comfortable temperatures. Eventually though, we were clean and spent the last hour of our day in the restaurant which was also the library, browsing through their collection of damp books on the flora and fauna of the area.

[Hamhed]

12-24-09

Dawn was clear and bright, the first such weather we'd seen in some time. We spent the entire day walking every nearby trail returning only for the scheduled meal times. Though birding was particularly slow, we couldn't help be fascinated by every other part of the forest and passed the day in exploration. All the trails there are in rough and muddy condition, demanding a slow pace and careful attention to footing. At that pace, much catches the eye but looking up for birds is difficult. We did manage to see some quality birds during our travels. Looking at a fast moving hummingbird at one stop, a White-tipped Sicklebill flew in and hovered briefly within a few feet of us. Later, while tracing a calling Violet-headed Hummingbird, we became aware of a Barred Forest-Falcon perched at the top of a snag. We found Tawny-capped Euphonia in a short tree back at camp and Bronzy Hermit at the feeder. As hard as we tried, we never got a look at the Black-throated Trogons that called overhead in the deep forest.

On a search that evening for Diego's first Tinamou, we wandered far away from camp as darkness came. Trails and road that were awkward to walk on by day became tortuously slow by flashlight. My legs and flashlight held up for the hour two hour stumbling walk; I had no trouble sleeping that night.

[Birdingcraft]

Very cool photos Steve. Congrats on the Sicklebill and Forest-Falcon!

[Hamhed]

Thanks, Patrick. Our pictures are generally about as good as our Spanish. We go for quantity, assuming some quality will show up accidentally. We watched the Forest-Falcon until it flew; the Sicklebill was there for a few stunning seconds.

[Hamhed]

12-25-09

Another clear dawn, enhanced by two and threes of passing parrots. A pair of White-crowned Parrots paused in the morning sun long enough for pictures. We stayed close to camp until we ate breakfast with the group that was leaving that morning only to be replaced by a larger group that was due in the afternoon. After watching the coatimundis rummage through the garbage that was tossed into a ditch, Liz and I hiked towards the edge of the Rara Avis property, lured by promise of a remote catarata. The trail was long and had 5 stream crossings with no bridges, according to the map we were given. Birding was slow again, the forest thick and quiet. We lost ourselves in plants, insects and just walking in a real jungle.

Four hours later, at the 8th stream crossing, where the other side was not visible and we would have to wade a considerable distance, we stopped for lunch. It was a shallow but beautiful stream. The curved trunk, large-leafed plants growing out of the current were flowering and the sandy bottom was visible as far as we could see. This was as far from the outside world as we'd ever been, a Christmas present to us.

It was, however, time to turn around. As we did, somewhere across that stream, the first howler monkeys we'd heard at Rara Avis said goodbye and didn't stop until we were far away. We did finally hit a mixed flock of birds traveling at all levels through the forest. The thick vegetation made it difficult to follow any bird for any length of time. We needed Patrick O'Donnell with us more than any other time. We did manage a Scarlet-rumped Cacique, initially mistaking it for something commoner. Also, Black-faced Grosbeak and Black and Yellow Tanager. There were so many others, high and moving constantly - Woodcreepers in the shadows, tiny birds with splashes of yellow (Euphonias?) high in the canopy, female tanagers colored shades of green. Not long after, Liz, walking ahead, saw a cat cross the trail. Our only evidence was a fresh cat print.

Back at Rara Avis camp, we found a lone Emerald Tanager in tree next to the restaurant. The sky had become darkly cloudy and a few drops had fallen. We showered off the trail sweat while there was daylight. Diego came back from leading a nature walk with my hat that I had lost on the previous night's walk. Either a horse or the tractor had made its acquaintance but the mud scrubbed off easily in the outdoor wash basin. With Diego, we walked the short distance to the waterfall, where it was rumored that Black Swifts would return at dusk to their cave night roost. I caught a glimpse of a familiar bird on the top of the lower falls, an American Dipper, and handed my binoculars to Diego, who clambered across the rocks in time to see two of the birds in the stream below. Liz left for camp while Diego and I stuck it out for the Swifts only to end our vigil in frantic retreat as heavy rain was suddenly on us.

Liz and I did some limited packing that evening and then spent some time watching Orange Nectar bats coming to the hummingbird feeders. We were to leave early in the morning and were due for breakfast at 6:15am so we tried for sleep at 9. The new Gap Adventures group was of the partying variety however; just before midnight, not having gotten any sleep, I had to go down and request that the music be turned off. Hoping the singers and loud talkers would also move along, I was mistaken. At 1:30am, they were still going.