Part Five: La Virgen
The rest of that day was fairly relaxed around La Quinta - but the birds kept coming. Around the pool & in the grounds - which included a fruit feeder where a steady stream of birds visited - including a pair of Red-throated ant-tanagers - which was nice! From the poolside I could see the river Sarapiqui & by the banks an Orange-billed sparrow pecked around.
In the trees above Olive-backed euphonias, Lesser greenlet, Buff-throated saltators.
But this wasn't enough! Another stroll around the grounds saw Western kingbird, Yellow-bellied elaenia, Yellow-faced grassquits, Grey-chested dove, and a Blue ground dove, to name a few: all fairly standard fare, but a Bay wren I tempted from a tangle with a tape was excellent.
An American redstart was nice, though not a tick, & neither was the next bird - but not just one...Let me start again: I looked up to see what appeared to be a ribbon of thin smoke across the sky - from horizon to horizon. Through bins it was obvious this was passing raptors migrating in hundreds - if not thousands!
For 15 or 20 minutes these Swainson's hawks went north - filling the whole skyline - quite a sight.
That evening a group of American birders came to stay at La Quinta. Their leader was none-other than Dave Wolf: he is mentioned in the fieldguide!
For the next two days I had several long chats with him & his wife Mimi & received some information that was to be invaluable the next day. He also gave me some editorial on my putative list thus far & also confirmed a few things I'd been unsure of.
Later on the trip I was to meet a very famous birder who also provided useful & (but I'm getting ahead of myself - more of that later!)
Dave was a cracking birder & Central America expert - & we got on very well. Another, less experienced birding group, with another guide, would sit around the feeder as the sunset & we would all enjoy the birds coming in to feed. I would call out the identification to them. The ladies asked Mrs.H if she wouldn't mind loaning me out to them! Their guide was quite impressed with me.
Dawn the next day saw me on the road to La Virgen del Socorro.
I started during darkness - a half hour drive - & thanks to Dave's very precise directions I found the place before light. That was great because I put up at least six Pauraques from the road - sometimes three together - Nightjar-like birds taking off & re-landing just in front of the car.
The first bird in daylight was Torrent tyrannulet - flycatching from rocks in the stream. Green hermit & White-breasted wood-wren soon followed - both crackers. Then the bird wave began.
Olive tanagers, calling & zooming through the forest, Spotted-crowned woodcreepers, a Long-tailed woodcreeper, but as fast as it started it had stopped. Long wait. Nothing; & so rather disconsulate I started back. But I found Yellow-bellied sapsucker & Red-lored parrot on the way.
I vowed to return later.
The next visit was much better.
During the day at La Quinta the best mammal I've ever seen (OK I exagerate!) ran along the river bank just outside the Lodge: five feet long & black it passed me at no more than five metres. It was a Tayra: a huge weasel-related thing - and it had big teeth! A Broad-winged hawk got up from a tree nearby.
Keel-billed toucan flew over the pool, a Mistletoe tyrannulet & a Tennessee
warbler were in the tree. Then a Chestnut-coloured woodpecker & a Double-toothed kite went over - both were the only ones of the trip: sometimes it pays to take time out with the Mrs.!
Back to La Virgen. But first I had to wait while a power pole taken out by a lorry (broken into three) whose live cables had set fire to the verge, to be removed & the traffic to restart!
This time two spectacular bird-waves crossed almost one after the other.
These are a mixed bag of emotions as well as birds, because you can't identify everything that passes, you miss some that pass & you also see lots of good stuff at the same time!
Anyway the Olive tanagers kicked off again, then Speckled tanager (very nice) a Cinnamon becard, a Russet antshrike, a Plain-brown woodcreeper, a Slaty-capped flycatcher, White-lined tanagers...(are you keeping up?!)
Several unidentified things, several non-ticks.
Then Streaked xenops (superb) ended on a crescendo.
Pause for breath when, at ninety degrees to the first, the second wave began.
This one had Black-faced grosbeaks pre-dominating, a Rufous-winged woodpecker, a Sulphur-rumped flycatcher, a Buffy tuftedcheek, a Wedge-billed woodcreeper, a Black & yellow tanager & a Bay wren. And of course several unidentified & non-ticks mixed in!!
White-collared swifts swept overhead as I headed happily back to La Quinta for our final night before the next stop.
But I had one important visit to make, for a very important bird, before we left the Sarapiqui area. That would have to wait for dawn.