Costa Rica At Last (1 Viewer)

Part One: New York, New York.

Well the day I thought would never arrive finally did.

Set off from Manchester Airport only 40 minutes late, into a head wind that cost a similar amount, so, having heard about the notorious officialdom in the U.S. it was some relief that we passed through controls at Newark in minutes. Couldn't have been sweeter.
Our two-plus-hour connection time reduced nicely to a convenient half hour before re-boarding meant a quick look out of the windows was in order. But first...

Coming into land at Newark with a nasty crosswind that had us passengers holding on & yelping as, at the same time, watching the Statue of Liberty slide by the Manhattan skyline backdrop - caused mixed emotions there I can tell you; then I had the first bird of the trip:
Northern harrier quartering the grass verges of the runway!
And so out of the windows & the first tick. American herring gull, several in fact - with Mew gulls - giving good views.

And so, off we set to Costa Rica, after a visit to the taxiways of Newark, where we endured a seventeen-plane (count them!) queue for the runway. (Again with Continental, who have to go down as having the worst airline food I've ever had - & I've had some bad food on flights before, let me say!) As the sun set we sucked larva-hot goo from cellophane (apparently this was a sandwich of some description) which consisted of super-heated cheese-o-rama on (?)meat in a (?)bread-style mush. The whole soggy singularity of steam & additives was, as the man said, "something else". They repeated this delight for us on other legs of the journeys.
Being consistent the head-wind stayed with us & delayed us further until we turned across it at San Jose for another memorable landing - this was to be a theme - and we were in Costa Rica!

Midnight local time, but we had gained six hours - so that was fine, as we were driven to our first hotel (the Bouganvillia) and the first bird of Costa Rica made its presence known: Barn owl. The augurs were good, so a not-surprisingly fitful brief sleep before dawn: and the hour of daylight I had in which to bird the garden, before our first pick-up at 06:35 the next day.
I was as excited as a kid at Christmas, and the first dawn did not disappoint.

Now you got me excited..waiting for the pictures my friend...best of luck and hope you have a fantastic time.regards.:t:

This is shaping up to be a good'un, H.

DS

halftwo said:

(Again with Continental, who have to go down as having the worst airline food I've ever had - & I've had some bad food on flights before, let me say!)

Click to expand...

Try American Airlines, their food is pretty disgusting too ...maybe the same cook?

:bounce: What suspense!!! Looking forward to knowing what you've found in your first day there!!! o

I must add I couldn't sleep during my first night in Costa Rica, thinking of the goodies waiting outside to be seen!!!

Part Two: Three-Toed & Two-Toed

Thanks Doctor S & DS - good reminder re. photos - will try to add some in as I go.

Not surprisingly I pre-empted good light & was strolling the famous garden at dawn, and the first bird was an unexpected Brown jay - calling loudly from a tree top - had it not been against a paling sky I couldn't have seen it properly.

Things were calling, things which undoubtably were ticks, as I willed full daylight to give me views. At this point I am going to say that: this will not be a bird-by-bird account; but this was the first day & I was fizzing & knew I had little time before we left for the coast...
Clay-coloured robins were, as they were to be everywhere, omnipresent, but these were my firsts - so forgive their mention here. But next a real goody & one I never saw anywhere else - White-eared ground sparrows. These are lovely birds - & other birders I met I put onto them as they remained quietly in the same spot in that corner of the garden, something I was rewarded for later.
Next great bird was Blue-crowned motmot - not something I'd expected in a suburban garden - so they - for there were three - were all the more appreciated. They weren't shy & gave close views - which they never did anywhere else, I was to discover.

Clocking up several more ticks & some non-ticks - such as Yellow warbler - always nice (including one really washed-out individual which had me wondering until its id. was confirmed by another group of American birders) - I was keeping an eye on the time & had decided, reluctantly that time was up.
Making my way back to the hotel I passed a birder who said, "You saw the owl, did you?" Time for my sparrow reward!

Quick sprint to the bamboo thicket - via a hedge containing my only Rufous & white wren of the trip - & there, perched less than twenty feet up, was a Pacific screech owl ! It was now 06:25, ten minutes before our departure & I didn't know if Mrs.H was even up! But now I'd lost the hotel!

In what can be described as only a minor incident - I spent ten frantic minutes running around a huge garden - vaulting hedges & climbing gates until I reached what I thought was the building. It wasn't.
Another similar building over that way. Ran to that. Doors locked. O6:32.
Another building must be the hotel - but how to get to it? Nightmare time (I do have dreams like this, but this was real!).
Anyway a passing car gave me direction for the road & I ran out to it, along it, & back to the front of the hotel, where a man looking at his watch sat by a minibus.
Sprinted to the lift which opened to Mrs.H struggling with two suitcases & two other bags & an I'm-going-to-have-your-balls look on her face. Had I had the breath to speak I would have apologised, but I needed all the oxygen to avoid coronary meltdown. 06:35.
And so to the bus that took us to the Caribbean.

Ever tried to bird from a bus? In a foreign country with six hundred or so potential ticks? Some untickable-views were had as I gnawed my knuckles & tried not to whimper.
Over forest-clad mountains & descending to the distantly visible coast, views were stunning. A White-crowned parrot on a tree top was one of a handful of new birds as we journeyed.

Breakfast stop.
Shining honeycreeper! What a cracker. The only Black-striped sparrows of the trip. Banded-backed wrens. (A little aside here: Costa Rica has over twenty wren species - and most are little beauties - at this point I hadn't a clue how many I was to see, each was a delight.) Only Red-footed plumeleteer (second hummingbird tick) of the trip, the list grew longer & it was time to reboard.
That was Guapiles, by the way.

We continued through Mr.Del Monte country of pineapples & bananas, flashing scarlet rumps of Passerini's tanagers everywhere, to Cabo Blanco, a river "port" where we transferred to boat. Ringed Kingfisher & Grey-breasted martins overhead & a River otter slid into the water as we passed. Lots of egrets, vultures circling, we sped along the Tortuguero canal as Squirrel cuckoos & Chestnut-mandibled toucans flew the forest gap.

Stopped at a bar for refreshments: and, on top of a tree, two Long-tailed tyrants flycatching, three Black-cheeked woodpeckers pecking, an Osprey calling, with a fish.

Back on the boat the guides began pointing out stuff they were seeing: first a Three-toed sloth moving, well, sloth-like in a tree. A line of Long-nosed bats roosting against a tree trunk, a swimming Howler monkey. And I was calling out birds - including a Magnificent frigatebird, perched rather incongruously in a forest tree. Anhingas were perched above the water, herons & egrets & Northern jacanas just in it.

Before the day ended many more species were seen, and on a short guided boat trip a Two-toed sloth was picked up by the sharp-eyed guides who, by now, were beginning to realise they had a serious birder with them, something which was to be to my advantage in thee next two days.
But first a well-deserved dip in the pool as Purple-throated fruitcrows watched & a Black hawk-eagle flew over the forest "clearing" of the swimming pool!

Excellent stuff H, looking forward to the rest.

James

Hey Halftwo

CR is great innit?? The Hotel Bougainvillea is a fab place too, like you I couldn't wait to get out there in the morning!!
Your Rufous & White Wren there - are you positive of that as I didn't think they were that far in the Central Valley and thought they're more of as forest species? I saw Plain Wrens in the gardens (which look nothing like the illustrations in the book) and can be confusable - just a thought.

Ads

Thanks, Marian, James,
Ads,
I've not completely revised "the list" yet, and have already had editorial from Dave Wolf who I met out there - more of that later. But I had Plain wren in a couple of places - this wasn't one. I wondered how long it would take someone to say "Are you sure about?" on something! - again more on that later! (Plenty more!)
I even met the man who wrote the new Fieldguide - Richard Garrigues - more on that interesting & entertaining encounter later.
H

Jos Stratford said:

Try American Airlines, their food is pretty disgusting too ...maybe the same cook?

Click to expand...

North West Airlines might also have the same cook as well.

Great start Halftwo.

We go out in July. Sounds like a very similar itinerary ie Continental MAN to SJO via Newark (really looking forward to the flights & food now - thanks!), Bougainvillea then Tortuguero. Where next?
I'm glad you had time (just) for the Motmot and Sparrow in the gardens at Bougainvillea. I'll have exactly the same time as you had. I wasn't expecting to have time to see either. Do they have favoured places in the gardens? Any gen that saves a few seconds would be appreciated!
Really looking forward to the rest.

Cheers
Martyn

sidwemn said:

Great start Halftwo.

We go out in July. Sounds like a very similar itinerary ie Continental MAN to SJO via Newark (really looking forward to the flights & food now - thanks!), Bougainvillea then Tortuguero. Where next?
I'm glad you had time (just) for the Motmot and Sparrow in the gardens at Bougainvillea. I'll have exactly the same time as you had. I wasn't expecting to have time to see either. Do they have favoured places in the gardens? Any gen that saves a few seconds would be appreciated!
Really looking forward to the rest.

Cheers
Martyn

Click to expand...

Hi Martyn,
The Sparrows were near the observation platform by the metal gate, there was a wheelbarrow? (red) I think, in a corner, near the separate section with another obs. tower. The Motmots weren't stuck in one place.
But check the bamboo for the owls.
After Tortuguero we went to Serapiqui - stayed at La Quinta - for La Selva & La Virgen, then the Pacific coast (Punta Leona, near Carara) and then to Poas Volcano Lodge - highland birding.
You should have slightly longer days (daylight) but might lose some to rain.
H

Hi Martyn
Both the sparrows (White-eared and Prevost's) are pretty easy and reliable as Halftwo says, from the obs tower looking towards the perimeter wall where the rotting fruit in laid out.

birdboybowley said:

Hi Martyn
Both the sparrows (White-eared and Prevost's) are pretty easy and reliable as Halftwo says, from the obs tower looking towards the perimeter wall where the rotting fruit in laid out.

Click to expand...

Prevost's hasn't been seen recently, I didn't see it & nobody I've spoken to lately has seen it.

Joanne,
Am. herring gull was my only tick too - saw Northern harrier in California.

Part Three: Bat Falcon

We stayed at Pachira Lodge in Tortuguero - immediately across the water from the village of Tortuguero - so far everything had gone very smoothly & we settled in for our three day/two nights there.
I had a few birds that first afternoon - including Long-tailed hermit & Collared aracari by the pool & White-collared manakins in the forest grounds.

We had been warned. 05:10 the next pre-dawn the Howler monkeys woke us. The deep & loud roaring was impossible to sleep through - even Mrs.H was awake. And so to the forest. A Bright-rumped attila sang away, Slaty-tailed trogons showed off, & another wren - this time Black-throated held me in thrall. The whole forest was alive with movement & sound, the tick list grew.
We had a free wildlife boat trip in the afternoon, and before that I took a kayak out down the canal to see what I could, but didn't get far & added only Bare-faced tiger heron to the list (but down to one metre!).
The boat trip was excellent. I found the first bird while we were still getting our permits from the reserve office - a Prothonotary warbler. It was as good as I had hoped it would.
The guides were more impressed when I found a Basilisk lizard - as they are green in a green world. From then on they listened when I called out a sighting.
We saw Capuchin & Spider monkeys, Boat-billed herons & Grey-rumped swifts, plus Spectacled cayman - really close!
But bird of the trip - and of the holiday thus far was undoubtably American pygmy kingfisher. What a stunner! We had it down to 2 metres. Red-lored & Mealy parrots were added at the end.
The guide had a word with me as we berthed & told me of a great site to bird in. I arranged for an early morning lift there.

Dawn the next day a water taxi (free) took me to Evergreen Lodge where I spent two happy hours birding both forest & an open area with fruiting trees. Tanagers & Trogons, Ospreys & Aracaris, Caciques & Oropendulas were busy all around; but a very special bird flew over just as the sun came up.
It was carrying identifiable prey & deserves bold letters: Bat falcon.Of course it's prey was a bat! How long have I wanted to see this bird?
A very long time. Happy? Oh Yes.
Wood thrushes showed well in the forest itself - but sounds were all I got of whatever else was hidden. So back to the open area for more ticks.
Purple martin & Black cowled orioles & Bronzy hermit were amongst them.
And I almost forgot Toasty - a Cayman who answers to his name!

My return taxi sped me back for breakfast & then it was time for the journey back to Cano Blanco & onwards to our next destination. We weren't finished with the birds though & American swallow-tailed kite, Red-breasted blackbirds, Amazon kingfisher were highlights of the ticks on route.

From now on I was to encounter more birders, and of course more birds, but I recommend Tortuguero for lots of reasons - & if you are there in June, July & August you can watch Green turtles laying eggs on the beach.
And of course, for me there will always be Batty & Toasty. And that little Pygmy.

Brilliant my friend...:clap:,:clap:...you just made my day..B ..keep it coming..lol...dont look over your shoulder you may find this hairy Singh peeking over it......regarsds Halftwo..p.s...dont forget to tell us what your wife did to you for being late:-OB :t:

halftwo said:

Prevost's hasn't been seen recently, I didn't see it & nobody I've spoken to lately has seen it.

Click to expand...

Bummer - it was there every day I was there..last saw it New Year's Eve, but funnily enough it showed better mid-afternoon!

Fantastic! Can't wait for the next installment

Cheers
MartynB

Dr Manjeet Singh said:

Brilliant my friend...:clap:,:clap:...you just made my day..B ..keep it coming..lol...dont look over your shoulder you may find this hairy Singh peeking over it......regarsds Halftwo..p.s...dont forget to tell us what your wife did to you for being late:-OB :t:

Click to expand...

Ha Ha, Thanks, DrS.
If it gets as good as your threads I shall be well pleased.
She forgave me that one, and her love of CR grew as time went on.
More adventures to come, I promise.
H