birdman
Орнитол&
Well, it’s taken me a little while to make good on my promise/threat, but here is a birdy review of our holiday in Costa Rica in April this year.
Our holiday wasn’t a specialist birding tour, but if you have birder’s eyes, you can’t help but see – and in my case, struggle to identify.
So armed with the BF recommendation of a copy of Garrigues and Dean we kept a tally of what we saw, with significant help from our excellent guide, Daniel, it must be said.
We arrived after dark, tired and dishevelled, for our first night staying in San José.
18th April
Early today, the first tour took us to the Poàs Volcano, a shortish drive from downtown Chepe.
First identified fauna of the day was a White-nosed Coati, in the car park.
A short walk took is from the car park to the active crater, and en route the birding interest started with Common Bush-Tanager and Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager.
Soon these were followed by our first hummingbird, a Fiery-throated Hummingbird.
Rufous-collared Sparrows were present, and we also picked up the first Great-tailed Grackle.
Our tour then moved on to the Doka Coffee Plantation, where we were given the tourist spiel and a very fine lunch.
More Great-tailed Grackles, and with them el yigüirro (Clay-colored Robin) made its first appearance. Also we saw Blue-and-white Swallows and some unidentified Swifts.
The (fairly) familiar sight of a Cattle Egret on the way back to the hotel brought day one’s list to a close.
19th April
Day two was our transfer to Tortuguero.
Our body-clocks were still on UK setting, so the early start was no problem, and while waiting for the minibus, I was able to id some Crimson-fronted Parakeets in the treetops over the road, as well as White-winged Doves and “Kiskadees”.
The bus transfer was quite lengthy, and so there was little to be identified before reaching Caño Blanco – although, with the benefit of hindsight, I could perhaps have tried harder at our brunch stop!
However, the final 90 minutes was by boat along the canals, and although we were going at quite a lick, we still got to see Blue Morpho butterflies various Herons, Kingfishers and Kiskadees.
On arrival at our lodge we had an hour or so before a visit to Tortuguero village on the other side of the lagoon but this gave plenty of time to witness a commotion amongst the Mantled Howler Monkeys, as well as spotting (easily) Keel-billed Toucan and the ubiquitous Montezuma’s Oropendolas.
The 5 minute hop over to the village gave us the opportunity to support the local economy, but also meant we saw a few more birds in the more open environs. The first Blue-gray Tanagers (beautiful birds), Variable Seedeater, more Kiskadees and Montezuma Oropendolas, another Cattle Egret and some airborne Turkey Vultures.
We spent a little time on the volcanic beach, and watched as the ominous weather closed in. We just about got away with it, being caught by a scouting shower, but being safely ensconced in the dining room by the time the big rain came!
20th April
Next day we had a couple of boat trips planned to check out the local wildlife. Pretty much everything we saw was first spotted either by our guide, Selimo here in Tortuguero, or the pilot Gualter.
The morning trip set off at 5.30 prompt – not a problem, still UK circadian rhythms and howler monkey alarm clocks.
Early sightings included Laughing Falcon, Cattle Egret and familiar Barn Swallows, with frequent sightings of Montezuma’s Oropendola.
There were a number of birds flying over that I could not confidently identify to species, but included Parrots, Swallows and Martins, Raptors and probably others.
Soon we were able to id a White-crowned Parrot in the treetops, and the first Iguana of the trip... though these would prove to be very old hat as the holiday progressed!
A Green Kingfisher was spotted, and as we cruised down one of the quieter side canals, we came upon a juvenile JCB... Jesus Christ Basilisk.
The side route also brought us a Sungrebe, Gray-necked Wood-rail, a sleeping Boat-billed Heron (although its bill was tucked away, so I have to take Gualter and Selimo’s word for that) and a Green Heron.
Non –avian fauna included Spectacled Caiman – very serene, but I didn’t like the look in their eyes! – Spider Monkey, White-faced Cappucin and, of course, more Howlers.
Blue Morphos where flitting around.
A toucan flew over, which we saw, with a Red-eyed Tree-frog in its mouth – according to Gualter – which we didn’t.
The heron count hadn’t ended, as the return journey brought us Bare-throated Tiger-heron, Little Blue Heron and Great Egret in addition to a small group of Sandwich Terns.
We arrived back at the lodge for breakfast, before being taken on a short jungle walk in the late morning.
The walk itself was short, and muddy, and was intended to give some idea, if a little sanitised, of how the jungle feels. I’m glad I did it, but with 20:20 hindsight, I perhaps would have seen more sitting on the veranda of the lodge... but as I said, I’m glad I did it this once.
Birdwise we saw Common Black-hawk, Red-lored Parrot whilst Spotter’s badge went to my partner, who saw a pointed out a female Black-throated Trogon, and we also our first Three-toed Sloth.
Finally, as the walk ended Selimo spotted a “Little Hermit”. The reason for the quotation marks is because my copy of Garrigues and Dean doesn’t have Little Hermit as a Costa Rican bird, but does have Stripe-throated Hermit as a recent split from the Stiles and Skutch (1989) list.
End of walk meant shower and lunch (and power cut... but it is the jungle) and then the afternoon was a similar canal trip to the morning and similar wildlife.
Additional birding interest included Slaty-tailed Trogon, Anhinga and Selimo identified the call of a White-collared Manakin.
21st April
The transfer to Arenal began soon after breakfast.
Although I haven’t mentioned them yet, the area around the lodge was visited by many feisty Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds.
We also saw Purple-throated Fruitcrow.
The trip back to the bus brought many of what were by now the usual suspects, and on arrival at Caño Blanco we were able to add Belted Kingfisher and Gray-breasted Swallow.
Much of the rest of the day was taken up by the bus transfer, but as were we driving through the banana plantations, I saw a flash of electric red. Daniel (now guiding us again) coaxed a better description out of me, and was able to confirm Passerini’s Tanager. What a brilliant bird!
Weird purple and very tasty agave-sorbets were the order of the day (well, early afternoon) at the Restaurante Las Iguanas next to the “Iguana Tree” in Muelle.
One tree... probably 20-30 four-foot iguanas... you know, just the usual.
22nd April
Our full day at Arenal, and a short walk to an old lava field.
The walk didn’t yield too much in birdlife, but around the parking area we were treated to excellent views of White-throated Magpie-jay. On the walk we had a close encounter with a Coati, but the rest of the walk comprised mainly of volcano related facts.
Oh, and Daniel related what he was (apparently) told as a kid by his father... when walking in a group, don’t walk third... the first wakes the snake, the second angers the snake and the third is bitten by the snake. Our group comprised 11, including Daniel, and there was a certain amount of jockeying for position, thenceforth!
We decided to have lunch in La Fortuna, and in this short time we saw Variable Seedeater as well as Black Vultures playing the part of crows on the carrion in the car-park.
Back at the resort complex (very nice, by the way) we had visits to our “garden” from Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, House Wren, Clay-colored Robin, Ruddy Pigeon, Common Tody-flycatcher, Blue-gray Tanager and Barred Antshrike, with Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture overhead.
I missed, but my partner saw both Red-Legged and Green Honeycreeper (although the latter may have been a female of the former).
Elsewhere in the grounds we saw Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, White-tipped Dove and Variable Seedeater.
23rd April
An earlyish start today to move on to Monteverde.
The walk to reception contributed a surprise Bare-throated Tiger-heron, whilst along the way to Lake Arenal we saw Mangrove Swallow, Passerini’s Tanager and Great-tailed Grackle.
As we gingerly tottered down the slipway to the boat for our lake crossing, Daniel spotted a Black Phoebe perched on a rope.
The crossing intentionally kept close to the shore for as long as possible, and this allowed us to add – deep inhale – Great Egret, Great Kiskadee, Clay-colored Robin, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (ie practically sparrows!), Anhinga, Turkey and Black Vulture, Green Heron, Green Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher AND Belted Kingfisher to the day’s list.
The remainder of the transfer was on (locally famously) very bumpy roads, and amongst everything I know we missed, we added Black-cowled Oriole and Cattle Egret.
We arrived at our hotel in Monteverde, close to the Cloud Forest Reserve.
There wasn’t much daylight left, but we went for a short stroll along the road and managed to identify White-throated Robin, although there was other stuff about that we never managed to id.
However the easy audible id was Three-wattled Bellbird... obviously distant but very clear.
Back at the hotel, the bonus bird was what ultimately proved to be a pair or Emerald Toucanets nesting in the tree outside our room window.
24th April
A guided walk in the Reserve this morning.
It was clear there was plenty of activity, but much of the time was spent trying to track down the star of the reserve.
As a consequence, the birdlist from the reserve was not as long as it might have been. One of our group, a lady called Sue, won today’s Spotter’s badge as she had three of four sightings before we all managed to get good views of Resplendant Quetzal. Ultimately male, female and juvenile were all seen. Excellent!
The supporting cast was, as I indicated, short comprising Black Guan and Black-faced Solitaire, both identified by call by our guide and visual id of Slate-colored Redstart and distant but clear views of a calling Three-wattled Bellbird.
Everyone else stayed on in the Reserve for the afternoon, and with hindsight we were a little disappointed that we didn’t (although I’m sure we will next time!). We, however, spent our lunchtime and afternoon at the Hummingbird Gallery. Brilliant!!!
Sugar-feeders meant the place was teeming with hummers.
Present were Bananaquits, and the hummingbird list went something like this; Green Violet-ear, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, Coppery-headed Emerald, Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Green-crowned Brilliant and the fantastic Violet Sabrewing.
25th April
Final transfer for a short stay in Manuel Antonio.
Morning sightings from the room are Emerald Toucanet, Brown Jay, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Black and Turkey Vulture and House Wren with Purple-throated Mountain-gem in the grounds.
The transfer involved a stop next to the “Crocodile Bridge” over Rio Tarcoles. Plenty of BIG crocs in the water, with a Northern Jaçana going about its business.
Mangrove Swallows were flying around the bridge and some unidentified egrets and kingfishers were along the banks.
On the second part of the transfer, our first Magnificent Frigatebird was seen flying just offshore.
Once we arrived and settled into our hotel, a walk around the grounds increased the bird count for the day: the obligatory Great-tailed Grackles, more Magnificent Frigatebirds overhead, a flypast of some 20 or so Brown Pelicans, Cherrie’s Tanager (we are now on the Pacific side), and unidentified Woodcreeper, an equally unidentified Hummingbird, the evidently resident Yellow-headed Caracara, Great Kiskadee, Blue-gray Tanager and Social Flycatcher. And something I faithfully recorded as a juvenile White-throated Tanager – which appears to be a species I have invented and cannot possibly fathom at this remove. I guess I should’ve written up sooner!
26th April
Had a bit of a lie-in this morning and dawdled to reception.
On the dawdle we saw Cherrie’s Tanager, Palm Tanager, Turkey Vulture, the usual Grackles, the Caracara, Pelicans and Frigatebirds, as well as a juvenile King Vulture, Golden-hooded Tanager and an unidentified Euphonia.
As a consequence of the dawdle we missed the free shuttle bus to Manuel Antonio National Park. So we ordered a taxi, and prepared to run the gauntlet of local guides at the park entrance. To be fair, a guide, whilst not necessary, did at least increase one’s knowledge of the area, and allowed us to see a few things we perhaps wouldn’t have otherwise.
Birding interest whilst in the National Park got off to a start with Laughing Falcon, and was soon followed by flyovers from Roseate Spoonbill and White Ibis. Closer to the ground were Great Kiskadee, another Woodcreeper we couldn’t pin down, and something Sanderlingy on the beach – probably a Sanderling, but I’m rubbish with Calidris waders... even the ones I know.
It was very, very hot, and so we decided to return to the town for a spot of lunch before returning to the hotel.
In Manuel Antonio town we saw a probable Red-crowned Woodpecker and a “yellow warbler” which might have been a Prothonotary Warbler but probably wasn’t, but at least it gave me the chance to write “Prothonotary”, which is a word I’ve never seen before.
Anyway, the best calamari ever and the biggest portion of nachos I’ve ever seen were shared before the shuttlebus back to our lodgings.
That afternoon we booked and early morning Mangrove Tour for the following day.
27th April
Up bright and early, a quick bite of breakfast, and off to Quepos for the tour. Another two couples shared the bus, but they being younger and much fitter than we were going sea-kayaking, so we got the wildlife tour to ourselves! Yippee!
We had an excellent guide who was ably assisted by his boat pilot.
We had to learn about Mangroves (there was a test!) but in return we got to see Northern Jaçana, Green Kingfisher, Green Heron, Gray-necked Wood-rail and the guide ided Bright-rumped Attila from the call.
He also found JCBs, Pygmy Anteater and some roosting bats.
More birds... Spotted Sandpiper, Mangrove Black-hawk (yep... Pacific side), White Ibis and Bare-throated Tiger-heron.
More animals... White-faced Cappucin, baby crocodiles and Three-toed Sloth.
And finally we returned to our starting point to see a Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, before being presented with an excellent second breakfast of the day.
Actually all this time it had been raining and today proved to be the one fairly rainy day of our stay, so we spent the rest of the day at the hotel and in the grounds, but that did not mean the wildlife interest ended.
Peering from the balcony and occasional mooching meant we saw Iguanas, Squirrel Monkeys, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Cherrie’s Tanager, Blue-gray Tanager, the Caracara (of course!), Inca Dove, Frigatebirds, Rufous-tailedhummingsparrows (!), Palm Tanager, House Wren, Clay-colored Robin, Brown Pelican, Turkey Vulture (four on the penthouse roof) and... Thick-billed Euphonia.
28th April
A lunchtime connection back to Chepe, but we had a chance to walk to the beach and have a paddle in the Pacific whilst we there.
Birdwise... well, see yesterday, with only Cattle Egret and Anhinga to add on the journey.
29th April
Which leaves us with the day we return home. San José gave us the, now familiar, Great-tailed Grackles, Clay-colored Robins and White-winged Doves.
And final bird of the whole shebang... at the airport, good old Columba livia, or as Garrigues and Dean tell me, Rock Pigeon.
They count!
Which means, if I’ve highlighted everything correctly and I can count, 84 species identified of which, unsurprisingly, all but 3 were life-birds, plus lots of life-animals, three unidentified life-genera which would have been life-birds if I could have actually identified them, and one invented species that I might have to donate to science.
What a trip... looking forward to next time!
Our holiday wasn’t a specialist birding tour, but if you have birder’s eyes, you can’t help but see – and in my case, struggle to identify.
So armed with the BF recommendation of a copy of Garrigues and Dean we kept a tally of what we saw, with significant help from our excellent guide, Daniel, it must be said.
We arrived after dark, tired and dishevelled, for our first night staying in San José.
18th April
Early today, the first tour took us to the Poàs Volcano, a shortish drive from downtown Chepe.
First identified fauna of the day was a White-nosed Coati, in the car park.
A short walk took is from the car park to the active crater, and en route the birding interest started with Common Bush-Tanager and Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager.
Soon these were followed by our first hummingbird, a Fiery-throated Hummingbird.
Rufous-collared Sparrows were present, and we also picked up the first Great-tailed Grackle.
Our tour then moved on to the Doka Coffee Plantation, where we were given the tourist spiel and a very fine lunch.
More Great-tailed Grackles, and with them el yigüirro (Clay-colored Robin) made its first appearance. Also we saw Blue-and-white Swallows and some unidentified Swifts.
The (fairly) familiar sight of a Cattle Egret on the way back to the hotel brought day one’s list to a close.
19th April
Day two was our transfer to Tortuguero.
Our body-clocks were still on UK setting, so the early start was no problem, and while waiting for the minibus, I was able to id some Crimson-fronted Parakeets in the treetops over the road, as well as White-winged Doves and “Kiskadees”.
The bus transfer was quite lengthy, and so there was little to be identified before reaching Caño Blanco – although, with the benefit of hindsight, I could perhaps have tried harder at our brunch stop!
However, the final 90 minutes was by boat along the canals, and although we were going at quite a lick, we still got to see Blue Morpho butterflies various Herons, Kingfishers and Kiskadees.
On arrival at our lodge we had an hour or so before a visit to Tortuguero village on the other side of the lagoon but this gave plenty of time to witness a commotion amongst the Mantled Howler Monkeys, as well as spotting (easily) Keel-billed Toucan and the ubiquitous Montezuma’s Oropendolas.
The 5 minute hop over to the village gave us the opportunity to support the local economy, but also meant we saw a few more birds in the more open environs. The first Blue-gray Tanagers (beautiful birds), Variable Seedeater, more Kiskadees and Montezuma Oropendolas, another Cattle Egret and some airborne Turkey Vultures.
We spent a little time on the volcanic beach, and watched as the ominous weather closed in. We just about got away with it, being caught by a scouting shower, but being safely ensconced in the dining room by the time the big rain came!
20th April
Next day we had a couple of boat trips planned to check out the local wildlife. Pretty much everything we saw was first spotted either by our guide, Selimo here in Tortuguero, or the pilot Gualter.
The morning trip set off at 5.30 prompt – not a problem, still UK circadian rhythms and howler monkey alarm clocks.
Early sightings included Laughing Falcon, Cattle Egret and familiar Barn Swallows, with frequent sightings of Montezuma’s Oropendola.
There were a number of birds flying over that I could not confidently identify to species, but included Parrots, Swallows and Martins, Raptors and probably others.
Soon we were able to id a White-crowned Parrot in the treetops, and the first Iguana of the trip... though these would prove to be very old hat as the holiday progressed!
A Green Kingfisher was spotted, and as we cruised down one of the quieter side canals, we came upon a juvenile JCB... Jesus Christ Basilisk.
The side route also brought us a Sungrebe, Gray-necked Wood-rail, a sleeping Boat-billed Heron (although its bill was tucked away, so I have to take Gualter and Selimo’s word for that) and a Green Heron.
Non –avian fauna included Spectacled Caiman – very serene, but I didn’t like the look in their eyes! – Spider Monkey, White-faced Cappucin and, of course, more Howlers.
Blue Morphos where flitting around.
A toucan flew over, which we saw, with a Red-eyed Tree-frog in its mouth – according to Gualter – which we didn’t.
The heron count hadn’t ended, as the return journey brought us Bare-throated Tiger-heron, Little Blue Heron and Great Egret in addition to a small group of Sandwich Terns.
We arrived back at the lodge for breakfast, before being taken on a short jungle walk in the late morning.
The walk itself was short, and muddy, and was intended to give some idea, if a little sanitised, of how the jungle feels. I’m glad I did it, but with 20:20 hindsight, I perhaps would have seen more sitting on the veranda of the lodge... but as I said, I’m glad I did it this once.
Birdwise we saw Common Black-hawk, Red-lored Parrot whilst Spotter’s badge went to my partner, who saw a pointed out a female Black-throated Trogon, and we also our first Three-toed Sloth.
Finally, as the walk ended Selimo spotted a “Little Hermit”. The reason for the quotation marks is because my copy of Garrigues and Dean doesn’t have Little Hermit as a Costa Rican bird, but does have Stripe-throated Hermit as a recent split from the Stiles and Skutch (1989) list.
End of walk meant shower and lunch (and power cut... but it is the jungle) and then the afternoon was a similar canal trip to the morning and similar wildlife.
Additional birding interest included Slaty-tailed Trogon, Anhinga and Selimo identified the call of a White-collared Manakin.
21st April
The transfer to Arenal began soon after breakfast.
Although I haven’t mentioned them yet, the area around the lodge was visited by many feisty Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds.
We also saw Purple-throated Fruitcrow.
The trip back to the bus brought many of what were by now the usual suspects, and on arrival at Caño Blanco we were able to add Belted Kingfisher and Gray-breasted Swallow.
Much of the rest of the day was taken up by the bus transfer, but as were we driving through the banana plantations, I saw a flash of electric red. Daniel (now guiding us again) coaxed a better description out of me, and was able to confirm Passerini’s Tanager. What a brilliant bird!
Weird purple and very tasty agave-sorbets were the order of the day (well, early afternoon) at the Restaurante Las Iguanas next to the “Iguana Tree” in Muelle.
One tree... probably 20-30 four-foot iguanas... you know, just the usual.
22nd April
Our full day at Arenal, and a short walk to an old lava field.
The walk didn’t yield too much in birdlife, but around the parking area we were treated to excellent views of White-throated Magpie-jay. On the walk we had a close encounter with a Coati, but the rest of the walk comprised mainly of volcano related facts.
Oh, and Daniel related what he was (apparently) told as a kid by his father... when walking in a group, don’t walk third... the first wakes the snake, the second angers the snake and the third is bitten by the snake. Our group comprised 11, including Daniel, and there was a certain amount of jockeying for position, thenceforth!
We decided to have lunch in La Fortuna, and in this short time we saw Variable Seedeater as well as Black Vultures playing the part of crows on the carrion in the car-park.
Back at the resort complex (very nice, by the way) we had visits to our “garden” from Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, House Wren, Clay-colored Robin, Ruddy Pigeon, Common Tody-flycatcher, Blue-gray Tanager and Barred Antshrike, with Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture overhead.
I missed, but my partner saw both Red-Legged and Green Honeycreeper (although the latter may have been a female of the former).
Elsewhere in the grounds we saw Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, White-tipped Dove and Variable Seedeater.
23rd April
An earlyish start today to move on to Monteverde.
The walk to reception contributed a surprise Bare-throated Tiger-heron, whilst along the way to Lake Arenal we saw Mangrove Swallow, Passerini’s Tanager and Great-tailed Grackle.
As we gingerly tottered down the slipway to the boat for our lake crossing, Daniel spotted a Black Phoebe perched on a rope.
The crossing intentionally kept close to the shore for as long as possible, and this allowed us to add – deep inhale – Great Egret, Great Kiskadee, Clay-colored Robin, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (ie practically sparrows!), Anhinga, Turkey and Black Vulture, Green Heron, Green Kingfisher, Amazon Kingfisher AND Belted Kingfisher to the day’s list.
The remainder of the transfer was on (locally famously) very bumpy roads, and amongst everything I know we missed, we added Black-cowled Oriole and Cattle Egret.
We arrived at our hotel in Monteverde, close to the Cloud Forest Reserve.
There wasn’t much daylight left, but we went for a short stroll along the road and managed to identify White-throated Robin, although there was other stuff about that we never managed to id.
However the easy audible id was Three-wattled Bellbird... obviously distant but very clear.
Back at the hotel, the bonus bird was what ultimately proved to be a pair or Emerald Toucanets nesting in the tree outside our room window.
24th April
A guided walk in the Reserve this morning.
It was clear there was plenty of activity, but much of the time was spent trying to track down the star of the reserve.
As a consequence, the birdlist from the reserve was not as long as it might have been. One of our group, a lady called Sue, won today’s Spotter’s badge as she had three of four sightings before we all managed to get good views of Resplendant Quetzal. Ultimately male, female and juvenile were all seen. Excellent!
The supporting cast was, as I indicated, short comprising Black Guan and Black-faced Solitaire, both identified by call by our guide and visual id of Slate-colored Redstart and distant but clear views of a calling Three-wattled Bellbird.
Everyone else stayed on in the Reserve for the afternoon, and with hindsight we were a little disappointed that we didn’t (although I’m sure we will next time!). We, however, spent our lunchtime and afternoon at the Hummingbird Gallery. Brilliant!!!
Sugar-feeders meant the place was teeming with hummers.
Present were Bananaquits, and the hummingbird list went something like this; Green Violet-ear, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, Coppery-headed Emerald, Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Green-crowned Brilliant and the fantastic Violet Sabrewing.
25th April
Final transfer for a short stay in Manuel Antonio.
Morning sightings from the room are Emerald Toucanet, Brown Jay, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Black and Turkey Vulture and House Wren with Purple-throated Mountain-gem in the grounds.
The transfer involved a stop next to the “Crocodile Bridge” over Rio Tarcoles. Plenty of BIG crocs in the water, with a Northern Jaçana going about its business.
Mangrove Swallows were flying around the bridge and some unidentified egrets and kingfishers were along the banks.
On the second part of the transfer, our first Magnificent Frigatebird was seen flying just offshore.
Once we arrived and settled into our hotel, a walk around the grounds increased the bird count for the day: the obligatory Great-tailed Grackles, more Magnificent Frigatebirds overhead, a flypast of some 20 or so Brown Pelicans, Cherrie’s Tanager (we are now on the Pacific side), and unidentified Woodcreeper, an equally unidentified Hummingbird, the evidently resident Yellow-headed Caracara, Great Kiskadee, Blue-gray Tanager and Social Flycatcher. And something I faithfully recorded as a juvenile White-throated Tanager – which appears to be a species I have invented and cannot possibly fathom at this remove. I guess I should’ve written up sooner!
26th April
Had a bit of a lie-in this morning and dawdled to reception.
On the dawdle we saw Cherrie’s Tanager, Palm Tanager, Turkey Vulture, the usual Grackles, the Caracara, Pelicans and Frigatebirds, as well as a juvenile King Vulture, Golden-hooded Tanager and an unidentified Euphonia.
As a consequence of the dawdle we missed the free shuttle bus to Manuel Antonio National Park. So we ordered a taxi, and prepared to run the gauntlet of local guides at the park entrance. To be fair, a guide, whilst not necessary, did at least increase one’s knowledge of the area, and allowed us to see a few things we perhaps wouldn’t have otherwise.
Birding interest whilst in the National Park got off to a start with Laughing Falcon, and was soon followed by flyovers from Roseate Spoonbill and White Ibis. Closer to the ground were Great Kiskadee, another Woodcreeper we couldn’t pin down, and something Sanderlingy on the beach – probably a Sanderling, but I’m rubbish with Calidris waders... even the ones I know.
It was very, very hot, and so we decided to return to the town for a spot of lunch before returning to the hotel.
In Manuel Antonio town we saw a probable Red-crowned Woodpecker and a “yellow warbler” which might have been a Prothonotary Warbler but probably wasn’t, but at least it gave me the chance to write “Prothonotary”, which is a word I’ve never seen before.
Anyway, the best calamari ever and the biggest portion of nachos I’ve ever seen were shared before the shuttlebus back to our lodgings.
That afternoon we booked and early morning Mangrove Tour for the following day.
27th April
Up bright and early, a quick bite of breakfast, and off to Quepos for the tour. Another two couples shared the bus, but they being younger and much fitter than we were going sea-kayaking, so we got the wildlife tour to ourselves! Yippee!
We had an excellent guide who was ably assisted by his boat pilot.
We had to learn about Mangroves (there was a test!) but in return we got to see Northern Jaçana, Green Kingfisher, Green Heron, Gray-necked Wood-rail and the guide ided Bright-rumped Attila from the call.
He also found JCBs, Pygmy Anteater and some roosting bats.
More birds... Spotted Sandpiper, Mangrove Black-hawk (yep... Pacific side), White Ibis and Bare-throated Tiger-heron.
More animals... White-faced Cappucin, baby crocodiles and Three-toed Sloth.
And finally we returned to our starting point to see a Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, before being presented with an excellent second breakfast of the day.
Actually all this time it had been raining and today proved to be the one fairly rainy day of our stay, so we spent the rest of the day at the hotel and in the grounds, but that did not mean the wildlife interest ended.
Peering from the balcony and occasional mooching meant we saw Iguanas, Squirrel Monkeys, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Cherrie’s Tanager, Blue-gray Tanager, the Caracara (of course!), Inca Dove, Frigatebirds, Rufous-tailedhummingsparrows (!), Palm Tanager, House Wren, Clay-colored Robin, Brown Pelican, Turkey Vulture (four on the penthouse roof) and... Thick-billed Euphonia.
28th April
A lunchtime connection back to Chepe, but we had a chance to walk to the beach and have a paddle in the Pacific whilst we there.
Birdwise... well, see yesterday, with only Cattle Egret and Anhinga to add on the journey.
29th April
Which leaves us with the day we return home. San José gave us the, now familiar, Great-tailed Grackles, Clay-colored Robins and White-winged Doves.
And final bird of the whole shebang... at the airport, good old Columba livia, or as Garrigues and Dean tell me, Rock Pigeon.
They count!
Which means, if I’ve highlighted everything correctly and I can count, 84 species identified of which, unsurprisingly, all but 3 were life-birds, plus lots of life-animals, three unidentified life-genera which would have been life-birds if I could have actually identified them, and one invented species that I might have to donate to science.
What a trip... looking forward to next time!
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