halftwo
Wird Batcher
Maybe that's why? Perhaps it comes in from the orchard next door - I did peer over from the viewing platform - the ground cover was dense though.
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Costa Rica At Last (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter halftwo
- Start date
Maybe that's why? Perhaps it comes in from the orchard next door - I did peer over from the viewing platform - the ground cover was dense though.
Hi H
It has been a long time since we spoke to one another - so hello again to you once more.
Just stumbled upon your thread here, and I am glad that I have done so at this moment of time. What great reports to read, as I have always enjoyed reading all of your birding adventures a lot.
Fantastic birding for you to see, and enjoy. Love to find out how many bird species that will have seem in this one trip alone. Of course there is all the other wildlife too you have noted too.
Great all round trip for you, and you had everyone on tenterhooks here with what you said. :t:
Kathy
x
It has been a long time since we spoke to one another - so hello again to you once more.
Just stumbled upon your thread here, and I am glad that I have done so at this moment of time. What great reports to read, as I have always enjoyed reading all of your birding adventures a lot.
Fantastic birding for you to see, and enjoy. Love to find out how many bird species that will have seem in this one trip alone. Of course there is all the other wildlife too you have noted too.
Great all round trip for you, and you had everyone on tenterhooks here with what you said. :t:
Kathy
x
chowchilla
Well-known member
Yours and Black Wheatear's reports on CR bring back many happy memories of the most exciting birding destination I've ever been too. Some mouthwatering descriptions of stuff I missed too!:t:
Dryocopus
Was Eagle before...still am in life!
Great reading!
I was in CR last year Jan-Feb time, lovely being reminded of the wonderful birds there!
Grrrlll we missed Pygmy Kingfisher! Not at all jealous - much!
Still nice thing is even if you do see 268 or so lifers and 350 birds on a trip you still havent seen them all so will have to go again. Shame as its a really horrid country with horrid people and dreadful birding!
(Any Tico's reading this beware I love your Country, think the Tico's are lovely and friendly and love the Birds and wildlife!LOL!:t
Come on Halftwo another tale or two and dont forget the photo's!:scribe:
I was in CR last year Jan-Feb time, lovely being reminded of the wonderful birds there!
Grrrlll we missed Pygmy Kingfisher! Not at all jealous - much!
Still nice thing is even if you do see 268 or so lifers and 350 birds on a trip you still havent seen them all so will have to go again. Shame as its a really horrid country with horrid people and dreadful birding!
(Any Tico's reading this beware I love your Country, think the Tico's are lovely and friendly and love the Birds and wildlife!LOL!:t
Come on Halftwo another tale or two and dont forget the photo's!:scribe:
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Part Four: To La Quinta, Sarapiqui
We picked up our 4x4 at Guapiles, after a lunch at the same stop as on our outward journey. Flocks of Olive-throated parrots flew over as I signed the papers. An Eastern wood pewee was flycatching in the garden.
Off we set on a fairly bird-free journey until we were almost upon La Selva, where three Ospreys circled over the river Sarapiqui. A possible (untickable) Zone-tailed hawk flew over us & the road too.
And so to our new home: La Quinta (just a few kms from Selva Verde.) They are right by the Sarapiqui too & have a large garden & a strip of riverine forest, at the back pineapple fields stretch to distant volcanoes.
The garden has many species - but alas the Crested owls had moved on. Amazon kingfisher twice by the pools, Northern waterthrush always present.
Grey-necked wood rails were also resident but not always in view.
Relaxing - not quite the word for it - by the pool - twitching by the pool is more like it, and the birds seemed to line up to show off.
A wave of Red-legged honeycreepers, Blue dacnis, Scarlet-thighed dacnis, Common tody-flycatcher, Green honeycreeper was too much all at once. But in the garden I found a Rufous-tailed jacamar sitting low by the footpath. I was happy enough with that beauty, giving close views, when a Barred antshrike female put in an appearance. A Long-tailed hermit added to a growing garden list before sunset. At last I could enjoy a beer or three with dinner. Relaxed now? Not quite - I had an early morning guided walk at La Selva - so I was rather excited.
Dawn the next day & a short drive to La Selva Biological Station: well known excellent birding spot. I had to have a guide because you're not allowed in without one - unless you stay there.
This place is so good that birders bird the entrance road. I was there early for my 05:45 start! I found my own White-necked puffbird before I saw a soul. Then people started congregating at the reception & the birding began in earnest. Others spotted Lineated woodpecker & Palm tanager, I found my first ever Bananaquit. My guide turned up & with him two male Great currasows - were walking around the lawns!!
These huge aliens were probably the most remarkable & unexpected thing I saw the whole holiday - I couldn't believe it!
Before I had time to recover two wardrobes flew over & landed in a tree - Crested guans! This was amazing.
A note: I hate flycatchers.
In Costa Rica there are pages of flycatchers - so many difficult species to identify. I got to grips with many over the weeks but grew weary of trying to identify so many - and there were always a few everywhere I went.
So it was some relief that my guide casually pointed here & there & said: "Grey-crested flycatcher", "Piratic flycatcher".
Next Chestnut-headed oropendulas: I'd forgotten there was more than one type! But I redeemed myself by finding two Violaceous trogons (possibly in the top ten most beautiful birds of the world). Summer tanagers in the bushes, White-collared swifts overhead. My head almost exploding.
But it got better. White-winged becard, Dusky-faced tanager, Slaty antshrike, Cinnamon becard: my guide was picking these up on call & making finding them easy(ish). It went on: Rufous mourner, overhead this time: Lesser swallowtailed swifts. We even saw White-throated robin - a winter refugee from high mountains - a difficult bird to get!
Frustratingly some callers remained hidden: Rufous-winged woodpeckers were all around, for instance, but we never caught a glimpse.
Too soon my time was up & my guide had others to take on. But I knew that I wouldn't be chucked off the premises & made my way back across the suspension bridge.
Thanks to other birders I found both White-necked jacobin on her nest (just three feet up) & even better: Fasciated antshrike (male) on the nest too. I was rather disappointed that my guide hadn't shown them to me though.
And so out along the entrance road: Banded-backed wrens were building, Squirrel cuckoos ran through the treetops (what a cracking bird!) and above a little stream, a Little hermit hovered by a bloom to sip.
Very well pleased with my all-too-short visit to this spectacular place (a quick read of the Christmas Day bird count when I first arrived had spelled
it out - I would tell you the total for that day but: a) I can't remember the exact figure & b) you wouldn't believe it.) I returned for breakfast at La Quinta & lots more birds: but they'll have to wait for the next installment.
We picked up our 4x4 at Guapiles, after a lunch at the same stop as on our outward journey. Flocks of Olive-throated parrots flew over as I signed the papers. An Eastern wood pewee was flycatching in the garden.
Off we set on a fairly bird-free journey until we were almost upon La Selva, where three Ospreys circled over the river Sarapiqui. A possible (untickable) Zone-tailed hawk flew over us & the road too.
And so to our new home: La Quinta (just a few kms from Selva Verde.) They are right by the Sarapiqui too & have a large garden & a strip of riverine forest, at the back pineapple fields stretch to distant volcanoes.
The garden has many species - but alas the Crested owls had moved on. Amazon kingfisher twice by the pools, Northern waterthrush always present.
Grey-necked wood rails were also resident but not always in view.
Relaxing - not quite the word for it - by the pool - twitching by the pool is more like it, and the birds seemed to line up to show off.
A wave of Red-legged honeycreepers, Blue dacnis, Scarlet-thighed dacnis, Common tody-flycatcher, Green honeycreeper was too much all at once. But in the garden I found a Rufous-tailed jacamar sitting low by the footpath. I was happy enough with that beauty, giving close views, when a Barred antshrike female put in an appearance. A Long-tailed hermit added to a growing garden list before sunset. At last I could enjoy a beer or three with dinner. Relaxed now? Not quite - I had an early morning guided walk at La Selva - so I was rather excited.
Dawn the next day & a short drive to La Selva Biological Station: well known excellent birding spot. I had to have a guide because you're not allowed in without one - unless you stay there.
This place is so good that birders bird the entrance road. I was there early for my 05:45 start! I found my own White-necked puffbird before I saw a soul. Then people started congregating at the reception & the birding began in earnest. Others spotted Lineated woodpecker & Palm tanager, I found my first ever Bananaquit. My guide turned up & with him two male Great currasows - were walking around the lawns!!
These huge aliens were probably the most remarkable & unexpected thing I saw the whole holiday - I couldn't believe it!
Before I had time to recover two wardrobes flew over & landed in a tree - Crested guans! This was amazing.
A note: I hate flycatchers.
In Costa Rica there are pages of flycatchers - so many difficult species to identify. I got to grips with many over the weeks but grew weary of trying to identify so many - and there were always a few everywhere I went.
So it was some relief that my guide casually pointed here & there & said: "Grey-crested flycatcher", "Piratic flycatcher".
Next Chestnut-headed oropendulas: I'd forgotten there was more than one type! But I redeemed myself by finding two Violaceous trogons (possibly in the top ten most beautiful birds of the world). Summer tanagers in the bushes, White-collared swifts overhead. My head almost exploding.
But it got better. White-winged becard, Dusky-faced tanager, Slaty antshrike, Cinnamon becard: my guide was picking these up on call & making finding them easy(ish). It went on: Rufous mourner, overhead this time: Lesser swallowtailed swifts. We even saw White-throated robin - a winter refugee from high mountains - a difficult bird to get!
Frustratingly some callers remained hidden: Rufous-winged woodpeckers were all around, for instance, but we never caught a glimpse.
Too soon my time was up & my guide had others to take on. But I knew that I wouldn't be chucked off the premises & made my way back across the suspension bridge.
Thanks to other birders I found both White-necked jacobin on her nest (just three feet up) & even better: Fasciated antshrike (male) on the nest too. I was rather disappointed that my guide hadn't shown them to me though.
And so out along the entrance road: Banded-backed wrens were building, Squirrel cuckoos ran through the treetops (what a cracking bird!) and above a little stream, a Little hermit hovered by a bloom to sip.
Very well pleased with my all-too-short visit to this spectacular place (a quick read of the Christmas Day bird count when I first arrived had spelled
it out - I would tell you the total for that day but: a) I can't remember the exact figure & b) you wouldn't believe it.) I returned for breakfast at La Quinta & lots more birds: but they'll have to wait for the next installment.
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Drumming Sniper
You'm not from 'round 'ere, boy!
Bad luck with the photos there, H. I've given up attempting to upload photos, mainly due to the fact that I usually have a toddler climbing all over me whenever I try! It makes typing a bit tricky too.
Keep up the good work with your Costa Rican adventures.
Cheers,
DS (at work and extremely bored)
halftwo
Wird Batcher
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.
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.
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halftwo
Wird Batcher
Thanks Mark.
Apologies to everyone re. photos.
Have re-charged the camera, downloaded the photos, got Photoshop running(?) and even managed to re-size ONE photo (as a start) but my computer-illiterate brain can't get from that to an upload.
I think I need to copy those I want to upload onto a separate file & then re-size these & then upload the file.
What do you think??????????!!!!
Anyway I'm just a little fed up with it tonight, maybe tomorrow. Then again...
Apologies to everyone re. photos.
Have re-charged the camera, downloaded the photos, got Photoshop running(?) and even managed to re-size ONE photo (as a start) but my computer-illiterate brain can't get from that to an upload.
I think I need to copy those I want to upload onto a separate file & then re-size these & then upload the file.
What do you think??????????!!!!
Anyway I'm just a little fed up with it tonight, maybe tomorrow. Then again...
Dr Manjeet Singh
Dr.Manjeet Singh
Halftwo..dont worry about the pictures you hear..love reading your account..fantastic and keep it coming..as for the pictures we can wait..regards..only thing is next time you look at my avatar..it may have a foot long beard for waiting...lol..:-O:t:B
..have one on me...Manjeet.:t:
joannec
Well-known member
I would love to see something like that......sounds out of this world! That and everything else it sounds like you were spoiled for choice.
I don't know which programme you use for resizing. I use Faststone; really easy to do a quick resize to 600x800, works every time. BTW, I'm almost a computer dunce.
Joanne
Joanne
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Part Six: A Sea Change
We were moving on to the Pacific coast this morning, but first I "had" to go to Selva Verde Lodge just down the road.
Friends had told me they had just brazened it out & strolled in as if they were staying there - that's what I intended to do. Parked outside & strolled through reception with a few cheery "Buenos Dias" & I was in. Out to the forest & river beyond: could I get across the suspension bridge - or would it be locked?
A groundsman followed me across the unlocked bridge - I let him pass - & he unlocked the gate at the other side & re-locked it! However there was another gate & steps down to the river bank: I went that way.
A few minutes later, much to my relief, I had my target bird - the remarkable Sunbittern; but it was on the opposite bank & fairly distant. So I retraced my steps across the bridge & through the forest grounds (past the empty swimming pool & attendant Broad-winged hawk).
A few minutes later & I was watching not one, but two Sunbitterns down to 3 or 4 metres! One took off & flew upstream, giving me superb views of its extraordinarily marked wings.
Pleased enough with this when fourteen Chestnut-mandibled toucans came across the river & into nearby trees! The closest views I had of these great birds. Amazon & Ringed kingfishers were along the river, other birds in the forest - including nest-building Red-throated tanagers.
I made my way back to reception & when nearly there a River otter hauled out with a fish from a little creek & calmly sat & ate it in full view!
On The Road
Now, Costa Rica is a land of contrasts & we were now heading south & west - first climbing all the way into the Valle Central - over the mountains between.
The flora changed as we climbed, the views became ever more beautiful & spectacular - mountain ridges clothed in forest - & the temperature dropped - probably to around 25 c.!
Winding around steep roads I was getting itchy to do some ad-hoc birding & an opportunity presented itself. At a pull-in by a stream a small group of birders were watching a tree intently. (they had broken down & were waiting for a replacement vehicle). I joined them for ten minutes.
In that time I had three ticks!
Now a tree in Costa Rica is unlike a tree at home - this one was typical: there wasn't a surface of the trunk & main branches that wasn't smothered in creepers, moss-like airplants, bromeliads, epiphytes etc. & its whole appearance was shaggy, hairy & festooned. On top of all that it was a fruiting tree & was moving with birds - dozens & dozens.
Within seconds a Smoky-brown woodpecker was picked out from the many Clay-coloured robins, a tiny movement was a Violet-crowned woodnymph - as beautiful as its name. Then on the stream below a Torrent tyrranulet's restlessness led us to an American dipper - a bird I had dipped on previously.
Dragged myself away from all that to carry on up the hill.
Higher up the views were so good we had to stop for photos: wish you could see them. That was well-timed as a displaying Black hawk-eagle was making spectacular loops at eye level above the valley to the east.
A wonderful huge, orange-flowering tree (no leaves: is this a Silky oak?) held several birds - but a little too far away for definate ids.
Just along the road a remarkable sight: a troup of Coatimundis being hand fed - in the middle of nowhere - by a couple who had stopped by the road.
Twenty or so of these lovely animals were at touching distance: one was climbing the leg of the man to reach a piece of fruit! (You can see Drycopus's photos of Coati on her blog. Thanks D)
And so we came to the fantastic Vera's cafe. I knew about this legendary place - had seen the photos of the hummingbirds on the feeders & the stunning waterfall backdrop across the valley. It didn't disappoint.
Picture this: six hummingbird feeders hang from a balcony over the mountainside. You can stand next to them - touching them if you wish - while the hummers come to feed. Behind: fruit feeders in a small tree attract yet more birds & behind, a cascade of water falls off the slope beyond. Breathe in the clear mountain air as the buffet of hummingbird wings buzzes your ears. If this wasn't paradise then it'll do!
Mrs.H took more photos here than anywhere else, as each ever-more spectacular, scintillating tiny gems called in to sip: so close you had to step back to see them properly. And that's without bins!
I had no fewer than eight, EIGHT!, new hummingbird ticks - and these aren't easy to identify - even when they sit still. They don't sit still.
Favourite probably was Violet sabrewing - a large shining purple bird with a white tail. Or was it Green thorntail - looking as it name implies? In contrast the rather muted Brown violet-ear was none-the-less beautiful.
When you can tear your eyes from the feeders & look at the fruit feeders just beyond there are further delights: the only Tropical parula of the trip was flitting about, around several Silver-throated tanagers - both stunners.
We dragged ourselves away, grinning like Cheshire cats & reluctantly moved on. I vowed to return - which we did on my 50th birthday - what better way to spend part of it? And our next visit was very different (still great) but more of that another time.
We had two more brief visits to make before the Pacific: first to see some new friends made at Pachira at their villa in Atenas - directly on our route - a beer by their infinity pool made a nice break on the slow road.
Next to Orotina & the owls. You know the ones. Pull up in the town square - ask a local - he points to a tree - you tick Black & white owl & move on.
Nice!
So we came to the Pacific coast - passing Carara by the river Tarcoles - where I was to spend some considerable time in the next few days - superb birding it was to turn out. But that must wait for another time.
We checked in to the spectacular Punta Leona as the sun set behind the frigatebirds over the ocean.
We were moving on to the Pacific coast this morning, but first I "had" to go to Selva Verde Lodge just down the road.
Friends had told me they had just brazened it out & strolled in as if they were staying there - that's what I intended to do. Parked outside & strolled through reception with a few cheery "Buenos Dias" & I was in. Out to the forest & river beyond: could I get across the suspension bridge - or would it be locked?
A groundsman followed me across the unlocked bridge - I let him pass - & he unlocked the gate at the other side & re-locked it! However there was another gate & steps down to the river bank: I went that way.
A few minutes later, much to my relief, I had my target bird - the remarkable Sunbittern; but it was on the opposite bank & fairly distant. So I retraced my steps across the bridge & through the forest grounds (past the empty swimming pool & attendant Broad-winged hawk).
A few minutes later & I was watching not one, but two Sunbitterns down to 3 or 4 metres! One took off & flew upstream, giving me superb views of its extraordinarily marked wings.
Pleased enough with this when fourteen Chestnut-mandibled toucans came across the river & into nearby trees! The closest views I had of these great birds. Amazon & Ringed kingfishers were along the river, other birds in the forest - including nest-building Red-throated tanagers.
I made my way back to reception & when nearly there a River otter hauled out with a fish from a little creek & calmly sat & ate it in full view!
On The Road
Now, Costa Rica is a land of contrasts & we were now heading south & west - first climbing all the way into the Valle Central - over the mountains between.
The flora changed as we climbed, the views became ever more beautiful & spectacular - mountain ridges clothed in forest - & the temperature dropped - probably to around 25 c.!
Winding around steep roads I was getting itchy to do some ad-hoc birding & an opportunity presented itself. At a pull-in by a stream a small group of birders were watching a tree intently. (they had broken down & were waiting for a replacement vehicle). I joined them for ten minutes.
In that time I had three ticks!
Now a tree in Costa Rica is unlike a tree at home - this one was typical: there wasn't a surface of the trunk & main branches that wasn't smothered in creepers, moss-like airplants, bromeliads, epiphytes etc. & its whole appearance was shaggy, hairy & festooned. On top of all that it was a fruiting tree & was moving with birds - dozens & dozens.
Within seconds a Smoky-brown woodpecker was picked out from the many Clay-coloured robins, a tiny movement was a Violet-crowned woodnymph - as beautiful as its name. Then on the stream below a Torrent tyrranulet's restlessness led us to an American dipper - a bird I had dipped on previously.
Dragged myself away from all that to carry on up the hill.
Higher up the views were so good we had to stop for photos: wish you could see them. That was well-timed as a displaying Black hawk-eagle was making spectacular loops at eye level above the valley to the east.
A wonderful huge, orange-flowering tree (no leaves: is this a Silky oak?) held several birds - but a little too far away for definate ids.
Just along the road a remarkable sight: a troup of Coatimundis being hand fed - in the middle of nowhere - by a couple who had stopped by the road.
Twenty or so of these lovely animals were at touching distance: one was climbing the leg of the man to reach a piece of fruit! (You can see Drycopus's photos of Coati on her blog. Thanks D)
And so we came to the fantastic Vera's cafe. I knew about this legendary place - had seen the photos of the hummingbirds on the feeders & the stunning waterfall backdrop across the valley. It didn't disappoint.
Picture this: six hummingbird feeders hang from a balcony over the mountainside. You can stand next to them - touching them if you wish - while the hummers come to feed. Behind: fruit feeders in a small tree attract yet more birds & behind, a cascade of water falls off the slope beyond. Breathe in the clear mountain air as the buffet of hummingbird wings buzzes your ears. If this wasn't paradise then it'll do!
Mrs.H took more photos here than anywhere else, as each ever-more spectacular, scintillating tiny gems called in to sip: so close you had to step back to see them properly. And that's without bins!
I had no fewer than eight, EIGHT!, new hummingbird ticks - and these aren't easy to identify - even when they sit still. They don't sit still.
Favourite probably was Violet sabrewing - a large shining purple bird with a white tail. Or was it Green thorntail - looking as it name implies? In contrast the rather muted Brown violet-ear was none-the-less beautiful.
When you can tear your eyes from the feeders & look at the fruit feeders just beyond there are further delights: the only Tropical parula of the trip was flitting about, around several Silver-throated tanagers - both stunners.
We dragged ourselves away, grinning like Cheshire cats & reluctantly moved on. I vowed to return - which we did on my 50th birthday - what better way to spend part of it? And our next visit was very different (still great) but more of that another time.
We had two more brief visits to make before the Pacific: first to see some new friends made at Pachira at their villa in Atenas - directly on our route - a beer by their infinity pool made a nice break on the slow road.
Next to Orotina & the owls. You know the ones. Pull up in the town square - ask a local - he points to a tree - you tick Black & white owl & move on.
Nice!
So we came to the Pacific coast - passing Carara by the river Tarcoles - where I was to spend some considerable time in the next few days - superb birding it was to turn out. But that must wait for another time.
We checked in to the spectacular Punta Leona as the sun set behind the frigatebirds over the ocean.
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Photos:
The garden Hotel Bouganvillia
Halftwo on the boat,Tortuguero NP.
Mrs H ditto
Oropendulas' nests Tortuguero village
Pachira Lodge swimming pool
The garden Hotel Bouganvillia
Halftwo on the boat,Tortuguero NP.
Mrs H ditto
Oropendulas' nests Tortuguero village
Pachira Lodge swimming pool
Attachments
halftwo
Wird Batcher
More Photos!
Flowering tree in the mtns.
Waterfall from Vera's cafe
Coatimundi
Hummer from Vera's balcony
Ditto.
Flowering tree in the mtns.
Waterfall from Vera's cafe
Coatimundi
Hummer from Vera's balcony
Ditto.
Attachments
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