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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 1596462" data-attributes="member: 12449">27 August. Corcovado.5.30 a.m., woke and peered out of the tent - much dripping, rather boggy ground, but not a cloud in the sky, a superb day in the offing. Had a quick look around the ranger station - Orange-billed Sparrows, right corkers, hopped about, a small lek of Band-tailed Barbthroats chased and harried, a single Blue-crowned Motmot sat and looked rather bedraggled from the night of rain. Before the sun was even up, I was across the river and beginning my day - three Swallow-tailed Kites graced the early morning skies, Black-striped Sparrows in riverside vegetation. A large clearing then occupied my next half hour - big chunky Chestnut-mandibled Toucans in tree tops, a buzz of hummingbirds eventually evolving into several Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, a smart White-necked Jacobin and a fantastic Stripe-throated Hermit. White-shouldered and Cherrie's Tanagers flitted through, a bunch of noisy Brown-hooded Parrots winged over, shortly followed by more Scarlet Macaws. A few metres more, White-tipped Doves strolled the trail and Pale-vented Pigeons zoomed overhead.Then I entered the deep forest. Total bird-free zone! A full hour, I walked along - a few little chirps, occasional whistles, even a peck-peck-peck here and there, but not a sausage to add to my burgeoning list for the day! The irony of birding the tropical forests ...birds by the billion, but usually nothing to see!!! Yet plug away and slowly the treats reveal themselves, a stunner every so often, then a sudden mad panic as a massive mixed flock moves through, the entire canopy to ground a mass of flitting birds and noise. And so it was, time to time, suddenly I was rushed off my feet - birds everywhere, a brief glimpse of yellow here, something brown diving into cover, birds chattering above your head. Flock one was dead easy, it was noisy squawking parrots - feasting on a fruiting tree, both Brown-hooded and Mealy Parrots, eyeing down as I peered up. Next up came a very long wait to see what was bashing one tree - from a tangle of creepers and plants hanging on, splinters of wood flying. But could I see the bugger? Took me near 20 minutes, then the thing emerged - one splendid Pale-billed Woodpecker, a big stunner of a species. Then all went crazy again. Suddenly two more woodpeckers appeared - Red-crowned Woodpeckers - but before I had time to take a glance at them, the trees came alive! Fast-moving, mostly middle-elevation, loads of birds - a Buff-throated Foliage-Gleaner, both Wedge-billed and Cocoa Woodcreepers, several Plain Xenops, Chestnut-backed Antbirds grubbing around on the ground, a Russet Antshrike and a couple of Rufous Mourners that got me scratching my head for a while. Then, vocal and sticking to dense cover, a real star - endemic to the Golfo Dulce and Osa Peninsula, at least two Black-cheeked Ant-Tanagers, one of the key birds to find in this quarter. Fresh Ocelot tracks kept me alert whist waiting for the next flock, but then I arrived at an old ranger station - a patch of grassland a hundred metres or so across, a few fruit trees out back and views of the canopy all around. A splendid place to pass an hour or so, I found an old chair and sat out in the sun - here the birding was a breeze. A pair of Blue Ground Dove favoured an orange tree, Bananaquits bred in the next, but the joy was simply watching the canopy - on exposed branches, birds would periodically appear - all the usual Social and Grey-capped Flycatchers, more Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, but better was to arrive. All in the same tree, first two Golden-hooded Tanagers, then a Black-crowned Tityra and finally, spending a good ten or fifteen minutes sunning itself, a fantastic Turquoise Cotinga, not a species I expected to see. Wiggling round in the chair, scanning the tree tops in the other direction, an even bigger surprise - Three-wattled Bellbirds!!! Unfortunately not males, I was however most impressed, I did not even suppose I would see them in Osa. Many butterflies and big spiders in this clearing too, but all too soon the lure of the forest took me back into the deep dark gloom. Red-capped Manakins popped up here and there, zip-zip-zip in lek, but not a single a male in classic plumage. Blue-crowned Manakin too, also not a breeding male. But now, however, the day was ticking on - the afternoon rains weren't so far away, so I begin my trek back to camp. A male White-throated Shrike-Tanager appeared, saw both Green and Shining Honeycreeper, plus Spot-crowned Euphonia. Cloud began to build, thunder echoed from afar, it was time to run!Sloshed across the river and, for the second day in a row, on the dot of 2.30 p.m., the heavens opened. Retired up to the ranger station, lazed the afternoon away in a hammock watching the rain lash down. As darkness approached, just as I pondered retiring to my tent for peanuts and tortillas, the rangers invited me to join them for dinner, a most splendid spaghetti dish, very tasty.Day Two at Cocovado over.</blockquote>

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