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Vacational Trip Reports
Five weeks in Costa Rica
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<blockquote data-quote="ovenbird43" data-source="post: 1634643" data-attributes="member: 64478"><p><strong>La Selva</strong></p><p></p><p>After my Spanish course, I traveled down to La Selva to spend several days birding the lowland Caribbean rainforest. I shelled out the money to spend several nights in the cabins and traveled from Monteverde via public bus. Compared to my previous experience in the eastern Ecuadorian rainforest, La Selva Biological Station was pretty cushy and lacked that feel of remoteness- with the population growth of nearby Sarapiqui, you can hear the sounds of trucks on the highway from the cabins. Also the air-conditioned gift shop selling chocolate and ice cream was pretty luxurious. I had poor luck with the weather, it rained buckets most days, with few breaks for a couple of those days. I was glad I had decided to add that fourth night's stay- I got several life birds on my last morning during a break in the rain.</p><p></p><p>The birding itself was kind of mixed- outside the forest, the birding was GREAT, with non-stop activity all around the station buildings and along the kilometer trail leading to the cabins. Inside the forest, however, it was generally very quiet. It took an entire day's walk to happen upon an antswarm, and mixed-species understory flocks were virtually nonexistent.</p><p></p><p>Here are some of the highlights:</p><p></p><p><strong>Fasciated Antshrike</strong>- I saw several along the path to the cabins. My first one was unforgettable- I was sitting at the comedor porch eating breakfast and chatting with some other birders and researchers, when one of these guys landed in the bush right in front of me. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Wow. This was probably my favorite species of the whole trip.</p><p></p><p>One night as I was walking back from the dining room when I heard 2 <strong>Great Potoos</strong> growling not far off the trail. I followed the sound and got some decent views of them (in silhouette) as they flew from perch to perch.</p><p></p><p>There was usually a lot of activity right around the bridge, with flocks variously including species such as <strong>Cinnamon Becard</strong>,<strong> Black-faced Grosbeak</strong>,<strong> Golden-hooded Tanager</strong>,<strong> Passerini's Tanager</strong>, <strong>Northern Barred-Woodcreeper</strong>, <strong>Banded Wren</strong> , <strong>Bay Wren</strong>, and lots of others.</p><p></p><p>My one encounter with army ants was quite successful- as soon as I saw the ants, I looked up and saw both <strong>Spotted</strong> and <strong>Ocellated Antbirds</strong>. Also there was a <strong>Broad-billed Motmot </strong>sitting on a sapling right by my head, calmly eating some large insect.</p><p></p><p>On the entrance road, I once looked up into a tree and there landed a <strong>Snowy Cotinga</strong>!</p><p></p><p><strong>White-collared Manakins</strong> were abundant along the trail to the cabins, and there was a family of <strong>Long-tailed Tyrants </strong>that hung out in a large tree right behind my cabin.</p><p></p><p>A few more things and a total species list coming up later...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ovenbird43, post: 1634643, member: 64478"] [b]La Selva[/b] After my Spanish course, I traveled down to La Selva to spend several days birding the lowland Caribbean rainforest. I shelled out the money to spend several nights in the cabins and traveled from Monteverde via public bus. Compared to my previous experience in the eastern Ecuadorian rainforest, La Selva Biological Station was pretty cushy and lacked that feel of remoteness- with the population growth of nearby Sarapiqui, you can hear the sounds of trucks on the highway from the cabins. Also the air-conditioned gift shop selling chocolate and ice cream was pretty luxurious. I had poor luck with the weather, it rained buckets most days, with few breaks for a couple of those days. I was glad I had decided to add that fourth night's stay- I got several life birds on my last morning during a break in the rain. The birding itself was kind of mixed- outside the forest, the birding was GREAT, with non-stop activity all around the station buildings and along the kilometer trail leading to the cabins. Inside the forest, however, it was generally very quiet. It took an entire day's walk to happen upon an antswarm, and mixed-species understory flocks were virtually nonexistent. Here are some of the highlights: [B]Fasciated Antshrike[/B]- I saw several along the path to the cabins. My first one was unforgettable- I was sitting at the comedor porch eating breakfast and chatting with some other birders and researchers, when one of these guys landed in the bush right in front of me. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Wow. This was probably my favorite species of the whole trip. One night as I was walking back from the dining room when I heard 2 [B]Great Potoos[/B] growling not far off the trail. I followed the sound and got some decent views of them (in silhouette) as they flew from perch to perch. There was usually a lot of activity right around the bridge, with flocks variously including species such as [B]Cinnamon Becard[/B],[B] Black-faced Grosbeak[/B],[B] Golden-hooded Tanager[/B],[B] Passerini's Tanager[/B], [B]Northern Barred-Woodcreeper[/B], [B]Banded Wren[/B] , [B]Bay Wren[/B], and lots of others. My one encounter with army ants was quite successful- as soon as I saw the ants, I looked up and saw both [B]Spotted[/B] and [B]Ocellated Antbirds[/B]. Also there was a [B]Broad-billed Motmot [/B]sitting on a sapling right by my head, calmly eating some large insect. On the entrance road, I once looked up into a tree and there landed a [B]Snowy Cotinga[/B]! [B]White-collared Manakins[/B] were abundant along the trail to the cabins, and there was a family of [B]Long-tailed Tyrants [/B]that hung out in a large tree right behind my cabin. A few more things and a total species list coming up later... [/QUOTE]
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Five weeks in Costa Rica
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