As usual the crew assembled for a pre-breakfast amble around the grounds of La Quinta. I had it in mind to find Chestnut-backed Antbird as I had had them here last time and amazingly one started singing down by the river and promptly hopped up into views which was good of it. The riverbanks held singing Buff-rumped Warblers down on the rocks and White-collared Manakins and Blue Black Grosbeaks were seen.
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| White-collared Manakin |
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| White-collared Manakin |
We quietly walked around the grounds finding Wood Thrushes
and a couple of skittish Northern Waterthrushes along with a gem of an Ovenbird
that bobbed along in front of us in search of worms. Back near the feeders a
White-necked Jacobin whizzed through and Black-cowled Orioles were in the vines
again. Time for breakfast and then the start of the long drive west towards the
Pacific. The continuing poor weather had been severely battering that coast
and we already knew that it was going to unlikely that we could get out on the
Tarcoles and Carara NP was already a no go area. Indeed, even Celeste that we had left behind
was now closed to visitors.
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| Ovenbird |
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| Ovenbird |
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| We were especially pleased to find a Green and Black PA Frog |
It became a day of many stops. The first, just over a river
bridge just illustrated how much astonishing wildlife we must have been driving
past for within just a few minutes we had found Sooty-faced Brushfinches,
Black-headed Nightingale-Thrushes, White-necked Jacobins and Slate-throated
Whitestarts and we were only about three paces from the bus. Seeing the
Brushfinches before Quelitalis at the end of the trip was a real bonus.
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| TVs |
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| Sooty-faced Brushfinch |
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| Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush |
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| A huge Owl Butterfly |
A sideroad on the way up took us down into a deep valley and to a proper metal road bridge down in the bottom. Black Phoebes flicked between rocks and Louisiana Waterthrushes bobbed like streaked Dippers on mossy boulders but what about the real thing? I had missed American Dipper on both my previous trips and was sceptical with the towering water levels about connecting again but this river was still moving nicely with lots of boulders and sure enough there was a little grey blob of Dipperyness. I got everyone on it and over the next ten minutes the pair came closer and could be head calling below us. One put on quite a show for us. I may have done a Dipper dance but I think no one was watching.
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| American Dipper |
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| American Dipper |
Lunch was at the famous Cinchona Café although we had plenty
of time to kill there before food time. It was spellbinding and it felt like
day one all over again for the crew.
There were Hummers all around and the new ones came thick and fast with
Green Hermits, Violet Sabrewings, Black-bellied HB, Coppery-headed Emeralds and
White-bellied Mountain Gems along with Rufous Tails and Green Crowned
Brilliants. And of course you get so close to them and can feel the whirring of
their wings as they hurtle to and fro.
The Hummers were great but as usual I was taken by the larger beasts – in particularly the Black Guans with their blue faces and red eyes. There were four Blue-throated Emerald Toucanets popping and out along with familiar Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles and pleasingly both Barbets, with the bull headed Prong-billed and a pair of showy Red-headed. I happen to think that the female of this species has more going for it.
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| Black Guan |
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| Black Guan |
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| Black Guan |
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
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| Green Crowned Brilliant & Green Hermit |
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| Prong-billed Barbet |
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| Baltimore Oriole |
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| Mountain Squirrel |
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| Blue-throated Emerald Toucanet |
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| Blue-throated Emerald Toucanet |
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| Red-headed Barbet - female |
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| Red-headed Barbet - male |
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| Black Guan |
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| Violet Sabre-wing |
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| Coppery-headed Emerald |
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| Coppery-headed Emerald - different angle - different looking bird! |
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| Black-bellied Hummingbird |
Down below us there were many Clay-coloured Thrushes picking around the dropped fruit and we briefly saw both Chestnut-capped Brushfinch and Buff-fronted Quail-Doves. The weather kept closing in and the waterfall was occasionally in view.
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| A reflective two minutes silence |
Another pounding waterfall allowed for some touristy photos but even here the steep banks held Red-headed Barbets, Common Chlorospingus, Wilson’s Warblers and a clumsy group of Yellow-thighed Finches that crashed around in front of us. Strengthening rain saw us retreat once again.
The heavy rain returned but we kept on the plan to find
other spots to search for highland birds. Another river added both Yellowish
and Northern Tufted Flycatchers as well as a couple of Black Guans and yet
another new Hummingbird with a Purple-throated Mountain Gem.
Up into the cloud and a rather random roadside stop in the
driving drizzle at Varablanca saw us looking at a Verbena hedge where glints of hummershimmer caught the eye within seconds.
We were treated to dazzling views of Lesser Violetear and
Purple-throated Mountain Gems and two of the micros with shiny metallic orange
gorgetted Scintillants and carmine throated Poás-Barva Volcanos. I had not seen
this particular Volcano before but more of that later in the trip. Slaty Flowerpiercers nipped in and out and
onto the list. It was turning out to be
quite a day.
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| Purple-throated Mountain Gem |
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| Poas-Barva Volcano |
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| Poás-Barva Volcano |
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| Poás-Barva Volcano |
Onwards and down into the outskirts of San Jose but even here our luck continued and a convenient pull over at a hardware shop saw us piling out to watch a group of three Fiery-billed Aracaris just loafing in a tree above the shops! The locals even came out for a look at what we were watching.
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| Fiery-billed Aracaris |
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| Fiery-billed Aracaris |
We looped around the north side of the city before turning
onto the Tarcoles Lodge road. Several stops and walks along the track were most
productive. I was taken aback by how
green everything was. This area is
crispy and dry when I have visited before. The margins held little parties of Morelet’s
Seedeaters and Stripe-headed Sparrows and Blue-vented Hummingbirds while Turquoise-browed
Motmots hunted from the wires and Scrub Euphonias, Streak-backed Orioles and
Yellow-throated Vireos were found in the bushes.
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| Turquoise-browed Motmot |
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| Stripe-headed Sparrow |
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| Blue-vented Hummingbird |
Elegant Blue and White Magpie-Jays moved through the trees and a cloud of Orange-fronted Parakeets dreaded out of a feeding tree and we suspected that a Bat Falcon was to blame. A local caretaker on his moped stopped to ask if we had seen any Owls. With a negative reply he offered to take us into the empty property he was looking after and promptly showed us a Pacific Screech Owl staring down at us with baleful eyes. Two Double-striped Thick-knees watched us from under the same trees. Our official trespassing did not last long and we were soon back in the van for the last mile to the lodge passing a brood of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks on the way on a small roadside flood.
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| Black-bellied Whistling Duck |
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| Blue and White Magpie-Jay |
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| Blue and White Magpie-Jays |
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| Orange-fronted Parakeet |
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| Orange-fronted Parakeet |
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| Pacific Screech Owl |
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| Double-striped Thick-knee |
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| Pacific Screech Owl - Ramon Monge |
Costa Rican Swifts made low passes showing off their very pale rumps and Pacific Scarlet Macaws powered off towards the river and its Mangroves where they roost followed by the three Amazons.
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| Pacific Scarlet Macaws |
It was dusk by the time we arrived and the view from the breakfast area was immense and it had cleared enough that we could see Brown Pelicans cruising along the coast miles away and watch the various Parrots continue with their roost flights. Soon the evening contingent appeared and as far as you could see there were Lesser Nighthawks sailing effortlessly back and forth across the expansive vista.
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| Lesser Nighthawks |
We went out that evening for dinner and were all scarred by
the size of the portions of fried shrimp that arrived. The chap who manned the rope (not a barrier)
at the start of the road to the lodge was very grateful for the doggy bag we
brought him!
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