25th March 2026 - Day 5 - Costa Rica for Bird's Wildlife & Nature

A slightly depleted crew had time for a shuffle around the Cana Negro lodge grounds as the light came up.  Olive-throated Parakeets and Northern Mealy Amazons headed off to feed and amongst the commoner species the melodious song of Spot-breasted Wrens could be heard but with our boat trip due on the Rio Frio we made our way down to the quay.

Even the walk down through the fruiting fig trees was productive with White-browed Gnatcatchers and Green Elaenias flicking out for insects along with Chestnut-sided and gleaming Yellow Warblers.  Down near the bank we even found a singing Olive-crowned Yellowthroat when soon came out and sung from the top for us in the early sunshine.

As ever, what followed was an idyllic putter along the river with its Black River Terrapin and Red-eared Slider holed banks, smug looking Spectacled Caiman, lounging tree loving Green Iguanas and prehistoric Emerald Basilisks along with the expected host of wonderful bird life.

Spectacled Caiman

Spectacled Caiman

Spectacled Caiman - Simon Stirrup

Spectacled Caiman - Simon Stirrup

Green Iguana

Emerald Basilisk

The list of heronry things was almost complete and some such as the Bare-throated Tiger-herons and Tricoloured Herons gave the most brilliant views as they fed in the margins. Out on the wider marshes where it was too shallow to continue there were Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills and my first new Costa Rican bird of the trip in the shape of the all too familiar Glossy Ibis!

Little Blue Heron

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Tricoloured Heron

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Wood Storks

Little Blue Heron & Snowy Egret

Tricoloured Heron

Great Egret

Bare-throated Tiger Heron - juvenile

White Ibis

Great Egret

Tricoloured Heron - Simon Stirrup

Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Black-necked Stilts & Blue-winged Teal

There were groups of scruffy Neotropic Cormorants and dagger-billed Anhingas but only a couple of Limpkins and neither came close to the boat.  There were Rufous-naped Wood Rails, Northern Jacanas, Southern Lapwings, Spotted Sandpipers and the odd Least Sandpiper along the edges and a big flock of the Leasts out on the wider marsh also gave us a Pectoral Sandpiper and Greater Yellow-legs along with a several Black-necked Stilts.

Anhinga

Neotropic Cormorants

Southern Lapwings

Least Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Black-necked Stilt

Northern Jacanas and Blue-winged Teal

Rufous-naped Wood Rail

Rufous-naped Wood Rail - Simon Stirrup

Northern Jacana - Simon Stirrup

Blue-winged Teals were the only wildfowl seen and a male Sungrebe was the closest other vaguely ducky looking thing that we saw.  It is always a treat to find one of these strange little birds that always appear to have been made up of several other bird families.  We watched him quietly paddling around the overhangs slowly but deliberately picking insects from the surface or dangling leaves.

Sungrebe

Sungrebe

Blue-winged Teal

Both Vultures and Caracaras were on patrol and we also found a couple of ginger Black-collared Hawks but a perched Grey-headed Kite was somewhat of a surprise.  There was lots of Parrot action with both Red-lored and Mealy Amazons as well as Finsch’s, Orange-chinned and Olive-throated Parakeets with most feeding in the orange flowering Bean Trees that were also being feasted on by the local troops of Spider Monkeys.

American Black Vultures

Grey-headed Kite

I am not sure how many Amazon Kingfishers were saw but sometimes there were groups of three of four flying raucously to and fro while we also saw several Ringed and smaller Green Kingfishers too.

Ringed Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher - the shape changes in each picture

As usual the river also gave us a good number of smaller birds with a vibrant Prothonotary Warbler. Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, Brown-crested Flycatchers and even a bounding Lineated Woodpecker while Pale-vented Pigeons, Ruddy Gound-Doves and White-tipped Doves regularly crossed the river along with the scarce Grey-headed Dove (which we also heard) and a single Blue Ground-Dove.

Prothonotary Warbler

We drifted back through the Mangrove Swallows and their congeners and our breakfast beckoned but even then we got distracted by some more close Spider Monkeys, a showy Stripe-headed Woodcreeper and a pair of nesting Black-cheeked Woodpeckers.

Spider Monkey

Spider Monkey

Spider Monkey - peering through the flower telescope

Spider Monkey

Spider Monkey - Simon Stirrup

After breakfast there was time for a walk around the grounds of the lodge which proved very productive with Palm, Blue Grey, Golden-hooded, Summer and Passerini’s Tanagers around the feeding station along with Blue Dacnis, Red-legged Honeycreepers and Clay-coloured Thrushes. Great Antshrikes called and Tim saw them earlier.

Great Antshrike - Tim Wilson

Summer Tanager

Hummingbirds were poor with just a few zipping Rufous-tailed and an all too brief Blue-throated Goldentail but there was plenty else to see with good views of the all important Spot-breasted Wrens along with Yellow-olive Flatbills and Mistletoe Tyrannulets, Stripe-headed Woodcreepers, Yellow-throated Euphonias and Black Striped Sparrows revving up.

Streak-headed Woodcreeper

Streak-headed Woodcreeper

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Lichen Anole - Anolis pentaprion

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Common Tody-Flycatcher - little bird, stupid tail, big head, huge eyes, odd flat bill

possibly Gold Rim Swallowtail -  Battus polydamas

possibly Gold Rim Swallowtail -  Battus polydamas

Just outside the gates we found a singing Northern Beardless Tyrannulet along with Dusky-capped Flycatchers and Northern Tropical Pewee and both species of Toucans could be heard singing in the village trees.  A male Slaty-tailed Trogon caused us to pause and in doing so Fito found us a Chestnut Coloured Woodpecker which with a little patience gave excellent views.  I had only ever see a canopy one before.    Roadside Hawks shouted at us as we headed back for the final pack up before moving in once again while avoiding the Spider Monkeys leaping overhead!

Chestnut Coloured Woodpecker

Chestnut Coloured Woodpecker

Chestnut Coloured Woodpecker - worthy of three images

Spider Monkey

Spider Monkey

As usual, all road journeys in Costa Rica inevitably involve some Random Roadside Stops and this one was no exception with Bat Falcons, Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Double-striped Thick-knees (Good eyes Ramon), Giant and Shining Cowbirds, Common Ground Doves, Olive-crowned Yellowthroats and the top heavy Nicaraguan Seedfinch all being picked up on the way. 

Double-striped Thick-knees

Double-striped Thick-knees

Groove-billed Ani

Even lunch in Muelle gave us an American Barn Owl that was roosting inside the adjacent supermarket where it got a breeze through the open eaves and some soothing Latino beats to send it off to sleep.

We eventually arrived at Boca Tapada on the banks of the Rio San Carlos having seen Least Grebes on a nearby lake but a slight misunderstanding took us to the wrong lodge to begin with but we did have a bonus double Macaw flyby us with two each of Caribbean Scarlet and Great Green before retracing our route slightly to our correct and rather wonderful lodgings.  The sounds of a million invisible frogs and whistling Pauraque sent me sleep.