Everyone was up early at the Robledal to try and cram in some pre breakfast
birding and the crew set about trying to re-find as much of what we saw yesterday
for Charles and Tim who had arrived after dark. Pleasingly there was an almost
full selection including the Ferruginous Pygmy Owls that were calling
energetically, both Woodpeckers and the all important Spot-breasted Orioles.
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Urban Birding
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| El jefe and I |
But there were new birds too with a tail wagging Lesson’s
Motmot and our attempts to lure our a Lesser Ground Cuckoo from across the road
was tricky over the Sunday morning traffic but there were rewards with two very
vocal (they sound like House Sparrows) Yellow Green and a bold Yellow-throated Vireos,
Stripe-headed Sparrows and a brief, Plain-capped Starthroat. A Myriachus may well have been a Nutting’s
Flycatcher and a the group’s first Streak-headed Woodcreeper came across to
join us and bounded up the tree where Variegated Squirrels quarrelled.
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| Yellow Green Vireo |
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| Streak-headed Woodcreeper |
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| Variegated Squirrel |
Eyes up gave us both Crested and Yellow-headed Caracaras
along with both Vultures, Wood Stork, Martins, Broad-winged Hawks and even a
young Little Blue Heron and high Solitary Sandpiper.
We ambled the 50 yards back to breakfast with Finsch’s
Parakeet and Yellow-naped Amazons heading out to feed for the day and we were
joined by the Orioles and Rufous-backed Wrens while we ate. A pair of Cinnamon Hummingbirds were feeding young on a nest.
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| Cinnamon Hummingbird |
With Fito our guide and the return of Ramon we soon packed
up and hit the road north and soon passed roadside birds that were to become
all too familiar. It took about an hour
to reach Café San Luis for our first feeding station session and the group was
agog at Silver-throated, Blue Grey, Palm, Passerini’s Scarlet Rumped and
Crimson Collared Tanagers along with Common Chlorospingus, Clay-coloured
Thrushes, Red-legged and Green Honeycreepers and Bananaquits.
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
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| Palm Tanager - beautifully subtle |
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| Passerini’s Scarlet Rumped |
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| Passerini’s Scarlet Rumped - the birds here should be PSRT and we did see dull females |
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But I do wonder how far the two species forms have expanded towards each other as this Scarlet Rumped female feels too bright on the upper breast and rump to be Passerini's and feels closer to Cherrie's
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| Crimson Collared Tanager - both sexes are the same |
Tropical Parulas, Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers fed in the
trees where Squirrel Cuckoos lurked and both Black-cheeked and Golden Olive
Woodpeckers clambered up the Cecropias.
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| Clay-coloured Thrush |
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| Clay-coloured Thrush |
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| Golden Olive Woodpecker |
With a big party of teens arriving to go zip lining, we
walked down to the hummer feeders and enjoyed close encounters with
Green-crowned Brilliants, Crowned Woodnymph, Green Hermits, Rufous-tailed HBs
and astonishingly purple Violet Sabrewings.
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| Crowned Woodnymph |
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| Green-crowned Brilliant |
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| Green Hermit |
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| Green Hermit |
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| Green Hermit |
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| Violet Sabrewing |
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| Violet Sabrewing |
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| Violet Sabrewing |
Swallow-tailed Kites provided aerial distractions and two
Crested Guans flew through below canopy height.
We walked back up where a Wood Thrush tossed leaves and back at the top a
Chestnut-capped Brush-finch scurried below us and a surprising Bright-rumped
Attila appeared right next to the feeders where new in Baltimore Orioles
awaited their turn.
It seems that the smaller Squirrels in Costa Rica are in taxonomical turmoil and Fito advised us to now call anything medium sized as a Red-tailed. Further enquiry is required.
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| Wood Thrush |
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| Wood Thrush |
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| Red-tailed Squirrel |
Back to the bus where Variable Seedeaters were added and White-collared
Swifts powered overhead.
Several Random Roadside Stops (RRS) occurred during the course
of the morning. The first was not far
from San Luis where Ramon pulled over having found two Brown-throated Three-toed
Sloths balled up in a towering Cecropia.
‘ Buenos ojos Ramon!’
Action Sloth - Dan Duff
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| Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth - how did Ramon see this? |
Like all RRS there was so much more to see and a calling
raptor alerted us to a Black Hawk-Eagle leisurely circling above us – quality!
We found a fruiting fig tree close to the road (remember that these are nothing
like the Figs we get in Europe!) and it was full of birds. There were Yellow-crowned Euphonias,
Tennessee Warblers, Bananquits, Red-legged Honeycreepers, Baltimore Orioles and
Clay Coloured Thrushes attending and it took a while to realise that there were
two Crested Guans sitting in there quietly picking fruit.
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| Black Hawk-Eagle |
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| Philippine Ground Orchid - Spathoglottis plicata |
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| Purple Lubber Grasshopper (Taeniopoda reticulata) - nymphs |
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| Purple Lubber Grasshopper (Taeniopoda reticulata) - nymphs |
A Piratic Flycatcher was calling and was found on a bare
stick and Northern Rough-winged Swallows swooped around us but it was time to
move on.
I am not sure how far we got but our next RRS was at the
bridge in Santa Clara where we had spied a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. A Green Ibis was seen too along with an
Amazon Kingfisher on some wires and Black Phoebes were flycatching off the river
boulders. We picked up our first Spotted
Sandpipers and high above the river Green Iguanas lounged as they collected
morning rays.
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| Amazon Kingfisher |
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| Black Phoebe |
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| Green Iguana |
Onwards and past roadside Cattle Egrets, both Rough-winged
Swallows and a couple of Rufous-collared Sparrows.
We had lunch in La Fortuna at a restaurant next to Bogarin
and a twenty minute session around the car park afterwards was most rewarding
with our first Trogon – a Gartered Violaceous (they seem to have merged the two
names this species has had). Pale-vented
and Red-billed Pigeons flew over and there was a good selection of the ‘big
flycatchers’ with Piratic, Kiskadee, Social and Grey-capped. Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warblers were
around the lake were a couple of Boat-billed Heron sat. I am not sure that this species can ever look
anything other than on a bit of a down. Dan found an American Pygmy Kingfisher
sat at close range which stayed long enough for everyone to scuttle back to see
it. We almost made it back to the van
but there were Grey-headed Chachalacas in the car park and a singing Rufous-tailed
Jacamar was close enough to be worth a few minutes and after a short while we
all had excellent views as it gleamed from the shadows.
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| The contorted art of van birding |
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| Boat-billed Heron |
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| Rufous-tailed Jacamar |
Upwards now and into the grey skies and increasing
drizzle passing Grey and Roadside Hawks, Southern Lapwings, Ruddy Ground Doves,
Tropical Mockingbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds on the way.
Having turned off on the road to Arenal we stopped at the
start of the Peninsular Road track opposite a superb Montazuma Oropendola
colony. It was in full swing and birds
were flying out in all directions and collecting material to weave into their
dangling nests. Both Yellow-throated and
Keel-billed Toucans were seen and heard and a striding male Great Curassow
crossed the road in a very sedate manner.
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| Great Curassow |
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| Montazuma Oropendolas |
Crested Guans and more Chachalacas added to the big gamebirdy
things and above us there were several pairs of Red-lored Amazons one frisky
pair of which were going for a marathon session for several minutes. None of the normal ‘wham bam’ that seems to
common in the bird world! White-crowned
Parrots were involved in a bit of accidental voyeurism.
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| Red-lored Amazons |
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| Red-lored Amazons - they were very enthusiastic! |
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| Grey-headed Chachalacas |
Down lower in the same tree there were three Hummers on the
blooms with Rufous-tailed, White-necked Jacobins and a Blue-vented HB and a
Summer Tanager dropped in too. A
White-throated Magpie-Jay surprised me and Brown Jay made it two crow ticks
while a Brown-crested Flycatcher was our first new one of the tribe for at
least two hours!
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| Garceto caballo |
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| Big wasp nest |
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| An unexpected White-throated Magpie-Jay |
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| Summer Tanager |
Upwards and a final stop at river bridge in the drizzle
where there was a mass of activity around one particular tree. It was full of flycatchers with Kiskadee,
Social, Piratic, Boat-billed, Sulphur-bellied, Black Phoebe and Northern Tropical
Pewee. It took at age to work out what
all the fuss was about but then we found a Yellow-throated Toucan nest raiding
and an entire family of birds had rallied to the defence. Quite amazing.
Both Rough-winged Swallows hawked insects and a big flock of
Melodious Blackbirds headed off to roost.
There were some very smart Chestnut-sided Warblers and on the river itself
a Buff-rumped Warbler wagged its tail as it worked its way along the rocks.
Hotel Linda was our lodge
for a couple of nights (my Mum would have approved of the name). The light was fading and the rain increasing
and the bulk of Arenal was obscured by low, heavy cloud but our verandas were
covered and we did quite well as we looked over the gardens and volcano
namesake lake. Both Montazuma and
Chestnut-headed Oropendolas moved over in groups and we picked up
Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, Southern House Wrens and
Yellow-throated Euphonias in the bushes below and the Verbena in front of my
room became a focal point with Violet-headed, Rufous-tailed, Ruby-throated and
White-necked Jacobins.
By the time we walked across in the rain for dinner the
Pauraques were singing all around and Dink Frogs had begun their incessant,
well, dinking.
