Our route out of Heathrow took us via Bogota once again but
our lay-over coincided with dawn and we were rather sadly glued to the windows
where, after some sleuthing, we created a fledgling Colombian list of three
with the humble Feral Pigeon, Eared Dove and the really rather huge Great
Thrush that had us all fooled for a while.
The 8000 or so feet of Bogota was a bit of a shock this time and things
had to be taken at a slow pace.
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| Colombian airspace |
Soon enough Gill, Pat, Chris, Dan, Simon and I were on our
way once again to San Jose and were soon touching down in Costa Rica where the
ever cheery Ramon met us and transported the crew to the Robledal. Candice and Garry were already there and Tim
and Charles were due to arrive later so after the briefest of decamping we
reconvened for an introduction to Costa Rican birdlife in and around the hotel
gardens.
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| Purple Guaria - Guarianthe skinneri |
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| Vanda tricolor |
In fits and starts between then and dark we actually amassed
a good selection of starter birds with Green-breasted Mango, Cinnamon and
dashing Canivet’s Emerald being popular along with a red and yellow immature
male Summer Tanager, ubiquitous Blue Greys and some stunning Baltimore Orioles.
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| Blue Grey Tanager |
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| There is always a Hummer in this tree - this time a Green-breasted Mango |
One of the hoped for birds here is Spot-breasted Oriole and
it only took a few minutes (in fact we were still checking in) to find two at
the feeders and we subsequently got close views of this vibrant and robust
orange and black beauty.
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| Spot-breasted Oriole |
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| Spot-breasted Oriole |
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| Spot-breasted Oriole |
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| Spot-breasted Oriole |
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| Spot-breasted Oriole |
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| Spot-breasted Oriole - worthy of a few different angles! |
Great Kiskadees, Tropical Kingbirds (TKs) and Social
Flycatchers were once again contesting nest sites around the pool and
Cinnamon-bellied Saltators added another new tribe to the growing list.
Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers bounced around the bigger trees and we even found the
nest of the Lineated Woodpeckers and got to watch a shift change between the
parents while the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl was more difficult to locate and we
were grateful for a visiting American family for taking us to the right viewing
spot.
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| Great Kiskadee |
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| Great Kiskadee |
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| Social Flycatcher - agitated enough to flare the seldom seen red crown stripe |
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| Great Kiskadee |
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| Social Flycatcher - the female guarding the best from a pool umbrella |
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| Cinnamon-bellied Saltator |
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| Hoffmann’s Woodpecker |
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| Lineated Woodpecker |
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| Lineated Woodpecker |
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Lineated Woodpeckers
|
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| Ferruginous Pygmy Owl |
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| Ferruginous Pygmy Owl |
Great-tailed Grackles crackled, whizzed and fizzed and
families of boisterous Rufous-backed Wrens fossicked around the flower beds and
way up into the trees where Variegated Squirrels bounded around with glowing
Yellow Warblers and a creeping Black & White Warbler.
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| Calabash - Crescentia cujete |
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| Bototo - Cochlospermum vitiflorum |
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| Pink Trumpetvine - Podranea ricasoliana |
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| Great-tailed Grackle |
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| Great-tailed Grackle flapping in the pool |
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| Great-tailed Grackle |
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| Rufous-backed Wren |
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| Black & White Warbler |
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| Black & White Warbler |
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| Black & White Warbler |
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| Black & White Warbler |
There were the pre-requisite three Pigeons with White-winged
and Inca Doves and vinous Red-billed Pigeons that of course do not have red
bills. Finsch’s Parakeet flew through in
noisy gangs and up above we picked up Blue & White Swallows, Grey-breasted
Martins, Black and Turkey Vultures (TVs), Peregrine, 16 Broad-winged Hawks and
even a low hunting Zone-tailed Hawk along with unexpected Cattle and Great
Egrets, Wood Stork and even a spiralling Anhinga!
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| White-winged Dove |
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| White-winged Dove |
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Red-billed Pigeon
|
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| Anhinga |
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| American Black Vulture |
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| Zone-tailed Hawk |
As ever it was quite a start and we retired to dinner with
heads already stuffed full of wonderful birds.
Clay-coloured Thrushes brought in the evening with their mournful songs.
New Birds:
1: Great Thrush (albeit it Columbia!)
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