Dawn broke over the forest below while a huge thunderhead
off to the south was still flashing away.
Lesser Nighthawks were still on duty and during our breakfast groups of
Scarlet Macaws, Red-lored and Yellow-naped Amazons, Orange-chinned and Orange-throated
Parakeets and Brown-hooded and White crowned Parrots headed off to their
various morning feasting spots. A Pauraque was still singing down in the trees
where the local troop of White-faced Capuchins were crashing their way surreptitiously
through the trees to the Lodge where a big basket of bananas was waiting for
them. The Mantled Howlers had already
quietened down for the day.
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| Brown-hooded Parrots - I had not appreciated how vivid the wings are! |
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| White-faced Capuchin |
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| White-faced Capuchin |
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| White-faced Capuchin - Simon Stirrup |
The Long-tailed Manakins continued with sci-fi noises and
one of my nemeses, Striped Cuckoo, was singing off in the trees. I had heard them in Costa Rica before and also
in the Pantanal but had still not seen one (not that it wasn’t on my list!) but
once again it was just too far off.
Like my first visit here in November 2024 there were masses
of Kingbirds heading inland over the forest as the sun rose and once again I was
confused. Tropical Kingbird (TK) is
incredibly common but you only ever seen them in pairs, never groups and never
at height. Last time Jose said that they
would be Western Kingbirds and by checking ones that landed we did indeed find
some. This late in the season though the
same early morning movement occurred without any obvious reason and Fito said
that most would be TKs and this was indeed the case. I did find a couple of Westerns with the
white tail sides on a darker tail but as of yet no one knows quite what is happening. Where do they start their day and where are
they going?
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| Tropical Kingbird (TK) |
Way off in the distance we could see spirals of drifting
Magnificent Frigatebirds and our breakfast we interrupted by Lineated, Red-crowned
and Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers, several Swainson’s Thrushes and tail wagging Turquoise-browed
Motmots. Scrub Euphonias sung from the
trees below us where we also found Summer Tanagers, Yellow-green Vireos and a
pair of very obliging Streak-backed Orioles.
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| Turquoise-browed Motmot |
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| Streak-backed Oriole |
The dusty road back out of the lodge was worthy of a short
stop and Fito successfully found a pair of Pacific Screech Owls trying to have
a kip in a palm tree while the paddocks and trees around us hosted
White-throated Magpie-Jays, non Rosy-throated Becards, Yellow-throated and Yellow-Green
Vireos, Yellow-Olive Flatbills and White-lored Gnatcatchers. Stripe-headed Sparrows double kicked at the
leaf litter and we even found another Ferruginous Pygmy Owl. A pair of Double-striped Thick-knees
shimmered under the trees – it was already very hot.
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Pacific Screech Owls
|
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| Stripe-headed Sparrow |
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| Stripe-headed Sparrow |
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| Groove-billed Ani |
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| Ctenosaur |
However the other prize here was a new Parrot with a pair of
White-fronted Amazon – a species I had not seen before. They are quite small
for an Amazon but beautifully plumaged.
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| White-fronted Amazon |
Onto Carara NP which now has a whole new set of rules about
what time you can get in and more importantly, leave. These newly enforced restrictions unfortunately
remove the evening element of the day here and reduce your chances of some of
the more furtive ground loving species.
That saying, we had a superb walk through the forest and most
of the group saw most of what we encountered along the way. Ant-thingies were actually in short supply
but we did find several Chestnut-backed Antbirds, very obliging Black-hooded
Antshrikes and a pair of delightful Dot-winged Antwrens. No Antthrushes or Antpittas this time.
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| Black-hooded Antshrike |
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| Cicada |
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| Monstera dubia |
Some interesting bugs swarming up a tree - obviously one or two adults in their too
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| Leafcutter Ants |
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| Fly mines I suspect |
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| Lemon-tipped Hellicopter - Mecistogaster ornata |
But we did find two big new Woodcreepers with Black-striped
and Tawny-winged and several Spot-crowned Euphonias along the way although they
were a very subtle and to be honest the dark underside to the actual tail was
the best indicator given typical forest angles!
A Great Tinamou ambled across the track and after the
frustration of hearing a Green Shrike-Vireo way up in the canopy, Garry had a ‘What’s
that?’ moment and there one was in full view.
Fito was equally pleased as it had been a few years since he had seen one. Despite the vividness of the greens, yellow
throat and blue nape (Chlorospingus colours) it simply became a leaf with
almost no effort at all. White-shouldered Tanagers (of the nitidissimus form)
were in the same area and a pair of Grey-headed Tanagers were hunting off the
fence post. A male Graceful Black-throated Trogon bogged down at us.
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| Graceful Black-throated Trogon |
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| Grey-headed Tanager |
There were a few Chestnut-sided and Tennessee Warblers and
Garry had a Magnolia Warbler too while Lesser Greenlets were vocal and quite
showy at last along with a couple of Philadelphia Vireos.
Riverside Wrens were heard in several spot – funnily enough,
near the stream (where Muscovy Ducks and Brown Basilisks lounged) and a couple
showed very well as they un-characteristically clambered way up the lianas of a
massive tree. Northern Waterthrushes
bobbed along the banks and seemed quite unconcerned by us.
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| Brown Basilisk |
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| Muscovy Duck - being sneaky |
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| Muscovy Ducks |
The sound of throwing leaves drew us to Scaly-throated
Leaftosser doing what they do best but it was spooked by some flip-flopped but
guided tourists who were taken off trail at this point. Manakins let us down with just a single female
Velvety to add to the tally but seeing a Rufous Piha on its nest made up for it. Quite how the local guide had found it way up
in the mid-canopy I do not know.
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| Scaly-throated Leaftosser |
There was a good selection of flycatchers with Greenish
Elaenias, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Northern Royal and Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher and a
microscopic Golden-crowned Spadebill with a song like a trilling mosquito. There were some grand Morphos flouncing
around and Ctenosaurs stalked through the leaf litter where big Delicate Ameivas
scurried and Copper Anoles headed bobbed from low trunks.
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| Spix's Disk-winged Bat - Thyroptera tricolor. Not entirely sure but it seems to fit on habit and general pelage. - Simon Stirrup |
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| Ctenosaur |
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| Ctenosaur |
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| Ctenosaur |
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| Delicate Ameiva - Holcosus leptophrys |
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Copper Anole - Anolis cupreus. With the lizards I am doing my best so feel free to correct me if I get them wrong
|
Given how hot it was I was quite surprised by just how good
our walk had been and somehow I had seen six brand new birds myself so I can
only imagine how many the rest of the crew had.
We went for lunch before retreating to the lodge for a
siesta where South American Scarlet Macaws clambered around the trees and some of the biggest
and brightest Green Iguanas I have ever seen were out sunbathing. Costa Rican Swifts once again zipped to and
fro.
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| Green Iguana |
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| Green Iguana - a proper dinosaur |
I had opted for a calm and relaxing evening and so we headed
for the beach at Playa d’Azul so that the crew could have a paddle in the Pacific
and watch the sun go down. Frigatebirds
and Brown Pelicans patrolled, families played in the sand, BBQs were underway
but there were still birds on the beach with Willets, Sanderlings, Grey and
Semi-palmated Plovers. Caspian and American
Royal Terns patrolled offshore and the odd Laughing Gull drifted by.
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| Magnificent Frigatebird |
A young Yellow-crowned Night Heron was in a channel in the
village and the pools held White Ibis, Tricoloured and Little Blue Herons,
Egrets and Wood Storks. South American Scarlet Macaws gave us the most fantastic eyelevel views as they gorged on fruit in a garden.
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| South American Scarlet Macaws |
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| South American Scarlet Macaws |
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| South American Scarlet Macaws |
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| South American Scarlet Macaws |
As the light fell the Lesser Nighthawks came out to play and
energetically swooped over the seafront trees.
A larger species was also seen close to us and the consensus from those
with more experience than I was that it was a Common Nighthawk.
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| How can an image of the sun still hurt your eyes to look at? |
We rendezvoused with Ramon as the last of the light dwindled
and stopped once again as we left the village to try for Spectacled Owl. Fito’s gentle tickling worked and although it
did not sing, this magnificent Owl glided in to have a look, perched u and then
melted away. We left it to resume its
hunting while Pauraques whistled around us.
A perfect end to the day.
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| House Gecko in my room |
New Birds:
* World Lifer
** Costa Rica tick
1: White-fronted Amazon *
2: Black-striped Woodcreeper *
3: Tawny-winged Woodcreeper *
4: Green Shrike-Vireo *
5: Rufous Piha *
6: Golden-crowned Spadebill *
7: Spot-crowned Euphonia *
8: Common Nighthawk *
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