Savegre Hotel to Talari Lodge via San Isidro and stops
at Bosque del Tolomuco Lodge and Highway 2 (highest point).
We had a lie-in today and took breakfast at 7am before
setting off for a short walk around the hotel grounds. It was our final attempt
to see the Black-faced Solitaire which we heard several times but still failed
to see it. However we did see a few new species along with a host of species
already recorded.
We set off into the woods and soon we were finding
flycatchers, the Yellowish and Black-capped varieties were the most common. A
nice Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush showed well and a new species was found in
the leaf litter, a Chestnut-capped Bush-Finch.
In the open garden areas we found a new hummingbird,
the Scintillant Hummingbird, it is similar to the Volcano Hummingbird but has a
bright orange throat patch that shines brilliantly when turned into the light.
Another new bird was also added to the growing trip list as we walked along the
main track back towards the hotel. A Ruddy Pigeon was found in one of the trees
along the hedgerow.
We then took the bus and drove a kilometer or two up
the main track to re-visit the site of the Quetzal so that we could take a
second look. However we only got short views of a male without the long tail
and not much else. We did find plenty of Acorn Woodpeckers, Yellow-faced
Grassquits, Wilson’s Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo and lots of Rufous-collared
Sparrows.
We sat for lunch at 12 noon but just before that part
of the group decided to try one last time for the Solitaire, without success.
Nevertheless we did find a pair of Emerald Toucanets at their nesting hole, a
Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush on the path, a Prothonatary Warbler (only the
second of the tour) and lots of Wilson’s Warblers.
So after lunch we loaded up the bus and set off for
the South pacific section of the island, we drove 15 kilometers back up to
highway 2, it was a long haul with 10km up a steep hill. We then drove
southwest for 10km before turning off onto a side track at the highest point of
the route. We were up at 3,200 meters and our target species, Volcano Junco was
in the bag within minutes of looking.
Driving further along the main highway we dropped a
1000 metres and reached our next destination which was a small lodge with lots
of hummer feeders. We stayed for an hour and logged 3 new hummer species and
had good close views of Swallow-tailed Kites.
Finally at 3:30pm we reached our next lodge, Talari
which is south east of San Isidro. After quickly checking in we went for a
birding excursion in the vast grounds. At lower altitude we found a host of new
birds waiting for us. Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush sang out to us as we
tracked it down. A Red-crowned Woodpecker drummed and many species flitted in
the canopy of the forest. We soon found several new birds and we decided that
was going to be very good in the morning. We called it a day at 5:30pm and went
to our rooms to get ready for dinner, which was superb I have to say.
ADDITIONS TO THE COATS RICA LIST AND MY 2013 YEAR LIST
412. Ruddy Pigeon
413. White-crested Coquette
414. Scintillant Hummingbird
415. White-tailed Emerald
416. Green-crowned Brilliant
417. Fiery-billed Aracari
418. Red-crowned Woodpecker
419. Bran-coloured Flycatcher
420. Orange-collared Manakin
421. Brown-capped Vireo
422. Rufous-breasted Wren
423. Tropical Gnatcatcher
424. Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush
425. Chestnut-capped Bush-Finch
426. Yellow-crowned Euphonia
No comments:
Post a Comment