Talari Lodge grounds -
Quepos bay – Rio Parrito – Cerros Lodge
Another eventful day and another good one for birding.
We all got up early and took a walk in the extensive grounds of the lodge, our
walk last night produced such a lot that we thought the area had tremendous
potential. Unfortunately our expectations were not brought to fruition. Howvere
we did a good variety of species and had some excellent views of species that
were mere glimpses yesterday. The Olivaceous Piculet showed very well as did
the Lineated Woodpecker and we got short views of a Smokey-brown Woodpecker.
Other new species included a fly-over Fork-tailed
Flycatcher and a beautiful male American Redstart. We all enjoyed a lovely on
the covered terrace at the lodge and from there we watched the bird feeders
where we saw several species that came to within a couple of meters from us.
Bothe the Green and the Red-legged Honeycreepers showed up as did a stunning
Speckled Tanager. Although the tanager was not our first trip sighting it was
new for most of the group.
From Talari lodge we spent 1 ½ hours travelling to
Quepos, we stopped a couple of times when we found a Gray-lined Hawk on a
telegraph pole and an Amazon Kingfisher near a pool of water.
At Quepos we stopped to look over the bay and soon
found many new species: Brown Pelicans were in good numbers as were Laughing
Gulls, Black Vultures and Magnificent frigatebirds. A single Royal Tern sat
with the gulls and nearby in a creek we saw Tricoloured Heron and Green Heron
as well as Spotted Sandpiper. A White Ibis flew over us just as we were
leaving.
After a roadside stop for lunch we set off heading further
north along the Pacific Coast. The river at Parrita has always provided many
sightings, and a host of species, today was no exception. The shrimp farm that
lies along the south bank is usually teaming with life when the lakes are full.
Today they were virtually empty of water but still held a number of species.
The river itself was extremely good as the tide was
reaching its’ high point, many waders had come upriver to roost on the grassy
banks along with herons and egrets. Firgatebirds were also patrolling the water
and chasing the Royal and Elegant Terns to steal their food from them. We found
a Roseate Spoonbill, a Wood Stork, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Great Blue,
Little Blue, Green and Tricoloured Herons all in one place.
A few waders included: Black-necked Stilt, Whimbrel,
Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Western Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plover,
Black-bellied Plover, Southern Lapwing and Spotted Sandpipers.
We continued right down to the beach where we watched
lots of seabirds fishing off-shore or following fishing boats. The only new
species seen there was a few Brown Boobys.
It was now getting late so we set off for the final
drive up to Carara and the Cerros Lodge; we had two very exciting stops along
the way. The first was to admire a superb Scarlet Macaw which was sitting on a
dead tree along the roadside and the second was to watch about 20 Lesser
Nighthawks hawking insects just above the track to the lodge. It was still
daylight and we had great views of these ‘night’ birds, what a fantastic way to
end the day.
ADDITIONS TO THE COSTA RICA LIST AND TO MY 2013 YEAR
LIST
427. Wood Stork
428. Magnificent Frigatebird
429. Brown Booby
430. Brown Pelican
431. Tri-coloured Heron
432. White Ibis
433. Roseate Spoonbill
434. Gray-lined Hawk
435. Southern Lapwing
436. Black-bellied Plover
437. Collared Plover
438. Semipalmated Plover
439. Black-necked Stilt
440. Willet
441. Lesser Yellowlegs
442. Western Sandpiper
443. Laughing Gull
444. Royal Tern
445. Elegant Tern
446. Inca Dove
447. Lesser Nighthawk
448. Smokey-brown Woodpecker
449. Scarlet Macaw
450. Fork-tailed Flycatcher
451. Lesser Greenlet
452. Barn Swallow
453. Whimbrel
454. American Redstart
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