CERROS LODGE TO HOTEL PACIFICA NEAR CENAS + BOAT TRIP
ON THE TARCOLES RIVER
We started the
morning with a 6am walk along the track adjacent to the hotel. A strange
crow-like call grabbed our attention and soon we were onto our first
White-throated Magpie- Jay, what a lovely bird. Along the track we found a
Stripe-headed Sparrow and a Common Ruddy Ground-Dove which were both new for
the trip. On the way back we found a flycatcher in one of the larger trees
which turned out to be a Gunning’s Flycatcher another new bird for us.
Many parrots, parakeets and macaws were flying over
us, it was like the bird house in London Zoo. The majestic Scarlet Macaw loses
all of its dignity as soon as it opens its mouth and issues that loud, raucous
call.
We took breakfast at 7am and at 8am we loaded up the
bus with all the luggage and we checked out of the lodge. A Rufous-naped Wren
sang to us as we passed the entrance gates on our way down to Tarcoles.
At 8:30am we transferred to our boat in readiness for
the River Tarcoles boat trip, we had commissioned our private boat for this
tour. The weather was perfect, a nice breeze, lovely sunshine and a low tide,
fantastic. We had a great time, for the first hour we set off up river where we
found a few new waders and got really close views of all the herons, including
the beautiful Yellow-crowned Night heron and the odd looking Boat-billed Heron.
Many crocodiles were in the water or on the bank and
our captain done the usual ‘tourist’ bit when he jump overboard and hand fed a
huge croc.
We also sailed into a mangrove swamp where we found
the beautiful Yellow Warbler feeding in the mangrove trees, the male, with its brown
head and yellow body looks simply stunning. As did the American Pygmy
Kingfisher which also showed down to a couple of meters, it is surprising how
close you can get when you are on a boat.
At 11am we disembarked and jump back onto the bus for
the long journey to Canas in the north. We arrived at our hotel at 3pm and met
up at 4pm for a walk in the hotel grounds. However, we were driven from the
grounds by thousands of biting mosquitoes, so we drove to a nature reserve some
40 minutes away.
The National Park at Tenorio (volcano Tenorio) lies on
the slope of the mountain and consist of tropical rain forest. We travel a few
kilometers along the approach track but did have time to go all way to the
reserve entrance. It was slow going, clouds thickened and looked ominous but we
enjoyed the last 90 minutes of daylight and found some birds. The Pale-billed
Woodpecker is always nice to see, we also found Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (a
male), White-vented Euphonia, Vaux’s Swift and several common species.
We drove back to the hotel in the dark and ate a
lovely dinner in the superb restaurant at the hotel.
Tomorrow is our last full day and we intend to make
the most of it by visiting the fabulous reserve at Palo Verde, watch this
space.
P.S. very loud
Howler Monkeys are calling outside my room as I write this, it comes to
something when I am up before the ‘howlers’.
ADDITIONS TO THE COSA RICA LIST AND TO MY 2013 YEAR
LIST
472. Double-striped Thick-Knee
473. Killdeer
474. Least Sandpiper
475. Common Ground-Dove
476. American Pygmy-Kingfisher
477. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
478. Nutting’s Flycatcher
479. Streaked Flycatcher
480. White-throated Magpie-Jay
481. Red-winged Blackbird
482. Stripe-headed Sparrow
483. White-vented Euphonia
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