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Jan 2nd - 5th - Somerset Levels

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April 10th - 18th - Coto Donana & Extremadura - £950 - 2 places

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May 31st - June 7th. - Extremadura and Sierra de Gredos - £950

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Red-throated Bee-eater

Red-throated Bee-eater
join us for a fantastic tour of The Gambia this November

Friday, February 1, 2013

FEB 1ST - COSTA RICA DAY 1

FOR 2013 I HAVE SET MYSELF A TARGET OF SEEING 1000 SPECIES, SO EACH BLOG WILL CONTAIN ADDITIONS TO THE YEAR LIST AT THE END OF EACH POSTING IN BLUE.
 
AIRPORT HOTEL   -  HOTEL VISTA DE VALLE

day 1 of a 16 day tour - however my group does not arrive until 8:30pm.

I arrived in Costa Rica last night after a lot of traveling. So I never saw a single bird.

This morning  I walked the grounds of the Hotel Airport and reacquainted myself with some common birds and their calls. The Clay Coloured Robin, White-winged Dove, Great-tailed Grackle, Red-billed Pigeon and Black Vulture were the only birds I saw before taking breakfast.

The rest of the morning was spent organising the collection of the minibus and finding the route to the first hotel where the group is going to stay.

In the afternoon I spent two to three hours walking the magnificent grounds of the hotel which is situated on the edge of a fantastic gorge where a 90 meter waterfall cascades down the rocky slopes. the whole area is superb forest habitat and is a super birding location. I listed over 35 species with some memorable sightings. Male Baltimore Orioles in summer plumage are superb, so are Chestnut-capped warblers. The Black-cowled Oriole is also very nice and the striking family of tanagers began to appear although I only saw the Blue-and-Gray and the Palm Tanagers a summer Tanager was calling but I never found it perched in the in a dense thicket of bamboo.

Both Turkey and Black Vultures were constantly drifting over and a Broad-winged Hawk sat in a tree close to the pathway. Southern Rough-winged Swallows sat on wires and Blue-and-White Swallows hawked insects overhead.

Later, I met up with Roy, my co-leader on the tour, we sat in the restaurant and watched the sun go down, a superb sunset and another half a dozen species. We scoped down into the ravine to the river and found a Great Blue Heron and two Sunbitterns sitting on rocks. A few Vaux's Swifts hawked high over the valley and Keeled-billed Toucans called from deep in the wooded ravine.

Today's list of species (none of which will count on the tour list because the group was not present).

1. Clay-coloured Robin
2. White-winged Dove
3. Black vulture
4. Red-billed Pigeon
5. Great-tailed Grackle
6. Blue-and-gray Tanager
7. Broad-winged Hawk
8. Steely-vented hummingbird
9. Black-cowled Oriole
10. Chestnut headed Oropendola
11. Plain Chachalaca
12. Chestnut Sided Warbler
13. Yellow warbler
14. Northern Waterthrush
15. Chestnut-capped Warbler
16. Tropical Kingbird
17. Great Kiskadee
18. Plain Wren
19. melodious Blackbird
20. Southern Rough-winged Swallow
21. Blue-and- white swallow
22. Groove-billed Ani
23. baltimore Oriole
24. Turkey vulture
25. Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
26. Boat-billed Flycatcher
27. Mottled owl
28. Palm tanager
29.Hoffman's Woodpecker
30. Yellow-bellied Elaenia
31. Blue-throated Goldentail
32. Great Blue Heron
33. Sunbittern
34. Vaux's Swift
35.Summer Tanager
36. keeled billed Toucan


ADDITIONS TO THE YEAR LIST.

 0-143  - Uk in January see blog archive
144. White Stork   - Spain  29th Jan
145. Crested Lark   -      "
146. Griffon Vulture -   "
147. Greater Flamingo  -    "
148. Black-winged Stilt  -   "
149. Serin                             "
150. Black Redstart     -    spain 30th Jan
151.Clay-coloured Robin  - costa Rica
152. White-winged Dove           "
153. Black vulture
154. Red-billed Pigeon
155. Great-tailed Grackle
156. Blue-and-gray Tanager
157. Broad-winged Hawk
158. Steely-vented hummingbird
159. Black-cowled Oriole
160. Chestnut headed Oropendola
161. Plain Chachalaca
162. Chestnut Sided Warbler
163. Yellow warbler
164. Northern Waterthrush
165. Chestnut-capped Warbler
166. Tropical Kingbird
167. Great Kiskadee
168. Plain Wren
169. melodious Blackbird
170. Southern Rough-winged Swallow
171. Blue-and- white swallow
172. Groove-billed Ani
173. baltimore Oriole
174. Turkey vulture
175. Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
176. Boat-billed Flycatcher
177. Mottled owl
178. Palm Tanager
179. Hoffman's Woodpecker
180. Yellow-bellied Elaenia
181. Blue-throated Goldentail
182. Great Blue Heron
183. Sunbittern
184. Vaux's Swift
185. Summer Tanager
186. Keeled billed Toucan



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