Today we got up early, oh there’s a change, ha! We met at 5:30am at the main reception area and went for a walk in and around the grounds and also along the track outside. We spent an hour so enjoying a lovely cool morning and some great new species. Stripe-headed Sparrow was now on everyone’s list and we soon found a new Flycatcher. I must say that Roy our guide is mustard on his Flycatchers and hummers, he knows all the calls in an instant. This new one was Nutting’s Flycatcher which showed very well. A little further along the road we found a small flock of Yellow-naped Parrots, they sat in the morning sunlight and looked stunning. Over the course of the next hour we added a number of birds as well as a troop of White-faced Capuchin Monkeys. The birds included; Pale-billed Woodpecker, Squirrel Cuckoo, Grove-billed Ani, Black-crowned Tityra, White-lored Gnatcatcher, Rose-throated Becard and lots of common species.
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| DOUBLE-STRIPED THICK-KNEE (taken from the boat) |
At breakfast we enjoyed the lovely view of the distant sea
and Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over it. We had several
visits into the garden by Scarlet Macaws and a few orioles, tanagers, thrushes
and sparrows to the feeders. A bird of prey sat in a dead tree and was identified
as a Double-toothed Kite, another addition to our list.
After breakfast we drove down into Tarcoles and half of the group
got off the bus and onto a boat for the ‘crocodiles and birds’ trip whilst the rest
drove further away to bird-watch a new area hoping to find the Fiery-billed
Aracari.
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| MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD - they never land and even sleep on the wing like swifts |
The boat-trip was superb, we had glorious weather, a nice
cooling breeze and lots of birds to see. We were supplied with a checklist and
nearly completed the whole list and we had to add several species to it. A nice
male Prothonotary Warbler was one of the first birds on the list then many of
the common herons and egrets were seen along the shore. We then found a few
roosting Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, an Osprey, lots of Spotted Sandpiper and
a few very big crocodiles.
Then we had some real excitement when not one but two
Yellow-billed Cotingas flew into a riverside tree, what a wonderful find they
were smashing to see.
A little later the guide from the boat jump ashore and put
on the ‘tourist show’ by hand feeding a docile gigantic crocodile, then a
Yellow-beaded Caracara came down for scraps left over.
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| SPOT-BREASTED ORIOLE |
Still further upriver we had great close views of a
Grey-necked Wood Rail and of Double-striped Thick-Knee, Southern Lapsing and
Belted Kingfisher. At that point we turned the boat around and headed back down
river where we found a Ringed Kingfisher, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Northern
Jacana and lots more egrets. Overhead we saw lots of vultures and a Wood Stork
circling on the thermals.
For the last part of the trip we zoomed down to the mangrove
swamps to look for some specialist species, on the way we passed about 20
Magnificent Frigatebirds that were dropping down to the water to pick up fish.
In the mangrove swamps we drifted quietly down the enclosed
channels and found many new species. Two Kingfishers were added to the list,
Green and American Pygmy Kingfishers, we found Yellow Warbler with a chestnut
head (formerly Mangrove Warbler now just a sub-species of Yellow Warbler), a couple
of Red-winged Blackbirds hopped about in the dense scrub and we ha d excellent
views of Panama Flycatcher just a couple of metres from the boat.
As we turned to go back a Plumbeous Kite circled high above
us with the Vultures, then the guide heard a Mangrove Vireo so we pulled into
the bank and he mimicked the call of the Pygmy Owl, within seconds we had a
number of birds around us, Prothonotary Warbler, Common Tody Flycatcher and the
target bird the Mangrove Vireo.
We headed back seeing a few more species such as Neotropic Cormorant,
Anhinga, Royal Tern and at least four more Ospreys.
Well that ended the boat trip, we all thoroughly
enjoyed and notched up just under fifty
species, we had a qui drink before jumping onto our waiting bus and at off to
collect the other half of the group.
They had not fared so well, it was hot and dusty along the track they chose to walk along. A few birds were seen with some additions to the trip list which included: King Vulture, Black Swift, and Cooper’s Hawk but there wasn’t a sighting of the most wanted Aracari.
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| WHITE-THROATED MAGPIE-JAY |
From there we drove northwards along the Nicoya Bay and
after a stop for lunch we arrived at our last destination of the trip, Ensenada
Lodge. There was a noticeable difference in the climate and the vegetation, we
were well and truly in dry, hot forest.
After a hour’s settling time we set off for a short walk to
explore the grounds and surrounding forest. Our lovely rooms overlooked the bay
and the distant hills and immediately in front of us was a large open meadow of
short grass.
We walked along a track which took is to open dry forest and
birds began to appear as the heat abated. A couple of Parrots and a parakeet
were first on the list, two of them were new for us, Ornage-fronted Parakeet
and Yellow-napped Parrot. Then we had a Couple of new orioles to admire, the
Streak-backed was lovely and the male Orchard Oriole was stunning.
I can’t believe that at this stage of the trip there are
still hummingbirds out there for us to find, but there are, we found two of
them in quick succession. We found Canivet’s Hummingbird and Plain-capped Star-throat,
that brings the total number of hummers to 44 different species, amazing.
During the walk we also found Brown-capped Flycatcher and
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, two more ‘firsts’ for the trip. We also found a
lovely Vine Snake and several superb butterflies.
Back the lodge we found our third species of Oriole when a
male Spot-breasted sat nice for us in the late afternoon sun. A few
White-Throated Magpie-Jays came close to us as got into the complex.
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