COSTA RICA - DEC 5TH 2011

We spent all day at Tapanti. It was nice and clear, at 5:30am, when Roy and I ventured out but it soon clouded over and we had a dull overcast day with plenty of rain showers.

The weather didn't help with bird sightings and instead of racking up 50-60 new species we had to settle with 35.















This Sun Bittern was a nice find which was found feeding along the side of the main track, another good bird was the Crested Eagle (a minature Harpy Eagle) which also showed well but distant.


The Collared Trogan is practically identical to the Orange Bellied Trogon, except that, as shown, it has a red belly. This colour difference can be very subjective in the field and lead to mis-identification.



The Costa Rican national Bird, the Clay Coloured Thrush (or Robin) is very common out here and agressively defends the food on the bird table, in this case, bananas.


Another shot of the Sun Bittern, what a great bird, it has a strange habit of moving its body from side to side whilst keep its head and neck perfectly still.

More pictures of todays sightings to follow.