Day 9 – Tapanti to Sevegre via Paraiso de Quezel
Up and out by 5:30am seems to be the norm on this trip
but everyone was up and raring to go. We drove the short distance to the
national park entrance but instead of going into the park we walked back down
the entrance trail. It took a while to locate any birds at all but when we did
we found some very good species for our list. The first was a male Blackburnian
Warbler, what a superb bird that one is. We then found a mixed flock of
tanagers all of which we had seen before but they were accompanied by a
Ruddy-faced Spinetail and A couple of Elegant Euphonias.
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| BROAD WINGED HAWK |
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| EMPIDONAX FLYCATCHER - ANY IDEA WHICH ONE? |
Further along the track we found a Collared Trogan and
then a Broad-winged Hawk posed well on a fence-post. Back at the lodge we took
breakfast at 7pm and watched the ‘feeders’ for while but nothing new turned up,
the usual birds seen were: Montezuma Oropendola, Melodious Blackbird,
Rufous-collared Sparrow, Cherrie’s Tanager and several common species.
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| RUFOUS-COLLARED SPARROW |
We set off for the ‘cloud forest’ at 8:30am, passing
through Cartago we drove up into the mountains and arrived at Paraiso de Quezel
around 10:30am. We were then taken on a guided walk along a higher track near
the tree-line at about 8,000ft above sea-level. Many new species were soon on
the list, Mountain Elaenia, Black & Yellow Silky Flycatcher and Long-tailed
Silky Flycatcher were all seen well. A superb male Wilson’s Warbler came next
followed by Black-Capped Flycatcher, Sooty-capped Bush Tanager and a lovely
Timberline Wren.
We spent a long time looking for a Costa Rican Pygmy
Owl that was calling from the forest and we also put a lot of time in looking
for the Resplendent Quezal, both without success. A Flame-throated Warbler got the crowd cooing
and a Ruddy Treerunner also showed well.
At lunchtime we were collected from the mountain track
and driven to the restaurant at the Paraiso de Quezal centre. There were
several feeders outside next to the terrace and we spent a while looking at
hummingbirds at very close quarters. Magnificent, Fiery-throated, Volcano Hummingbirds
and a Green Violetear were soon on the list.
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| MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD - LOOKING A BIT DRAB |
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| MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD - LOOKING SUPERB |
After lunch we went for a short walk to look for the
Quezal once again but soon we were listing
other new species; Large-footed Finch, Sooty Thrush and Mountain Thrush
were seen around the feeders in the garden. A forest trail held more new birds:
Black-faced Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Olive-striped Flycatcher were joined by
Yellow-winged Vireo, Ruddy Treerunner and Black-capped flycatcher. A flock of 5
Barred Parakeets flew over as did a couple of Band-tailed Pigeons. The last
species we saw at this superb site was a Wrenthrush which remained elusive and
gave us only brief glimpses.
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| FIERY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD |
We drove down into the valley where the Sevegre Hotel
is found and along the way we added Acorn Woodpecker to our list. We arrive at
5pm and soon we were settled into our rooms. A short walk around the feeders in
the garden produced: White-throated Mountain Gem, the beautiful Flame-coloured Tanager
and a Slaty Flowerpiercer.
That concluded our birding for the day, we tucked into
a delicious dinner before going through the bird-log and then it was off to
bed, the end to another great day in Costa Rica.
ADDITIONS TO THE COSTA RICA LIST AND MY 2013 YEAR LIST
368. Red-tailed Hawk
369. Band-tailed Pigeon
370. Green Violetear
371. Magnificent Hummingbird
372. Fiery-throated Hummingbird
373. Purple-throated mountain Gem
374. Volcano Hummingbird
375. Acorn Woodpecker
376. Hairy Woodpecker
377. Barred parakeet
378. Ruddy Treerunner
379. Mountain Eleania
380. Olive-striped Flycatcher
381. Ruddy-faced Spinetail
382. Ochraceous Pewee
383. Black-capped Flycatcher
384. Timberline Wren
385. Sooty Thrush
386. Mountain Thrush
387. Black & Yellow Silky-Flycatcher
388. Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher
389. Flame-throated Warbler
390. Blackburnian Warbler
391. Wilson's Warbler
392. Black-throated Green Warbler
393. Black-cheeked Warbler
394. Wrenthrush
395. Slaty-Flowerpiercer
396. Yellow-thighed Finch
397. Large-footed Finch
398. Sooty-capped Bucsh-Tanager
399. Flame-coloured Tanager
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