TRANSFER FROM SAVEGRE TO TALARI LODGE WITH STOPS AT PROVIDENCIA
TRACK, BOSQUE del TOLOMUCO, PARAMO FOREST AND LOS CUSINGOS
It seemed that we saw more venues than birds today with lots
of stops and not much to show for our efforts. We departed from Savegre just
after breakfast and drove up the valley to the main road, after about 2km we
turned onto a wide track called La Providencia
where we got off the bus to walk. We were in cloud, it was quite chilly
and the light was bad. After about an hour we had very few species but two of
them were new for the trip; slaty finch and Peg-billed Finch, other species
seen were: Common Bush Finch, Sooty-capped Brush-Finch, Volcano Hummingbird,
Mountain Eleania and a few tanagers.
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| GREEN HONEYCREEPER |
We climbed back onto the bus and drove for a couple of hours
towards our next destination. A quick stop at a small lodge called Bosque del
Tolomuco was made to look at the hummer feeders that are dotted about the lush gardens.
We noticed a distinct change in temperature as we alighted from the bus, it was
very much warmer, we were now on the Pacific slopes on the eastern side of the
country.
During our short stay we added three out of four of our
target hummingbirds which is not a bad effort. Green-crowned Brilliant was the
most common species seen, along with the Magnificent Hummingbird then our first
new species was found when a Voilet-headed Hummingbird showed up then a
Magenta-throated Woodstar turned up, this species is yet another endemic to
Costa Rica and Western Panama. Finally we found a Stripe-tailed Hummingbird,
this along with Scintillant Hummingbird and Green Hermit made up the total of
our sightings at the feeders.
Other birds seen at this wonderful venue was Swallow-tailed
Kite, Baltimore Oriole, Cherrie’s Tanager and a Rufous-breasted Wren, both of
the latter two species were new for us.
Lunch was taken at a roadside restaurant
which had a magnificent panoramic view and a couple of feeders which were very
quiet, just a Stripe-throated Hermit and a couple of common tanager species
were seen.
Our afternoon venue was a conservation
area known as Los Cusingos, this where the famous ornithologist and author
Alexander Skutch lived for over 50 years, his home remains untouched since his
death and is now a museum maintained in his honour, it is a fascinating place
to visit and well recommended.
Today the gardens and surrounding
secondary forest were very quiet it took great effort to see even one bird! We
waited a while before taking a circular walk in the forest, even then it was
hard to find a single bird. We started well with a Red-capped Manakin then a
single flycatcher was seen and we heard a few more species including an elusive
Scaled Pigeon.
Back in gardens things started to
move around 5pm, tanagers began to emerge and visit the feeding tables as did a
Green Honeycreeper and a Blue Dacnis. A few warblers flitted about we saw
Tennessee and Chestnut-sided Warblers, then a couple of Yellow-headed Caracaras
appeared followed by a Roadside Hawk and a couple of hummers.
Roy our guide called us to the
back of the buildings to watch a Grey-necked Wood-Rail and an Agouti walked by.
So our great expectations of Los Cusingos were certainly dampened by the poor
show of birds and no sign of Cotingas or Aracaris.
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