TAPANTI NATIONAL PARK ALL DAY.
Weather: it was dull and cloudy at first then it got
brighter with rain later.
Well Tapanti lived up to its reputation as an excellent
birding venue we had a great day there which started at 6am as we pulled up at
the gates, just before that we had stopped to watch an American Kestrel sitting
in a roadside tree, how amazing it was that I had seen the same species in the
same tree for 3 years in a row?
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| American Kestrel |
For the first hour we
never ventured more than 100 meters from the main gate. A Collared Trogon was
seen on a telephone wire then we found a mixed feeding flock which to our great
joy contained a Streak-breasted Tree-hunter, a Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and a
good variety of tanagers one of which was the superb Spangled Cheeked Tanager.
We also found a Red-faced Spinetail and a nice Tawny-chested Flycatcher, then
as we walked back to the bus we heard a Silvery-fronted Tapaculo calling, we
waited patiently and after 10 minutes or so the bird showed intermittently and
most of us got good views of it.
We drove back to the lodge for breakfast then we returned to
the park for an extended walk along the main track. It seemed that birds were
everywhere and we found it difficult to keep up with birds being shouted out.
Another couple of flycatchers were added to the growing tally, the
Golden-bellied was particularly appreciated.
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| on the hunt for a Silvery-fronted Tapaculo |
One of the best birds seen was the
Spotted Barbtail but we also had great views of Eye-ringed Flatbill, Dark
Peewee, Spotted Woodcreeper and there was such a lot more too. Not forgetting
the ‘hummers’ we found several of these little gems, Purple-crowned Fairy,
Green Thorntail and three new ones: the Magnificent Hummingbird and the two endemics to Costa Rica and Western Panama the Fiery-throated and the
the Black-bellied Hummingbirds, the latter caused a lot of
excitement as we saw a male courting a female and displaying all around her, it
doesn’t get much better than that, but it did later!
A short trail leading off the main track took us down to the
river, a Black Guan was seen just above us as w entered the trail. The path
wound its way down to the river where we added American Dipper and Torrent
Tyrannulet, then a second Spotted Barbtail was found and this one showed really
well.
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| Tawny-chested Flycatcher |
It was now approaching lunch time so we walked back to the
bus and hopped on and drove back to the lodge to eat.
The afternoon birding session began at 3:30pm we drove back
to the park with the intention of walking all the way back to the lodge. At the
entrance gate we spent a fair amount of time watching the trees around the
compound and parking area, it was fantastic we found a pair of Red-headed
Barbets, they showed really well and are exquisite! The male and female birds are so different
and equally as beautiful what a sighting. A Mountain Thrush put in an
appearance too and we found a pair of Tawny-capped Euphoria. Tanagers and
Common Bush-finches were very common all along the track and around the car park.
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| Rufous-collared Sparrow |
One mixed flock held some of the most colourful tanagers you
can possibly see, have a look at these beauties in the field guides: Bay-headed,
Spangled-cheeked, Speckled, Golden-hooded and Silver-throated all of these
were seen together, absolutely lovely and
a great display of colour to brighten up the dullest of days.
The cloud thickened and the rain started so we beat a hasty
retreat back to the lodge to get ready for dinner. Two final birds to report for the day were, firstly a Green Ibis came nosily into to roost in the trees
around the car park and then later a Common Paraque was found on the grass lawn
as some of the group were returning to their rooms after dinner.
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| Coati - seen along the main track in Tapanti |
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