Weather: Sunny, warm
but a little windy.
We arrived in San Jose late afternoon, it was
28C a clear blue sky but a little windy.
Whilst waiting for the shuttle bus to our hotel we logged Grey-breasted
Martin, Long-tailed Grackle, Western Kingbird, Black and Turkey Vultures and
House Sparrow.
Rufous-collared Sparrow
After settling into our rooms at the hotel we
went for a late afternoon stroll, 11 of us assembled at 4:30pm in the hotel
foyer. A short walk for about an hour produced a number of species, our first
‘hummer’ Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. Our first Tanager, Blue-gray Tanager and
lots of other firsts! Rufous-collared Sparrow, Rufous-naped Wren and lots of
Crimson-fronted Parakeets, the trees around the hotel were flowering and dozens
of parakeets fed on them.
An area of wasteland produced more Grackles,
Clay-coloured Thrush and our first woodpecker, a female Hoffman’s Woodpecker
that showed very well. A Cattle Egret flew over as did Blue and White Swallows, we
found a Black Phoebe in a rock-strewn stream and our first reptile, the Emerald Basilisk or the ‘Jesus
Christ Lizard’ a big one!
Our last bird sighting was of a Yellow Warbler
found in shrubs near the hotel swimming pool.
Our 12th group member, Eva, arrived
after dark, so we were now all assembled at the hotel ready for tomorrow’s
official start to the tour.
