March 13 - Last day in Costa Rica - BooHoo!

Well this birding trip had to end some day... tomorrow.  The trip has been super.  Our guide Steve and driver Vernon were great and the the group was at a nice pace.

We got up early for 6 am to go down the trail on the lodge property to look for species that we missed yesterday, particularly the Wood Quail and another bird.  We looked and walked through the trail several times with no luck.  Oh well, can't get every bird.   We went for breakfast instead.

For our longer morning outing we got into jeep 4 X 4s to go up the mountain.  The trucks have been modified with lengthwise seats for about 8 people.   We went up a gentle mountain road in the trucks and then we walked up the next couple of kilometers to the summit area for special birds that live at the higher elevations. This was a sedate drive up the mountain, nothing compared to the back of the pickup truck we had in BC to see that Pygmy Owl.  That was wild and we laughed so hard and got so dirty!

Up the mountain, we saw the Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl (both light and dark morphs) which is a local specialty.  We saw the Black-faced Solitaire and the Linneated Forest Gleaner.  We did not see or hear the Silvery-throated Jay.  We all had a good workout  walking up to near the summit of the mountain and then walking all the way down to the meet-up with the 4x4.  From there it was a short short ride to the hotel lobby.

We returned to warmer temperatures and went to our rooms to pack and get our bags to the minibus.  We had a group photo taken.

We started the trip to our motel near the San Jose airport, the Trapp Family Hotel, to catch our flight tomorrow morning.  On the way we stopped at a supermarket to buy some coffee beans or ground coffee.  It smells so good!

We had drinks around the pool with everyone and then moved on to the outdoor covered dining area for our last super together.  At 9:30 I found that there is a delay in our departure tomorrow morning so that means we can sleep in a bit.  Yipee!  This was a wonderful birding trip.

Barb

Post script
The trip home was uneventful and we made it home landing in the middle of a snowstorm late Wednesday March 14, 2017.  Home Sweet Home!

Mar 12 - Sunday - lots of great birds including the Resplendent Quetzal!

Gosh only one day left and we have seen so much and so many birds, I hope I remember some of them when I get back home.

We were up at 5:30 am and at 6 am we all left to catch the early light and hopefully a sighting of the Resplendent Quetzal!  This was a spot on the Savegra road about 15 minutes away.  There was quite a group of birders and tourists already there.  No bird yet.  Apparently the numbers used to be even greater but one of the large lodges "have their own Quetzal now", so they don't show up on the road anymore.  We watched it get lighter and within 15 minutes a Quetzal flew into the thick high trees.  Another followed, a female.  They fly around a bit and finally land in good spots in the trees where it is generally a clear sight line to see them.  The scopes and cameras are set up.  It gets confusing as I almost went to scope that was not ours to take a look!  The day got brighter and the colours of the Quetzal became brighter.  These are big gorgeous clown-type looking birds.  The pair generally stuck together and it was wonderful to see them.  Since it was dark in the trees I did not get a great shot but our guide Steve took a photo with my iphone through the spotting scope.  It is tricky to get the camera to look through the scope but Steve does it all the time and he took the photo below.  It shows the beauty and magic of this bird in the wild. 

  We returned to the lodge for breakfast, each of us with smiles and some with photos.  This one is Emily's

After breakfast we walked down along the creek of the property and beyond and the array of different birds and bird song was amazing.  We are at about 7,000 feet here so there are birds that are found only at this high elevation.  This very pretty Spangled-cheek Tanager  showed up and we had great looks at.

We saw dozens of birds: flycatchers, vireos, warblers, thrushes.  It was a crisp clear morning of about 15 degrees which is perfect weather for walking around.  As it got warmer here, another layer of clothes came off.  I kept on checking the creek we were walking along for Dippers.  The conditions are perfect: fast running water and a high elevation.  But not one was found.  According to Steve our guide, he has seen Dippers in this creek in the past but not often.

We also viewed a pair of Golden-browed Chlorophonias and to me the female looks even more spectacular than the mail.  They pair were flying around together and looked so sweet.  I think this bird is my favourite of the trip. They are stunning birds.

We returned to the lodge for a quick break and then we met up again to look for some birds that we did not get yet.  But before we headed out we met up on a verandah overlooking an orchard (apples, etc on the lodge property.  They are an eco lodge so they clean the septic water, grow their own vegetables and conserve what they can.  While we were on the veradah, two Sulphur-winged parakeets flew in and landed about 20 feet away from us onto an apple tree and daintily start eating apples without making a squawk.  They were quiet the whole time while they were eating.  Usually one can see parrots and parakeets flying high making a huge racket but not while they are eating.  We watched the parakeets as they were so interesting.  They were taking bites of apple and not necessarily eating everything.  Here is a photo of one of them.

We continued to see birds but one of them, a wood quail, has eluded us to-date.  We are going to try for it tomorrow morning.

After lunch and a bit of a break some of us headed up the mountain to the top where all the antennas are located on the top of Cerro do la Morte in our minibus.   This is an elevation of 11,000 feet and some of the group including Sami and Lynne wisely stayed back at the lodge.

It rained on the way up and at the top were literally in the clouds.  It was cold up there and most of us had gloves on and windbreakers and fleeces.  The rain stopped and we went looking for the Volcano Junco who lives only at high elevations in only a couple of spots in the world.  We looked for quite a while and found a handsome huge fellow.

We continued to look for the high elevation birds and saw a Timberline Wren, Black and Yellow Silky Flycatcher and other birds.  We were wet and most of us were chilled from being in the clouds/mist.  The sun tried to come out and we could hear thunder in the far distance.  Steve said that the thunder was from the coast many miles away.  It was getting towards dusk.

We came down the mountain about 2,000 feet and at dusk we stopped and we tried for and saw the Dusky Nightjar when it flew over us and sat in the tree for a bit.  Just a perfect way to end the day.  We were tired, and wet and hungry but we had seen some beautiful birds.

Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne

March 11 - Saturday - left the Pacific lowlands today and now in the mountains

We were up for 5:45 coffee time and on the trail behind the lodge by 6 am for our birding walk on the trail behind the hotel.  I don't know how long this trail is as we have been on it several times now and it never seems to end.  We had some great birds Buff-rumped Warbler, Streaked Flycatcher, Black-billed Seedeater, Riverside Wren , the Dusky Antbird and the Lesson's Motmot.  Sami managed to get photos of birds we barely viewed (Stub-tailed Spadebill AND the Purple-crowned Fairy).

The Hotel Villa Lapas was a lovely place but the internet was iffy and it cut out frequently.  I tried to send photos from my iphone to save on my computer so I could post them to the blog and they have yet to arrive. They must be lost in cyberspace somewhere. 

We said good bye to the Hotel Lapas and we drove up and out of the lowlands by mid-morning.  It was so hot when we stopped at Quepos at the supermarket to stock up on traveling supplies (junk food, nuts and drinks, etc), we were looking forward to cooler weather up in the higher elevations.  At Domical we turned off to travel up steep narrow and busy roads to climb to the highest place on the drive of 10,200 feet at Cerro de la Morte which is near Georgina where we stopped at several hummingbird feeders.  The way here is several hours of hairpin turns on a busy narrow road.  I loaded up on Gravol and Sue gave me some ginger pills for nausea. 

We made a top before that at Bosque Del Tolomuco, a B&B with lots of feeders in the cloud forest.  It was sunny when we arrived on the very steep private road and we were greeted by Enzo, an Australian Heeler.  The owners of this B&B are Rolf and Lise Zersch who built this beautiful spot with cabins, hot tub and  swimming pool up in the clouds.  They moved here from Winchester, Ontario 17 years ago.  It took them 4 years to build the home and B&B and they have not been back to Canada since.  There are two other smaller dogs who are real sweeties.  Here we had good looks at the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, the Green-crowned Brilliant, the Flame-coloured Tanager (spectacular) and the Ruddy Pigeon to name a few.  We had a very nice visit there and the view is from the side of a mountain so one can see for miles.  It is a very special place.

Once we went over the mountain, literally, we started to come down into the Savegra Valley is located at the very bottom.  In a couple of km, we came down 2,000 feet.   We stopped at a turnout to bird and we saw so many special mountain specialties: the Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher, which is just stunning and the Flame-throated Warbler.  We were enjoying this stop but we had to move on.  We think that we were extra boisterious because we had spent the better part of the day in the bus, we were tired of sitting, or the altitude had gotten to us and we were mixing up our words etc.  Our guide had to tell us to "Focus please".  Steve knew that we had the chance of really great birds at this mountain stop.

We continued driving down and of course we came upon construction hold-ups.  While waiting we saw the Sooty Thrush and the Acorn Woodpeckers.  Traffic started to move and the route down was steep and slow.  We arrived safely at the Hotel Savegra thanks to our fantastic driver Vernon.  Thank you Vernon.  He has done this drive many times.  It was much cooler here and soon it was dark.  Tomorrow we head out in the early morning and we will be able to see the feeders here also.

According to Steve our best birds of the day were the Volcano Hummingbird, the Flame-throated Warbler (or according to some us "the Flame Thrower Warbler")Warbler and the Barred Parrots.

A super day going from stinking hot to coolish temperatures which will be so much better for the trails.

Here are some great birding moments today.

Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne

March 10 - full moon over Lapas

We started the early morning walk at 5:45 am with coffee for a change which was great.  We then drove to a nearby mountain road leading to the town of Bijogual.  This was a thick forest and the morning song was beautiful.  The sun had risen by the time we got there and it was warm already.  We had several good bird sightings; Tropical Gnatcatcher, Rufous-capped Wren, Collared Forest Falcon  and Yellow-fronted Toucan.  There were lots of birds and some traffic on the road also.  People going to town up the hill and some on the back of pick-up trucks standing up.  We waved and they waved back.

We went back to Lapas Lodge for breakfast and then headed off to the dry arid area nearby, which is a totally different ecosystem than where we are staying.  The area we visited was like Texas or Arizona dry, scrub lands.  It was stinking hot.  This area had specific birds; Olive Sparrow, Yellow-green Vireo, Banded Wren, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, White-lored Gnatcatcher and the Gray Hawk.  We tried to stay in the shade of the minibus as it was so hot in the sunshine.  From here we turned left at the bottom of the hill and we were on the Pacific coast with the rip tide and the surf rolling in.  The area was kind of weird.  The odd home was tidy and well-kept while most in some state of repair or needing repair.  The best view in the world was at the doorstep.   We parked and went to the shore where there is a pond before the sand dune of the beach.  We saw shorebirds:  Whimbrel, Sanderling and a rare white morph Reddish Egret.  There were Brown Pelicans, Caspian Tern, Short-billed Dowitcher, Western and Least Sandpiper.  By noon the sun was baking our brains (at least it was baking mine).  We were hot and tired and headed back to the lodge for lunch.

On the way up the little mountain to our lodge, we stopped for Painted Buntings, both male and female.  After lunch several of went to cool off in the pool and hot tub outside.  The hot tub was not really hot but the water jets were great to get the knots out of one's back.  This was a quick pool trip as we left at 2:45 pm for a boat ride on the Tarcoles River and to travel  down by the Mangrove swamp.  This river has American Crocodiles which are dangerous and unpredictable and aggressive.  We saw several large crocodiles including one giant one who went under our boat.  On a hot day it is wonderful to be on the water and looking for birds.  we saw the usual herons that we are familiar with along with several that belong south.  The Bare-throated Tiger Heron which is a spectacular heron.  We also saw the Gray-cowled Wood Rail, Green Kingfisher, Yellow-naped Parrots and the odd lizard, and Iguana.  We also saw the Mangrove Swallow, Mangrove Vireo and the Mangrove Warbler, each beautiful in their own bird species.  It was getting to be dusk and we were still looking for the Mangrove Hummingbird.  The full moon was coming out and we arrived at the hotel in the dark.

As supper, there were a couple of ladies dining this evening (not of our group) that were wearing the briefest of bikini tops.  There was nothing left to the imagination and maybe they were hot this evening!

It was another great day.  The birds of the day according to our guide Steve were the Collared Forest Falcon and the Mangrove Vireo.  But each bird we saw was special.

Here are some of the birds and animals that we saw today.

Barb, Emily, Same & Lynne

March 9 - Thursday - Carara trails today & sweet birds!

By the end of the day we had done four trails today - two short trails on the lodge property which were interesting trails along a creek and they went far back on the property.  Two other trails were the Riverside Trail and the Headquarter's Trail at Carara National Park.  Each of there took about 2 1/2 hours of walking.  It was stinking hot today and so it is a good idea to take a break after lunch during the hottest part of the day.  We went for a swim in the hotel pool and then a lovely session in the hot tub.  We found out that we could bird from the hot tub as there were several smaller trees along one side of the pool and there were interesting birds coming to these trees.  We had not brought our binoculars though.  We should try to have an outing here.

While in the hot tub I saw an Iguana climb a tree and then onto a tree branch.  Sometimes we see iguanas and lizards sleeping up in the trees, so it is not unusual.  What is unusual is that to get down the Iguana just fell from the tree, got up and walked away.  It was at least a 30 feet drop to the ground, so that was a surprise.

We had an 5:45 am start to our short trail walk.  This is still a long walk and the light was not great until the sun was up.  First thing we heard and then saw were the pairs of Scarlet Macaws that were flying past early in the morning.  We then saw a very small elegant bird called the Yellow-headed Euphonia.  We saw the Pale-billed Woodpecker which is roughly the size of our own Pileated Woodpecker.  There was the Dusty Antbird and the Ruby-throated Humming bird.  We stopped for breakfast and then left for the nearby Carara National Park.  The trail was well shaded and the temperature was warm for most of the morning but then it heated up in the last hour.  We still had great birds such as the Riverside Wren, the Emerald Elenia, Coco Woodpecker and the Lesser Greenlet.  We had water with us but something useful would also be a wet facecloth.  We also got one of the birds I was hoping to see and we not only had one but two Squirrel Cuckoos!!!  These were large warm brown birds with long long tails and the tails had a lovely pattern on them.   I was really happy to see these birds.  I had missed one last week and this was another opportunity which came through. 

We returned in the heat to lunchtime at the lodge and then Emily and I and another friend went for a swim/soak in the pool and hot tub outside.  It was the perfect way to spend the hottest part of the day.  We met up again to go birding at 2:45 and we were gone until 6 pm.  The afternoon trail was very hot and there was little wind.  We went in quite a ways and there was a magical little creek at the end of the trail where several very nice birds came to take a bath or take a drink.  We had the Baird's Trogon at the start of the trail.  At the creek we had a stunning Red-capped Manaken, Blue-crowned Manakin, Stripe-throated Hummingbird, Northern Schiffornis, the Ruddy Quail Dove, the Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, the Long-tailed Woodcreeper and the Great Tinamou - Pacific subspecies.  Our guide Steve said that the best bird of the day was the Long-tailed Woodcreeper.  It is a very hard bird to see.

We came back for a short hour before supper.  I took a shower as every thread I was wearing was soaked.  On our way to supper we spotted a Common Pauraque on the cobbled lane to the main building of the lodge.

So a great day and a day with lots of walking, mostly on level ground.  We had happy hour before supper.  Emily had something bite her during the night and she has reacted to the bites with swollen welts.  She has taken some Benadryl just now.  I did not get any bites though.  The bugs are not bad here.

Lynne has a rash just around her ankles.  Steve says this looks like heat rash.  Lynne says that it is not itchy but it does look like a bad rash.  Hopefully both Lynne and Emily will be better tomorrow.


So another super day in Costa Rica.

Here are some photos of the day.

Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne

March 8 - from Cano Negro to Via Lapaz Lodge

We crossed over between two volcanoes today and down into the Pacific coast.  The view is beautiful and we are in a bay, the Gulf of Nicoya.  It is also really hot here today.

We started with an 6 am boat ride. Thankfully the Lodge had coffee available for us at 5:45 am.  We drove through this small town to the boat launch at the Rio Frio.  The boat ride was great again.  We saw many birds, wading, and walking.  We saw a Jabaru and our guide just had to take a view of American White Pelicans that were seen yesteday in a lake/pond just off the Rio Frio.  We spotted the 4 Pelicans and this is the first report in 30 years of Pelicans in Costa Rica.  Boat birding is so relaxing and all one has to do is sit and one still goes places.  We had a even better looks at the Sungrebe today.

After breakfast we viewed a Pacific Screech Owl in a tree but next to the dining hall here.  The owl is a small owl and it was roosting but still would open its eyes.    We soon packed up and we had a drive to get past the two volcanoes and then down to the Pacific.  We stopped at Upala for a washroom break - no mirrors today.  We had a nice lunch at Limonal.  The restaurant was right next to a bird rescue organization.  There were saw two Scarlet Macaws that had free range during the day but were caged for the night.  On the way down to the Pacific, we did see a Macaw that was totally free and wild.  Apparently, the species is making a real comeback and the Macaws are everywhere.

Before we got to the lodge we stopped at Caldera, where we drove down an abandoned railway and got out.  The place did not seem expecially birdy but we were mistaken.  It was tick tick tick on our listing.  There were many birds;  Cinnamon Hummingbird, Steely Vented Hummingbird, White-lored Gnatcatchers, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Prothonotary Warbler, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (rufous morph) and the Plumbious Kite, to name a few.  We actually stopped for the Mangrove Humming bird and the Mangrove Vireo.  The birds were coming every two minutes.  We saw the Striped-headed Sparrow and the Rufous-naped wren also.   We were hot and tired but we kept on getting nice birds.  We arrived at Lapas just before dark.  Here at suppertime they have a buffet which makes it so easy for a crowd to eat.  We did the daily check list afterwards and while sitting down waiting for everyone I noticed a long line of ants going up the wall beside me.  I thought, no problem, the ants are going up and not bothering me. ....  Well they did fall on me and were crawling on my arms and legs so I got up and moved to a non-ant highway.

We are tired tonight and it may be the heat and hopefully I will get some photos to put with today's narrative.

Here is one of the birds of the day.  A Turquoise-browed Motmot.

Barb, Emily, Sami and Lynne 

Mar 7 to Cano Negro Nature Lodge & finally into the sunshine!!

What a super day.  We got up for a walk at 5:45 am to bird the lower area cabins of Arenal and had some great sightings of birds (sorry, this place has internet only in the bar/dining area and the internet is slow and I forgot my listing in the room some 5 minutes away).

Then breakfast and we packed up and hit the road with stops along the way.

On the way, we stopped for gas and a health break.  Some of us headed off to the new washroom building.  What a surprise!!!  Everything was mirrored, the walls, the stalls (all four sides in a stall including the door!!!    It was a little disorienting and a total bizarre experience in a stall.  That is all I will say!!.  We laughed about it and returned to the bus and convinced everyone who had not gone to go for a visit.  Many who left the washroom building had a smile on their face.  What a bizarre interior design, what were they owners thinking!!

We put on sunscreen as the day was hot hot hot.  We were out of the rainforest and in the farmland areas of north Costa Rica.  Sugar cane and pineapple fields were along the roads we took.  

We had about a 2 to 3 hour drive to Los Chiles which is right on the Nicaraguan border.  We could see Nicaragua.  We stopped several times for birds and it was tick tick tick for the target birds.  We had the longest lunch of the tour at a local restaurant in Los Chiles which took a a long time for a simple lunch food like sandwiches and burritos and soup.  

Outside Los Chiles we drove down a dirt road for a distance to reach a boat launch and meet the boat driver who was to take us out.  We got on a small boat to travel the river Medio Queso which   borders Nicaragua in places and is a river that has marshes alongside.  We saw the Sungrebe and the Nicaraguan Grackle and many other marsh birds.   Birding by boat is great!!I really enjoy it and I think everyone did.

We were on the river for almost two hours and it was 5 pm by the time we got off the boat.  We had seen our target birds and more.  There were cows along the river and many Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and many wading birds: egrets, ibis, herons and Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures.  Many of these were lifers.  It was sunny and windy and beautiful to be meandering down the river.

From here we went on to Cano Negro Nature Lodge for one night.   On the way we had some target birds once we got on the 20 km turn off  to Cano Negro.  The road was rough but with are stops we got the birds we were hoping for.   It was dark by the time we arrived.  We stopped in the dusk for the Lesser Nighthawks flying over the road and we have a basic room and no internet.  I am just trying to get this done here since we are going owling after supper and after we do our daily bird list so it will be late when we are finally done for the day.

On this road I saw a bird sightings notebook lying on the side of the road and it was full of records.  I picked it up and dusted it off and gave it to our guide who turns out knows the fellow!!!  Steve phoned the fellow and told him he had his bird record book.  The fellow Allan, said he had been looking for this all over the place and was glad to hear about it.

Sami as usual was very fortunate in timing his picture taking and he took some wonderful photos of the Pinneated Bittern flying which turned out super just looking at the photo in his camera viewfinder.  Sami is lucky and with his camera and along with his talent, his photos are superb.
This was great day with sweet birds and we are not yet done.... maybe an owl or two.  unfortunately we did not find any owls that evening.  I hit the bed and slept until 5 am.

But the next day in the day light and just outside the dining hall, Bruce found the Pacific Screech Owl. 

It was a fantastic find. 
Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne.