A day trip to Rio San Jose for the Fasciated Tiger Heron and Howler Monkeys to the superb Old Butterfly Garden and the local guide Cope's Antpita visit and his feeders.
We had an early start today again and the weather looked dubious today which was overcast and sunny at times. We had downpours several times today and "ran for it" with our optics and cameras. The other day nothing worked after we got everything wet.
We travelled and walked along the Rio San Jose which was a semi rural area with small chicken operation and farms. We crossed a walking bridge to the other side to view Fasciated Tiger Heron chicks and the parents in a tree which were well hidden. We walked to a large Fig tree which had tons of activity with Tanagers and Hummingbirds.
At the shores of the Rio San Jose, we had great looks at a bird that rarely shows up in Ottawa. Florida is where I saw my first Yellow-crowned Night Heron and it is a spectacular bird. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron was standing in the water very still waiting for some prey to come by then moved very quickly.
We then loaded up the minibus and travelled to the Old Butterfly Garden which was brimming with hummingbird activity. White-necked Jacobin, Coquette and Snowcap Hummers were present and entertained us for over an hour.
We then traveled down the road to pick up our local guide. He showed us the local Potoo in a tree snag and sitting on an egg in a snag during a heavy rain. We then took the rainy period to have lunch in a nearby restaurant.
Cope took us to the forests near his town of La Union to see the Spectacled Owl and the Thicket Antpita. Both were wonderful to view. We were in the forest and we had to watch out for snakes and slippery rocks and on the way back, rain. We saw three Spectacled Owls and the Antpita came out when it was called and it was a very pretty bird.
From here it rained on us again and we ended up our late afternoon at Cope's feeders which had the Belted Aracari and Pale-vented Pigeon and a Mantis and lizards.
Cope's feeders had male and female Green Honeycreepers visiting the fruits and here are the pair.
Plus Cope is an artist and several of us bought his prints. We loved this place and there was always something to see. There were stools to sit on and on the other side of the property there was a Three-toed Sloth which was awake and eating in an overhead tree. This mantis was huge and was responsive to certain movements that Cope made.
We returned to the La Quinta, our last night here and had a lovely meet up at the end of the day.
Here are some photos contributed by Sami and Emily.
Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne.
We had an early start today again and the weather looked dubious today which was overcast and sunny at times. We had downpours several times today and "ran for it" with our optics and cameras. The other day nothing worked after we got everything wet.
We travelled and walked along the Rio San Jose which was a semi rural area with small chicken operation and farms. We crossed a walking bridge to the other side to view Fasciated Tiger Heron chicks and the parents in a tree which were well hidden. We walked to a large Fig tree which had tons of activity with Tanagers and Hummingbirds.
At the shores of the Rio San Jose, we had great looks at a bird that rarely shows up in Ottawa. Florida is where I saw my first Yellow-crowned Night Heron and it is a spectacular bird. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron was standing in the water very still waiting for some prey to come by then moved very quickly.
We then loaded up the minibus and travelled to the Old Butterfly Garden which was brimming with hummingbird activity. White-necked Jacobin, Coquette and Snowcap Hummers were present and entertained us for over an hour.
We then traveled down the road to pick up our local guide. He showed us the local Potoo in a tree snag and sitting on an egg in a snag during a heavy rain. We then took the rainy period to have lunch in a nearby restaurant.
Cope took us to the forests near his town of La Union to see the Spectacled Owl and the Thicket Antpita. Both were wonderful to view. We were in the forest and we had to watch out for snakes and slippery rocks and on the way back, rain. We saw three Spectacled Owls and the Antpita came out when it was called and it was a very pretty bird.
From here it rained on us again and we ended up our late afternoon at Cope's feeders which had the Belted Aracari and Pale-vented Pigeon and a Mantis and lizards.
Cope's feeders had male and female Green Honeycreepers visiting the fruits and here are the pair.
Plus Cope is an artist and several of us bought his prints. We loved this place and there was always something to see. There were stools to sit on and on the other side of the property there was a Three-toed Sloth which was awake and eating in an overhead tree. This mantis was huge and was responsive to certain movements that Cope made.
We returned to the La Quinta, our last night here and had a lovely meet up at the end of the day.
Here are some photos contributed by Sami and Emily.
Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne.
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