Getting to know the birds of Northeast Costa Rica: Alajuela Birding Hotspots

Tica Birding Adventure on the Medio Queso boat tour

Running down the hill and saying goodbye to my clients at Rancho Naturalista on March 5^th, this fourth journey started. I needed to sleep in San Jose that night in order to depart at 4.30 am next day to the north.  This time our main stops included La Fortuna, Medio Queso and  Caño Negro, once again all new hotspots to enjoy!

View from Canopy San Luis hanging bridge

First morning, we arrived at Canopy San Luis at 8am. At the very entrance we were delighted by colorful birds on the feeders: Chestnut-capped Brush Finch, Wood Thrush, Emerald and Silver-throated Tanangers feeding on the bananas and hummingbirds as the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald and Green-crowned Brilliant feeding on the sugar water feeders. 

Silver-throated (Tangara icterocephala), Emerald (Tangara florida) and Bay-headed (Tangara gyrola) Tanagers, Canopy San Luis

On the trails I got five lifers, first one was a Black-headed Nightingale Thrush who was walking some feet ahead of us in almost all the way by the trails, was fascinating to see it so easy! 

Black headed Nightingale Thrush (Catharus mexicanus), Canopy San Luis

A little bit further we spotted my first Quail-Dove, it was next to us, three feet far, walking slowly and feeding from the ground, a Purplish-backed Quail Dove (you can see this species at Rancho Naturalista, but I have never been lucky enough to get it), with it's remarkable black mallard stripe and bright purple patch on the back, like painted by an artist, simple but beautiful bird. 

We kept going and later, in one of the hanging bridges, perched very near one from the other, we saw a very nice pair of Orange-bellied Trogons (endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama), which looks very similar to Collared Trogon (the equivalent species you can find in Rancho Naturalista) but definitely you can tell it's a different species because of the beautiful bright yellow-orange belly and also because both species do not overlap in the same territory. 

Orange-bellied Trogon (Trogon aurantiiventris), Canopy San Luis

After a very nice Hepatic Tanager as what we thought, the last lifer species from the trail, we sat to eat our sandwich as breakfast (sandwich could not go missing on our trips!), to get ready for our next stop, when suddenly one of the zipline guides (who we met on the trail and knew about our interest in birds) came running to tell us to go with him because a very special bird was around. It was starting to rain and I was totally out of base when he call us, so when I heard "umbrella" I thought he was telling us to bring an umbrella, so we just followed the guide. When I got to the place, I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually a Bare-necked Umbrellabird! A beautiful female that wasn´t on our target birds list, but was a plus and one of the best birds of the tour, as it is quite rare.

 Keel-billed Motmot 
(Electron carinatum) Arenal

When we finally arrived to Arenal, we birded in the afternoon along a road that runs along lake Arenal and we had one target bird on mind. As is known my fascination with motmots, so it was a must to get the last one on my Costa Rican motmot list, the Keel-billed Motmot. We looked for it for some time but it never showed itself, just a couple of Broad-billed Motmots that came right away when they heard the playback. Both of these species have the same voice, as a matter of fact they are known to hybridize (when two different species interbreed).

But we didn't give up, next morning we went again to the Peninsula Road along Lake Arenal and we very quickly got the Keel-billed Motmot, I was so happy! Now I have seen all Costa Rican motmots, all of them gorgeous and full of a special mystic behind the dark mask over their eyes. That morning was very productive, I got very good views of Great Antshike male and female and as we where looking for Bare-crowned Antbird (which we didn't see) an unexpected Yellow-breasted Chat appeared for a few seconds, but long enough for all of us to see it, It was so exciting to see such a good and rare bird without being even looking for it.  Another pleasant sighting we got there, was a pair of Great Currassow walking together for a long time, long enough to follow and photograph them.

Male and female Great Currassow (Crax rubra), Arenal

At 10 am we were at Arenal Sky Trek, amongst a lot of people ready for extreme experiences on the park's attractions, but from our part we were exited just to walk the tails, knowing that probably we would get the same extreme experience with the birds we knew we could find there. My first lifer here was a Streak-crowned Antvireo that was moving in flock with Slaty Antwrens and Tawny-crowned Greenlet. Some meters ahead we where very lucky to run into an army ant swarm, being followed by Northern-barred Woodcreepers, Zeledon's Antbirds, Bicolored Antbird and Ocellated Antbird, the later two species being lifers for me. Many people thinks this group of birds are named antbirds because they eat ants, but that's not the reason why. It is because they feed from the insects that run away trying to safe their lifers from the terribly agressive army ants, that kill everything that moves on their way.

Army Ant Swarm, Sky Trek Arenal

Not far from the mirador (view point) I got the chance to see another lifer: White-throated Shrike Tanager, male and female in a mixed flock. Very grateful to see it because it was also on my target list during my "Journey to the South" (first article) so I had study it before and was wanting to see it. 

View at the Mirador at Sky Trek, La Fortuna

 On the trail back we were delighted by the beautiful song of a Nightingale Wren, whose voice compensates this species' dull, brown plumage. We were almost finishing the trail, but this place had one more surprise for us.  As we were aproaching the parking lot a Slate-colored Grosbeak appeared, very tame, making quite a rustling noise trying to pull off a wild cucumber. It was 3 feet from us and we stay there long enough to watch it having a good time eating it with all his strength (it looked like wasn't easy to eat), another lifer to sum up! 

Slate-colored Grosbeak (Saltator grossus), Sky Trek Arenal

That day, we were supposed to spend the night at Los Chiles, so we left La Fortuna after lunch. Fortunately for us we got there with enough time to visit Medio Queso during sunset. Medio Queso is located in the border with Nicaragua and consists of a large flat area that floods to form a wetland that protects delicate ecosystems, a perfect environment for a lot of water birds. On the way I got two lifers in the same tree, sitting side by side and singing were both White-collared Seedeater and a Ruddy breasted Seedeater, cute little birds! After that in the other side of the road and much to our surprise were a couple Jabiru feeding on fresh-water eels. It was a very good view, only the second time I see this gigantic species. The first time I had long views in the telescope in flying, but now I had the chance to appreciate it well. As we were enjoying the last lifer of the day, a Pinnated Bittern, we make friends (so to speak) with some police officers that were patrolling the border. For them it was unusual to find people just watching the birds, and after a little explanation and after they inspect our vehicle, they keep going.

Jabiru Couple (Jabiru mycteria), Medio Queso wetland

On the third day we went on a boat tour on the Medio Queso river at 6am, so at that time we were there waiting as extensive flocks of Black-bellied Whistiling Ducks, Cattle Egrets and Wood Storks over head. 

View from the port of Medio Queso wetland

We were there mainly to look for crakes but unfortunately we didn't see any new for me (I have only seen White-throated Crake).  Nevertheless, I had 7 lifers there, from the ones I must highlight: Nicaraguan Grackle, Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, two cute Least Bittern and a beautiful and solitary Sungrebe male swimming slowly at the border of the channel. Those were part of our target bird list for the second boat tour in Caño Negro, so it was great because we desist to do this second boat ride to save the money.

Nicaraguan Seed-Finch (Oryzoborus nuttingi), Medio Queso wetland

Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis), Medio Queso wetland

Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica), Medio Queso wetland

After breakfast we went to Caño Negro to hang around for the rest of the day. This is a little town full of paintings of biodiversity, but mainly birds, on the walls of its structures, showing its concern for environmental peace. Also a wet land very important for ecology, as a fact it is one the RAMSAR sites (wetlands of international importance for water birds habitat). During a short walk by the wetland we got the chance to see side by side a Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs. Very nice view through the scope that allowed me to study the differences between the species: bright yellow legs, gray at the base of the bill which is longer than the head on Greater Yellowlegs.

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) at left and Greater Yellowlegs at right (Tringa melanoleuca),  Caño Negro

But our two target birds here were land birds, so after a look on the river(or channels) we started to go around the yards of houses in town, hoping that the locals don't look at us weird. We spent a long time looking for Spot-breasted Wren and Gray-headed Dove, but none of the species responded, so we decide to leave. When we were almost closing the car door, we heard the wren singing in the garden of a house at the back of us, and yes it was there! Such a beautiful wren, who lives in a very restricted area in Costa Rica. The sighting of the wren gave us inspiration to keep looking for the dove and after two more turns around the town, we spotted it, it was only a block away from where we got the wren. Totally successful! 

Gray-headed Dove (Leptotila plumbeiceps),  Caño Negro

With that excellent feeling of acomplishment we left to spend the last night of the tour at La Fortuna. After eating pizza for dinner we took a walk because we were very full. Even though we didn't had our binoculars with us, we were always birding and that's how we spotted a nice Barn Owl on the church's steeple, I have seen it before but a long time ago, and it was new year bird.  

The fourth day we went to look for Turquoise Cotinga. We went to Arenal Observatory Lodge because it has been showing recently, but didn't get it. However, we did see beautiful Swallow-tail Kite flying among the canopy of the incredible view. 

View from Arenal Observatory Lodge

Though the rest of the day was mainly spent travelling back home, we made several stops along the way but only achieved one more lifer, three very noisy  Black-faced Grosbeak flying around in the entrance of La Selva Biological Station. Before that we made a quick stop at the Mirador in Cinchona to check for the barbets and a possible lifer: Emerald Toucanet, but didn't appear.  However, the view of the barbets was very nice.

Back to my mountain in Turrialba at night, my Grandma was waiting for us with chicken soup and that's how this fourth adventure ended. Meanwhile enjoying the hot soup and relaxing, I realize that from now, to achieve lifers wouldn't be as easy as before, because now I had seen almost 60% of the Costa Rican birds. I achieve 28 lifers in this tour and 38 year birds, I have seen 523 species at this point. From now on, my trips are going to be mainly to check for target birds in very specific places. What can I say, Challenge accepted! It will be a great opportunity to keep learning about birds and nature and improve as a birdwatching guide, I can't wait!

Visited area

Journey to the Northwest: Coastal Puntarenas & Guanacaste’s National Parks

 Beach at Chomes, north Puntarenas

                                                                    February 11th, 2017

Collared Forest Falcon, Micrastur semitorquatus,
Chomes, Puuntarenas

Waking up in the Central Valley isn’t as pleasant as being awakened by the bird songs and fresh air of my beloved mountain near Turrialba, but this time was different: finally the day scheduled for my third trip had arrived! Departing at almost 4am we left San José with a very nice itinerary to follow, new national parks and several different ecosystems to visit that could enable us to see a good number of the target birds listed.

 First stop was at 6.30am: Chomes, located just north west of the port of Puntarenas. On the way to some shrimp farms we noticed a flock moving around, so we stopped to bird on the dusty roadside and my first lifer was a very nice pair of Orange-fronted Parakeets that were perched on a flowering Pochote tree (Bombacopsis quinata). Minutes later a Collared Forest-Falcon began to sing, a very funny song by the way, which made it easy to locate between the branches of a densely foliaged tree. It was a gorgeous pale morph falcon, big if you compare it with the other falcons in Costa Rica (20 in, 51cm).


Already at the famous Chomes shrimp farms, we had the chance to see a large number of Black-necked Stilts, Wood Storks, Whimbrels, Willets and a beautiful Tricolored Heron flying around, one more lifer. Continuing farther in we reached the seaside and I was delighted sighting a festival of shorebirds feeding along the large expanse of mudflats exposed by low tide, meaning a delicacy for a lot species that take advantage everyday of this phenomenon. Between all the species, I must highlight the beautiful American Oystercatchers with their distinctive scarlet eye ring and bill, another lifer for my list! At noon we knew we must make our way to Punta Morales, to get to the Cocorocas salt flats. I had done my homework, so I knew that high tide was going to be around 3 pm so we had to be there earlier to see how different flocks arrived to the salt flats. When high tide comes in the water from the Nicoya bay completely covers the mudflats which does not allow shorebirds to feed, so they take a break and move all together to congregate and rest. They fly in multitudinous flocks, each species keeping to its own single species group, flying in an amazingly well-organized formation, moving their wings in synchronization on their way to land in the salt flats. They sit there, resting until low tide so that food is available again.

 Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger), & Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) at Cocorocas salt flats

Although using human made environments such as salt flats represents more chances to survive, they will also use natural environments such as river mouths. Definitely a natural spectacle were I achieved 14 lifers. It was marvelous! A selection of terns from which I have to mention Forster’s Tern as the rarest one, and Sandwich Tern that matched with the lunch we were having at that moment! The most numerous ones were: Black Skimmers (322), Royal Tern (275), Whimbrel (135) and Marbled Godwit (124). I think I have never seen so many birds (and different species) in the same view! Amongst the Whimbrels we spotted one solitary Long-billed Curlew that allowed me to study the differences between both species (obviously longer bill). Also, we spotted six Plumbeous Kite flying around, which I managed to identify correctly (I have only see them in the bird guide before!)

Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) & Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) at Cocorocas salt flats

Heading to Liberia (our base for the rest of the trip), we made a quick stop at 4 pm at the Corobici Hydroelectric Project and I was amazed with the view of more than five thousand Blue-winged Teal that had taken the lagoon as their own during their migration. It was hard to find but finally after minutes of searching, we spotted four American Wigeons among all the teals (one more lifer!).

Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors, at Lagoon at Corobicí Hydrolectric Project, Guanacaste

Zoom: Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors, at Corobici Hydroelectric Project

Next day we got up early expecting to spot a special target bird for me: Jabiru (stork). Since I fell in love with birds in 2007, it was one of the birds that caught my eye the most, because of its size (1.35m tall) and because of its situation at that moment, it was endangered due to habitat loss (there existed only sixteen individuals in 1990). Nowadays, thankfully, it has recovered successfully with almost one hundred individuals in the Tempisque River Basin (Greatest Wildlife Spectacles, 2016). First place we looked for it was in the fields on the way to Pamana Beach, but it wasn’t there, although I got several lifer raptors: Harris’s Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk and Pearl Kite perched on the wires on the way back.

Pearl Kite, Gampsonyx swainsonni, 

The second place to look for Jabiru was Palo Verde National Park. An exceptional wetland which as it dries-up it concentrates an amazing quantity of water birds, migratory and resident. As soon as we reached the park we saw two Double-striped Thick-knees which were very tame, by the way. Even though they are nocturnal they seemed to be quite active.

Double-stripped Thick-knee, Burhinus bistriatus, Palo Verde National Park

When we got to the wetlands we were astonished with an uncountable quantity of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks between the marshes, but no Jabiru in view (when it’s there it is easy to spot because of its huge size). Nevertheless, I got five more lifers there: Glossy Ibis, Sora, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Common Gallinule and later our patience was rewarded with long views in flight through the scope of a gorgeous Jabiru (Yes! Finally!). After a nice walk to the mirador, we went back to Liberia to rest and be ready for the next morning tour: Rincón de la Vieja National Park.

View of the flooded area at Palo Verde National Park

The third day we were very optimistic about our next visit, the wind was blowing softer than the other days, meaning a better condition for birdwatching. On the way to the park we stopped at the Colorado River bridge to look for Nutting’s Flycatcher, a specialty of the area. The view of the canyon was great, but our target bird wasn’t there, after fifteen minutes we decided to go back to the car to keep rolling, but we realized someone had broken into the car.

Guanacaste Colorodo River Canyon

Unfortunately, someone broke the window and stole our bags, but they didn’t take anything special (binoculars and telescope were safe) just our wallets with little quantity of money, and some minor things. Well, what can I say, it can happen anywhere, we shouldn’t have left our belongings inside of the car at such a visited area, this had never happened to any of us, but I guess it was part of the adventure and the important thing was that none of us were injured, so we stayed optimistic about our trip figuring those things happen for a reason that we as human beings cannot understand. However, we finally got Nutting's Flycatcher meanwhile we were calling to cancel credit cards.

 We lost one birding morning at the police office and waiting for the rental car company to replace our vehicle, so we decided to stay one more day so we could visit Santa Rosa National Park during that afternoon and reschedule the visit to Rincón de la Vieja for the next day. As soon as we could we continued birding, trying to go straight to Santa Rosa’s National Park but had to do one mandatory stop 8km before the entrance of the park, two gorgeous raptors (lifers) flying low, over the pastures on both sides of the road: White-tailed Hawk and Swainson ’s Hawk; that was exciting!

White-necked Puffbird, Notharchus hyperrhynchus, Santa Rosa National Park

Santa Rosa National Park was founded mainly for cultural reasons, but the most important thing is that it protects several types of ecosystems such as mangroves, savanna and tropical dry forest. Sunblock is always important there, it’s sunny and hot.

Long-tailed Manakins were singing on a lek (several males that make courtship displays together in order to attract females) all over the place, with it’s song that gives it’s Spanish name: Toledo (to-le-do). Soon after we heard a mixed species flock with a variety of warblers and flycatchers, Barred Antshike and the first lifer there: Black-crowned Antshrike. We kept looking around when suddenly I saw something, reminiscent of a fat parrot that flew to perch very near to us, I was totally surprised when I looked through my binoculars and discovered, staying silent and almost without motion a White-necked Puffbird.

 After finding four more lifers we turned around to head back to Liberia, but Mother Nature had a special present for us. At 4.40 pm, 1km before reaching the main entrance to the park an outstanding big cat jumped from the left side of the road about 100m ahead of the vehicle, crossed the road with big leaps in a straight line and disappeared between the leafless trees on the right side of the road. We stopped immediately, completely wordless only to shout: PUMA! This was a magical moment, it was the first time I had ever seen a wild cat, I felt so excited that I thought right away that this was how things were supposed to happenand (like in a butterfly effect). Everything that had occurred during the day made it possible for us to have such a wonderful experience. I felt and still feel rewarded.

On the fourth and last day (extra day), we woke up early to get to Rincón de la Vieja National Park at opening time, so that we could be at the best hour for birding and spend all day there. This place is amazing to bird, the park and the trails are located at the foothills of Rincon de la Vieja’s Volcano, representing a special spot where you can find species from higher and lower altitude, a place where altitudinal migrants converge. The soft breeze created a pretty birdy day, and allowed me to see fourteen lifers, it was a long day full of surprises, birds that I had only seen in the field guide and that I had dreamed of (awake and sleeping) seeing, passed in front of my eyes during the day.

I must confess I’m in love with the motmot family, they are guilty of my bird passion since ten years ago and Tody Motmot was the bird for which we had planned this tour. In Costa Rica you can only find it on Orosí, Miravalles and Rincón de la Vieja Volcanos (all of these volcanoes form a chain). It’s the most difficult motmot to see in the country and also the smallest one (7in, 18cm) and we were there hearing it. Finally I spotted the bird and it was a glorious moment for all of us!

Tody Motmot, Hylomanes momotula, Rincón de la Vieja National Park

Probably the rarest bird of the tour was White-chinned Swift, 29 individuals flying above the national park’s entrance, which I didn’t realize until I came back to Rancho Naturalista, were I work as a birdguide, that my coworkers told me how rare they are! Among other special species we saw there, the Ivory-billed Woodcreeper was very nice to spot (I love woodcreepers, very challenging to ID), Thicket Tinamou, Red-crowned Ant-tanager and Lesser-ground Cuckoo who showed-up only a meter from us when we were almost leaving the park, it was amazing!

Lesser-ground Cuckoo, Morococcyx eryhtropygius, Rincón de la Vieja National Park

At the end I achieved 52 lifers and 65 new birds for the year, 455 species up to February 14th. Although the most important thing is that those trips contribute incredibly to my knowledge about birds and natural history, I now understand that they also teach me about life. At this point I’m appreciating how wonderful everything is attached in a perfect chain, habitats, climate, animals, food availability and uncountable little details that flow with the universal energy, making possible this miracle we are blessed to see everyday.

Pacific Screech-Owl, Megascops cooperi, Sardinal de Carrillo

Map: Visited area, northwest Costa Rica

Journey to the south: Durika Grasslands and the Osa

Durika Grassland, Buenos Aires, Puntarenas (Talamanca Mountain range at the back)

Starting my day at 2:50 am in Turrialba on January 23rd 2017, I woke up with enthusiasm thinking about my second trip of the year: this time the destination was the southern section of Costa Rica, a totally new landscape for my eyes and of course new birds to delight me with their appearance and their songs.

Screenshot low temperature

Departing at 4:30 a.m. from Cartago, we rolled up to our first stop: Cerro de la Muerte, more precisely Tres de Junio at Km 71 along the Panamerican highway. As soon as we arrived there at 6:00 am, we noticed that the vegetation around us was covered with frost, which made us look at the temperature and we noticed that we were barely above freezing, but it was also the best time for seeing birds! It was a very good stop, even though I was very cold and my fingers were so freezing that I almost could not move the focus wheel on my binoculars, I achieved 8 lifers (term that refers the first observation of a species) there! Some of them are endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama: Black-billed Nightingale Thrush, Timberline Wren, Yellow-thighed Finch, the famous Zeledonia coronata or Wrenthrush and the one that impressed me the most, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo which gave us a really nice view, singing and moving his body in synchrony with his vocalizations. I had tried to see it several times on past birding tours, and always heard it singing loudly next to me but it had been too fast, dark and shy to be visible until this day!

Frost on Tres de Junio, Cerro de la Muerte

On the way out we saw a lot of love in the air, or more scientifically, male birds full of hormones doing courtship displays, a Resplendent Quetzal male singing attractively for the female and flying six feet up from the highest pine tree, just to descend immediately in an almost straight line, showing his amazing and distinctive long tail glittering in the morning sun. Also, we saw a very confused Volcano Hummingbird performing a courtship display to a Black-capped Flycatcher... That was hilarious!
I also had the opportunity to see my first male White-crested Coquette on a Gallinazo tree full of yellow blossoms at the side of the road before getting to San Isidro del General, a good looking male with the tip of his gorget feathers flared.

On the first night in Buenos Aires we drove up the road that leads to the Durika Indigenous reserve, looking for one my target birds, White-tailed Nightjar, which we found successfully, long views in the scope catching every field mark: Buffy nuchal collar, white throat, white moustachial stripes and of course the clear white lateral feathers on tail.

White-tailed Nightjar Hydropsalis cayennensis. Durika Grassland

On the second day we went to the same spot as the night before, the Alto Salitre grasslands (road to Durika), a gorgeous place where the views of being in between the Talamanca and Fila Costena mountain ranges combine with the natural grasslands, full of birds singing in the warmth of the daylight, giving a peaceful sensation that takes away one’s worries. We arrived at six a.m. and spent all morning there looking for “rare” birds, got eight more lifers in about five hours - I was so excited! Among my lifers I must highlight the Marbled Wood-Quail, which was the first species I have ever seen from Odontophoridae family (Wood-Quails). To hear it singing was amazing, one could clearly hear the word /kor-ko-va-do/, which explains why ticos call it “Corcovado Quail”. A pair of Golden-naped Woodpeckers were also a great lifer, endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama, gave us an excellent show flying from tree to tree in a mixed flock with pairs of Red-crowned Woodpeckers, Masked Tityras and Black-crowned Tityras. Finally, we spotted a Scaled Pigeon which had been singing since we arrived there, but we couldn’t find it. Since it sings with its bill closed it creates a ventriloquist-like effect which might well be a natural defense mechanism to avoid detection and depredation.

Scaled Pigeon Patagioenas speciosa, Durika Grassland

Common Potoo Nyctibius griseus
Guanacaste from Buenos Aires, Puntarenas 

During the night we went for a night prowl to Guanacaste de Buenos Aires, about a 30 minute drive from where we were staying. We stopped to listen for night sounds, and at the beginning not more than crickets were calling, but with a little patience we found that in the tree next to us was a Black-and-White Owl, a Tropical Screech Owl and a Common Potoo! Yes, my first Potoo, with its forlorn song let us know fairly quickly where it was perched. We were able to see its huge yellow eyes and the black spots on its breast, giving the impression of wearing a bib.

Female and Male Yellow-billed Cotinga
Carpodectes antoniae. Rincón de Osa.

On the third day we made a long drive (3 hours) to Rincón de Osa, La Gamba and Golfito, an awesome tour producing twenty lifers in total! At our first stop I was completely delighted, as soon as we arrived a flock of the threatened Yellow-billed Cotinga was flying in and out between two tall, leafless trees at the side of the road. Also here we saw a pair of Baird’s Trogons and Charming Hummingbird, all very good lifers and all Costa Rica and western Panama endemics!

Gray-lined Hawk
Buteo nitidus. Golfito.

After lunch we went to Golfito, and among sugar cane fields we found a drying wetland full of sandpipers, plovers, ducks, Southern Lapwings (more than 100, counted carefully!), Northern Jacanas and White Ibis. There I had 7 lifers, including the hard to see Gray-lined Hawk perched closely, and a gorgeous Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture which completes my Costa Rican vultures list (I have already seen all 5 species). Apparently the flooded and muddy patches amongst the grassy fields attract those kinds of birds that feed from little crustaceans, worms, insects and other little organisms that live buried in wetlands, because it is an easy and secure place to feed, birds also don’t have to worry about the competition because every species’ bill is designed to feed from different types of organisms and at different depths in the mud.

Black-necked Stilt. Himantopus mexicanus. Wetland on sugar cane plantations on Golfito.

During the late afternoon we went to La Gamba at a very good time, finding five more lifers of which I must highlight the Blue-headed Parrot, Pale-breasted Spinetail and a wonderful long view of a female Red-rumped Woodpecker, which is a specialty bird of the area. My aim there was to see Rusty-margined Flycatcher, which we tried hard for, but never found it, meaning I will have to go back for it, can’t wait!

Female Red-rumped Woodpecker. Veniliornis kirkii. La Gamba, Osa.

Next day we went again to the natural grasslands on Alto Salitre, and then birded our way back to Cartago, but I didn’t see any more lifers. When we were passing over Cerro de la Muerte I counted my lifers for the trip and tallied 49, only one more to reach 50! It was 3.30pm and we needed to find one more new bird. Even though there was traffic we got to Ujarrás valley at 5.30pm and desperately looked for Prevost’s Ground-Sparrow, when we were hopeless, one of the guides found an Orchard Oriole getting ready to sleep in a nearby tree, and that was my lifer number 50 for the tour!

Visited area

The tour was incredible, bird watching in every place in every moment, nature and bird lovers, learning behaviors, sounds and the “gists” that allow us to identify every single species. This was a whirlwind tour of a completely new area of Costa Rica. The more I travel for my quest and the more new birds I get to study in the field, the more I appreciate the necessity of taking action in preserving these species and their ecosystem.

Fiery-billed Araçari. Pteroglossus frantzii. Durika Grassland.