Bird Count in Osa Peninsula 
Conteo de Aves en la Península de Osa 

Bird count group members.
 Photo: Fundación de Rapaces 

Now that most of migratory birds are not present in Costa Rica, resident bird counts are being done by the Asociacion Ornitologica de Costa Rica (AOCR, Costa Rican Ornithology Association in English). The main purpose is to monitor resident bird populations involving citizen participation in order to use the data to promote conservation and education on scientific and academic contexts (for more information visit: https://conteodeavescr.wordpress.com/ ).

Ahora que la mayoría de aves migratorias no están presentes en Costa Rica, la Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica (AOCR) ha estado realizando conteos de aves residentes. El propósito es monitoriar estas especies involucrando la participación ciudadana, y utilizar los datos obtenidos para la educación en contextos científicos y académicos (para más información: https://conteodeavescr.wordpress.com/).

This important initiative gave me the opportunity to travel for third time in this 'Big year' to the exuberant Osa Peninsula. Although a totally new area: the inner south east of the country. For six years now, the Neotropical Foundation has helped to make the bird counts possible, and at the same time involving locals in the process. This year with the participation of students from Osa's high schools and from the Osa Rural Tours (farm owners, guides and families interested in conservation).

Esta importante iniciativa me dio la oportunidad de viajar por tercera vez en este 'Big year' a la exuberante Península de Osa. Sin embargo me dirigía a una área nueva para mi: la parte interna de la península al sureste del país. Por sexto año la Fundación Neotrópica ha ayudado a hacer posible el conteo en la región, involucrando locales en el proceso. Este año con la participación de estudiantes de diversos colegios de la zona y de miembros de Osa Rural Tours (dueños de las fincas, guías de turismo y familias interesados en la conservación de sus recursos).

Because of the itinerary sent by the Foundation, I knew that not much birding would be possible, but a lot of learning for sure and my first bird count! The trip consisted in a course were the participants received very valuable birdwatching introduction and preparation for the counting, as it is made for all public with the purpose of getting more people involve in birding.

Al observar el itinerario enviado por la Fundación, supe que no habría mucho tiempo para observación de aves, pero de seguro mucho aprendizaje y ¡Mi primer conteo de aves!. La actividad consistía en un curso donde se aprendería información valiosa a manera de introducción para prepararnos para el conteo, tomando en cuenta que la actividad fue diseñada para todo público con el propósito de involucrar mas personas en la observación de aves.

On June 23rd, we were leaving San Jose at 6am. A very nice group of nine nature lovers, which made us broke the ice quickly and got along nicely the rest of the trip. After six hours of traveling, we finally arrived to the Neotropical Foundation's facilities near Golfo Dulce Forestal Reserve, Osa Penisula. During the activity's introduction we met our partners of the counting team, seven enthusiastic high school students who are getting involve in birding (and natural history) activities, and about six gentlemen owners of the land on which we were going to go to do the counting.

El día 23 de junio partimos de San José a las seis de la mañana. Un grupo muy agradable de nueve amantes de la naturaleza, lo que hizo que rompiéramos el hielo fácilmente y que nos lleváramos muy bien durante el resto de la gira. Luego de seis horas finalmente llegamos a las facilidades de la Fundación Neotrópica cerca de la Reserva Forestal Golfo Dulce, Osa. Durante la introducción al curso, conocimos a los locales, integrantes del grupo de conteo, siete estudiantes de colegios iniciándose en el mundo del pajareo, y alrededor de seis señores dueños y trabajadores de las tierras donde haríamos el conteo.

After an afternoon full of learning by our instructor Pablo Camacho (Biologist, Forestry engineer and director of Raptors Foundation), we made some quick birding as practice.  As soon as we got out in to the field, one of the students spotted our first bird, a specialty of the area: a female Baird's Trogon. A Costa Rican and western Panama endemic species and the only trogon in CR that combines pale blue orbital skin and red breast.

Luego de una tarde de aprendizaje por parte de nuestro instructor Pablo Camacho (Biólogo, Ing. Forestal y director de la Fundación de Rapaces), realizamos una practica de observacion. A los pocos minutos de haber salido del salón, uno de los estudiantes encontró nuesta primer especie y una especialidad de la zona: Trogón de Bairdi, hembra. Una especie endémica que comparte Costa Rica y Panamá oeste, y la única especie de trogón en el país que combina anillo ocular azul y vientre rojizo.

Baird's Trogon/Trogon de Baidi, Trogon bairdii. 
Photo: Daniel Cruz Carvajal

On the second day, early in the morning, we birded around the facilities. Aware of the new birds I could find there, I started checking every ground-dove, when finally, a Blue-Ground Dove crossed our way. Fortunately, when I point it out it flew and perched perfectly to take a photo. Males are pale blue and not likely confused, females can suggest a Ruddy Ground-Dove (common bird in the area) but with its distinctive chestnut wing markings. Although they are ground-doves, this species is more likely to fly and perch on trees than on the ground.

El segundo día pajareamos desde tempranas horas alrededor del campus. Consciente de las nuevas especies que podía observar, empecé a estudiar cada tortolita que se nos cruzaba hasta que finalmente una Tortolita Azulada cruzó nuestro camino. Afortunadamente, al señalarla voló y se perchó perfectamente para fotografiarla. Los machos de esta especie son azul pálido y difíciles de confundir, las hembras pueden confundirse con Tortolita Rojiza (ave común en el área), pero sus marcas castañas en las alas es una característica diagnóstica para la Azulada. A pesar de ser tortolitas que forrajean en el suelo, a esta especie le gusta percharse en arboles.

Female and two males Blue Ground-Dove/ Hembra y dos machos de Tortolita Azulada, Claravis pretiosa
Photo: Ulises Zuñiga

About fifteen minutes later, I had my second and last lifer of the trip. Our instructor heard and spotted one of the birds I always wanted to see, and my first one on the Formicariidae family (Antthrushes) a species which suggest a miniature chicken (7 in). With its typically short tail cocked up, a Black-faced Antthrush showed to us nicely but camouflaging very well with the death leaves on the ground, what made even more difficult to photograph.

Alrededor de quince minutos después, mi segundo 'lifer' del tour llegó. Nuestro instructor escuchó y señaló uno de las especies que siempre había querido ver y mi primera para la familia de los Gallitos Hormigueros (Formicariidae), los cuales son especies que parecen gallinas miniatura (18 cm). Con su usual cola corta levantada, el Gallito Hormiguero Carinegro se mostró bastante bien, aunque bien camuflado con las hojas secas del fondo, lo que hizo aun mas difícil fotografiarlo.

 Black-faced Antthrush/ Gallito Hormiguero Carinegro, Formicarius analis
Photo: Ulises Zuñiga

During the afternoon we went birding to the Rincon de Osa's bridge (where I had observed my first Turquoise and Yellow-billed Cotinga on January 25th). We had a lot of fun birding and spotting a Bare-throated Tiger Heron nest with chicks on it, some Roseate Spoonbills sitting along with White Ibis and close views of Mangrove Swallows and Gay-breasted Martins.

Durante la tarde fuimos a pajarear al puente sobre Río Rincón. Nos divertimos observando aves por un par de horas donde vimos un nido de Garza-Tigre Cuellinuda con dos polluelos bastante grandes. Espátulas Rosadas sentadas con Ibis Blanco y vistas muy cercanas de Golondrina de Manglar.

Mangrove Swallow/ Golondrina de Manglar, Tachycineta albilinea. 
Photo: Daniel Cruz Carvajal

Group at Rincon de Osa's bridge/ Foto grupal en Rincòn de Osa
Photo: Fundación de Rapaces

The last day we made the bird count, split in to several smaller groups at different locations in order to cover as many routes as possible. My group and I went to 'Descubra la Naturaleza' and there, I lost my final opportunity to observe my target bird for this trip: Black-checked Ant-Tanager. My team and I heard it, but it never came out, so I couldn't count it as a new bird. I was I little bit sad about it but never mind, hopefully I'll be back on September and will try again for this, my last Costa Rican mainland endemic bird (Coopery-headed Emerald was observed on March 6th at Canopy San Luis, Alajuela province, and Mangrove Hummingbird was my life-bird number 600th last June 20th at Hotel Rio Mar, Puntarenas province. Also, there are three more endemic species but located on Coco's Island, quite far from mainland).

El último día realizamos el conteo de aves, nos dividimos en grupos pequeños para cubrir la mayoría de rutas posibles. Mi grupo y yo fuimos a 'Descubra la Naturaleza' y ahí, perdí mi ultima oportunidad de ver mi objetivo del tour: Tangara Hormiguera Carinegra. Mi equipo y yo lo escuchamos pero nunca se dejó ver, definitivamente no lo podía tomar como nueva especie hasta observarlo bien. Estuve un poco triste por este motivo, pero planeo volver a intentarlo nuevamente en setiembre. Ésta sería mi última especie endémica de Costa Rica en tierra firme (el colibrí Esmeralda de Coronilla Cobriza lo observé en marzo en Canopy San Luis, Alajuela y el colibrí Amazilia Manglera fue mi especie número 600 en junio en el Hotel Río Mar, Puntarenas. También hay tres endémicos más en la Isla del Coco, sin embargo se encuentra bastante largo de tierra firme).

Tica Birding Adventure with her team at Descubre La Naturaleza, Osa Peninsula
Tica Birding Adventure con su equipo en Descubre La Naturaleza, Penìnsula de Osa

In the end the bird count was successful and the group members came back to San Jose happy enough to want to keep signing on Raptors Foundation, Neotropical Foundation and/or AOCR future tours, thanks to you guys for an awesome weekend!

Al final el conteo de aves fue un éxito, los miembros del grupo regresaron a San José lo suficientemente felices como para  querer seguir inscribiéndose en futuras giras  de la Fundación de Rapaces, Funadación Neotrópica y/o AOCR, ¡Gracias a todos los compañeros por un fin de semana genial!

I want to give special thanks to the entities and people that made possible this kind of initiatives. More than giving opportunities to the general public to participate on bird counts, it teaches and creates consciousness regarding habitat loss and protection of bird species. This type of activities, plants the conservation seed in minds that are turning in to a more ecological kind of living, as it does for those high school students who actually live in the area and that discovered a more sustainably work activity. Getting involve in this activity opens space for the protection and preservation of nature in such a delicate and biodiverse place as Osa Peninsula (the world’s most biological intense place regarding with National Geographic Magazine).

Importante agracederle a las entidades que hicieron posible la actividad y por tener este tipo de iniciativas. Más que darle la oportunidad al público en genereal para participar en conteos de aves, se educa y se crea conciencia con respecto a la perdida de hábitat y protección de especies. Este tipo de actividades  plantan la semilla de la conservación en mentes que empiezan orientarse hacia una manera de vivir mas ecológica, como lo fue para los estudiantes que nos acompañaron, quienes viven en la zona y descubrieron (o conocieron mas acerca) una actividad laboral sustentable ecologicamente. Involucrarse en estas actividades, abre espacio para la protección y preservación de los recursos naturales en un lugar tan delicado y biologicamente diverso como lo es la Península de Osa (El lugar mas intensamente biológico del planeta, según la Revista National Geographic).

Visited area/ Àrea Visitada

Meeting the Sea Birds: Pacific Ocean Pelagic from Sierpe

Isla Violincitos (Part of Isla Violín), Sierpe's Mangrove

"If you are doing big year you must take a pelagic tour", was the words from my coworker at Rancho, Harry Barnard. The only thing that came in to my mind was a dizzy feeling when imagine me in the middle of the ocean far from the coast in a little boat, so I respond: No way, that is crazy!

And the little "pelagic" seed started to grow in my mind. Finally, three months later I was convinced that would be amazing to explore such an amazing and different bird habitat: the ocean. Maybe with some anti-dizzy pills I can survive to be all day out in open sea, I thougth. By that time, I found in the AOCR (Costa Rican Ornithological Association) Bird Alarm Facebook page, a post from a guy who was looking for people to join a pelagic tour, that was my oportunity. I asked my birders friends but none of them were interested, so I decide to go by my own and signed up.

The boat tour depart from Sierpe at 5am. Sierpe is located five hours from San Jose, the capital city so I managed to travel the day before to make it. I took the 8.30 am bus from San Jose (the only one!) and arrived at 1.30 pm So I went to bird around the town  before dark, I have no idea what could I find there, and was very interesting to discovered them by my self. The spectacle of more than 10 pairs of Scarlet Macaw crossing the sky was amazing and easy to spot because of the raucous sound they make. Red-lored Parrot, Palm Tanager, White Ibis and Gray-breasted Martin were the most common species of the afternoon, but I got surprised with two Pale-billed Woodpecker and a Yellow-headed Caracara in the distance.

When it was getting dark around six I decide to go a restaurant with view to the estuaries, to have dinner but still be able to see the last birds. While waiting for my meal, it was very nice to see four Lesser Nighthawks flying over Sierpe river.

Next day I was at the port at 4.45am and after some inconveniences we departed at 6am. It was a bright morning and Sierpe's mangrove looked amazing. On the way out to the ocean we went very fast, even though I had the chance to see a couple of Ospreys and lots of White Ibis.

View from the port in Sierpe river

Our first stop was in Isla Violincitos, and there I realized how difficult it could be to bird from a boat on the ocean, and I was definitely happy for having taken those dramamine pills. Isla Violinctos is part of Isla Violín, which is bigger and very near one from the other. Because of being more exposed to the open ocean, this little island has became an ideal place for hundrends of Magnificent Frigatebirds and dozens of Brown Boobies to nest.

Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata Magnificens, Isla Violicitos, Sierpe

After seeing both of the species very well, the guy who organized the tour said that on the other side of the island there were also nesting some Red-footed Boobies. With its distinctive red feet, slaty colored body and blue bill with pinkish at the base, for me this species is one of the most beautiful Boobies in Costa Rica. So, I was very exited when I finally saw them at the top of the highest trees in leaf, some of them already with chicks!

Red-footed Booby Sula sula

It was funny to see down below a pair of Tropical Kingbirds also hanging out on the Island, and next to them I got nice views of the Brewster's Brown Booby, which is a Pacific sub-species of the Brown Booby. Brewster's has pale-gray head, and can be confused with a Red-footed Booby juvenile.

Brown Booby (Brewster's) Sula leucogaster

We kept going south and past Isla del Caño, there we saw our first pods of dolphins, Spotted and Bottle-nosed Dolphins swimming around the boat. They were too fast to even try to take a picture, so I desisted after several failed attempts and decided to watch them with my binoculars instead.

Continuing the expedition further past Isla del Caño, we started to see the birds over the open ocean. First a Nazca Booby flew in front of the boat, not a good view but enough to identify it. Fortunaletly, soon we get good views from one that was perched on a floating piece of wood.  



Nazca Booby Sula granti

One of the most common bird there, was Black Tern, which is a migrant on both Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Even though we spotted several of them, just two had complete breeding plumaje (all black with a white patch on the wing and white undertail coverts).

 

Black Tern Chlidonias niger (complete breeding plumage)

Another bird we saw several times around was the Red-necked Phalarope in non-breading plumage. This bird is a type of wader, but is typically found offshore (also on salt ponds), and feeds and rests afloat picking plankton from surface.

Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus

Getting to the farthest point of the trip (60 km past Isla del Cano), we found, floating on the wáter, an extensive flock of Storm-Petrels: at least a thousand Black Storm-Petrels, about two-thousand Least Storm-Petrels and just got the chance to see one Band-rumped Storm-Petrel amongst them. I was glad to see them because I had studied that bird family for the trip, but was surprised to realize that they are smaller than I thought, Least is the size of a Summer Tanager (15cm, 6in) and Black is about a Great Kisadee size (23cm, 9in)!

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma castro, Least Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma microsoma, Black Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma Melania





Once we were at 60 km from land, the captain ask for some time for fishing, taking advantage we were on a very good fishing area. To be honest I'm not a fan of fishing and already was feeling a little bit dizzy, so I didn't want to stay there, but the majority won and we stayed there for an hour. My bad humor started to change because meanwhile standing in the heavy sun, a Galápagos and a Wedge-tailed Shearwater past by several times, giving me the chance to observe them well!



Wedge-tailed Shearwater Puffinus pacificus

Another lifer for this trip, was Bridled Tern, wich we also saw very far from land. This bird breads on Costa Rican Pacific coastal waters from March to September, so we got the opportunity to see it in breeding plumaje (Black cap).





Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus



On the way back we had very nice, close views of a pair of Pomarine Jaegers,one of them dark morph. As Stiles and Skutch affirm in their ''Birds of Costa Rica", this species is quite oportunistic, sometimes can even steal from other seabirds as Shearwaters and could follow fishing boats. So, as soon as the captain throw little pieces of fresh fish, they stuck behing the boat. This allowed us to photograph both of the individuals. With 66cm inlength, this is Costa Rica's largest Jaeger (same size as South Polar Skua), and needs a lot to get full. They stayed feeding aroung until both of them were too full and flew away.





Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus 

Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus

Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus

Back to Cano Island, we had great looks of a pod of Common Dolphins and more Brown and Nazca Boobies, but no more new birds. We made a quick stop on Isla Violincitos again to try for Red-billed Tropicbird (it was the one I really wanted to see) but no luck, so we headed back to Sierpe. 





Nazca Booby Sula granti

At the end of tis trip I had 571 species recorded for the year and 11 life birds, but also the experience of getting to know such an incredible place as Sierpe, the mangrove and the open ocean, all conected.

Sierpe river is the entrance to the biggest mangrove system in all Mesoamerica, it protects a wide variety of wild life, as it works like a nursery and feeding station for birds and marine fauna, also helps reducing the climate change by producing oxigen and capturing CO2.  

Every new place I travel to and every adventure I have, make fell in love even deeper with my country but especially with nature in general. Having such a close look at such a variety of ecosystems and the interaction of all organisms together, create a peaceful feeling in the field. Being aware about the importance of preserving this sanctuary is the duty of all human beings because it is very important for natural balance and we are all part of it as an organism. That's why the Costa Rican people are defending Terraba-Sierpe Natural Wetland (the biggest in Mesoamerica) against a massive  pinapple monoculture project, hopefully all of our efforts will prove sufficient to preserve such a fragile and precious ecosystem.

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