Costa Rica – Part 2

Day 4 (21st Jan) Carara National Park

Hotel Pumilio grounds (6am) The hotel was a new addition to the Naturetrek itinerary, and the grounds were pretty much written-off. Well, I like a challenge, so Matt and I had a look around at dawn and found some interesting things. The first was a couple of Rufous-naped Wrens in the outside restaurant area (poor photo unfortunately).

Steve was already out on his balcony and pointed out these mating Brown Basilisks by the pool and the amazing sight of a Squirrel Monkey !

We then found a Lesson’s Motmot and were amazed to find our first Gartered Trogon. Then had our first fly-over sight of the fantastic named, and looking, Montezuma Oropendola.

Transit After breakfast we travelled along the coast to Carara National Park, and I picked up a Roseatte Spoonbill in flight, and we had 3 Grey Hawk and our first 2 Yellow-throated Toucans.

Carara National Park Arriving in the car park, some people were looking up at a big tree, and a Lesser Nighthawk was well-camouflaged on a branch.

I think this is a Great Crested Flycatcher, also around the car park. We also saw Dusky-capped Flycatcher.

Walking into the lowland wet forest is an experience unlike anything in Europe, and is an assault on the senses as the sounds and humidity create a unique feel. The birding is unlike anything I have experienced as well, as picking out anything at all was very difficult. Luckily our guide had an expert knack of finding the unfindable!

The list of birds we accumulated was impressive: Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Short-billed Pigeon (and its call, “who cooks for you?”), Lesser Greenlet, Yellow-breasted Vireo, 3 Plain Xenops, Cocoa & Streak-headed Woodcreepers, Crowned Flatbill (aka Eye-ringed Flatbill, which describes it perfectly), Orange-billed Sparrow, Blue-black Grosbeak (briefly as it flew across the river), 3 Ruddy Quail-Dove, Blue-throated Goldentail & Purple-crowned Fairy (hummingbirds, up in the canopy and very difficult to see well), Riverside Wren and the aptly named Scaly-throated Leaftosser.

And a few I managed to photo . . .

White-whiskered Puffbird

Green Kingfisher

Northern Waterthrush

This looks like it may be a Water Anole (with banded tail and white lateral body stripe).

I presume that the yellow flowers above are from the lovely Cortez Amarillo tree (Tabebuia ochracea) which only flower for 4 or 5 days, so we were lucky to see them.

White-striped/Sac-wing Bat species, just outside its roost in a hollow tree.

A lovely male Chestnut-backed Antbird

The following photo shows how difficult it was to find the birds in this forest. The Chestnut-backed Antbird is at the top of the photo just to left of the two parallel vertical sticks. (Zoom to find it !)

A Banana plant in the forest with fruit and flower.

Black-throated Trogon male and female. They are lovely birds that stay still in the open, and when they turn their heads to look around, they do it in slow motion (so as not to attract attention).

Slaty-tailed Trogon (you can see the red bill on right of branch, and just about make out the reddish eye-ring).

A large Cicada (about 7cm long).

Orange-billed Sparrow on the forest floor.

A large spider (15cm long) in a big web.

Visit 2 - In the afternoon we went back to Carara NP. It is always quieter in the afternoon than in the morning in the forest, as the temperature and humidity rise and the birds and animals have a rest. But our guide kept plugging away and we had another good list of birds, including ones not seen this morning: Barred (juv. male) and Black-hooded Antshrikes, Long-billed Gnatwren, Tody Flycatcher, Arcadian Flycatcher, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, a lovely Dot-winged Antwren, Dusky Antbird and a pesky Black-faced Antthrush that the guide spent 15 minutes trying to coax out of the greenery by mimicking its call, only for it to stay just a few feet back from being seeable. And the following that I photo’d . . .

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

This lovely Orange-collared Manakin, with its call like two pebbles knocked together. (It moved about a lot !)

Black-bellied Wren

My first photo of a Toucan (Yellow-throated), up in the canopy, with a couple of Fiery-billed Aracari.

Our second Monkey species was a group of 3+ Capuchins, and a couple of Agoutis crossed the path.

On the way back to the hotel we passed this colony of 20+ Montezuma Oropendola with nests, and a Grove-billed Ani.

This small (5cm) Preying-Mantis species was outside our room.

Day 5 (22nd Jan) Tarcoles Estuary

Hotel grounds (6am) This morning we tried the front of the hotel and had good views of a few nice birds: a pair of Scarlet-rumped Tanager, Red-lored Parrots (inc. one sat in a tree – photo below), 2 Melodious Blackbird, Montezuma Oropendola pecking flowers, a Rose-throated Becard (without any rose throat in this area!), a Lesson’s Motmot, some Fiery-billed Aracari, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and a pair of Social Flycatchers. Plus the Squirrel Monkey and a Variegated Squirrel.

Boat trip on the Tarcoles River Estuary – We were really looking forward to this, and it didn’t disappoint.

Blue-and-white Swallows were nesting on the roof of the boat and followed us around ! Also this Mangrove Swallow (first photo), a few Barn Swallows and Northern Ruff-winged Swallows.

We had a very good list of Herons: Little Blue (both photo’s below),

Tricoloured, and Reddish Egret, . . .

Black-crowned Night-Heron (ad + juv.)

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and Great Blue Heron, . . .

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, . . .

The juvenile Bare-throated Tiger-Heron is even more stunning than the adult ! And a hiding Green Heron.

We also had nearly a complete list of Costa Rica’s Kingfishers: Ringed (the largest in the Americas; huge at 40cm long),

then American Pygmy (the smallest in the Americas, at a tiny 13cm long), in the mangroves,

the Amazon, (also large, at 28cm) . . .

And the Green (small, at 18cm).

Neotropic Cormorants (adults and juv. with Catfish)

Anhinga

Greater Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilt

Least Sandpiper and Willet (which we only got towards the end of the trip).

Roseate Spoonbill (with Great White Egret and in flight, with flowering trees behind). Also Cattle and Snowy Egrets, and White Ibis’s.

Wilson’s Plover (with thick bill). There were lots of Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpipers, Collared Plover and Semi-palmated Plovers. Also, a Hudsonian Whimbrel, a couple of Turnstone and a Grey Plover (which both seemed out-of-place here !).

Wood Stork with Western Sandpiper! And a Black Vulture on the shore.

There were about 500 Magnificent Frigatebirds flying around the estuary and roosting in trees.

Brown Pelicans were in the same trees, and this Osprey was very much a side show!

Lesson’s Motmot

Red-breasted Blackbird and Inca Dove.

Prothonotary Warbler and Mangrove Warbler

Panama Flycatcher ? We also had Common Tody-flycatcher.

Plus, we saw Philadelphia and Mangrove Vireo, Northern Waterthrush and 3 Black Hawk. 30 Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls (plus some Sanderlings, apparently) were roosting on the beach.

There were lots of Crocodiles about!

And a couple of large Iguana’s - Green and Black (aka Spiney-tailed).

What a beautiful place.