Costa Rica Day 8 - Monteverde

We had a bit of a lazy morning, woke up without an alarm, ate breakfast then drove up to the gate of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve.  We didn't go in because it is really busy, even at 7:30am.  We did stop by the hummingbird feeders by the gate where I found 2 new hummers for my life list.  I also went birding for three hours at Curi-Chaga Preserve which was beautiful mix between dense cloud forest and landscaped areas and there were just the right number of people that I didn't feel alone but I was undisturbed.

We are up to 160 species for the trip, 6 of which were added today, and 3 of those are new to my life list.  The overnight low was 68° which was perfect for sleeping in an unheated / unair-conditioned room.  The high was 81° with 69% humidity (84° Real Feel which is acceptable)

Green-crowned Brilliant

Violet Sabrewing

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Masked Tityra

Chestnut-capped Warbler - this is a species that
does not migrate to the North America

Mistletoe Tyrrant

These next three pictures are all of the same species - so frustrating when you’re birding and you think you saw three different species, then you come home and review the photos :/

Scarlet-thighed Dacnis - probably juvenile 
male molting into his adult plumage

male on the left and female on the right (without
any bright colors on her head)

adult male Scarlet-thighed Dacnis

unidentified butterfly

 

WILD Blue Morpho - one of the benefits to birding
solo is that you can hang out with the Blue Morpho 
butterflies until you get the perfect shot 🦋

Costa Rica Day 7 - Bijagua and Monteverde

We moved up into the Monteverde cloud forest (southwest of the Arenal Volcano) after birding at Tapir Valley Nature Preserve in Bijagua with a guide this morning.  (All of the pictures are from that trip except the last 3 birds are from Monteverde).

We are up to 154 species for the trip, 21 of which were added today, and 4 of those are new to my life list.  The weather this evening is 67⁰ with a combination of wind and fine mist (from the clouds rolling through) - a very pleasant change.

Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer - the only hummingbird  In Costa Rica with red legs, 4 1/2”

Crowned Woodnymph - 4”

Violet-headed Hummingbird - 3”

Blue-throated Goldentail - 3”

Stripe-throated Hermit - 3 1/2”

Black-crested Coquette - 2”

Black-striped Sparrow

Common Paraque - nocturnal bird, she had a nest near the trail and in order to distract us, she flew out and sat on the trail, then led us down the trail away from the nest

Barred Antshrike

Rufous-tailed Jacamar - 10”, not a hummingbird

Lesson’s Motmot

Cinnamon-bellied Salvatore

Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush - I guess the Orange-billed Sparrow isn’t the only Costa Rican bird with an orange beak

Unidentified green beetle - we were standing on  the trail looking for birds, when a swarm of these beetles flew practically into us (one actually  landed on our guide)

Baird’s Tapir

Hummingbird Moth (not a bird)

Coati

Costa Rica Day 6 - Fortuna and Bijagua

We are up to 133 species for the trip, 5 of which were added today, and 2 were new to my life list.  We moved to higher ground and it cooled off significantly because it is windy - 88⁰ and rain with a few sun breaks.

Violet-headed Hummingbird

Social Flycatchers

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird preparing
for take-off

Blue Morpho Butterfly -
this is a a wild species in Costa Rica, but this individual
is captive (living in a butterfly biodome that
is on our hotel’s property)

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog,
aka “Blue Jeans Frog”

Costa Rica Day 5 - Laguna Lagarto to Fortuna

Laguna Lagarto did not disappoint.  The owner has really taken advantage of the hilly topography by placing viewpoints on the uphill side of perches and feeders so that you are close to eye-level with the birds and the background is far enough away that it blurs out in the photos.  For example:

Brown-hooded Parrot

Fortuna, which is on the northeastern base of the Arenal Volcano (which has been dormant for 15 years), is VERY touristy.  We are staying at Arenal Oasis, in a cabin, because it is on a private rainforest, but even this is touristy - everything is designed for tours.  In fact you are not allowed on the trails between 4pm-8am - as you probably know, prime birding is dawn and dusk, aka 5:30am and 5:00pm :/

We are up to 128 species for the trip, 11 of which were added today, and 3 of which were lifers!  It was 87°, 70% humidity (so upper 90’s Real Feel) with several tropical showers.  It was definitely wetter in Fortuna.

Montezuma Oropedola chasing Brown-hooded Parrot off the perch

Oropendola nests

Collared Aracari

Olive-backed Euphonia on a Heliconia eating spittle bugs (if you zoom in, you can see a bug in the males mouth on the left)

female Green Honeycreeper

Variable Seedeater, taking cover in the rain

Southern Lapwing

Agouti - we have seen more mammals, but never  when my camera is in hand

Costa Rica Day 4 - Sarapiqui and Laguna del Largarto

Today was a day of rain.  We started at dawn with a heavy tropical rainstorm.  Eventually it cleared up and we birded around our hotel (Ara Ambigua) a little, then sat down to some rice, beans and plantains for breakfast at which point the rain started again.  Once it stopped we did a little more birding near La Selva (where we went on the guided tour yesterday).  

Our next stop was Laguna del Lagarto in the remote rain forest, 6 miles from the Nicaragua border. The lodge is a mildly above rustic, meaning we do have air conditioning, which is a good thing because I turn beet red with this heat (not sunburned) and am sweating buckets.  Given that it’s in the rain forest, you guessed it, it rains here.  The beauty of this place is that it is designed for bird photographers.  There are plenty decks, blinds, snags (no leaves to get in the way!), perches, and feeders all around, and abundant wild birds!

We are up to 112 species for the trip, 22 which were added today, and no new lifers.  It was rainy off-and-on all day, 87°, 67% humidity, 94° Real Feel.

mom and baby Brilliant Honeycreeper

male Red-legged Honeycreeper - the male Brilliant Honeycreeper looks the same but has yellow legs

Bay Wren

Golden-hooded Tanager

Black-faced Woodpecker feeding her baby

Green Honeycreeper

Northern Barred Woodcreeper

Black-headed Tityra

male and female Brown-hooded Parrots

And now for a little excitement… Avi saw a Scarlet Macaw fly and land behind that big bromeliad.  We took turns walking closer while the other stood and watched to see if it moves, then the other would catch up.  Avi turned down a  side road just in time to see a head pop out of the  hollow branch and he called for me to run to catch up.

Luckily I did, because it ended up being  nesting pair!  Never thought I would see a Macaw nest in my lifetime!

This is the second one leaving the nest.  We had  only a couple of minutes to watch them.

Keel-billed Toucan - little known fact, when I  volunteered at the zoo in Seattle, one of my tasks was to water the plants in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.  When I got to the toucan enclosure, they always greeted me at the front because they wanted to play in the shower!