We woke to our last morning at Selva Verde much the same way as the previous two mornings - with the exception of a little sadness of knowing it would be our last morning here. This would prove to be a trend with almost all the places we stayed in Costa Rica - a little sad to be leaving such a cool and beautiful place, mixed with the excitement for the next location. Before going to sleep early the previous night, we were pro-active about having our clothes picked out for the day and having our bags packed already so that we could squeeze out every last moment here. We headed over for our morning coffee at the dining room and to check the feeders, which although slow, did provide us with some nice looks at Bright-rumped Attilla, then we joined the morning birdwalk with one of the on-site naturalist/guides. We saw quite a few Masked Tityras, as well as a pair of Violaceous Trogons, a few Streak-headed Woodcreepers, Social Flycatchers, and Short-billed Pigeons. The highlight of the morning had to be the three Great Green Macaws that made a few passes over us. Even though we saw them the other evening, we had even better looks now. The guide explained to us that there are only an estimated 300 birds in Costa Rica. It was bittersweet to know that we just watched 1% of the population fly by. These big (up to 36" from beak to tail) beautiful endangered parrots suffered population declines from deforestaton, but it is good to hear that the county is putting forth great efforts to conserve so much land, and and working with private landowners to reforest and reconnect fragmented land to create an larger and better eco-system. (Sorry - still no photos. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from these birds to grab the camera. I am a birder first, and knew I didn't want to lose a moment of viewing in the short time I figured I would have.) We enjoyed some last looks at some of the Howler Monkey's that we awoke to every morning, then headed back for breakfast.
Our next destination (as if you hadn't guessed by the title of the post) was the famous (to birders at least) Rancho Naturalista lodge. Everybody that I spoke to when we were talking about going said that we HAD to spend some time there, and many said that if they went back, that they'd probably just stay there, and I certainly understand why - but I'm getting ahead of myself. The ride itself from from Selva Verde was enjoyable, mainly because we got along so well with Erik, who drove us there. His English was excellent, and he had no problems helping me with my pronunciation and translations of signs in Spanish that we passed along the way. We all talked about where we were from, education, and work. His father owned the company that he drove for and was based in Turrialba near Rancho Naturalista, and they regularly drive Rancho guests to/from other locations. He was genuinely pleasant, proud of his country, and loved to talk about it, share information, point out places along the way, get our opinions, etc - I really cannot say enough good things about him. And, knowing that we were birders, he had no problems stopping to check out a bird if I even looked for a moment longer than usual at something. Along one highway, he pulled over and backed up so that we could get great looks at a Grey Hawk that was perched on a wire beside the road.
As we were approaching the lodge, he also spotted a Northern Jacana in a field with chicks, and pulled over to help us see them. (Still have no idea how he spotted them!) Then we pulled off the paved road onto the steep entrance dirt road that led up to Rancho Naturalista - I tell you, there is no speeding here!
Rancho Naturalista is unlike anyplace else that we have ever stayed, in that things seem to be very laid back in some regards. For instance, there isn't really a front desk where you check in. I don't know if this has been anybody else's experience, but when we arrived, Erik called over to a few women that were doing some work nearby, discovered what room we were staying in, and then helped bring our bags up. That was it. Nobody in particular greeted or welcomed us, which felt a little odd. The room was large and comfortable with doors that opened right onto a veranda with a beautiful view of the valley and Turrialba in the distance. I wandered out and greeted a young man who was sitting there. He introduced himself as Daniel, and it turns out that he was one of the guides there, and confirmed that we were indeed expected, that we were in the correct room, and then the lunch bell rang - "that's lunch" Daniel said, and we headed downstairs for the first of several excellent meals here. (Warning - I will become repetitive here, as every single meal was excellently prepared and delicious!) At lunch we met several other couples - some from England, some from Quebec, all of whom had been there for at least a day or two and had wonderful things to say about their stays, and some of whom we'd see regularly throughout the rest of our trip. Also, many had also booked their trips via Costa Rica Gateway and had excellent things to say about them too. We talked about what we'd seen and then were told about the large group of photographers that had been there earlier to photograph Rancho Naturalista's star attraction - the Snowcap hummingbird. Everyone was pretty taken aback by the methods that were used by this group. The birds usually visits some small flowers that are near the lodge, and very rarely the feeders - but apparently this was not good enough for the cadre of a dozen or so photographers. They set-up a feeder in the same area, (apparently also having the audacity of moving the lodges feeders!), put up a muted green "background" behind it, set up lighting, then waited for the bird to show, not even paying attention to the any of the spectacular nature around them. Now, I don't want to knock nature photographers - I know several wonderful nature photographers that are naturalists as well and are just as (if not more) respectful of their subjects as any birder - nor do I wish to spark any photographer/birder feud like those that pop-up on the birding list-servs, but it seems to me that this kind of nature photography is simply beyond the pale of acceptable behavior. The only way the photo could be more 'staged' would be if they had a dead stuffed bird on a string. All this just is to say how disappointed I was by this kind of behavior, and frankly, my understanding is that it did have some affect on the birds, as for the next day or so, it did not seem to visit as often as it apparently had before this 'media-blitz'-like event. I wonder if any one of the photographer's that were on that tour felt like any of it was too much, or if they all are just happy that they got "the shot." Anyway...
We spent the afternoon checking out the feeders, and exploring a little bit of the trails. The environment here was completely different than at Selva Verde, as we at a much higher elevation, so there were quite a few different birds here. (Which was part of the plan for the trip - to visit a few different areas with different species in each.)
Right from the veranda, one of the first birds to catch my eye was one of the many hummingbirds that visit the feeders there - Violet-crowned Woodnymphs were regular visitors to the feeders (and even better for photos, they perched on exposed branches on a bush next to the veranda)
The banana 'feeders' in the small yard below the veranda had some regulars as well, including both Hoffman's and Black-cheeked Woodpeckers:
We also did make an effort that afternoon to see the aforementioned star of Rancho Naturalista, the Snowcap, we only got very brief looks as it quickly checked out some flowers and then zipped back into the forest. Another hummingbird we did get brief looks at (and I was surprised that I got an identifiable photo of upon reviewing my pics) was a Brown Violet-ear - not a rare bird, but certainly one I didn't see as often as some of the others there.
Before we knew it, the sun was setting, and it started getting a bit darker, so with my flash set to the lowest possible setting to get some fill light, I took my last few photos of the day at the feeders, and waited to her the bell for dinner.
At dinner that evening, we got to meet Kathleen Erb, the owner of Rancho Naturalista with her husband John, and got to hear a little of the history of the place, as well as a bit about her neighbors (some of whom, unfortunately, do not share their ideas and ideals of conservation of the forests in the area, and who seem to be buying some of the land around the area to cut for farming, as well as for less desireable uses.) Much as they would like to buy and preserve even more land in the area, the economy even affects them in that they've had fewer guests in the last year or two, which means less income. as far as I can tell though, they've not let this affect how well their guests are treated in any way. The food and service was absolutely top-notch.
We made arrangements with Daniel and a few other guests to have a guided trip down to the Tuis River in the morning, bid goodnight to the other guests and settled in for our first of three evenings at 'Rancho.'
