Something else that was nice about this trip was that every morning there was good coffee waiting for you when you woke up. Well, maybe not when I woke up, as I rarely woke later then 4:30am, but usually by the time we were up and out each morning - the coffee was there and waiting.
On our first morning at Rancho Naturalista, we spent some time admiring the little winged jewels that came to visit the feeders for their first of many visits that day as we enjoyed our coffee, and then wandered over to the bug sheet. Like many places that cater to naturalists, Rancho also set up a sheet with a light at night to attract bugs and moths. (Which also attracted birds in the morning!) This particular morning, we got to see some neat birds like Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Plain Antvireo, and Red-throated Ant-Tanager - not to mention a familiar bird that was very confiding - a Wood Thrush. We wandered back towards the main building and the where we dined, where the feeders were, and for the view from the veranda - which this morning including smoke billowing from the volcano on the other side of Turrialba.
We also spent a little bit of time checking out the flowering shrubs where the Snowcap typically visited - and were rewarded with some nice looks at this beautiful little hummingbird. These photos (and I do recognize they are poor to begin with) simply cannot convey their color which I can only describe as a coppery-purple with the eponymous snow-white cap.
We enjoyed a wonderful and filling breakfast (did I mention that every breakfast also has some of the most delicious fresh fruit I've ever eaten?) and got ourselves together for a trip down to the Tuis River, with a few of the other guests. It was noted by the guides that it looked like a good morning for raptors - and moments later we were all getting spectacular looks at Black-hawk Eagle and Barred Hawk as they soared near the mountain's ridge. There were also Swallow-tailed Kites, Broad-winged and Zone-tailed Hawks, as well as the ever present Turkey Vultures. But the main reason for coming down to the Tuis River is to look for the relatively reliable Sunbittern here. We stopped and looked at several locations along the river with no luck. A couple of small mixed flocks produced some nice birds, including Red-legged and Green Honeycreepers, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Bananaquits, Bay-headed, Golden Hooded, Blue-gray, Palm and Crimson-collared Tanagers. Finally, at one opening to the river, we had a Sunbittern fly in, land on the opposite bank, and after less than a minute disappear into the foliage. Even with waiting it out for quite some time, it did not reappear. Pamela and I continued upriver a little further with Daniel to see what other birds we might find, as well as another chance for possibly better looks at a Sunbittern. No luck with the birds, but Daniel did dart off the trail for the moment and came up with a sizable and aggresive snake that managed to get a few bites in.
Happy with the great looks we had at both flying and walking birds, (and getting into the hot part of the day) we headed back to the van and then the lodge. After lunch Pamela and I decided to walk the trails again on our own in hopes of finding Rufous Motmot. We struck out on the motmot, but did turn up some other nice birds like Violaceous Trogons, a Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Tropical Parula, Silver-throated Tanagers nestbuilding, Common Tody-Flycatcher nestbuilding, and several pairs of Band-backed Wrens nestbuilding.
And really, who doesn't like trogons? I know I've already posted other pics of Violaceous Trogons, but here's another that was taken from the comfort of the veranda...
After another scrumptious dinner, we retired to our room for the evening. I really wanted to get out one evening to listen for owls and check out the bugs, but I kept waking so early in the mornings that I was just so beat after dinner that I never got beyond taking notes from the day and filling out checklists in the evenings.
