Costa Rica, Day 7 - Selva Verde and CATIE

I feel like I have been writing a bit too much in these posts (I can tell when even I don't want to read through the whole thing to proofread!).  When talking about vacations, I tend to get long-winded and it certainly seems to have translated to the blog.  I am going to make a bit of an effort to bring things down a notch or two, and try to let the photos speak a bit more for themselves.  I should also note (if you hadn't noticed already) that I am notoriously bad and responding to post comments - but believe me, I do read them all and am thankful for all the positive words and compliments.  I'm going to try to do better in communicating that as well.

This day started much like the others - I woke long before sunrise and laid in bed thinking about what the day would bring.  My greatest hope was for good looks at one of the (several) birds I had most wished to see in Costa Rica - Rufous Motmot.  Just before sunrise, I heard the coffee being put out on the veranda, so I threw on some clothes and headed out to see what dawn would bring to the feeders.  We started out with "the regular crowd" - Grey-headed Chachalacas, Montezuma Oropendolas, Brown Jays, Clay-colored Thrushes, an Orange-billed Sparrow in the corner, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers calling,  and Passerini's Tanagers checking out the bananas on the feeders.  One of the Montezuma Oropendolas was doing it's crazy call and display an I spent some time trying to get a video of it, and was happy when I finally got the timing right...


Another bird which I really enjoyed a lot, but don't think I've mentioned yet are the Buff-throated Saltators.  I tried again and again to get photos of this sharp bird and especially showing its buff throat.  I think this day, I finally got something passable...

And of course, there were the ever-present hummingbirds like this handsome Green-breasted Mango. Don't get me wrong - there is nothing "ho-hum" about being surrounded by these beautiful little birds!  On this morning we did have a special treat for just a few moments -  a Green Thorntail checked out the flowers along one edge of the yard, and then we did not see him again.

After breakfast, we had made arrangements for one of the resident guides, Daniel (the snake wrangler from my previous post) to help/guide/join us birding Rancho's trails.  It really does help to have someone who has local experience and whose ear is tuned to the local birds.  Imagine hearing something, you are not quite sure what - maybe a bird, maybe a frog - in someplace that looks like the above photo.  And some of those rainforest birds are really good at throwing their voices too!  These areas can be dense.  Some birds were one the move and we got only fleeting glimpses of them - if at all.  Others we were only able to see if we were in just the right position, looking hundreds of feet into the forest between branches and leaves and trunks.  Unfortunately - that was the case with the only Rufous Motmot we would have on this trip.  We heard them, but try as we might, the looks we got were obscured at best.  We did get to see some good birds this morning like Rufous Mourner, Plain Antvireo, Slaty Antwren, Immaculate Antbird (very briefly), Sulphur Rumped flycatcher, White-ruffer Manakin, and Scale-crested Pygmy Tyrant, while we "heard-only" almost as many species as we saw.  (And I didn't have a shot at getting anything usable photo-wise with my point-and-shoot in this dark forest.)

That afternoon, we joined several other birders from the lodge on a field trip to CATIE and the botanical gardens there.  On our way out the lodge's driveway we stopped to admire a Long-tailed Tyrant on a snag that it apparently frequented regularly.  As is my regular excuse, great looks, but barely passable photos...

This was our first opportunity to see Boat-billed Herons on the trip (which was something I had hoped for in Caroni Swamp in Trinidad last year but dipped.)  No disappointments here - we were spotting the relatives of our night herons (which were also here) the moment we stepped out of the van.

 That is one cool looking bill!

Also, right away we were getting spectacular looks at Northern Jacana's - both immature and adult birds:

Immature Northern Jacana

Adult Northern Jacana








We also saw another target bird - Green Ibis, which although nice scope views were too far for photos.
Not too far away though were a few Purple Gallinules:

Walking the grounds a bit we encountered some flycatchers, including this Grey-capped Flycatcher which gave us a "once-over" before continuing on with the important business of fly catching.

Walking back around the ponds, we heard crakes calling and we tried to tempt them into the open, with no luck. It might have had something to do with this lurking predator...

 One of the few Spectacled Caiman that we saw on this trip.

As we were heading back to the van, we noticed one Jacana that was eyeing us warily, an upon closer inspection, we realized it was because he was keeping a close eye on his chicks at the nest...

If you look really closely, you can just pick out a little brown fluff in the grass to his immediate left.

On the way back to Rancho Naturalista, we did make a stop or two for birds seen along the way - including a few White-crowned Parrots that were kind enough to stay still for a few minutes for photos...

We then headed back to the lodge for another spectacular meal, the array of hummingbirds, oropendolas, chachalacas, jays, sparrows, tanagers, flycatchers, butterflies and bugs that make Rancho Naturalista such a wonderful and special place.  (And if you don't believe me - ask anybody, I mean anybody that has gone there!)
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What's that?  You want more photos?  Geez, you are pushy!  Right, here are a few I've not linked to any posts yet...

Pictured above are: Snowcap, Rusty-tipped Page, a big frog we found in the forest, a female Green-breasted Mango, Montezuma Oropendola, Brown Jay, Blue Morpho butterfly, and Violet-crowned Woodnymph.