"Quetzaling"...COSTA RICA (20 Feb)

QUETZALING: This is a term coined for those who have ever stayed in the Savegre Valley in Costa Rica, for the principal (indeed, perhaps, only), activity undertaken in the area, searching for the dazzling Resplendent Quetzal, Costa Rica's premier "pin-up" bird. Not even the Page 3 girls of The Sun newspaper in Britain get this much attention! We awoke all too familiar of what our main goal was of the day-to see one of these legendary beauties. If we needed reminding this was THE place to see it, there were reminders all around us: the lodge store stocked quetzal postcards, and nick-nacks; the walls of the lodge restaurant were adorned with artwork and glorious photos paying homage to this unforgettable cloudforest bird; and virtually every lodge dotted about the valley had a quetzal decorating their sign; on top of that, the word quetzal seemed to emanate from every dinner/breakfast conversation. If you were not focused and obsessed with catching up with one of these ethereal creatures when you arrived within the valley, it seemed everyone within the valley was trying to ensure you left with this as a life goal; and it was working. We were all focused, or indeed obsessed at finding a male quetzal with its long, wispy, emerald green upper tail coverts blowing the breeze below him, seducing our visual senses with his incredible beauty, and dreamy looks. 

Finally. mid-morning, and after one failed nest stake-out, we found them; yes them. A pair of these exquisite birds (that I believe absolutely no one would deny of a place in their personal top ten birds on the planet), were found, and indeed bathed in the narrow mountain stream, before returning to a ,ore typically high perch and lighting up the forest (and our minds and hearts) as they glowed scarlet and malachite under the glow of the mid-morning sun. Before we knew it we were watching it with a collection of people: word had spread quick there was a quetzal in town, and no was was wasting anytime in getting there and revelling in the moment. It may have been not even half way into the trip, although the sheer beauty of the bird, the super, slow, seductively long looks we had, ensured right then and there, no matter what we saw later, it could never trump such a moment! Quite simply there are not enough words to sum up a quetzal, but just know it has been on the human mind for some time, being depicted in the many artwork dating back hundreds of years, and even forms the currency of Guatemala. 

It should have all been downhill from there, although we had plenty left to see in the endemic-rich highlands, and so, with the quetzal happily seen, and seen well, we could move on and chase the many others we were hoping for...

More from Costa Rica very soon...

As dusk falls...COSTA RICA (19 Feb)

Arriving very late in the afternoon at Savegre, we had just enough time to check out the hummer feeders, check off a few lifers, and then tuck into another tasty buffet with Lasano sauce on hand, as ever, to dowse over the, ever-present, rice and beans. 

However, post-dinner, a few hardy soles, who were not run down from the long journey took a night foray up the valley in search of nightbirds. Scott and Linda were keen and so were Michael Retter (the tour leader for this tour), and I. We had a tip off from Nick Athanas-who had recently been guiding in the area-about a certain spot for Dusky Nightjar, and as we arrived our hearts sunk as it darted off the dirt track and disappeared into the bush, before we had really even got a glimpse. Once again though, our driver Dennis came to the rescue and took us to a light nearby, where two absurdly tolerant Dusky Nightjars blinked back at us in the spotlight. Too easy as the Aussies would say! Not so though for the Bare-shanked Screech-Owl which called excitedly and then fell silent and refused to advance onto our lists. I would save that for another day; however, we were all pleased as punch to get this endemic nightjar, confined to the Chiriqui highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama.

We descended into a sleep with dreams of quetzals, as we were in one of the most famous places on the planet for this marquee bird....

La Selva (Costa Rica)...18 Feb

My second day of birding in Costa Rica may not have lived up to the first-pretty difficult when you get a Snowcap on the first day though-but La Selva's clearing was, as ever, bustling with activity: the shrubs with berries attracted Black-faced Grosbeak, the gorgeous Golden-hooded Tanager (which I have only just appreciated for its looks after these spectacular low looks at them that are not possible elsewhere), and Olive-backed Euphonia. While the football field (soccer to Americans!) was not the place I expected to see a punky male Great Currassow...

More from Costa Rica very, very soon...

Pura Vida! COSTA RICA (17 Feb.)

I have spent the best part of the last 15 years birding in the tropics, seven of which have been spent living in Ecuador. However, in spite of this there has been a massive gap on my travel/birding list that seemed to be all the more glaring each year that passed: Costa Rica. I had never had the chance to go there, and see for myself why so many people wax lyrical about it. And so when the opportunity came to join the Tropical Birding tour being led by Michael Retter I jumped at the chance; I warned Michael, jumped on to a plane to San Jose, and my great Centra American adventure began. My plan was to join the Introtour for Tropical Birding, then spend a further week or more scouting further sites and species with fellow "Tropical Birder" Andrew Spencer and his girlfriend, manic sound recordist Tayler Brooks, before re-uniting with Michael Retter in Panama City for a leg in that country too.

Our first morning's birding in Costa Rica was manic, and quickly made me think, "I am gonna like this place; a lot". A short stroll around the lavish gardens of our hotel just outside the capital, produced a trio of Blue-crowned Motmots whooping from the trees, Rufous-naped Wrens were so tame they challenged me not to walk away with wonderful photos, and our major target, White-eared Ground-Sparrow, helpfully bounced out of one of the hedgerows and onto our life lists just in time before the doors for breakfast opened.

After this frantic start in what is the most depauperate part of Costa Rica, the Central Valley, we headed north out of there to the middle elevations of the Caribbean Slope, and Braulio Carrillo National Park, which Michael warned us might just be the hardest birding on this Introtour. Tall trees and dense foliage often providing a substantial barrier to the many avian treasures hidden within this park, which lies just an hour from the Costa Rican capital. However, we needn't have worried. The first bird we saw as we entered the trail was a Dull-mantled Antbird hopping around in the open on some stream-side rocks; not normal for this rainforest skulker! Next up was a very responsive Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush which sung back at us from eye level. A Black-thighed Grosbeak hiding out close to the distinctly more common Black-faced Grosbeak was a nice surprise there too. Once the trail fell quiet as the heat of the day approached fast, we emerged from the forest, drove 2km and settled in next to a purple-blooming bank of Porterweed and admired a heady collection of hummingbirds fighting over the nectar crop. Most prominent were Violet-crowned Woodnymphs, although shortly after a deep purple bird with a gleaming white "snowcap" appeared: the legendary Snowcap hummingbird. This calmed everyone's nerves, as this was our best shot, and some were at least banking on this bird for the trip. Then a large dark hummer hiding in the shadows revealed its bright red feet, and led us to its identity: Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (both of these were lifers, BUT I was looking for one more notable hummer for the day)...It did not take much longer before the shout went up-tiny hummer at the Porterweed. We checked the back, and there was a clear white band strapped across the rump, and fine plumes of black feathers making a punky crest; there was not mistaking the star of this show, the Black-crested Coquette!

After this super opening to our time in Costa Rica we got some refreshments and headed further north into the lowlands of the Carribbean slope, and the La Selva Biological Station, a center for tropical research and a legendary birding spot in its own right...

Star Spangled Coquette...ECUADOR (21 Jan)

A frantic last morning at Yankuam had us scouring the road for their star bird, the beautiful and rare, Orange-throated Tanager, which at about 10am became vocal and landed wonderfully in a tree overhead for us to gawp at for some time, admiring the blue on the wings and of course the throat, which looks like it has been set on fire.

With the tanager in the bag, we returned to the lodge for lunch and started on our way to Copalinga near the town of Zamora. However, one great stop en-route brought us Lined Anthshrike, Stripe-chested Antwren and Chestnut-crowned Becard.

Of course, as we arrived at Copalinga Lodge in the late afternoon, and after being greeted by their excellent host, Katherine, my first question was "are they around?" She knew what I meant-her marquee birds, the Spangled Coquettes. Before we knew it a female whizzed into view foraging in the Portaweed, although she was outshone I am afraid to say when the "Star Spangled male" turned up and showed off his orange crest...

More from Ecuador soon, although I have to dash now...Tandayapa Bird Lodge is calling!

At the frontier...ECUADOR (20 Jan)

Moving on from Tapichalaca we undertook a monster long drive to get to our next spot-Yankuam Lodge, in extreme southeast Ecuador, within an area that casts shadows into Peru. The drive was made worse due to a recent landslide meaning we were diverted for one section of it, although that did yield us a pair of Torrent Ducks and White-capped Dippers as compensation.

At Yankuam the real prize is the rare and beautiful Orange-throated Tanager, for which this is the only reliable site in the World. However, on this tour Yankuam offers so much more, as we dipped our toe into the foothills of the east slope for the first time. As well as some cool foothill species the area holds a number of Amazonian birds that just creep into the Andes in this area. It was an exciting first morning there, when the activity was literally constant (it was genuinely difficult to make it back for lunch), and almost everything in our bins was new. We started well with a Black-and-white Tody-Flycatcher, which was followed not long after by the striking Golden-winged Tody-Flycatcher. The sound of an Orange-throated Tanager, and the sight of a flock moving at full speed overhead, had us excitedly scanning for that beauty. Unfortunately, despite adding many new birds within the flock, including the considerably less beautiful Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner, the tanager went unseen. We slowly worked our way along the road picking up new bird after new bird, including common fare like Paradise and Green-and-gold Tanagers, and even Yellow-backed Tanagers. After an audio duel we all finally managed looks at one of the special birds of the area, the tiny White-bellied Pygmy-Tyrant, only recently added to the Ecuador country list at this site. The same area yielded a clear look at the smart Hairy-crested Antbird, which revealed it to have a brown crest, unlike the other birds in Ecuador of the white-crested race, these appeared like the brunneiceps race of Peru. On the way back to lunch we were admiring a group of Turquoise Tanagers, when conveniently a Striolated Puffbird landed slap bang in the scope along side them.

Although it was a great day for birds, it was not a great day for bird photography, and so here are some of the frogs that the roadside ditches at Yankuam produced, and an image of their rather odd bridge which we had to cross to get into the birding areas.

More frantic searches for the Orange-throated Tanager in the afternoon yielded none, but did give us a very nice Purplish Jacamar as ample compensation. The next day was to be our final fling for the tanager before we moved onto Copalinga, near Podocarpus National Park....

War of Antpitta Attrition...ECUADOR (18 Jan)

Having settled in to Tapichalaca the night before, and already acquainted ourselves with the substantial downpours the site is famous for (ruining our chance of Swallow-tailed Nightjar), we were ready to hit the trail hard this morning. Luckily the rain had abated, although the construction along the road had not, and so we left very early to avoid delays in getting to the trailhead. Before we reached the main trailhead though we picked up some noisy and raucous Golden-plumed Parakeets which were loudly proclaiming the dawn as they emerged from their local nest boxes. The same area also produced the small though very impressive Black-throated Tody-Tyrant, and less impressive, for the group at least, Orange-banded Flycatcher, all major targets for us in this area.

However, what we were all really here for was a certain antpitta-Jocotoco Antpitta, which was discovered in 1997 at this site, and remains the only reliable site in the world for it, by virtue of a tamed group of them there. We arrived at the designated time-08:30-and within minutes of the local rangers whistles, there they were: 3 black-capped Jocotoco Antpittas which hopped about within literally inches of us for the next thirty minutes. We were also keen on seeing their other habituated antpitta, the considerably more common Chestnut-naped Antpitta, although knew the Jocotoco Antpittas were very protective over their worms, and may not let the other one get a look in. The ranger continued to whistle for the Chestnut-naped Antpitta, and then suddenly (and just as we were admiring a party of Red-hooded Tanagers) it appeared just behind my legs! We were greeted with incredible scenes that followed this, as the skittish Chestnut-naped tried to sneak in and steal the worms, only to be openly charged with extreme prejudice by one of the Jocotoco Antpittas. If only I had my video running! This did not deter the Chestnut-naped though, that merely waited in the shadows for the Jocotocos to seem to lose interest, when it would quietly hop in and gorge on the worms, while the Jocotocos were looking the other way. 

The rest of the day should, and could, have been a let down, but we simply scored so many great birds. On the way down to the lodge we notched up another antpitta-Slate-crowned Antpitta-a triple antpitta morning-never to be scoffed at! Also on the way down the ranger ensured we picked up their local Andean Potoo doing a marvellous dead snag impression, a roosting site which it had apparently been using on and off for the past four months. The day closed with a stunning White-capped Tanager that Bernice and I at least, got killer looks at before it upped sticks and left, flying directly over the lodge in the process. The final chapter of the day was provided by a female Swallow-tailed Nightjar doing sallies by the gate of the lodge as night fell over the Andes.