Magee Marsh...OHIO (2 May)

While we (Scott, Andres and I) skimmed around the various hotspots in this Ohio Migration Mecca yesterday, today we focused our attentions on just the one site: Magee Marsh, and its now-famous boardwalk. Never had warbler viewing been so easy as at this venue, and by the end of the day I am sure everyone present would agree. Early on it appeared the day might turn out to be a dud, with precious little warbler activity compared to yesterday, but slowly but surely birds were picked up and the Magee punters (and I include myself firmly in that category) were persuaded to beam at the action, which by the end of the day included a couple of stellar warbler species.

Early pleasers for me at least was my first male Cape May Warbler of spring, always a key moment in spring for me, followed after by the citrus tones of a male Prothonotary Warbler yelling his "SWEET-SWEET" song at me.

Then things went quiet for me until an afternoon flurry when I caught up with a foraging American Woodcock, a showy and photogenic Cape May, and then a ridiculously tame Kentucky Warbler, which had a male Mourning Warbler for company too at times....

More from Ohio soon

Warblering....OHIO (1 May)

And so we (Scott Watson and Andres Vasquez and I) moved on from the Upper Texas Coast, landed in Cleveland last night and were checking out the Ohio migration hotspots today. We stopped in first at Magee Marsh where we enjoyed a flock of four cranes flying over and another Sandhill Crane along the Crane Creek Estuary Trail, while warblers were provided by Palms by the dozen and the odd Blackburnian and Tennessee. Next stop was Ottawa NWR where we found a powder blue male Black-throated Blue Warbler feeding in the South Woods, and then the Boss Unit (better known to local birders as simply Benton-Carroll Road), of the refuge revealed 3 Pectoral Sandpipers from their bright shiny new shorebird viewing platform (good work to all who donated and were involved in producing that-a great addition to the season!) 

Lastly, we stopped in at Metzger Marsh (once we had worked our way around the rather inconvenient-for the timing with the birding season-detour), which provided the best birding of the day. The tiny lakeshore lot held both male Blue-winged Warbler and male Hooded Warbler, and both behaved in a way that they were determined that every birder would see them! Along with them were Blackburnian Warbler, male Scarlet Tanager, Great Crested Flycatcher and Northern Parula. Along with all of this first-rate action were tons and tons of Yellow-rumped Warblers in full spring regalia. A great first day on the shores of Lake Erie. I am fired up for more...

Updates to come regularly here and on my twitter feed (@samwoodsTB) soon...

The Silky Road...COSTA RICA (28 Feb)

We packed a lot in on this day. We set off from San Jose, and checked out Tapanti National Park, where Andrew Spencer had seen some quality birds in previous years (notably Ochraceous Pewee, Streak-breasted Treehunter, and Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, which I was still yearning for). On arrival, we quickly added a treehunter to my list quick smart, right where Andrew had seen it before, years earlier! Then we tried his near owl spot, and what do you know, after a duel with the I-Pod, an angry looking Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl was added to my life list, and better still the park was absolutely devoid of people. Andrew, Tayler Brooks and I had it too ourselves, and it was wonderful. 

We, however, could not track down the hoped-for Pewee, and so headed over to Paraiso de Los Quetzales later in the day to feast on Fiery-throated and Magnificent Hummingbirds and try and pick up Costa Rica's marquee bird, the Resplendent Quetzal, while we were there. On site we enjoyed some top notch views of Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatchers, and of course, their loaded hummer feeders, although the quetzal, despite nesting at the time, was elusive and we had to settled for a female.

In the evening (and after visiting Cerro del la Muerte again-more to come on this soon), we headed over to La Georgina and checked in there for an assault on Savegre the next day, among other sites...

LIFER FINCH...COSTA RICA (27 Feb)

Today we spent quite a bit of time dipping into different sites - Poas Volcano was notable for my first ever Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatchers, while Virgen del Soccorro was visited for its Sooty-faced Finches, which performed beautifully. 

Wish I could have said the same for their Golden-bellied Flycatchers which stayed rooted to the top of a tree and well out of photographic range. The feeders ar Cinchona and La Paz Waterfall Gardens (almost $100 to get in!) though we great with a migrant Broad-winged Hawk posing behind Cinchonas, while hummers and tanagers dropped in to the feeders, including my lifer White-bellied Mountain-Gem, and the Costa Rican endemic, Coppery-headed Emerald among others. 

At night we returned to San Jose, downed a Denny's meal, and plotted where we would see photos next on this flexible jaunt around Costa Rica...

BIG Eagle Alert...COSTA RICA (26 Feb)

Just goes to prove the extreme diversity of the tropics, when you visit the same pace just weeks apart and turn up a very different bird list on both occasions. And so we returned to Braulio Carrillo National Park, although this time I was armed with Tayler Brooks and Andrew Spencer, a formidable sound recording team. The bird of the morning was clearly a vociferous raptor which called continually and did everything it could to get noticed. Although, when you look like an Ornate Hawk-Eagle it is hard not to get noticed, frankly. 

We had great loks at the this punky-crested eagle, as it glowered at us and called from the perch of a huge rain forest limb. On top of that we enjoyed a second visit to El Tapir, where Black-crested Coquette and Snowcaps could not have performed better, so the coquette nearly walked onto Andre's life list. We had splendid, eye-level views of this bird preening its exquisite feathers, and buzzing around their beloved Porterweed blooms.

Costa Rica continues soon...

Gold to Finish...COSTA RICA (25 Feb)

Our final day we changed plans and went on the hunt of a hot tip - a roosting Bare-shanked Screech-Owl that was allegedly a "given". As it turned out, this was not the case, and we bumped into a bunch of local guides shaking their heads in disbelief that it was not there that day as it normally was expected to be! Having tried for this also around Savegre on two separate nights, it seemed this was fast becoming my "nemesis' for Costa Rica. However, the area near Monteverde we checked out was far from boring: we found our first Golden-bellied Flycatchers for the tour (and of course lifebirds for me), and also found our only Geoffroy's Spider-Monkeys of the tour and Highland Hepatic Tanager of the tour, which fed low in the open for some time. 

Once again, we found yet more White-eared Ground-Sparrow, which were remarkably numerous for us on the tour. However, the bird that caused us to finish on the biggest of highs was a small party of Golden-browed Chlorophonias. Although we had already encountered them twice earlier, this was just one of those, special, low sightings that make you realise the bird is yet better than both you imagined and experienced previously.

And I am sure it was from this star turn that the species made it onto our top five birds of the trip list, at a heady second no less. When you see such a beautifully-coloured bird, so well, it is hard to believe it would not make it to number one in the charts, although with the unmovable Resplendent Quetzal sitting in pole position, it was perhaps understandable on this occasion, why the chlorophonias had to settle for second place! In the final countdown, over a splendid farewell dinner back at the Hotel Bougainvillea, the final top five birds of the tour were decided:

1 RESPLENDENT QUETZAL

2 GOLDEN-BROWED CHLOROPHONIA

3 SNOWCAP

4=LESSER GROUND-CUCKOO

4=BLACK-AND-WHITE OWL

...And a worthy top five too; it was certainly hard to argue with the choices, when looking back.

My TOUR in Costa Rica (actually Michael's tour) in Costa Rica may have come to a close, but my time in Costa Rica lingered on. Andrew Spencer and his Tayler Brooks were flying in, and we were set to meet again the next day and go in pursuit of yet more photos of Costa Rica's amazing birdlife...

Attack of the Killer Hummers...COSTA RICA (24 Feb)

The feeders at Monteverde are nothing short of legendary, as if the offer of cool highland species like Orange-bellied Trogons and quetzals are not enough alone to lure you there, then the hummer feeders are worth a visit in their own right, as witnessed by the masses of non-birding tourists taking an interest, and becoming honorary birders, if only for a short time.

We visited their main feeders, just outside the park, and were literally overwhelmed with the frantic hummingbird scenes: Violet Sabrewing, the real "brute" at the feeders, with its substantial bulk and power evident relative to the other smaller hummingbirds on show,  (together with its feisty temperament), and with its dashing dress: bright violet, with striking white flashes in the tail. It is impossible not to notice, and they are common there and popular there, and for good reason. I hope the photo brings this out, as they are so different in varying light conditions and from different angles.

For company the Sabrewings were competing for the sugar water with a few Coppery-headed Emeralds (actually one of the least numerous species at these feeders, with just a handful present), one of the few Costa Rica country endemics (one of only four, if you include the endemic race/species of  Prevost's Sparrow); Green Violet-ear, Magenta-throated Woodstar (such a great name), Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Green-crowned Brilliant, and Green Hermit. 

Although perhaps the most striking one at the feeders, bar the substantially sized sabrewing of course, were the stunning Purple-throated Mountain-Gems, both sexes of which cause you to draw breath, the female with her vibrant orange underparts, and the male with his deep iridescent purple throat. 

However, hummingbirds were not the only creatures that grabbed our attention at these feeders: a mammal came in too, and a generally scarce species too: OLINGO. This is probably one of the only regular spots for it in Costa Rica (and indeed the world-they are not easy to find in many places; I have been living in Ecuador for 7 years and this was a mammal lifer here at the feeders). This or other individuals have been visiting this same set of feeders on and off over the last few decades, but in spite of this, they are never guaranteed as their visits are erratic and unpredictable in their timing. Normally largely nocturnal it was good to see the comical behavior of this lemur-like animal as it wrestled with the feeder, for which it was clearly too big, causing havoc in the process. Then after causing quite a stir among the people gathered there, (including me, who tripped rather clumsily and rather embarrassingly, in my excitement at the opportunity to photograph it.

 In the afternoon we took a short trip into some drier forest nearer our hotel, in search of the Long-tailed Manakin...