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....
1 comment:
Amazing Sam, looks like the exact same post I saw mine, in 2005! Wonder if it is, same area...
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