Costa Rica Bird Challenge: Day 1, part II (12 Oct 2017)

Toucans, Tanagers, and TREEFROGS take over…

Having spent the morning in the foothills of the Central Cordillera, our arrival at Selva Verde Lodge also announced our arrival in an extremely bird rich part of the country, the Caribbean lowlands. This was immediately evident, when, following a lunch of traditional rice and beans with more than a splash of Costa Rica’s signature Salsa Lizano, we ran into two different species of trogon (Slaty-tailed and Gartered Trogons), a Black-cowled Oriole, and then walked up to a fruiting tree packed with birds, and a constant hive of activity as birds pulled at the fruits and flew in and out of the tree. 

This was addictive stuff, and we absorbed this feast of birds for a while, which included all three toucan species in the area (Keel-billed and Yellow-throated Toucans, and Collared Aracari), and also held a variety of tanagers, including Scarlet-thighed and Blue Dacnis, and Green and Shining Honeycreepers. Other distractions included Strawberry ("Blue Jeans")  and Green-and-black Poison Dart Frogs on the grounds, and another two-toed sloth (plus baby slothlet this time), for the day.

We also got our first real experience of the vast raptor migration that streams through Central America at this time, as impressive kettles of Broad-winged Hawks overhead held the odd Mississippi Kite among them too too. Our search at the site for one of the lodge’s celebrity birds, the Sunbittern, came up short though, and so we tried another spot later, but again failing to find that, but adding Golden-hooded Tanager, Grey-headed Chachalaca, and also got to watch the acrobatics of some extremely agile Mantled Howler monkeys in the area. The close of the afternoon, not far from the lodge, though, will perhaps best be remembered for a hummingbird fight we witnessed, when a Purple-crowned Fairy seemed to take particular offence to a Long-billed Starthroat calming sitting in a tree overhead. We watched on as the lovely and gentle looking fairy, belied its appearance, by aggressively and repeatedly dive bombing the poor starthroat, which stood firm for a while, before flying off for an easier life!

At night, we searched the lodge property for owls, hearing and seeing none, but being more than rewarded by the sighting of Costa Rica’s most iconic frog species, the Red-eyed Treefrog, which adorns so many book covers, posters and awnings countrywide. The team ended the day with 155 bird species, which was not to be our strongest day of the competition that would come later! I should mention that I had some esteemed company within the team, our local guide was German Rojas, and the other team members were Tim Appleton (the man behind the British Birdfair), Niklas (journalist for Birdlife Sweden's magazine), and Beltran Ceballos Vazquez (a man synonymous with conservation and the famous Cota Donana National Park in Spain).

The next day was set up to a biggie, starting out at the legendary OTS La Selva Biological Station, and then moving on to the Aerial Tram in the foothills of the Caribbean in Braulio Carrillo NP, before departing for another more remote site, Selva Bananito Lodge, located within La Amistad NP, which stretches all the way into Panama!

#visitcostarica #costaricarules #costaricabirdchallenge #costaricabirding#futuropa 

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Costa Rica Bird Challenge: Day 1, part I (12 Oct 2017)

Raptors and Hummingbirds Shine in an Explosive Opening…

Following a brief 5am tea (no coffee for this traditional Englishman) and cookie, we hit the road from downtown San Jose (from the Hotel Aurola Holiday Inn) and headed up into the mountains on the edge of Poas Volcano. Once in the shadow of the volcano, we got straight into some montane species right off the bat, with a fleeting stop at Freddo Fresas, Poasito. The hummingbirds were the main attraction here, with a male Volcano Hummingbird appearing right on cue, competing for our attention with Lesser Violetears (formerly known as Green, before this was spliced into two species recently), Purple-throated Mountain-Gems, and Green-crowned Brilliant. A glowing male Flame-colored Tanager also lent some colour to proceedings. Another short search of some cloudforest led us to a perfectly positioned Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth. 

Another stop beside a stunning, thundering waterfall near the volcano brought us a rush of new species, with some stellar ones among them, such as local specialties like Golden-bellied Flycatcher and Sooty-faced Finch proving remarkably easy at this scenic spot. Better was yet to come though, as, after scoring a very tame Torrent Tyrannulet, an Ornate Hawk-Eagle circled above us in the blue skies overhead. An unexpected, and striking pre-breakfast bird, which made us forget our hunger for just a little while, before this majestic eagle drifted effortlessly out of view.

The next stop was also hummingbird related, but food-related too, as we tucked into a hearty breakfast of traditional Gallo Pinto, while surrounded by birds-mainly hummingbirds at the feeders that included the Coppery-headed Emerald, a country endemic (of which there are only six), and a regional endemic following a visit from one of the local White-bellied Mountain-Gems, a bird that made its lone appearance on this bird race during this breakfast at Cinchona, a bit of a legend amongst birders, and especially bird photographers. It was impossible not to also appreciate the conspicuous beauty of the visiting male Violet Sabrewings, a bold and delightfully common montane hummingbird species in Costa Rica. Silver-throated Tanagers also appeared at the fruit feeders, as did Costa Rica’s shamefully dowdy national bird, Clay-colored Thrush, an appalling choice (considering all the colour on offer among the avian community), in this megadiverse tropical country for this prestigious title.

Following an opening that largely centered around hummingbirds and feeders, we switched to some “real” birding with a visit to Virgen del Socorro, where its most emblematic species, the White Hawk appeared early and calmed nerves quickly. The deserted dirt road allowed us to walk both down and up the valley, steadily adding to our bird list for the day, which included species like Bay-headed Tanager, a couple of Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrants, a dinky Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher, (akin to a dink frog with its incessant calling nature), a smashing Crimson-collared Tanager, and a steady stream of migratory American warblers (Black-and-white, Tennessee, Blackburnian, Yellow, Canada, Wilson’s, and Chestnut-sided Warblers), showing that they had made it safely through a particularly challenging storm and hurricane season this year, to reach their normal wintering/migratory stopovers in country. 

While not the rarest bird there, a very confiding Lineated Woodpecker found by team member Tim Appleton was my favourite bird of the site, and the photos probably show why…Remarkably, we had only reached the end of the morning at this point! A busy bird afternoon followed our arrival at our next staging point: Selva Verde Lodge. 

NOTE: This challenge was helped and supported by the tourism board of Costa Rica, and Futuropa, among many other contributors, and so I am including the hashtags here to help connect with these organisations:

#visitcostarica #costaricarules #costaricabirdchallenge #costaricabirding#futuropa #ict #birdwatchingrepublic