Costa Rica Birding Holiday - February 21 to March 5, 2007
February 26
Hotel Pochote Grande
Another early start. We headed down to the beach and estuary by 6:15 and were rewarded with good views of a Reddish Egret and Tricolored Heron.
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| Spotted Sandpiper | Reddish Egret |
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| Tricolored Heron | Rufous-naped Wren |
A tree at the end of the property was full of good birds. The whole group was birding there both before and after breakfast.
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| Summer Tanager | Baltimore Oriole |
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| Great Kiskadee |
En route to La Cusinga
Finally we left for our next stop, La Cusinga, further south down the coast. On the way, we stopped beside a pond that was very productive.
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron | Least Grebes & Black-bellied Whistling Ducks |
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| White Ibis | Blue Grosbeak |
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| Heron & Stilts | Black-necked Stilts |
Just nicely back on the bus, we spotted a perched Gray Hawk.
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| Gray Hawk | Gray Hawk |
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| Gray Hawk | Hoffmann's Woodpecker |
It wasn’t long before we hit a very bumpy ´´shortcut´´ highway - probably about 100km. Not good for binocular people! There were some very very narrow one way bridges (temporary repairs after washouts), but our bus made it. Along the way Alvaro spotted a Ringed Kingfisher on a wire.
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| Ringed Kingfisher | Ringed Kingfisher |
Near the end of the bumpy road, we pulled into a beautiful beach for a picnic lunch. We saw the usual Whimbrel on the beach, and the first of many Cherrie’s Tanagers, a truly beautiful bird.
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| Whimbrel | Cherrie's Tanager |
One more quick stop for a bathroom break, where Cherrie’s were everywhere. Back on the bus, Alvaro spotted a King Vulture, high in the sky. What an unexpected treat!
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| Cherrie's Tanager | Cherrie's Tanager |
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| House Wren | King Vulture |
La Cusinga
Later we arrived at La Cusinga which was built by an American
as a natural eco-retreat (this means no internet or telephone,
all food home grown and cooked only with salt and pepper...). All
buildings are constructed from wood on the property. It includes
a few cattle and oxen. One delightful feature is a beautiful
natural swimming hole.
We were greeted by amazing birds right out front of our cabin -
White-necked Puffbirds & Orange-chinned Parakeets, and both
Black-crowned & Masked Tityras.
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| White-necked Puffbird | Orange-chinned Parakeet |
We went for a late afternoon hike, which was fairly unproductive, except for the Howler Monkeys – what a racket! Then to the lodge for dinner and to celebrate Dave Darker’s birthday with a cake.
