Costa Rica Birding Holiday - February 21 to March 5, 2007
February 28
La Merced Reserve
Another hike with another young local guide,
this time a short drive up in the mountains. A 5:15am start. I
guess you could say birders are early birds. We saw a
Swallow-tailed Kite soar overhead. Some bird sightings were
Collared Aracari, Crested Caracara, Streaked Flycatcher,
Chesnut-mandibled Toucan, Roadside Hawk, Mealy Parrot, Scaled
Pigeon...
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| Golden-naped Woodpecker | Golden-naped Woodpecker |
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| Red-legged Honeycreeper | Blue-throated Goldentail |
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| Green-crowned Brilliant (f) | Baltimore Oriole |
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| Scaled Pigeon | Scaled Pigeon |
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| Chestnut-mandibled Toucan | Chestnut-mandibled Toucan |
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| Streaked Flycatcher | Roadside Hawk |
La Cusinga
We returned at 10:30 for a late breakfast, then
hiked to the natural pool for a very refreshing swim. Then off to
a hot lunch of chicken and rice. The owner, John, talked with us
about his eco vision for the property. He is an American married
to a Costa Rican and they live on site.
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| Crested Caracara | Magnificent Frigatebird |
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| Black-crowned Tityra | Orange-chinned Parakeet |
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| Blue-gray Tanager |
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| Gray-headed Chachalaca | Gray-headed Chachalaca |
We spotted some mating humpbacked whales through a scope.
We hiked up a mountain with two La Cusinga guides but they were
not birders, so it was not the level of expertise we were used
to. Back to the front deck of our cabin where everything was
perfect for birding in a relaxing way...
Dave suggested that we hike down to the ocean, to see if we could
spot any sea turtles. They are known to feed there during the
day, then come ashore on the beach at night to lay their eggs. We
had a nice hike, spotted another Mangrove Black Hawk, but no sea
turtles. We remained down for the sunset, before making our way
back up to the lodge for dinner.
