Costa Rica Part 8

Day 15, Thursday 28th

A 5.15 meet up for coffee then we drove for half an hour to dry forest, making a few stops along the road. Stripe-headed Sparrow was our first new bird, followed by the first of many Turquoise-browed Motmots and a pair of White-lored Gnatcatchers. 

Stripe-headed Sparrow

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Further along was a Nutting’s Flycatcher and small groups of Baltimore Oriole were seen, preparing for their northbound migration. Yellow Warblers came in to investigate the sound of a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, as did an actual FPO. Another bird due to migrate soon was a rather smart Blue Grosbeak. Also seen was a pair of Black-headed Trogons, Yellow-green Vireo, Olive Sparrow and another Mangrove Cuckoo.

Black-headed Trogon

Grey Hawk

Olive Sparrow

Orange-fronted Parakeet

We walked into a patch of forest where a White-whiskered Puffbird was perched and then watched a lek of Long-tailed Manikins. As we came back out a Collared Forest-Falcon was heard calling and another replied nearby. One of them flew across the road a couple of times being pursued by a pair of Yellow-headed Caracaras.

Long-tailed Manakins

White-whiskered Puffbird

We went back to the hotel for a late breakfast and then checked out mid-morning. 

Green Iguana

We had a last look in the grounds for manikins and then headed off north. It was quite slow going at times as the Easter getaway had started. We stopped late morning and were soon looking at a very hot Lesser Ground-cuckoo. Also at the same spot was Streak-backed Oriole and Scrub Euphonia.

Lesser Ground-cuckoo

Lineated Woodpecker

At another spot we had our first Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a stunning male, along with Rufous-backed Wren and Canivet’s Emerald. 

Rufous-backed Wren

After an ice-cream for lunch we had an hour at the Salinas (salt pans) which were full of waders. Several of us took the opportunity to get our scopes out for the only time during the trip. Flocks of waders were duly scrutinised: there were large numbers of Hudsonian Whimbrel, Willets and Marbled Godwits while amongst them we found Short-billed Dowitcher and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Smaller waders included Semipalmated Plovers plus Stilt, Least and Western Sands.

Willets

One of the banks was plastered in Laughing Gulls and with them were a couple of Franklin’s Gull and some Royal Terns. 

Laughing Gulls

All too soon it was time to leave and head back up into the mountains, this time at Monteverde where we were staying for our last two nights. We drove into town for dinner and enjoyed an excellent pizza that was accompanied with a nice draft IPA.

Day 16, Friday 29th

Our last full day. Overnight the wind had picked up and was blowing a bit of a gale. We met up at 6am to look for birds at the feeders. A pair of Lesson’s Motmot came in and on the ground was a Swainson’s Thrush and two White-eared Ground-sparrows. We had a walk down the road and added Rufous-breasted Wren and White-naped Brushfinch before heading back for breakfast.

Blue-vented Hummingbird

Lesson's Motmot

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Variegated Squirrel

We spent the rest of the day in Santa Elana Reserve. 

Red-kneed Tarantula

Stick-insect

It was still windy which kept our main target quiet to start with. Eventually we heard one calling and zeroed in on it. We clambered up a slope and a few of us clapped eyes on the Three-wattled Bellbird before it flew and disappeared in the canopy. We went back down to the main path leaving the rest to try and relocate it. As we walked along the main track another Bellbird called ahead of us and we got better and longer views. After a while the rest of the group joined us and they had seen the original bird again so everyone was happy.

Three-wattled Bellbird

Other birds in the reserve we saw included White-throated Thrush, Spotted Barbtail and a flock of three Quetzals. 

Lineated Foliage-Gleaner

Resplendent Quetzal

We had lunch in the cafe at the centre and then walked the trails again in the afternoon. It was very quiet although we did manage to get good views of a Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and saw a couple of mini-flycatchers: Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant (whose name is longer than the actual bird!) and White-throated Spadebill.

White-throated Thrush

We stayed on the approach road until dark and called in a superb Mottled Owl. There was just enough time to go back to the hotel and freshen up before driving into town for our last dinner together.

Mottled Owl

Day 17, Saturday 30th

We met up at 6am and drove a short way to the Monteverde Ecological Reserve. We were after Woodquail but there was no sign of any and the trails were very quiet with just an Ovenbird being the only trip addition.

We went back to the lodge and saw Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush then it was time for breakfast. We packed up our bags and headed off towards San Jose hoping that we could make a couple of stops along the way. We called in at the Monteverde Visitor Centre to have a look at the hummer feeders. Magenta-throated Woodstar was the target and was seen immediately upon arrival.

Green-crowned Brilliant

Lesser Violet-ear

Magenta-throated Woodstar

We drove back to the stop we had tried before and this time eventually got to see Spot-bellied Bobwhite. Our last new bird of the trip was a Zone-tailed Hawk seen from the bus as we drove along. The rest of the day was spent driving and sitting in traffic. Despite leaving early to give us ample time to get to the airport we got stuck in a major traffic jam. After over an hour spent going nowhere our driver stopped a bus coming in the opposite direction who said it was due to a fatal road accident with a tailback of 14km. We turned around to look for a different route passing several more kilometres of stalled traffic. We headed out on a minor road which became a track. Eventually this too hit a stationary line of traffic by which time our chances of making the flight were between zero and one per cent.

We followed a few vehicles which headed across farm tracks. At times it was slow going, especially when we had to cross a ford which the backed the traffic up. Eventually we rejoined the main road and things were looking up although it was still going to be tight. As we started to get near to San Jose there was another stationary line of traffic ahead of us so Alex turned off and took a minor road on a large detour going up and down valleys. The sat nav predicted we should arrive at the airport twenty minutes before the check-in desks closed, however we had to make a pit stop along the way. Thanks to Alex’s driving skills we made it to the airport at the predicted time and we all managed to check in with less than a quarter of an hour to spare.

Going through security took longer than it should but we got through and to the departure gate in time for boarding our 18.05 BA flight back to Gatwick. We arrived there slightly ahead of time on Easter Sunday and took the train into London where we all went our separate ways home. It had been a fantastic trip and the group bird list finished on 530 species. Even though it was my second visit to Costa Rica with Birdfinders I still managed to see 45 new birds so it was a very successful trip.