Costa Rica 2018: Birdin' in the Rain

[xelas]

@Terry thanks so much for your butterflies ID, really appreciated. And thank you for your kind words. This is a beautiful country and it deserves some nice words and fine photos. More of which will come in future instalments.

[michael-ibk]

 

I don´t have much to add for this section, Alex brilliantly covered our stay at Rancho Naturalista and since we did pretty much everything together here it should come as no surprise that we saw exactly the same things. This was one of my favourite places of the whole trip and I would´t have minded staying a day more. Not at all. Guides, comfort, birdlife, the general attitude there - everything top notch. And then that delicious food ... mmhhh! :-)

 

 

 

Our Sunbittern room, very spacious and comfy, and I liked that it has a private balcony with its own Hummer feeder.

 

 

The living room. I confess the only time we´ve ever been here was the moment needed for taking the photo.

 

 

Obviously we much preferred sitting outside, keeping our eyes on the feeders.

 

 

This was my first "Hummers everywhere" experience and I absolutely loved it. Their constant buzzing around, the non-stop fluttering and flattering of colors, their little fights, these little birds are a joy to watch and never get boring.

 

 

 

 

Not sure if these two Coquettes were fighting or ... getting friendly with each other.

 

 

Snowcap, the top star. I found it interesting that some Hummingbirds (like Coquettes and Horntail also) don´t react at all to the sugar water in the feeders while the other species are clearly absolutely crazy about the stuff.

 

 

The moth place Alex mentioned is pretty interesting and does attract some of the harder to get species. Unfortunately this was also the time when my flash batteries ran out, really rubbish timing. I did return the next morning, fully prepared, but unfortunately I had assumed the light would always be on to attract the moths to the lights and get caught there but that was not very bright of me, of course we should have told staff to do that. No light, no moths, no birds.

 

We did not really have a good chance to explore the trails around the property. We started to do so on the first afternoon but it soon became much too muddy and so we aborted. The next afternoon it was too rainy to try. Again I was reminded in the forest that one should always be alert especially on dark trails - what a long green branch on the path, I thought, and then the snake started slithering away. Had I not paused to examine it I would have stepped on it. Not sure which species it was, green and quite big.

 

Highlight on the trails was seeing these cute guys. I tried a shortcut to avoid the mud when all of a sudden something small and surprisingly fast exploded from the ground close to me and started running to their burrows. They were in their "safehouse" within seconds, so I was lucky to get any shots at all.

 

 

 

 

The trip down to Silent Valley was great. A good guide with us, sun and warmth for a change, and some nice birds and beautiful surroundings, what else do you need really.

 

 

White-Ringed Flycatcher

 

 

Getting artsy with the bark of some tree here.

 

 

Emerald Tanager, a cool-looking species, all green in green.

 

 

 

Black-Headed Saltator

 

 

And excuse the repetition, but I have to close with two more Sunbittern photos. Probably my highlight from Rancho. We searched long and hard for this birds, and had actually almost admitted defeat when Hermann finally found it. Always feels good when you succeed on a mission.

 

 

I found their choice of habitat here interesting. Slow-running creeks with many boulders, so very different from the flat wetlands of the Pantanal where it is a common bird.

 

 

[xelas]

On top of his excellent addendum, Michael sharp eye also noticed a mistaken identity; we were staying at too low of an elevation for Talamaca Hummingbird, so the female in post #110 is a White-necked Jacobin. We will get also to Talamanca’s elevation!

Edited November 1, 2018 by xelas

[janzin]

@michael-ibk Flying Armadillos! Love it!

[Atdahl]

Wow, great report and photos @xelas and @michael-ibk!   Too bad the weather has not cooperated so far but I look forward to reading the rest of the TR.  Makes me want to go back to Costa Rica .

 

Alan

[xelas]

CERRO DE LA MUERTE

 

 

What an ominous name for an area of such beauty! The whole area got its name after the highest point on the famous inter-americana highway, PanAm Hwy. A sign there says that the elevation is 3335 m a.s.l.!!  In old days, on foot and with an ox cart., a person needed 3-4 days to cover the distance between Cartago and San Isidro de El General. And harsh weather conditions took its toll. 

 

Today, the journey that is about 120 km in length can be done in about 2-3 hours, by car. But the conditions are still harsh: thick fog, dense clouds, heavy rain, and temperatures that can drop down to zero Celsius. Not all that nice, for somewhere so close to the equator. However, those are also conditions that are perfect for what is described as "cloud forest"; a mossy covered vegetation, plenty of water, and some of the best birding in Costa Rica.

 

There are basically 3 main areas to visit: lodges that are located along the PanAm Highway, and lodges at two valleys: San Gerardo de Dota is more famous, with higher concentration of accommodations of all sort, and San Gerado de Rivas, with mostly those visitors whos target is to climb to the top of Cerro Chirippo; this is the highest mountain in Costa Rica at 3820 m asl.

 

Zvezda and me were in that area twice before, so we knew about its highlights and beauties. Although the weather plays an important role about how the visitor's perception of the place is, it did never disappointed us. To some degree, of course.

 

Looking from San Jose/Cartago side, first important place to stop is at Paraiso Quetzal Lodge - https://www.paraisoquetzal.com/en/ - widely acknowledge as the place to go for the hummers. Owned by Jorge Serrano and his family, this lodge makes long strides and is better each time we visited it. It is one of the regular stops on any birdwatching tour; Greg Basco - https://www.deepgreenphotography.com/about/ - was there with one of his groups. Well, there is a thread about photo tours/workshops on this web site, and what I have seen this time really did not add anything to my wish being a participant of such a tour.

 

But, that is not important. Hummingbirds are! Once in the highlands, hummers are one of the highlights, and (usually) there are plenty of them buzzing around feeders at Quetzal Paradise Lodge. As we were there about lunch time, and with balcony full of photographers with seriously long telephoto lenses on seriously sturdy tripods, hummers were not at the variety we have had the pleasure to experience on our previous visits. But they were there. They always are.

 

Part of the observation deck

 

 

The wooden cabin where we have stayed in 2011 is now much improved

 

Talamanca Hummingbird

 

 

Tiny Volcano Hummingbird

 

Lesser Violetear

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by xelas

[xelas]

Birds are mostly colourful animals. And they are using several ways how to obtain those magical colours (well, not here in Europe where most of the birds are brown and drab). Hummingbirds are famous for having iridescent feathers which reflects the light, and at different angles makes for different colours (a birder-to-become must read a lot  - https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/how-birds-make-colorful-feathers/ ).

 

The Fiery-throated Hummingbird is famous for its gorget (throat feathers). Look at this transformation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fascinating, isn't it ?!

 

[Botswanadreams]

Wow, it's so beautiful. Thanks a lot. 

[xelas]

Of the two valleys our destination was the one of Rio Savegre - San Gerardo de Dota. A narrow valley with a narrow road winding down and passing by several lodges, some bigger and more comfortable and other smaller. Our (my) pick was on the budget side (to counterbalance the Rancho Naturalista) but it comes highly recommended by @Chakra in his excellent trip report that can be found on this site - Quetzal Valley Cabins - https://www.quetzalvalleycabins.com . As the owner was not present at the time of our arrival we have stopped at Soda Miriam's to pick up the keys. Mrs.Miriam is kind of celebrity in that valley, she is operating the small soda for many years, and despite many lodges with on-site restaurants her soda is always filled with happy customers. 

 

Soda Miriam

 

 

Sooty Thrush

 

 

Beside the tasty comida tipica, soda has one other attraction ... its small balcony with feeders. Despite the small size of the feeders those were always full of birds, and hummingbirds. And the balcony was also always full fo birders.

 

 

Flame-colored Tanager (female)

 

Rufous-collared Sparrow

 

Ruddy Treerunner

 

Acorn Woodpecker

Edited November 2, 2018 by xelas

[CDL111]

Sorry to be so late in reading your report, ,the wife and l have just spent most of the afternoon marvelling at the colours of the birds etc and quality of the photographs . Will be following with keen interest from now on.

[xelas]

More hummingbirds also here, and many were new for us. As we have arrived late in the afternoon, we have missed the crowds that were here all day long, and in fact were coming to Soda Miriam's little balcony for past weeks from near and far. because (as we have learned the next day), there was a very special hummer living and feeding on those feeders: El Angelito.

 

White-throated Mountain-gem

 

 

Purple-throated Mountain-gem (female)

 

Volcano Hummingbird

 

 

And the star of the show: El Angelito! It is (was ??) a leucistic , and once the word got out every birder came to this tiny balcony in hope to get a photo of it. We were told that on the day of our arrival, its first appearance was when we came. And we have seen the bird each and every time we've stopped at the soda. Lucky us. Unfortunately, about a week after our departure the bird was last seen. I really wish that it has only moved away from the crowds.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by xelas

[xelas]

And a few more words about our accommodation. There are several cabins along a steep and narrow path. Ours was #4, a family cabin with 2 separate bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Basic but comfortable enough ... if it would be located about 1000 m lower. On that altitude, and without any proper insulation, inside of the cabin was bitter cold during nights. A tiny heater did not helped much. Yes, the views from the balcony are fantastic, but if it rains (and it rains a lot in that area), coming home wet and having no place to warm up is just not the best option. As I have mentioned, they are really affordable. Just be prepared for some really cold nights. I was glad that both Michael and Andreas are living high up in Austrian Alps, are mountaineers and as such probably used to overnights in cold mountain huts. Zvezda was not the happiest person, specially not the first night, but I didn't mind her seeking extra sources of warmth .

 

The hut with the view

 

Zvezda and Alex room

 

Living room ... notice large windows

 

The only source of heat

 

Kitchen

 

Michael and Andreas room ... notice the gaps on the balcony door

 

Sunset time

 

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by xelas

[xelas]

Los Quetzales National Park is the latest addition to the ever growing list of national parks,  biological reserves, nature reserves and wildlife refugees, that covers and thus protects about 25% of the territory of Costa Rica. Los Quetzales covers a large section of cloud forests found on each side of the PanAm Hwy on Cordillera de Talamanca, and its names goes to the bird that is a synonym for cloud forest.

 

Resplendent Quetzal is the must see bird in that area. It is not that hard to find it. Why? Because the trick is to know where the fruiting aguacate (avocado-like) tree, and with a bit of luck and patience the easy to spot and see bird will be there. There is a family down the valley at San Gerardo de Dota who has the luck to have such tree on their property, close to the main road. They have built a simple wooden observation deck, painted "Mirador des Quetzales" on a board next to the path to the deck, and set a reasonable entry fee of 5 USD. There is where Alex took us to have the close encounter of the quetzal's kind.

 

But I am jumping a bit ahead; we have hired Alex, the son-in-law of dona Miriam, as it comes highly recommended by Chak. And I have kind of spook Zvezda from joining us by telling her we might be in for some hardcore hiking up and down the valley slopes. So it was my camera time, hehehe. Meeting point was at 6 am at Soda Miriam. There was another family to join the tour, not very happy at first but later on it was not an issue. Using our cars we drove down the much deteriorated road until the above mentioned mirador, where we were the first visitors and thus having the opportunity to pick the best spots. And quetzals were there already!

 

Group briefing before the start of the birding

 

Female first

 

Male Resplendent Quetzal

 

Not the right time for long tail feathers

 

The fruit quetzals are nuts about

 

What a beauty!

 

Edited November 3, 2018 by xelas

[xelas]

As a special bonus we were treated with another beautiful bird: Emerald Toucanet. Also this one is very found of aguacatillo, only that it seems a bit too large of a fruit for them to be swallow. At least that happened to the bird I have had in my viewfinder.

 

Delicious looking fruit

 

Will it goes down the throat?

 

Hmm, maybe to change its position?!

 

Oooops, I've lost it!

 

 

This below is to show the excellent quality of the VR ability of Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 zoom lens. Handholding it with a shutter speed of 1/60 sec, almost every photo was sharp (if the bird did not moved):

 

 

 

There was more, of course. We have walked down the valley road almost to Savegre Lodge, and then back up again. Many smaller birds were spotted, and photographed, but with smaller birds I am not nearly as good as Zvezda is, so will leave to Michael to show them to you. This is when we came back at Miriam's place, Alex & Alex posing after a successful birding morning:

 

 

[kittykat23uk]

Stunning,  stunning, stunning!!!!

[CDL111]

What stunning colours on the male Resplendent Quetzal. 

[Peter Connan]

I think it is Zvezda who gave the Green-breasted Mango a run for it's money. But that is nothing compared to the last shot of the  Fiery-throated Hummingbird! And @xelas you did great work on the Quetzals and Toucanets!

 

@michael-ibk, lovely photos, especially the Sunbittern and the Armadillos!

[Chakra]

Joining very late but better late than never. I'm sorry that my accommodation recommendation at San Gerrardo turned out to be a freezing one. Honestly it wasn't that cold when we were there. We had sent the kids upstairs and enjoyed the cozy night in the room downstairs. As we had no rain so drying was not an issue. I'm a tad surprised that the local guy has started charging the tourists for the privilege of flocking around that famous tree. I'm pretty sure this was the tree where your name sake Alex ( sorry , can't recall his last name, let's call him Alex Gerrardo, in line with your team captain Stevie Gerrardo and San Gerrardo  ) took you.  Even that emerald toucanet looked familiar.  Anyway it's not a hefty charge. If anything I was a bit surprised about the ease of spotting the Quetzal, especially after spending several hours in futile search in Monteverde. 

I can feel your frustration about rain but even then you had managed to capture a lot of biodiversity. As you know I'm most certainly not a hard core birder like you or Michael. I like to watch birds but won't really go out of my way to capture a target species. Biodiversity, plants, little critters, butterflies and nature in general are way more important to me. From that aspect I'd have been very happy with what you guys had managed to see. 

Eagerly waiting for some more. 

[xelas]

@Chakra thanks for your comments. More is coming!

[xelas]

We have regrouped = meet with Zvezda for breakfast at Miriam's place. On the other side of the road, just opposite of soda, I have noticed a couple of what looks like very new cabins. They looked very nice, and I have taken a couple of photos. After asking at soda who is the owner, Lilliana (Miriam's daughter) said: "We are!". And added they were only opened in November 2017. For whoever is planning to visit San Gerardo de Dota, and is looking for a comfortable and affordable place to stay, here is the link and some photos: Miriam's Quetzals - http://www.miriamquetzals.com/ .

 

 

 

 

 

During the breakfast we were all about how easy it was to find and photographed quetzals, and Michael spotted a hint of remorse for not joining us for the morning walk on Zvezda's face, so as a true gentleman he is, he volunteered to find a quetzal for Zvezda! So we drove down the valley again, and his sharp eye indeed found one nice male. It was not easy to see it from the road. So here are also Zvezda's photos of Resplendent Quetzal.

 

 

 

 

Thank You, Michael! (by Zvezda)

 

[xelas]

As we were already at the bottom of the valley, next stop was at Batsu Garden. This was a new for me, as back in 2011 it was only at the beginning of its construction. It is owned by Chacon family, the ones that also owns Savegre Lodge (and who were the first to come down the Savegre valley a generation ago). It is a "baby" of Marino Chacon, the respected birder whom we were lucky to have as a guide on our first visit in 2011. Although it is a paid location I must admit the work done is just fantastic! Well laid out gardens, two covered decks for observation, comfortable seats, plenty of space for tripods, and a toilet block makes this place well worth of a longer visit. In fact we have stayed there for full 4 hours!

 

One of two observation decks

 

Second observation deck

 

Action was everywhere

 

The man itself - Marino Chacon

 

 

Although midday, and thus not the best time for birds, there were many colourful ones hanging around feeders and bushes.

 

Blue-gray Tanager

 

Silver-throated Tanager

 

Slaty Flowerpiercer (female)

 

Acorn Woodpecker

 

Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher

 

Sulphur-winged Parakeet

 

 

[xelas]

And there were also many hummingbirds. This is where photo groups are coming, to get those almost-perfect photos of feeding hummers. We have tried our luck also; light was not there but some nice photos we have managed to get.

 

Stripe-tailed Hummingbird

 

The difference in size: left Talamanca right Volcano

 

And a series of in-flight shots

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

We would stay longer if not for the clouds that have threatened to put on a wet show ... and they did! A couple of birds in rain photos to end this very productive birding day.

 

Acorn Woodpecker

 

Yellow-thighed Finch

 

White-naped Brush-Finch

 

 

 

 

[CDL111]

The photographs of the hummingbirds are superb. 

[xelas]

Thanks, @CDL111! Too many of them but when they are so cute!