Traveling

On Saturday the 17th of February we packed our car and started to drive towards Helsinki. We started driving early as the weather was really bad! We still turned towards Siikalahti as I had found a Great Grey Owl there on the previous day. But the road was so bad that it was impossible to stop at all. After all we were lucky to get back to the main road 6 as it the last uphill was almost impossible to drive. Finally in Lappeenranta the roads were getting better but anyway we decided to stay on as big roads as possible and drove to Helsinki via Kouvola.

Finally in Helsinki we continued to Tokoinranta where some interesting species had been wintering. There were at least 1000 Mallards but we found also 3 Gadwalls, a Great Crested Grebe, a Common Teal, a Tufted Duck, a couple of Canada Geese and Mute Swans and of course Common and Herring Gulls and House Sparrows.

After we had taken pictures of ducks on very slippery beach we continued towards Helsinki-Vantaa and finally parked to Skyline Hotel parking place. We got our room and took the rest of the day easy, ate well, packed our luggage and went to sleep early.

On the 18th of February we slept well and finally took a bus-ride to the airport at 9 a.m. There was no rush in the airport so we went through all formalities quickly and were at the gate far too early. There we soon met our traveling companions Jarmo and Sanna Pirhonen and the time went fast while chatting.

Finally at 12:30 p.m. our flight left towards United States. I had planned to watch a couple of movies before trying to sleep but in this Finnair plane the media-center weren’t working and there were only a couple of movies to choose and none of them was interesting. Anyway I watched one movie that I had seen earlier and then tried to sleep.

After all I managed to sleep well and long 10.5 hours flight didn’t feel too bad. After we had flight over several time-zones, we landed to Texas Dallas Fort Forth airport at 3:10 p.m. local time. The plane was driving long rounds around the airfield and it seemed there were no birds at all.

At the airport we had to check ourselves out and move our luggage to the right belt and after lots of queuing we still had to take a train to another terminal. From the train we managed to see Rock and Mourning Doves and a Great-tailed Grackle. When we got to right terminal we still sat down next to windows and saw an American Crow.

When we got to right gate we hadn’t got too much to wait and finally our American Airlines plane left towards Costa Rica at 18:59 p.m.
There was no media-center at all in this flight so I tried to sleep as long as possible and managed quite well. We stayed in same time-zone and finally landed to San Jose airport at 11:03 p.m. After some queuing we found our luggage and then at the lobby we found our Transuca driver that our trip-organizer Peter Wiestra from Aratinga Tours had arranged. And soon we were driving towards Hotel Bougainvillea.

After we had got our rooms, we still organized our stuff so that we were ready start birding early next morning. Of course we opened the balcony door shortly and listened some night-sounds and heard a couple of Pauraques calling. But soon we had to go to sleep as the day had been very long!

Bougainvillea

We woke up at 5:15 a.m. and it was still dark outside. Pauraques were still calling for few minutes before other birds started to call. We didn’t identify most of the calls but the most active callers were later identified as Brown Jays and Clay-colored Thrushes.

When the sun started to rise there were more and more birds calling so we took our gear and headed out. We had planned our trip so that we had very easy start and were staying in Hotel Bougainvillea for two nights and do birding only in hotels nice garden. We could rest from long traveling and yet-lag and then get familiar with common birds of Central America and find also some specialties that were possible to find in this three hectare garden.

When we got out to the garden we saw plenty of Clay-colored Thrushes and some Rufous-backed and Cabanis’s and White-winged Doves. A stunning Montezuma Oropendola flew over us and some other birds were just heard or seen too briefly to identify. The first pictures were taken of a Variegated Squirrel.

It was quite windy but soon we found a couple of Lineated Woodpeckers that soon copulated. From thick bamboos we knew to search for an owl and I took my thermal camera and in seconds I found a Mottled Owl that was hiding deep inside the thicket.

After a short walk we found a beautiful Lesson’s Motmot which showed quite nicely so we could get some pictures. One the same trees we saw a Hoffmann’s Woodpecker, Cinnamon-bellied Saltator and after some more searching we found a Chestnut-capped Warbler, a beautiful Summer Tanager and a Red-billed Pigeon that came to drink to a small water-pool.

We found also several already familiar species like Great Kiskadees and Social Flycatchers, Tropical Kingbirds, Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Blue-and-white Swallows, Blue-grey Tanagers, Northern House Wrens, Rufous-collared Sparrows and also some Crested and Yellow-headed Caracaras were seen in flight. In the parking place we heard distant calls of House Sparrow.
While we were having breakfast we saw a Melodious Blackbird and when we were back in the garden the weather was already getting hot and Turkey and Black Vultures were soaring up in the sky.

We were walking around the garden and found a couple of White-eared Ground-sparrows and other birds we found were Rock and Inca Doves and a couple of White-tipped and Common Ground Doves. A Short-tailed Hawk was seen on the sky and a Barred Antshrike was heard calling. Some birds that were moving briefly on the top of trees were a Yellow-bellied and an Acadian Flycatcher, a Yellow-throated, a Yellow-green and some Philadelphia Vireos, Baltimore Orioles, Tennessee Warblers and American Yellow Warblers.

Parrots were much more difficult than we had expected as they were always just flying over us very fast. Anyway we managed to identify some flocks of Finch’s and Orange-fronted Parakeets, a small flock of Red-lored and a couple of White-fronted Amazons.

In the afternoon the garden was surprisingly quiet so after we had eaten, we rested a little. Then we headed back to park in the late afternoon. But still there were almost no new birds – just one Vaux’s Swift that flew over me. Jarmo had been watching birds from their balcony and he had seen a couple of White-tailed Kites.

When it was already dark we had dinner and pretty soon we were ready to get some sleep.

On the 20th of February the weather was still windy but it was also raining a little. So there was much less birds in the garden. We still walked around until the breakfast but found mostly the same birds than on the previous day. Only new bird was a Common Tody-flycatcher and Jarmo managed to see a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Palm Tanager. When we were having breakfast a local guide who we had been talking in the evening came to tell us that the Mottle Owl was now showing much better in the bamboos. So we ate quickly and went to take pictures of this beautiful owl. Then we had to hurry as we had to be in the lobby at 8:15 a.m. with our luggage.

To Pacific coast

Our driver for the whole trip Emidio Soto arrived in time but it was a surprise for us that he didn’t speak any English. And it seemed that he had expected us to speak Spanish – so he was also surprised. But luckily this wasn’t a new situation for us and especially Hanna is excellent in explaining things with some easy English or only Spanish words we know or by drawing or any necessary ways. So soon we had packed our Hiace and were ready to hit the road.

San Jose was a mess as there was too much traffic everywhere. And of course there was some accident right on our way and we had to drive and extra hour to get to main road that was leading towards west and Pacific Ocean coast.

On the way we saw only a few birds. We managed to identify Western Cattle and Great Egrets, some Barn Swallows and a flock of Shiny Cowbirds. We had planned to stop on a Crocodile Bridge on the way but there were too many tourists so we decided to skip that. Anyway we managed to see one big American Crocodile floating on the river.

We were on the coast in Tárcoles so early that we decided to turn to Playa Azul where we stopped on the sand-beach. We took our telescope and walked to the shore. It was +35 degrees and sun was burning but anyway we stayed there for some time and managed to see Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatedbirds, Laughing Gulls, Neotropic Cormorants and Royal Terns. A flock of Sanderlings were running on the sandy shore and further along the beach we saw a couple of Willets. Mangrove Swallows were flying over the trees and we also saw a Wood Stork and an Osprey in distance.

We still continued to the end of the road where we found nice mangrove along the river but the visibility wasn’t too good. We found some Little Blue Herons, a Least and a Solitary Sandpiper. But soon it started to feel too hot to continue so we decided to continue driving towards our accommodation where we were supposed to drop our bags before our afternoon trip.

But we didn’t drive for long before we noticed birders along the road. There was a guide showing something that was perched right above the road with his telescope. We asked if they didn’t bother if we also check what bird there is and they were all very kind. And what a bird there was – a stunning Black-and-white Owl! In the same tree we saw also a Streaked Flycatcher and a Rose-throated Becard.

Once we were driving again we saw a big group of people watching and photographing towards a tree-trunk and right away saw a beautiful Scarlet Macaw. Of course we stopped again and found out there was a pair of macaws posing next to their nest-hole.

After we had taken photos of the macaws we continued towards south and after about 15 minutes turned to Selva Color Lodge. The manager of the lodge was just leaving somewhere but luckily saw us and turned around and soon we had carried our luggage into our cottages.

Orotina

And then we drove again past Tárcoles towards Orotina before turned to smaller roads and finally at 2 p.m. we parked to garden of our guide Alvaro Gutierrez.

Alvaro was already working and right away he showed us a stunning Fiery-billed Aracari that he had attracted to a treetop nearby by using playback. Soon he was playbacking again and almost right away we got an answer and soon a beautiful Turquoise-browed Motmot flew to bushes next to us and we managed to get some pictures of it. We also saw a Blue-vented Hummingbird on a top of one tree.

Jarmo and Sanna stayed in the garden and tried to photograph birds that were visiting the feeder and bushes and trees around, but with Alvaro we headed to a steep hilly forest. We had planned the whole trip so that there was always something to do for all of us as. If some birds or places were too difficult to walk for any of us, there was always an option – feeder or other good birding place to stay. And all our accommodations were right inside good birding areas.

We were walking on a very noisy dry leaves up and down to a forest where we started to find some nice birds: a Squirrel Cuckoo, a Yellow-olive Flatbill, a Streak-headed and an Olivaceous Woodcreeper, a Mistletoe Tyrannulet, a Dusky-capped and a Boat-billed Flycatcher, the same familiar vireos and warblers than we had already seen and also an American Redstart and an Orange-billed Sparrow. After some walking we saw a couple of Spectacled Owls that were hiding in a tree. These owls were surprisingly shy and flew inside the deeper forest and we didn’t want to bother them more.

After we had seen a beautiful Gartered Trogon and a funny couple of White-whiskered Puffbirds, we stopped inside the woods and Alvaro played some calls. And soon an absolutely beautiful Long-tailed Manakin arrived to its dancing place. Unfortunately manikins are dancing only early in the morning but we were lucky that this one bird came to see us. The place was very dark so we didn’t get very good pictures.

Once we were walking back to Alvaro’s garden we heard a Striped Cuckoo and soon we met Jarmo and Sanna who had been photographing some Red-legged Honeycreepers visiting the feeder and also seen a Scrub Euphonia.

Soon we drove towards the drier parts of Orotina and did a couple of first stops without any new birds. We also tried to find a Pacific Screech Owl without luck. Then we had to wait for a long time before a Lesser Ground Cuckoo responded to Alvaro’s playback. It came slowly closer but after all only Jarmo managed to see it very briefly. Luckily we all heard it calling many times.

Surprisingly the most common bird was a Barn Swallow but we also saw a flock of Groove-billed Anis, some Plain-breasted and Ruddy Ground Doves, a few Orange-chinned Parakeets and a Variable Seedeater. In a couple of places we saw some Mantled Howlers on the top of trees.

On the next stop we heard a Double-striped Thick-knee and saw a Grey-crowned Yellowthroat and soon we saw also a Laughing Falcon. It was already getting late so we tried the Pacific Screech Owl again in the same place and this time it arrived to a branch and showed really well.

After some trying we found a family of Stripe-headed Sparrows and on the same place we had a nice flock of birds with a couple of Blue-black and Yellow-faced Grassquits, a couple of Blue Grosbeaks and a female Painted Bunting. So we could be very happy for this stop.

We dropped Alvaro back to his home and then still saw a Lesser nighthawk flying across the road before we went to eat to a local roadside restaurant. While we were eating we still saw the first Tropical Mockingbird.

We did some shopping for the next day before headed to Selva Color. Others were deleting bad pictures and I was keeping the log.

Carara National Park

On the 21st of February we woke up early and saw some Yellow-throated Toucans and Orchard Orioles and heard a Ruddy Quail-Dove and a Grey Hawk calling and some Bananaquits singing. We had ordered an early breakfast and after that we drover about 7 kilometers to Carara National Park parking place. There we immediately saw a hawk perched almost in the middle of the parking place but some stupid people were going too close to photograph it with their cell-phones. So we couldn’t get good pictures of this stunning Collared Forest Falcon.

We met our guide Santiago Adaniz and soon started walking along the paved tracks to Carara rain-forest. Jarmo and Sanna decided to walk slowly and stay close to the gate as we knew we were going to walk quite a lot with the guide.

In the beginning of the trail we heard a Short-billed Pigeon and a Cocoa Woodcreeper before we came to a river where Santiago showed us a nest of a Tropical Royal flycatcher. The nest was already empty but we soon found the adult birds catching insects and carrying them for youngsters than were hiding inside dense bushes. One of the adults came pretty close to us a couple of times but it was always behind branches so we didn’t get very good pictures.

We also saw the first Chestnut-sided Warbler and Northern Waterthrush of the trip and after some more walking we found a Pale-billed Woodpecker, a Strip-throated Hermit, several noisy Rufous Pihas, a Northern Plain Xenops and a Northern Barred, a Black-striped, Spotted, Streak-headed and a couple of Cocoa Woodcreepers. A couple of Velvety Manakins were heard but only a female was seen briefly.
Deeper inside the forest we found finally a Great Tinamou visible after hearing several already. And after we had heard some Northern Black-throated Trogons we finally found one visible but it was a Black-headed Trogon. After some more walking we were crossing a small bridge when I noticed something bright red on the bottom of a narrow ditch and it was a beautiful male Red-capped Manakin. There was a couple having a bath.

We took a shortcut along a muddier path to another track and then started walking backwards. Then we found army-ants that had some Bicolored and Chestnut-backed Antbirds and singles of a Dot-winged Antwren, Grey-headed Tanager and Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and a couple of other woodcreepers that we had already seen following them. We also saw an another Great Tinamou and a Central American Agouti well.

We were already close to the parking place when we found an Orange-billed Sparrow and a Ruddy Quail-Dove that were feeding quite openly on the ground. There were also a couple of groups of birders with their guides walking along the path now. They had luckily left much later than us so we had seen some shy birds along the way.

We still twitched a Northern Ghost Bat that Hanna rally wanted to see. We had already tried to find it in a couple of places but finally the last possible place we were lucky. We had also seen some Panamian White-faced Capuchins and Geoffroy’s Spider Monkeys too. And Hanna was more than happy as we had also seen some Poison-dart Frogs too.

Other birds that we had found had been some Black-hooded Antshrikes, Rufous-and-white Wrens, Lesser Greenlets, Buff-rumped Warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, a Sulphur-rumped Myiobius, a Rufous Mourner, a Great Crested Flycatcher, a Black-crowned and a Masked Tityra, a Cinnamon Becard and so on so the morning walk had been quite good.

The hottest time of the day we relaxed in our accommodation but in the afternoon we met Santiago again and now headed to another track. Afternoon was again much quieter than the morning but pretty soon we managed to get some pictures of a Black-hooded Antshrike. Then we reached an areas where people had been walking quite a lot and soon found the reason for that as there were plenty of Orange-collard Manakins inside the vegetation. They were moving very quickly but after some trying we managed to get some pictures of them. On the same place there was also a White-whiskered Puffbird which was much easier to photograph.

After photographing a Black-hooded Trogon we saw a Trilling Gnatwren briefly and then after some searching we found another long-billed bird a Rufous-tailed Jacamar.

We were already close to the road when we saw a White-tailed Deer crossing the path. It was quite a surprise to see a familiar mammal here – but after all they have been introduced to Europe from Americas. On the parking place we still saw a small flock of Golden-hooded Tanagers and on the way back to Selva Color we saw a Red-tailed Hawk soaring on the sky.

In the afternoon we still walked a little around the Selva Color area and managed to find some White-crowned Parrots, a Red-crowned Woodpecker, a Rose-throated Becard, a Dusky-chested Flycatcher, a Tawny-winged Woodcreeper and a White-browed Gnatcather. In the evening we still sat on our terrace and saw a Broad-winged Hawk, some Grey-breasted Martins and a couple of small flocks of Costa Rican Swifts. When we got inside our room there was a huge black spider on the wall. It had probably came in because of there were lots of ants outside. Luckily Hanna was brave enough to catch this spider and carry it out.

River Tárcoles

On the 22nd of February we woke up early and drove to Tárcoles River where we parked to Crocodile Safaris parking place. We were there too early and unfortunately there wasn’t any breakfast available even though the place looked promising. From the parking place we found a nice Common Black Hawk.

Our boat-driver came right on time and at 6 a.m. we were in a boat. Then we had to make a decision which way to go – up or down the river. We didn’t really know which was better but we thought that there was more mangroves on the river-mouth so we headed that direction.

Right away there were plenty of birds to see and photograph: a couple of Muskovy Ducks were seen swimming and on the shore there were lots of egrets and wafers. Some flocks of Yellow-naped Amazons were flying over the river and Mangrove Swallows were flying everywhere. It was still quite dark but anyway we took pictures of American White ibises, Wood Storks, an Amazon Kingfisher, Roseate Spoonbills, Green, Tricolored, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, Black and Yellow-crowed Night Herons and a Bare-throated Tiger Heron.

Our skipper wasn’t a regular guy but Aratinga had arranged him also as a guide and he knew birds quite well and he really knew how to approach birds. The weather was still quite windy but when we reached the mangrove we started to find more birds like a Panama Flycatcher, a Variable Seedeater, 5 species of kingfishers which Belted Kingfisher was a lifer for us and an American Pygmy Kingfisher we managed to get pretty close.

The weather really wasn’t good for searching for hummingbirds but anyway we were checking every flowery bush on the riverside. And after some searching we first saw some Scaly-breasted Hummingbirds but then finally also a Mangrove Hummingbird. Unfortunately we saw it only quite briefly as an aggressive Scaly-breasted Hummingbird attacked it and chased it away. And exactly the same thing happened with the second Mangrove Hummingbird too but luckily this time all of us managed to see it.

Soon we came to a place where Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Boobies were perched on the trees with some Neotropic Cormorants and Anhingas. Also a familiar Osprey was seen.

Our next target was found and seen well after some patience and finally I also managed to get really nice pictures of this Mangrove Vireo. Mangrove and Prothonotary Wablers were seen only from a distance and we didn’t get good pictures of these beautiful warblers. But then Hanna found a really good bird, a Mangrove Cuckoo, hiding inside a bush. Luckily it climbed to the top of the bush and we managed to get some pictures of it. And soon our skipper showed us very well hidden Boat-billed Herons that were inside the reedbed.

When we were coming back to the main branch of the river we heard and saw a Rufous-browed Peppershrike, some Tropical Pewees and a couple of Plumbeous Kites that flew over us. Inside the forest we saw a couple of Common Black Hawks. Then our skipper showed us a funny line of Proboscis Bats that weren’t hanging like ordinary bats but were tightly against the branch and therefore very difficult to notice.

On the way back towards the center we still saw more egrets and kingfishers, a Streak-backed Oriole and some more waders which were mostly too far but we managed to identify some of them. We saw some Least and Western Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpipers, Semicollared and Grey Plovers, Hudsonian Whimbrels, a few Ruddy Turnstones and Willets and a couple of Wilson’s and Collared Plovers.

We were already close to the dock when we heard song of a River Wren and a Peregrine Falcon flew over us. And as we had seen only one small American Crocodile, we still went to see a big one that was living on the other side of the center.

A couple of stops on the mountains

Soon we had packed everything into our Hiace and started a long drive.

We were driving along the coast towards south for a long time but the coast was so inhabited that we didn’t need to stop at all. Most of the time the road was too far from the sea and in the heat of the day there wasn’t many birds at all. A couple of Roadside Hawks, a few Tropical Mockingbirds and a Bat Falcon were the only birds to mention.

After a long drive we turned inland and started to climb higher. And after a lot of climbing we turned to Mirador Valle del General restaurant parking place. There were really good feeders and food also available for humans. The restaurant was crowded but we found a good spot to watch the feeders.

Immediately we found some Scarlet-rumped Tanagers, Violet Sabrewings, Green-crowned Brilliants and singles of Brown Violetear and a Long-billed Starthroat and on the ground there was a Grey-cowled Wood Rail feeding rise and so on from the dish-water.

Soon we saw a beautiful female Red-headed Barbet, a crimson-red Summer Tanager, Baltimore Orioles, a Buff-throated Saltator, beautiful Silver-throated and Golden-hooded Tanagers and three funny Grey-headed Chachalacas. The birds were really disturbing our own lunch.

A Black-striped Sparrow visited under one feeder very briefly and when the others were paying for our food I noticed a couple of small and colorful birds in a bush further back. I took some pictures and I could identify them as Elegant Euphonias. Unfortunately they disappeared almost right away.

We still had some driving but finally we started to climb steeply up to a mountain and got above the tree line and continued to the end of the road to Cerro Buenavista next to some big antennas.

The area was very bushy and it took some time to find any birds but the first birds were Volcano Hummingbirds. Soon we found also Volcano Juncos, Black-throated Green Warblers and Slaty Flowerpiercers and while checking all these grey small birds I managed to photograph a Black-billed Nightingale Thrush that was seen only very briefly inside a dense bush. And after some playbacking we heard a response and found the first Timberline Wren visible.

After photographing a Timberline Wren we finally found one caller visible and it was a Large-footed Finch. Then we walked a little bit along the road to next big bushes and found plenty of Black-cheeked Warblers, Sooty-capped Chlorospinguses, Sooty Thrushes and also a Mountain Elaenia, a Wilson’s Warbler and a Black-capped Flycatcher. About 20 White-collared Swifts were flying on the sky and we also saw one Volcano Junco with color-rings, so someone was studying this species here.

But the time was running fast and we had to move on. Both this place and Vista General feeders had been places that we had added to our schedule after some studying and of course asking our tour-organizer if they were good places to stop on the way. And they really had paid off!

San Gerardo de Dota

We had only a short drive left before we were in San Gerardo de Dota and finally parked to Cabinas Miriam. We marched inside the restaurant but I couldn’t help myself and start booking our rooms but I had to go to see the feeders. There was still some light left and there were lots of birds visiting the feeders. Clearly the owner understood us and we decided to get the rooms a little bit later. So we could still enjoy Flame-colored Tanagers, Volcano and Talamanca Hummingbirds, Grey-tailed Mountaingems, Lesser Violetears and Acorn Woodpeckers before it started to get too dark. Then we were ready to get keys to our cottages.

We had amazing view to the valley from our terrace and after the dinner we could listen to Dusky Nightjars calling nearby.

On the 23rd of February we woke up very early. Jarmo and Sanna had decided to concentrate photographing birds that are visiting the feeder as we really didn’t know what kind of day we were going to have with our guide. There might be lots of walking. Anyway the main target of the day would be one particular bird which might be difficult to find but of course we wanted to see as many other birds too as possible.

We met our guide Raul Fernandez at 5:30 a.m. and he was driving a big 4-wheel drive and as it was only me and Hanna now we could have jumped in his car but Emidio was also ready to join us so after all I got into Raul’s car and Hanna to our Hiace so we both got front-seats. We had a plan that if our target-bird was found in an easy place Emidio could come back to pick up Jarmo and Sanna to twitch it too.

The night had been really cold and in some parts the ground was frosty! It had been minus degrees! I hadn’t prepared this cold so I didn’t wear enough clothes but luckily I was so excited that I didn’t care.

We of course started immediately searching for the legendary Resplendent Quetzal. Raul told us that on the previous day there had been lots of people searching for it and after more than 4 hours searching one bird had been see but only briefly. Most of the people hadn’t seen it at all. And that was the reason that this morning there was a record number of people searching for quetzals, even more than 100 birders!

On our very first stop we saw a few birds on the road and even though it was still quite dark we managed to identify a Black-faced Solitaire, a Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush and a Louisiana Waterthrush. And then a stunning Blue-throated Toucanet came to a tree next to us. And quite soon we heard distant calls of a Resplendent Quetzal from the other side of the valley.

Raul tried to whistle to the quetzal but it didn’t come any closer. Also another bird was answering but even further than the first one.

Raul and other guides that were searching for the quetzals had walkie-talkies and Raul of course told about our birds to other people. While he was still talking with other guides, we saw a Black-billed Nightingale Thrush visiting the roadside. Many singing Black-faced Solitaires were singing their metallic song.

Soon Raul got information that one quetzal had been found but on the far end of the valley. He of course asked if we wanted to go twitching even though it meant that we would skip many other stops and birds on the way. We decided to keep on birding our own way as we were quite sure that with help of Raul who was really good guide and some patience we would find one quetzal by ourselves.

On our next stop we heard very thin calls of a Wrenthrush and managed to see it briefly. Somehow I managed to get one really good picture of it too. My camera takes 20 pictures per second and somehow the bird was visible only the first picture of the series I took.

Once we continued along the valley we soon saw a couple of Black Guans and later saw some more of them. We made several stops and Raul really found some good birds for us: Mountain Thrushes, Northern Tufted Flycatchers, Flame-throated Warblers, Dark and Ochraceous Pewees and so on. It was also nice to see a familiar Merlin on the top of one dry tree.

Then Raul got information that another quetzal had been found. We didn’t hurry but after all we had only some hundreds of meters to the place where were already tens of cars, a couple of buses and really lots of people on the road! It was really a big twitch! These cars had been driving up and down the valley for whole morning – they had all been in the end of the valley too where the first bird had disappeared too soon. Luckily we hadn’t been joining this madness.

We walked to the crowd and Raul translated the situation for us. A female quetzal had been seen flying to a big tree that was in front of us. I took my thermal camera and started to scan the tree and soon found a bright spot in the middle of the dense tree. But right away it flushed and we saw a female Resplendent Quetzal flying across the opening to the forest. We of course shouted about it to everyone and I think most of the people saw it disappearing to the forest.

People started to leave when I noticed a male quetzal flying after the female and I shouted to the others and at least the closest people managed to see this amazing bird in flight.

So our main target had been seen but we weren’t full yet, we hadn’t got any pictures of it yet. And of course we had still many other birds to see. So we kept on going along the valley.

After we had heard a Golden-browed Chlorophonia and a Hairy Woodpecker we parked to Hotel Savegre and walked to the feeders. There we ate our breakfast that we had got with us from Miriam’s. Raul had to visit somewhere but we enjoyed the birds that were visiting the feeder.

Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scintillant Hummingbirds, a beautiful make Grey-tailed Mountaingem and other hummingbirds and tanagers that we had seen in Miriam’s feeders were seen and photographed. And as Raul had told us, soon we saw a flock of Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers coming to trees behind the feeders.

When Raul came back we were ready for a longer forest walk along the tracks behind the hotel. Raul’s father who was a guide too had called to Raul that he had some birds for us just in the beginning of the trail. When we got there we saw a few funny Spotted Wood Quails digging the ground in the shadows.

It was already late morning and the forest was pretty quiet but all the birds we found were very interesting. Even Raul got excited when we found a Streak-breasted Treehunter and also several Ruddy Treerunners, a Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, a Yellow-winged Vireo couple, a beautiful Collared Whitestart, an Olive-streaked Flycatcher, a Yellowish Flycatcher and after quite a long walking we heard a Costa Rican Pygmy Owl calling. Also a few Ruddy Pigeons were heard.

We continued along the trail and found a couple of Ochraceous Wrens and heard a couple of Yellow-bellied Siskins and a Barred Becard which were heard later too and finally one female also seen. Then after some searching with thermal camera and playbacking we heard a response from a White-throated Screech Owl. Unfortunately the bird was away from its territory for some reason and Raul didn’t want to disturb it more than was necessary. We were after all happy to only hear it.

In the beginning of the trail we had met a woman who had been walking around the track and she had told to Raul that she had seen a quetzal. Now Raul told us that we were getting close to the place where it had been. And soon I found a stunning male Resplendent Quetzal perched on a branch in front of us. We took the first pictures right away but as the bird was just above the trail and there was no way to go around it, we kept on sneaking closer. The bird moved a couple of times for some other reason than us but after all it landed to a trunk where it started to dig a nesting hole!

The quetzal was still very close to the trail and we had to pass it anyway so we were carefully walking past it and taking pictures all the time. After all it moved a little and we could pass the trunk without flushing the bird away. We hope that this bird can nest in peace as the place was luckily quite far and for sure most of the people who are visiting San Gerardo do Dota and want to see the quetzal are not ready walk this far.

In the end of the trail we still got some very good birds: a Black-thighed Grosbeak, a Plain-colored and a Spangle-cheeked Tanager, a few Spotted Barbtails and funny Buffy Tuftedcheeks, some Brown-capped Vireos, Yellow-thighed Brushfinches and several Silvery-fronted Tapaculos which we managed to see both a male and a female and Raul though that he had seen afemale only once before. We also heard a couple of Collared Trogons and one Rufous-browed Peppershrike again. On a short stop on a view-watching place we saw a couple of Swallow-tailed Hawks. We also heard a couple of more Resplendent Quetzals and after all we had managed to see 3 and heard 6 of them.

Once we were back at the parking place we drove down back to the hotel and on the way still saw a flock of Lesser Goldfinches. At the hotel we said thanks to Raul as we had really enjoyed one of the best birding ever! We changed emails so we can contact each others in the future too – I hope we meet one day.

With Emidio we drove back to Miriam’s where Jarmo and Sanna were still photographing at the feeder. They had taken lots of pictures – at least Sanna had filled several memory-cards! I asked if they had seen any new species and Jarmo pointed his finger down to the closest bush and just some tens of centimeters from his finger there was a Fiery-throated Hummingbird perched. We also saw a Red-tailed Squirrel, a beautiful couple of Golden-browed Chlorophonias, Slaty Flowerpiercers and a Hairy Woodpecker.

After the lunch and a short break we drove again to Savegre Hotel where we all photographed the birds that were visiting the feeder the rest of the afternoon.

While we were walking towards the feeders a Red-tailed Hawk flew over us. On the feeders there were again lots of birds to photograph. But there weren’t any new species so after some photographing I went to try to photograph Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers but they were all the time hiding behind branches and leaves but I saw a White-naped Brushfinch while trying.

Once I got back we saw several flocks of Barred Parakeets and a couple of Sulphur-winged Parakeets. Then I still went to walk a couple of kilometers along the river but only new birds I saw were a couple of Torrent Tyrants.

When we thought we had taken enough pictures, we drove back to Miriam’s where we ate and the rest of the evening went again with pictures and the log.

On the 24th of Februry we headed out early and tried to whistle quetzal but had no response. Once we saw movement inside the restaurant, we went to photograph bird on the feeders. We managed to get better pictures of a Mountain Thrush, Golden-browed Chlorophonias and Blue-throated Toucanet.

After the breakfast we whistled a little bit more and now had a response far from the other side of the valley. It didn’t come any closer but now our whole group managed to at least hear this amazing bird.

Casa Tangara Dowii

Then it was time to pack our car and drive 40 minutes to Casa Tangara Dowii which was a local birder’s garden with feeders.

We met our host and followed him inside his living room where we sat on the couches that were facing to the feeders. The windows were possible to open but we decided to keep them closed as there was a possibility to see a couple of shier species. And the light was still bad anyway.

White-naped and Yellow-thighed Brushfinches arrived already in the darkness and soon a Buff-fronted Quail-Dove arrived too.

Next new arrivals were a Chestnut-capped Brushfinch and Spangle-cheeged Tanagers which have gave the name for this place (Tangara dowii). Also some nice Dusky Rice Rats were visiting the feeders and several flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons were seen in flight.

I did a short walk in the garden and saw a couple of Purple-throated Mountaingems which only one had been seen briefly through the windows. I also found a couple of Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrushes, a Mountain Elaenia and a Mistletoe Tyrannulet. When I got back inside the light was already better.

With Hanna we walked around the short path that was in the garden but we didn’t find anything new. Our host promised to come out and shout if the Buffy-crowned Wood Partridges were coming to the feeders. These partridges were visiting the feeders every day but they didn’t have any schedule. We still waited for some time but unfortunately they didn’t come in our schedule. At 10 a.m. we had to leave as we had a long drive in front of us.

One day when we had been having lunch we had seen news on the television that one of the main-roads had been closed because of a landslide. The road was still being fixed and of course it was the road that we were supposed to drive. So we had to go around some mountains and drive much longer way to get north. But there was one good thing too – now we had a possibility to visit one place twice as we had to drive along the same road that we were supposed to drive back later.

Chinchona

It was a long drive but finally we drove up to mountains and after more driving we stopped to Chinchona restaurant. There were lots of people and most of them were birdwatchers. A couple of groups with their guides filled the best places close to feeders so we took a table a little bit further, ordered some food and started to photograph birds. And soon there were less people and we got good places to get pictures.

And there really were lots of birds! On the fruit-feeder there were plenty of colorful tanagers and hummingbird-feeders were busy too. Hummingbirds were buzzing around and they really were flying close to people’s heads.

Several Crimson-collared Tanagers and other already familiar tanagers like Scarlet-rumped, Silvery-throated, Blue-grey and Palm Tanagers, a couple of Red-headed Barbets, Buff-throated Saltators, Montezuma Oropendolas, a Blue-throated Toucanet, a couple of Black Guans and finally also a local rarity, a Yellow-winged Tanager showed up to fruit-feeder.

With many Green-crowned Brilliants, Violet Sabrewings and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds we saw also endemic Coppery-headed Emeralds, a White-bellied Mountaingem, a Black-bellied Hummingbird and a Green Hermit.

But after some photographing we had to keep on driving. Along the road we saw some rough-winged swallows which at least a couple we managed to identify as Southern Rough-winged Swallows. We also saw a couple of nice Swallow-tailed Kites again.

La Selva area – Selva Verde

When we finally were in Selva Verde Lodge we went to get our keys from the reception and then drove to the other side of the main road where our cottages were. Our cottages were on a steep hill but the steps were good. It was a hard work to carry our luggage up but it was nice to see that we were really in the middle of the rain-forest! There were nice plantations and some pools too in very close to our cottages so it really looked good place for birding. There was even a path with and lights so it was possible to move around easily even at night or in rain.

The first birds we heard were macaws that were calling on the top of high trees. They didn’t sound as croaky as we had used to and soon we also saw some of them in flight and they were Great Green Macaws.

In the afternoon we still walked around with Hanna and an Amazon Kingfisher was still next to the pool and some Mealy and Red-lored Amazons and White-crowned Parrots were flying around. We also saw a few Grey-rumped Swifts.

The dinner for groups was served in the hotel restaurant. There was also possibility to get other kind of food on the lower floor in a little bit finer restaurant. The hotel-ground was very green and there were also some pools around. With Hanna we decided to walk back to our cottages and we saw a Spectacled Caiman on the nearest pool. We also heard plenty of different kind of frogs but only ones we found were big Cane Toads. We also saw a big mustelid Tayra crossing the road but only bird we found with thermal camera was a Rufous Motmot.

On the 25th of February we headed out early and walked around the forest around our cottages. It was nice to hear Mantled Howlers morning calls. Orange-billed Sparrows, Lesser Greenlets, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots were calling and White-breasted Wood Wren was singing. A Broad-winged Hawk was perched on the top of a post and we also identified a Bright-rumped Attila, a Cocoa Woodcreeper and a Chestnut-backed Antbird. The same parrots and both Red and Great Green Macaws were flying over us and on the flowering bushes we saw a Stripe-throated and a Long-billed Hermit.

Picos y Plumas

We got our breakfast from reception with us and then drove 40 minutes to Picos y Plumas. There we met our host Jairo Lacayo and we followed him to his terrace where he had really good feeders.

There were more and more birds coming to the feeders and we started to get pictures of Green, Red-legged and Shiny Honeycreepers, Olive-backed and Yellow-crowned Euphonias, Crimson-collared Tanagers and several other already familiar species that were coming to fruit-feeders. Some bigger birds are also coming to eat bananas: Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Montezuma Oropendolas with one Chestnut-backed Oropendola, a Scarlet-rumped Cacique, a Great Kiskadee, a Black-headed Saltator and gorgeous Colalred Aracaris, Yellow-throated and Keel-billed Toucans!

And there was still more as there were really good feeders for hummingbirds too! White-necked Jacobin was the most numerous but also Scaly-breasted, Rufous-tailed and Blue-chested Hummingbirds and Green-crowned Brilliants were several. We saw a very small hummingbird flying past us and straight inside Jairo’s house. And soon Jairo showed us a small feeder that they had in their kitchen for especially this Stripe-throated Hermit so it could feed without bigger hummingbirds chasing it. The funny thing was that Jairo carried the feeder from the kitchen and this tiny hummingbird was all the time following the plastic-flower and sucking sugar-water from it.

Once we thought we had seen it all Jairo told us that he still had a few twitchable birds nearby. We thought we had already photographed all the visitors on the feeders so we didn’t even ask what he was about to show us when we left. With Hanna, Jairo and Emidio we drove a short way and saw the first Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth on the way before we stopped in the middle of forest. Then we wore our wellingtons and started to walk along a tiny muddy path.

It seemed that the first bird Jairo wanted to show us wasn’t at its territory and the forest seemed to be very quiet. But after some walking we saw a Dusky Antbird and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Then we came next to a huge tree and on the top of it we saw a pale lump which started to look like a bird with binoculars – it was a Great Potoo! And after some more walking we saw a couple of stunning Crested Owls!

We were already a little bit late from our schedule but Jairo still wanted to show us something. And of course we were ready to see something more. After quite a long walk we found a couple of Spectacled Owls which we had already seen before but it was anyway very nice to see these amazing owls again. On the way back we still saw a small group of Red-throated Ant-tanagers, an Ochre-bellied Flycatcher and funny White Tent Bats that were living under a banana-leaf that they had cut like a roof. Jairo also showed us some Long-nosed Bats and on the ground we saw several orange and blue Strawberry Poison-dart Frogs.

We walked fast and after all we had driven back to Picos y Plumas in time. Jarmo and Sanna had filled some more memory-cards and then it was time to say thanks to Jairo. We really enjoyed this place which can’t be found in eBird but Jairo has a Facebook-page where he can be contacted. He would like to have more customers and we can really highly recommend his services!

Nectar & Pollen

We had good time to go to eat and then drive to next place that was Nectar & Pollen. Unfortunately the weather had changed and it started to rain.

The usual host wasn’t available but his son was hosting us. We followed him and walked to a small opening where we sat on benches next to fruit-feeders. There were also flowering bushes around us and this place was a regular place for a legendary Snowcap. But for some reason there aren’t many observations of this beautiful hummingbird right on this time of the year, but it had been seem at least a couple of weeks earlier.

Montezuma Oropendolas, Clay-colored Thrushes, Collared Aracaris and a Melodious Blackbird came soon to eat fruits and after some trying we managed to identify a hummingbird that had been flying around us several times as a Violet-headed Hummingbird.

Then it started to rain again but at least we got very different kind of pictures from aracaris and other birds. But when the rain stopped again we managed to see a White-tipped Dove, a Common Tody-Flycatcher, a Chestnut-sided Warbler and I managed to see a Golden-winged Warbler briefly. And after some waiting a Rufous Motmot arrived to the feeder.

Our guide-boy wanted us to walk a short path that was in the forest nearby. I was sure there wasn’t going to be many birds in this weather but he really wanted to go there so I joined him. I was sure that Snowcap will appear to the bushes when I am away too. Luckily I was only partly right – we didn’t see any birds along the path, only heard a Bay Wren which could have been heard to feeders too and I missed a lifer but luckily it wasn’t a Snowcap but a Black-cowled Oriole.

When the fruits had been eaten new ones were put there a couple of time but it seemed the same birds were coming all the time to eat them. We saw a Swainson’s Thrush briefly and finally we managed to get good pictures of a Bronze-tailed Plumeteer.

After all we had to give up and start driving back towards Selva Verde. On the way we saw a Great Egret, a Great Blue and a Bare-throated Tiger Heron and a Peregrine Falcon.

It was already getting late when we were in Selva Verde. We saw some Great Green Macaws again, soon a Great Tinamou started to call and we saw a Short-tailed Nighthawk catching insects. Like most of the nights, we went to see nocturnal life with head and flashlight and thermal camera. After rains there were more frogs and the funniest ones were Red-eyed Tree Frogs. Only bird we found with thermal camera was a Wood Thrush but the funniest find were a couple of Kinkajous that were on a top of one tree.

La Selva Biological Station forests

On the 26th of February we knew we were going to walk a lot. Luckily our accommodation was in a great place for birding so Jarmo and Sanna could sleep a little bit longer and then do birding there. Jarmo was interested to do some recording too and this place seemed to be good for it too as it was pretty quiet. With Hanna and Emidio we left at 5:30 towards La Selva.

At 5:45 a.m. we parked to La Selva biological station parking place and we weren’t sure if we were going to have a guide or not as our schedule told that we had early morning walk and short birding walk but no mention about a guide.

But already at the gate we were told that we would meet our guide from the information center and pretty soon we were walking along the paved trail towards the rain-forest. Our guide was very quiet and he wasn’t rally telling anything at the beginning. And when we asked about some birds he identified them roughly to right family. I thought he really knew the birds but he didn’t know exact English names. So I told him to tell us every species he just finds and we can make the identification and naming together. And it really helped- slowly but it helped. I must say that there are thousands and thousands of bird-tourists visiting Costa Rica so it is of course understandable that there are different kind of guides – also bad ones. Most of the bird-tourists we had met had also been quite beginners so they don’t really need that good guides. And for sure walking the same trails with groups every day can be pretty boring too. But luckily our guide slowly understood that we were a bit different kind of birders than usual visitors and he really started to find birds.

Already in the garden of the station we had found some Great Curassows but it had been still too dark to get good pictures. We had also heard some Green Ibises that really had a funny call. We had also identified a couple of Bright-rumped Attilas.

When we crossed the river along a cable bridge a Broad-billed Motmot landed to a tree next to us. We walked through a gate inside the park and soon saw a Broad-winged Hawk perched above us on a branch. Next we ticked beautiful White-collared Manakins which were moving too quickly to get good pictures.

It was very dark inside the forest but luckily we started to hear some new birds. There were still some calls that our guide didn’t pay attention to or just didn’t identify but most of the birds were identified. A Semiplumbeous Hawk and Short-billed Pigeons were calling and we also heard several Great and a single Little Tinamou, a Northern Black-throated and a Gartered Trogon, Broad-billed and Rufous Motmots and many other birds that we were already familiar with.

Our guide asked if we wanted to see snakes and Hanna really wanted to see this particular snake that was in question. So we walked quite a lot to see a Eyelash Pitviper that luckily was in the same place as on the previous day. We also saw plenty of Strawbelly and Green-and-black Poison-dart Frogs so Hanna was more than happy.

There weren’t many situations to photograph birds in dark forest. Middle American Screech Owl couple was hiding so well that we hardly could identify them and a Checker-throated Stipplethroat, a Plain Xenops and an Ochre-bellied Flycatcher were seen too briefly. But Buff-rumped Warbler couple and a Wedge-billed Woodcreeper were seen a little bit better and once we were back in the garden we managed to get better pictures of a Black-faced Grosbeak.

We ate our breakfast and relaxed a few minutes before we met our new guide for the second walk. This man was much more talkative and seemed to know birds and names of birds better too.

We walked partly the same trails but managed to find some more birds like a White-whiskered Puffbird, a Rufous-tailed Jacamar, a Squirrel Cuckoo, a small a rapid flock of Dusky-faced Tanagers and then our guide pointed to a top of one dry tree where we managed to see a white bird flushing and flying down invisible – it had been a Snowy Cotinga. We really wanted to see this cotinga better but even we spent quite a lot of time waiting and then searching for it in other places, we didn’t find it anymore.
We still found a couple of Black-throated Wrens, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a Chestnut-colored Woodpecker and Red-throated Ant Tanagers before our guide showed us a funny snake that was living in a woodpeckers nest. It had been looking out from the same hole for several months.

The same White-collared Manakins were now easier to photograph when there was lighter and the same Broad-winged Hawk was now posing extremely well. But Middle American Screach Owls were still hiding well. We also managed to see Mantled Howler family’s routines before we found a swarm of army ants. But for some reason there weren’t any birds following them. Our guide thought they were now migrating from a tree to another one and then they weren’t hunting and attracting birds.

Nearby we found a Northern Barred and a Plain-brown Woodcreeper, a couple of Black-crowned Antshrikes and an Orange-billed Sparrow to photograph. We also heard a couple of Fasciated Antshrikes and a Trilling Gnatwren.

When were again back in the garden Great Curassows were in a better light but there were plenty of tourist-groups and we had to forget photographing. Lots of Turkey Vultures were migrating on the sky and we also saw a Bat Falcon and some Grey-rumped Swifts. Also some Boat-billed Flycatchers were seen and heard.

Emidio had brought Jarmo and Sanna to the station and we had planned to do some birding nearby but there were too many people and the weather was getting really hot already. So we just walked to the bridge and managed to see a couple of Green Ibises and some other familiar birds before we left back towards Selva Verde. We continued straight to a restaurant nearby where we saw Olive-throated Parakeets flying over us.

Still in Selva Verde

In Selva Verde we just rested a little in our cottage before we went to walk a trail that went around the garden area. It was only 3 kilometers long but it was really steep and therefore took more time than we had expected. First we heard only Great Green Macaws and it took some time before we saw our first bird but then it was a White-fronted Nunbird. It had just caught a big bug and it was banging it against a branch to make it eatable before swallowing it.

Soon we heard a beautiful song which became even more beautiful when I recorded and playbacked it. And soon this beautiful Blue-black Grosbeak flew closer to us but it stayed all the time in shadows and was moving too quickly.

When we were right above our cottages we heard a Great Crested Flycatcher singing on the top of a tree and soon heard a couple of new singers. The first one was identified as a Slate-colored Grosbeak but the second one we couldn’t identify. I recorded it and later we could identify it as a White-throated Thrush. We would have known a place where to twitch this thrush later but now it wasn’t necessary to go there. We also would have known a place where an Agami Heron was coming to roost at night to a tree in one hotel-yard but we weren’t too excited to go twitching that either. We hoped to see it better one day.

It was already getting dark when we were back near our cottages. We still watched parrots and macaws flying over us while a white-breasted Wood Wren was singing but soon it was quiet, only a Great Tinamou was still calling.

On the 27th of February we started walking around the Selva Verde grounds and managed to find a Slaty-tailed Trogon and a female Blue Dacnis as new species and a couple of Northern Black-throated Trogons and a Great Crested Flycatcher and so on.

We drove to the other side to hotel grounds where some birds were visiting the feeder. With Hanna we headed to walk some tracks that were going around the area but we found out that it was possible to get to the other side of the river to the natural park only with a guide.

But from the bridge we managed to find a young Fasciated Tiger Heron and a very young Black Vulture that was hiding inside the bushes until its parents came to feed it. We also saw an Anhinga flying over us.

Next to the hotel there were good numbers of birds and in one tree we saw a couple of Grey-capped Flycatchers and a Cinnamon and a White-winged Becard.

We walked along the river a little bit but found only a couple of Black Phoebes and saw a Double-toothed Kite flying over us. Soon we headed back to the hotel area where we still found a family of Red-throated Ant Tanagers, a Bay Wren, a couple of Variable Seedeaters and a Streak-headed Woodcreeper. A flock of Orange-chinned Parakeets were doing something on the top of trees and on the sky we saw again lots of Turkey Vultures migrating, and with them we saw a few King Vultures too.

After the breakfast we got into our car and went to get our luggage from our cottages. We hardly had started driving when Emidio noticed a trogon perched above the road. We got out and found a couple of Slaty-tailed Trogon that showed really well. We still ate at the roadside restaurant before started a longer drive.

Laguna Lagarto

We had expected that the road could be very bad in the end and therefore we didn’t make any stops on the way. We managed to see again some rough-winged swallows and we managed to identify both Southern and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. We also saw a couple of Yellow-faced Grassquits. Surprisingly the road was in very good shape until Laguna Lagarto so after all we were there earlier than we had thought.

We got our rooms and from our terrace we had again really nice view. Then we had to wait for some time to get our schedule arranged with the manager Adolfo. But after all we managed to arrange everything we wanted for the next two days.

It was very hot in the afternoon and there weren’t many birds around but anyway we did a short walk in the garden and found a Northern Waterthrush, some Olive-backed Euphonias, White-crowned Parakeets, a couple of White-ringed Flycatchers and from the lagoons nearby we found an Amazon Kingfisher, a couple of tortoises and a few big Spectacled Caimans.

We continued walking along the lagoons and then heard strange knocking voice from the other side of the lagoon. I checked what kind of call a Russet-naped Wood Rail had and it was exactly the same call. I played the call a little and then a Russet-naped Wood Rail started to call back very intensively. And soon we found this big rail visible and even managed to get some pictures of It before it disappeared back inside the bushes.

In the afternoon we stayed mostly at the terrace next to the restaurant and photographed bird visiting the feeders. We could still once hear the Russet-naped Wood Rail calling. For some reason the fruits were brought to the feeder only when the sun was setting. So there wasn’t much light left but there were really lots of birds coming to feed. We got good pictures of Keel-billed Toucans, Crested Guans, Brown-hooded Parrots and Golden-hooded Tanagers before it was too dark.

With Hanna we still went to walk to the lagoons with lights and thermal camera. When we were on the bridge there was a small problem as there were lots of Spectacled Caimans on the road and even on the bridge. There was a guide with a small group of tourists and we kindly asked if the guide could make at least the biggest and scariest-looking caiman to move a little bit so we could pass the bridge. So he pointed the caiman with a ling stick he had and it moved enough so we could keep on walking.

When we reached the place where the wood rail had been I started to play Central American Pygmy Owl call. On the first stop we heard nothing but on the second try we got an answer. A Central American Pygmy Owl was calling quite far and didn’t come any closer even we tried to playback it for some time. And after all owl moved towards our cottages. But when we got back to our cottage it was already quiet and we decided to leave it be and go to sleep.

On the 28th of February when we woke up there was a Pauraque calling outside. When there was some light we headed to the feeders and started photographing birds again. With the same birds than in the evening there were also Collared Aracaris, Montezuma Oropendolas, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Palm, Plain-colored and Summer Tanagers, Melodious Blackbirds and also a Yellow-throated Euphonia couple. From the terrace we saw also Finch’s Parakeets, Mealy and Red-lored Amazons, a Ringed Kingfisher, a Cinnamon Becard, a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher and a Black-crowned Tityra couple. Lots of Black Vultures and some King Vultures were flying around and we also saw a Crested Caracara through the garden. When the day started to get warm there were again lots of Turkey Vultures migrating and with them we saw a single Swainson’s Hawk. It was hard to eat breakfast as there were birds all around us.

When I went to get my equipment from our cottage I saw a Pied Puffbird perched on one tree and a few Great Green Macaws few over me.

Then we drove a short distance to a vulture-hide where were already lots of vultures feeding with pig’s heads. Our guide asked if we wanted to reposition the heads and after all he went to get one more head which was put closer to the hides.

At first there were only a couple of King Vultures which were all the time behind numerous Black Vultures or then just perched on the trees further. But after some waiting they started to land down to feeder and soon they were walking and running in front of us.

There were a couple of funny-looking young King Vultures too but mostly we concentrated to get pictures of amazing-looking adults. When these majestic birds were flying we tried to get good flight-shots. But it was much more difficult than I had expected. Between the hides we saw a female Thick-billed Seed Finch and a couple of Red Macaws flew over the hides.

Jarmo and Sanna stayed to photograph the vultures when we left with our guide to our next target. We drove again a little and then walked some hundreds of meters along a small ditch to a big tree where a Japanese group was already sitting down. They seemed to have waited for some time already so we also took our positions and started to wait.

Our guide walked behind the Japanese group and went to check the river and soon came back laughing that there had been an Agami heron along the river! We hadn’t seen it at all and it had flight behind the trees somewhere up along the river. Our guide tried to walk around it and then walk towards us along the river so we just had to wait. And luckily he flushed the heron again and we managed to it very briefly in flight. So our guide tried to do the same again and this time the heron flushed again and landed to a branch which was right behind the tree-trunk. So we tried to get closer and finally saw the heron but it was behind some branches and when I tried to manually focus my camera it flushed again and disappeared behind the tree further along the ditch.

While we had been chasing the Agami Heron the Japanese had started to photograph Great Green Macaws that had finally arrived to their nest-hole. So we also took lots of pictures of these great parrots that were quite far but anyway it was nice to get also this kind of pictures of this species.

Jarmo and Sanna had taken lots of pictures of the vultures and we could have photographed them for much longer but anyway we decided to drive back to our accommodation. From the restaurant-terrace I managed to finally see a Black-cowled Oriole that I had missed earlier and I also managed to get pictures of a Grey Hawk that was perched on the top of one tree. We also saw a Bat Hawk flying on the sky.

Our guide had said in the morning that Adolfos feeders were better in the afternoon so we had decided to try to change our schedule and go there in this afternoon instead of next morning. Luckily we managed to make the change and pretty soon we left to see his feeders that should have at least some different species than restaurant-feeder.

We had the same guide again and once we got to Adolfo’s home we first sat down to the terrace with fruit-feeders. Meanwhile our guide went to prepare the hummingbird-feeders to the other terrace. For some reason there was almost no activity at all on the fruit-feeder. There was probably some predator nearby? Finally some birds started to arrive and we got better pictures of Yellow-throated Euphonias. Then a flock of Yellow-chinned Parakeets arrived and they really overwhelmed the whole feeder to themselves. Somewhere on the back we heard a Blue Ground Dove calling.

Soon everything was ready on the other side of the house and there was a real studio for hummingbird-photographing. There was a beautiful flower with sugar-water and a light pointing to the flower. Unfortunately the place was still quite dark. At least I didn’t have good enough lens to get flight-shots of hummingbirds. Anyway there were plenty of hummingbirds and we saw and photographed White-necked Jacobins, Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, some Bronze-tailed Plumeteers and Green-breasted Mangos and a single Long-billed Hermit and a quite ragged Crowned Woodnyph. Soon the flower was changed and we got different kind of pictures.

Next to the hummingbird-feeder there were also some fruits was bigger birds and a couple of stunning Keel-billed Toucans arrived to feed. On the other side there were now plenty of tanagers so it was hard to decide where to be and what to photograph. But after lots of sugar-water and several flowers and many, many pictures, the light was getting too weak to continue and we decided to drive back to Laguna Lagarto.

There were now more photographers on the terrace but luckily there was still plenty of room. The light was already bad but anyway we got pictures of Great Curassows and Crested Guans while they were perched on a tree next to each others. I finally got some kind of pictures of a funny White-nosed Coati too that came to steal bananas that had dropped to the ground. On a dry tree in the distance we saw a Pale-billed Woodpecker.

In the evening a Short-tailed Nighthawk was hunting in the garden. We did a short walk again but saw only some Spectacled Caimans and Cane Toads.

On the 29th of February – leapday – the weather was unstable and it was raining at times. We headed to the terrace early and there were again birds to photograph. We were about to leave at 8 a.m. and I had planned to start walking along the road so others would pick me up on the way, but it was raining too hard. So I stuck to the terrace with the others. Some Finch’s Parakeets were on the trees and Great Curassows were walking in the garden with a White-nosed Coati. Collared Aracaris and Brown-hooded Parrots were keeping the rain next to the feeder so there was a possibility to get different kind of pictures.

Breakfast was at 7 a.m. and after that I decided to start walking. But soon it started to rain again and there weren’t almost any birds along the way. So I continued until the pools that we had passed a couple of times with cars before. There I found several Northern Jacanas and Purple Gallinules. Especially a couple of jacanas and a Bare-throated Tiger Heron were showing photogenic.

I heard a White-throated Crake calling a couple of times and from the reeds I found some Blue-black Grassquits, a couple of Thick-billed Seed Finches before I found also a couple of Nicaraguan Seed Finches. After I had passed Adolfo’s house I still found some Morelet’s Seedeaters. Lots of Turkey Vultures were soaring on the sky and soon our Hiace picked me up and we started a long way towards San Jose.

A couple of stops on the way to San Jose

On the way we saw only a single Least Grebe, a couple of Grey and Swallow-tailed Hawks, Band-tailed Pigeons and both rough-winged swallows.

Luckily Emidio had some plans on the way and after long driving we drove along steep downhill down to a river-valley a parked next to a bridge. We found at least 3 American Dippers easily and also a couple of Black Phoebes and Crimson-collared Tanagers and heard a couple of Northern Black-throated Trogons. A big flock of White-collared Swifts were flying on the sky.

Finally we parked again to Chinchona where we ordered food and started photographing birds on the feeders again. We saw mostly the same birds than on our previous visit now there were both Red-headed and Prong-billed Barbets.

Green-crowned Brilliants, Coppery-headed Emeralds, a Black-bellied Hummingbird and a Green Hermit were photographed again and also Baltimore Orioles, Bananaquits, Crimson-collared Tanagers and also an Olivaceous Woodcreeper and a Blue-throated Toucanet and so on.

After some more driving we stopped close to volcano Poas to a place where lots of flowering bushes were. Emidio told (or we quessed he told) that there was some hummingbird in this place. It was again very windy so we walked in the middle of the bushes and soon started to see Volcano Hummingbirds and in this place there was a subspecies which males and a bright red throat. Also a few Eastern Meadow Larks were singing nearby but we could find them visible.

We still had some driving left but after all we arrived surprisingly soon at our hotel Buena Vista which was northern side of San Jose. There we had to say thanks and goodbye to Emidio. Of course we had collected a tip for him. He had really been a good and flexible driver!

From our room balcony we saw some White-crowned Parakeets, American Yellow and Tennessee Warblers, Vaux’s Swifts, a Red-billed Pigeon, a Brown Jay and a Piratic Flycatcher. We ate well in the hotel restaurant and were ready to go to sleep early.

Poas Volcano

The 1st of March was our last day. Like the first day also this last day was an additional day as we had got flights a little bit differently than in ordinary schedule. In the beginning we had been able to get used to climate and time-zone and have an easier start in Bougainvillea but to this last day we had managed to book a guide from Aratinga and we were going to visit Poas volcano.

Again we were going together with Hanna as Jarmo and Sanna wanted to take a little bit easier. Jarmo wanted to watch possible raptor movement from the balcony and they could enjoy the weather and maybe even visit the pool. We would have very tough traveling soon.

In an early morning there was a Yellow-bellied Elaenia singing in a tree next to our balcony and after breakfast we met our guide Emanuel Guzman and climbed into his car and started driving towards Poas.

We did the first stop on the halfway of the slope to a restaurant garden. The owner was Emanuel’s friend so we could visit the feeders and walk a short trail there. There were lots of hummingbirds but they were flying around extremely fast. We saw a White-bellied and a Purple-throated Mountaingem, a Stripe-tailed Hummingbird and some Green-crowned Brilliants, Talamanca Hummingbirds, Violet Sabrewings, Lesser Violetears and Violet Sabrewings but they were all impossible to get any pictures. Along the trail we found a Slate-throated Whitestart and a White-naped Brushfinch and so on.

Soon we continued up until Poas National Park gates and there were many cars in the queue. The visit to the park had to be booked in advance and it seemed that many visitors hadn’t done that. Once we got through the gate we soon saw a Black-billed Nightingale Thrush, a Large-footed Finch and a Yellow-thighed Brushfinch which we all managed to get some pictures too. There were lots of cars also in the parking place so it really seemed that this was a popular tourist-place.

Poas is an active volcano and sometimes there is something else than just ash dropping from the sky so we were given helmets right away. Then in the information center we had to watch an exhibition about the area both in Spanish and in English before we could begin climbing up towards the crater with all other white-helmeted people.

We were of course walking slower than others as we tried to find birds on the way, Only a couple of female-type of Volcano Hummingbirds or Scintillant Hummingbird flew over us, Sooty-capped Chorospinguses were scuttled in the bushes and on one branch there was a Band-tailed Pigeon incubating in its nest. Once we got to the top an amazing view to the crater opened in front of us. But there was a big cloud swarming towards the crater so we had to be quick to get any pictures.

We had used much more time than the rest of our group so when we started to walk back down there were already blue and red-helmeted people passing us. There was a rule that a visit on the top should take 20 minutes per group but it seemed that most of the people were in a hurry. And because of the cloud there really wasn’t much to see anymore.

We still walked a little on the slope under the parking place and saw some birds but only birds to mention were a couple of Fiery-throated Hummingbirds and a Flame-throated Warbler.

Then we started driving down and did some stops on the way. We playbacked in some places but found only familiar birds. We were about to leave one view-watching place where we had seen a couple of Golden-browed Chlorophonias flying by when we finally saw a single male Black-and-yellow Phainoptila flying across the road. It seemed to land to a big three in the middle of the meadow but even though we waited for some time we never saw it again. Maybe it had continued lower down along the valley. Anyway we had got our most important target-species of the day.

Emanuel wasn’t in a hurry so we still decided to continue to a good hummingbird place. Surprisingly it was the same bushy area where we had been on the previous day. Emanuel stopped behind the open gate and told that we should stay there and watch the bushes with binoculars. Groups weren’t allowed to get inside. Luckily we hadn’t known this on the previous visit, as now hummingbirds were almost too far to identify at all and absolutely too far to get any pictures. After all only a couple of red-throated Volcano Hummingbirds were identified.

We still stopped in a couple of big fields and on the second one we managed to found a couple of Southern Lapwings. But then it was time to drive back to our hotel. After we had said goodbye to Emanuel we went to talk to Jarmo and he had seen a few raptors from the balcony but nothing new.

The rest of the day we took easy. We ate well already at 5 p.m. and then went to sleep very early. On the next morning we would start a long journey back to home.

Back to home

On the 2nd of March we woke up inhumane early at 3 a.m. and once we were ready we had a nice surprise as we found Emidio from the lobby. He drove us to the airport and there we managed to get through all the formalities very quickly. We bought some souvenirs and then we still had a long wait before our flight left towards Dallas at 6:15 a.m.

The flight went easily even though there was nothing to do really. I wanted to try to get to Finnish rhythm so I didn’t want to sleep on this flight yet. When we landed to Dallas Fort Worth the plane was rolling around the airport for a long time. From the window we managed to se see an American Kestrel and also a Northern Mockingbird. At 10:36 a.m. we were in the airport and again we had lots of queuing and we had to move our bags to the right belt again but this time didn’t have to take a train to another terminal.

We had a long 5 hours waiting and at some point I realized that we could have visit United Stated and even do some birding somewhere nearby and get some lifers as with Hanna we have never been in U.S. But we decided to take it easy. Hanna was deleting pictures and I started to make notes for this trip-story.

We of course ate and checked the shops but everything was so expensive that we didn’t buy anything except something to drink.

There was nothing else except the departing time of our flight on the boards. And the situation was the same still when there was less than an hour left. Then I realized to check if there was some information in Finnair App and there were the gated told. At the gate everyone had to go change their boarding passes for some reason. This was told in announcements that were repeated many time but they were so unclear that nobody understood them. We are used to very unclear English announcements on our travels but it was a surprise that good English is not spoken in U.S. either.

Finally our flight left at 4:55 p.m. Finnair is really not getting good reviews from this trip as nothing had really worked this far. Luckily now the media-center was working and there were quite a few movies from which to choose. We both watcher Oppenheimer which was very long and after that we were ready to sleep.

The 3rd of March. We slept almost the rest of the flight and finally landed to Helsinki-Vantaa airport at 11:05 a.m. We had flight over many time-zones. At the airport we had to walk a lot but finally we found our luggage and then it was time to say thanks and goodbye to Jarmo and Sanna and start walking towards a bus-station.

It was a surprise that buses to our hotel weren’t moving in weekends so we had to walk a little bit more and then get to a normal bus. Then we had to walk a long way to our hotel with all our bags. Then we still had a long drive back to home. On the way we tried to twitch a Common Kingfisher in a couple of different places without luck. In Koria we stopped to eat and surprisingly Hanna’s sister Elissa was birding nearby and she came to eat with us. Then we still had a long way to drive to Parikkala. And on the next day we had normal working day.

J.A.