It was dry but still very
overcast on the morning of the 10th and we were to leave for the
Arenal Observatory Lodge at around 08:00 this morning. This allowed for some final birding around
the lodge before we were to depart. The
river had risen considerably since our arrival and was now flowing much faster.
The swollen river at the Salva Verde Lodge
There were two Ringed
Kingfishers around the river just in front of the lodge at breakfast and two Great
Green Macaws flew over as we getting ready to depart. A Gartered Trogon was then found as we went
to check out and delayed the departure slightly.
We made several stops on route
initially looking unsuccessfully for Sun Bittern when we had a Streak-headed
Woodcreeper at the first and another five Great Green Macaws flying over at the
second. A later stop produced ten
Scarlet Macaws and also four Great Green x Scarlet Macaw hybrids and another
stop produced two Orange-chinned Parakeets, eight Olive-throated Parakeets and
a Crimson-fronted Parakeet. We then
stopped in a small town for a comfort break and a coffee, which produced a
Rufous-winged Woodpecker and a White-ringed Flycatcher and we also had White-tailed
Kite, Roadside Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Laughing Falcon, Crested Caracara and
Red-winged Blackbird whilst we were travelling.
Common Squirrel Cuckoo
Scarlet Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Two Scarlet Macaws with two hybrids
Keel-billed Toucan
Keel-billed Toucan
Crested Caracara
Olive-throated Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
White-ringed Flycatcher
White-ringed Flycatcher
We eventually caught sight of
the Arenal Volcano but unfortunately the top was still surrounded in cloud but
it was some time later when we finally arrived at the Arenal Observatory Lodge
after what seemed a very long drive along an un-surfaced road, where we saw six
White-throated Magpie-Jay.
On reaching the observatory we
had a few minutes observing the feeders outside the restaurant before we went
into lunch, when it started to rain again.
There was a Great Curassow feeding under the feeders along with several
Black-striped Sparrows and on the feeders there was a female Yellow-throated
Euphonia and an Emerald Tanager visited whilst we were having lunch. There was also a Violet-headed Hummingbird
feeding on a plant just outside the restaurant.
Montezuma Oropendola
After lunch we checked into
our rooms before assembling in the gardens but the rain was now very heavy although
we did see a couple of Crested Guan, a Black-crested Coquette, a Bronze-tailed
Plumeleteer, fifteen Brown-hooded Parrots, a Grey-capped Flycatcher and a
Bay-headed Tanager.
Black-mandibled Toucan
It had been another
disappointing day weather wise but we had still recorded sixty-three species
that also included Red-billed Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Rufous-tailed
Hummingbird, Common Squirrel Cuckoo, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Little
Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Neotropical Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, American Black
Vulture, Black-mandibled Toucan, Keel-billed Toucan, Lineated Woodpecker,
Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Tropical
Kingbird, Mangrove Swallow, Clay-coloured Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Passerini’s
Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Palm Tanager, Golden–hooded Tanager, Green Honeycreeper,
Summer Tanager, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Bananaquit, Orange-billed Sparrow,
Variable Seedeater, Buff-throated Saltator, Montezuma Oropendola and
Great-tailed Grackle.
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