As the weather had been quite
bad Yehudi and Richard had agreed that we would stay at Arenal tomorrow morning
as there are birds there we wouldn’t see elsewhere. We would then have lunch before setting off
for Monteverde to arrive early evening.
I had woken a couple of times
during the night and I could hear the rain and yes it was still raining in the
morning. We had agreed to meet near
where we were birding yesterday afternoon at 06:00 and before then as dawn was
breaking I was viewing the gardens from my patio. There was a single Stripe-heeded Sparrow
feeding on the ground near some low bushes but there appeared to be very little
else.
I then noticed Roger walking
out towards the area we had agreed to meet and decided to go as well. The rain was still persistent and quite heavy
making birding difficult. Not the entire
group made it this morning and we did our best to bird from the shelter around
the health centre. There was a
Buff-rumped Warbler feeding on the ground under an archway and three Crested
Guans sitting in a tree looking very sorry for themselves. The female Black-crested Coquette and also
paid a visit and there were at least six Bay-headed Tanagers in the same tree
as the guans. Nearer to us there was a
Brown-hooded Parrot and two Stripe-breasted Wrens put in an appearance.
Yehudi suggested that after
breakfast if the weather hadn’t improved we should go back towards La Palma to
bird an area at La Fortuna where there was an excellent feeding station. With this agreed we went back to our rooms
before heading off for breakfast but Richard hung on a few minutes with Jo
waiting for the bus to take her back to the restaurant and saw a Slaty-backed
Nightingale Thrush. I went back into the
garden with Richard to see a Scaly-breasted Hummingbird. Before the bus came
and picked us up for breakfast.
Needless to say it was still
pouring after breakfast and so the contingency was implemented but David and I
spent some time observing the feeders whilst waiting for others in the
group. We had several Great Curassows
under the feeders and two Brown Jays, several Palm Tanagers, two Emerald
Tanagers and few Montezuma Oropendolas visited the feeders and the
Violet-headed Hummingbird, along with a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird was still
visiting the small bush just outside the restaurant.
Brown Jay
Emerald Tanager
Emerald Tanager
It took a good forty-five
minutes to reach La Fortuna and continued raining during the whole journey but
when we arrived miraculously it stopped for a while, which gave us an
opportunity to explore the grounds.
There were several Grey-headed Chachalacas in the grounds and we saw a
Grey-necked Wood-rail very well and eventually saw at least three. Both Black-cheeked and Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers
put in an appearance and we added Common Toddy-flycatcher and Yellow Warbler as
we walked around the first pool. As we
moved on a male Barred Antshrike provided some nice views but some of the group
struggled to see it and there was an adult and an immature Yellow-crowned
Night-heron in the same area. As we
moved back into the open again a Ringed Kingfisher flew over and a Green Heron
was observed perched on a wire. Not
surprisingly there was also a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Great Kiskadee,
Tropical Kingbird present and quite a few Clay-coloured Thrushes as well and
two Red-lored Amazons that flew over.
It took a good forty-five
minutes to reach La Fortuna and continued raining during the whole journey but
when we arrived miraculously it stopped for a while, which gave us an
opportunity to explore the grounds.
There were several Grey-headed Chachalacas in the grounds and we saw a
Grey-necked Wood-rail very well and eventually saw at least three. Both Black-cheeked and Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers
put in an appearance and we added Common Toddy-flycatcher and Yellow Warbler as
we walked around the first pool. As we
moved on a male Barred Antshrike provided some nice views but some of the group
struggled to see it and there was an adult and an immature Yellow-crowned
Night-heron in the same area. As we
moved back into the open again a Ringed Kingfisher flew over and a Green Heron
was observed perched on a wire. Not
surprisingly there was also a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Great Kiskadee,
Tropical Kingbird present and quite a few Clay-coloured Thrushes as well and
two Red-lored Amazons that flew over.
Green Heron
Green Heron
The rain eventually started
again and so we moved under cover to watch the feeding area which was extremely
busy and produced a good range of birds.
There was a Grey-breasted Crake and possibly two that appeared
intermittently from the dense vegetation to feed on the edges of the feeding
area. There was a least fifteen
Orange-chinned Parakeets at one point and Passerine’s Tanagers and Red-legged
Honeycreepers were always present in good numbers. Other birds that visited the feeders included
two Blue-grey Tanagers, six Palm Tanagers, a Silver-throated Tanager, three
Golden-hooded Tanagers, three Green Honeycreepers, six Yellow-throated
Euphonias, and Olive-backed Euphonia, a Bananaquit, a Buff-throated Saltator, a
Greyish Saltator, a Baltimore Oriole and two Black-cowled Orioles.
Buff-throated Saltator
Golden-hooded Tanager
Green Honeycreeper
Grey-headed Chachalaca
Greyish Saltator
Red-legged Honeycreeper
After lunch we set off for
Monteverde and it was still raining quite heavily with a long drive ahead of
us. We saw very little on route a female
Gartered Trogon sitting on a wire and two Muscovy Ducks in an area that was
more like the Peak District being heavily shrouded in mist. The weather did improve as we moved west but
as we turned and headed back east it closed in again and there had been so much
rain that the bus got stuck on one occasion on an un-surfaced road.
Gartered Trogon
The light was fading as when
we reached out hotel and from my room I could look down towards the Pacific
Coast but the rain was sheeting off the cloud forest and heading down the
valley and looking rather unpleasant.
Other birds recorded during
the day were Ruddy Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Chestnut-sided
Warbler, Montezuma Oropendola and Great-tailed Grackle.
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