Costa Rica - Part 3

From Solimar we travelled next to Monteverde but, on the basis that you can never have too many opportunities to look at shorebirds, there were diversions on the way to the salinas at Colorado and a second visit to Punta Morales. Both sites had numerous Grey Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Black-necked Stilts, Western and Least Sandpipers and more. At Punta Morales there were 20 Marbled Godwits, not a common species here, and a Franklin's Gull, my first ever in Costa Rica.

In past years the drive from sea level up to Monteverde, located at an elevation of about 4,500 feet, has been a slow, bumpy experience but much of the road has recently been surfaced and the journey is now much more enjoyable. As we gained height, there were spectacular views over the Gulf of Nicoya. By mid-afternoon we were at our new base, the excellent Trapp Family Lodge.

The modern town of Monteverde was founded in the 1950s by Quakers from the USA. It is now a major tourist destination with the main attraction being what we have come to know as the Monteverde Crowd Forest Reserve that is said to draw around 70,000 visitors annually.

We spent what remained of the day at the Hummingbird Gallery, essentially a shop with several hummingbird feeders outside that regularly attract seven or eight species of hummers and also Bananaquits. It's a great place to spend an hour or more but for the first-time visitor it's daunting to be faced with so many new birds. With males and females of some species looking completely different, it's quite a challenge.

Purple-throated Mountain-gem

Green-crowned Brilliant

Green Violet-ear

Coppery-headed Emerald

Violet Sabrewing

The following morning we set off not to the Monteverde Reserve but to the nearby Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. However, this too is becoming increasingly popular and it's fair to say that this whole area is not the place to be if you're seeking solitude! Having said that, the birding is excellent and the whole 'rainforest experience' truly wonderful with mosses, ferns, flowers and epiphytes growing on the trees and dangling roots and vines sweeping across the trails.

Cloud Forest

Without doubt the star birds for us were the Three-wattled Bellbird and the Resplendent Quetzal, but there was a strong supporting cast that included the exotic-sounding Brown-billed Scythebill, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and Prong-billed Barbet. We could hear the Bellbird and the Quetzal long before we saw them; in fact we spent quite a while searching for the Bellbird in the branches above our heads before finally it showed itself. Only a few minutes after that success, we located the Quetzal and truly resplendent it was, too!

Resplendent Quetzal

The other main site that we visited at Monteverde was what is now called Santuario Ecológico, formerly Finca Ecológica. This has always provided good birding with the emphasis very much on ground-dwelling species and true to form amongst a decent list of birds seen were White-eared Ground-Sparrow, Ovenbird, Black-breasted Wood-Quails and Chiriqui Quail-Dove, all of them on the forest floor.

Quite a lot of birding was also done along the roadsides where amongst the often-seen species were White-throated Robin, Blue-throated Toucanet, Slate-throated Redstart and Mountain Elaenia.

Slate-throated Redstart

Monteverde can be a wet (think rainforest) and windy place but on this occasion the weather was reasonably kind to us and the birding very good indeed.

Next: would we see the Arenal volcano or would it (as so often) have its head in the clouds?

Costa Rica - Part 2

On the fourth full day of our tour in Costa Rica we headed for the hot and dry Guanacaste region in the north-west of the country where we had a two-night stay at Hacienda Solimar.

We made several stops on the journey north including one at the salinas at Punta Morales, a habitat that was 'home from home' for me. However, most of the birds were different from those I see on the saltpans here in Tavira with Black-necked Stilts, Western and Least Sandpipers the most numerous shorebirds. One bird familiar from the Algarve was a Caspian Tern that somehow, after a prolonged struggle, managed to swallow a fish so big that it would have made a meal for me!

Salinas at Punta Morales

Hacienda Solimar is a working cattle ranch adjacent to Palo Verde National Park. I've no idea how many Brahman cattle they have here but it's quite a lot! They are beef cattle, said to have a greater ability to withstand heat than European cattle and to be more resistant to parasites and disease. In short, they are ideally suited to the Guanacaste climate. Perhaps not surprisingly one of the most numerous birds at Solimar was Cattle Egret!

Brahman bull

Hacienda Solimar

Cattle Egret

The lodge offers simple, family-style accommodation and some excellent birding in gallery forest, tropical dry forest and extensive wetlands; local guide, Demetrio, knows the area like the back of his hand and helped us find a remarkable variety of bird species.

For me, the highlights of our morning in the gallery forest were White-necked Puffbirds, Laughing Falcon and Great Black-Hawk but for some of our group the Mantled Howler Monkeys were equally popular.

Probably the 'star' bird at Solimar is Jabiru, a large stork that actually stands more than four-feet tall. We managed to see two of them as well as a variety of other wetland species in the same area: Wood Storks, Northern Jacanas, White Ibises, Roseate Spoonbills, hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Blue-winged Teal and several shorebird species, notably Solitary Sandpiper and Southern Lapwing. It was good for raptors, too, with Harris's Hawk, Snail Kites and a Peregrine Falcon. And not surprisingly, where there were Snail Kites, there were also several Limpkins, another bird that feeds largely on molluscs, particularly apple snails.

Jabiru

Northern Jacana

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

There was also plenty of bird interest just around the lodge. Both Spot-breasted and Streak-backed Orioles were regular, Yellow-naped Parrots were usually heard before they were seen, a family of Pacific Screech-Owls were roosting in a tree by the main driveway and a Barn Owl was also nearby. In the evening, Pauraques could be heard and seen right by the lodge. And the wildlife interest isn't restricted to birds - just as in the rest of the country, butterflies, mammals, reptiles and amphibians mean that there is always something to look at.

Yellow-naped Parrot

Black Iguana

Pacific Screech-Owl

For those whose perception of Costa Rica is simply as a country of tropical rainforest, Solimar comes as something of a surprise but the variety of habitats and wildlife for me make it an essential element of any tour here.

Next stop: Monteverde...

Wagtails, Whinchats, Wheatears and more

This morning, after a brief look at the many migrating waders now congregating on the saltpans here in Tavira, we spent an hour or more in the car, parked in the corner of a field at the edge of town.

From that one spot we watched numerous Northern Wheatears, Whinchats, Yellow Wagtails (of three different races), four Greater Short-toed Larks, a Common Redstart, a Tawny Pipit, Bee-eaters, a pair of Woodchat Shrikes, a couple of Hoopoes and several Crested Larks. At the same time, two Common Quails were calling.

Yellow Wagtail

Woodchat Shrike

Northern Wheatear

Whinchat

Yellow Wagtail

It was quite a sight and we enjoyed it so much that we returned in the afternoon to take another look! Presumably the easterly wind that has been chilling us for a few days has also held up some of these birds on their way north.

Also this afternoon we went and checked on the small local Bee-eater colony where we watched four pairs of birds apparently preparing to nest. It looked as though the Stone-curlews in the same area may already have nested - both birds were standing in the middle of a field in full view. We were already having a good day but it was rounded off by the unusual sight of nine Purple Herons flying east over the Tavira saltpans.

Actually, it wasn't quite rounded off because on the short drive home we had nice views of a Water Rail!

No Longer Jynxed!

It was a cool morning with quite a stiff breeze but the sun was shining. By way of a change, our given target today was Wryneck. To look for one we went to Ludo and Quinta do Lago.

As usual we started the day with a nice selection of raptors. An Osprey, two Marsh Harriers, three or more Booted Eagles, a Common Buzzard and a Black Kite were all seen soon after we arrived.

It was an excellent morning for migrants; Whinchats, Northern Wheatears, Common Redstarts, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo and flava Yellow Wagtail were all seen.

Dunlin, Kentish Plovers, Ringed Plovers and Sanderlings were the most numerous waders but there were also Greenshanks, Curlew Sandpipers, Little Stints and a Spotted Redshank, some of which were beginning to show really nice breeding plumage.

There weren't too many opportunities for photography but the Purple Swamp-hens, White Storks and Red-crested Pochards were hard to resist.

Red-crested Pochards

White Stork

Purple Swamp-hen

Wryneck? Yes, of course we found a Wryneck! And everyone went home happy.

Costa Rica - Part 1

I've just returned from leading an Avian Adventures tour in Costa Rica, my 14th visit to this wonderful Central American country that always seems just full of colourful birds. My locally-based guide and co-leader on this occasion was Jason Horn who I last worked with here back in 2006.

After a first night in the country spent at the Orquideas Inn, just a short drive from the airport, next morning we headed for the Pacific Coast. As usual, we stopped on the way in the town of Orotina where for several years now Black-and-white Owls have been a feature in the small town-centre park. Owls are always popular and not for the first time we were able to get the tour off to a good start.

Black-and-white Owl

Next stop was at the bridge over the Rio Tarcoles where huge American Crocodiles are a regular tourist attraction. Unlike most of the other people who were there, we also found quite a lot of birds, mostly wetland species but also a lovely little Pearl Kite, a bird that is becoming increasingly widespread in Costa Rica.

Central American Crocodile

Our base for three nights was Hotel Vila Lapas and after lunch there we spent the afternoon getting much closer to the egrets, kingfishers, herons and shorebirds by taking a boat trip on the river. This also gave us great views of some of the specialist birds of the mangroves, including Mangrove Vireo and Mangrove Black-Hawk.

Snowy Egret

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Green Heron

Hudsonian Whimbrel

Collared Plover

The hotel is conveniently located close to Carara Biological Reserve, a 4,700-hectare reserve that occupies a unique position at the transition zone between the dry forests of the northwest and the tropical wet forests of the Pacific lowlands. We spent a full day in Carara where, particularly along the Sendero Natural Laguna Meandrica, the birding was excellent although trogons, woodcreepers, flycatchers, antbirds, manakins and hummingbirds proved to be something of a challenge to those of our group who were in the Neotropics for the first time! Brightly-coloured, wing-snapping Orange-collared Manakins at a lek were most people's favourites. I was just as taken with the rather dull and difficult to see Scaly-throated Leaftosser!

Orange-collared Manakin

Black-headed Trogon

A morning was spent along the road to Guacalillo where at the lagoon an Elegant Tern, a Gull-billed Tern, two Common Terns and several Black Skimmers were found amongst the many Royal and Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gulls. Searching through flocks of gulls, terns and shorebirds isn't everyone's cup of tea but I really enjoy it. Off-shore fishing boats attracted Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans and one or two Brown Boobies.

Spot the Brown Booby!

There was the usual evening excursion to Jacó to find a Striped Owl and, of course, it wasn't hard to find Ferruginous Pygmy Owls during the daytime.

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

Raptors were also a feature with Turkey, Black and King Vultures, Double-toothed and Plumbeous Kites, White Hawk and Short-tailed Hawk all seen particularly well.

Plumbeous Kite

Short-tailed Hawk

Next - we head north to Hacienda Solimar...

Another Alentejo Day

With Peter just back here after his tour in Costa Rica, still jet-lagged and not really knowing whether he should be looking for bustards or becards, we spent today in the Castro Verde area.

A day that started cloudy and quite cool soon warmed up and by late morning we were enjoying the sunshine. Birds seen included Great Bustards (80+), Little Bustards (30+), Black-bellied Sandgrouse (28), Great Spotted Cuckoo, Blue Rock Thrush, Black-eared Wheatear, Lesser Kestrels, Black Kite, Red Kite, Black-winged Kite, countless Montagu's Harriers and Calandra Larks. The highspot of the day came when we found ourselves watching five Griffon Vultures and four Black Vultures at a carcass with a Spanish Imperial Eagle circling overhead. Earlier we had watched the eagle apparently playing with some prey item that it repeatedly dropped from on high and somehow managed to swoop down and catch again before it reached the ground.

As if the birds weren't enough, the whole area is a mass of colourful flowers. All in all a great day!

Black Vulture

Tavira update

It's been a busy few weeks for me while Pete has been away leading an Avian Adventures tour in Costa Rica. I've visited most of our favourite sites - Tavira saltpans, Castro Marim, Ludo and Quinta do Lago and the Baixo Alentejo - most of them more than once! The weather is taking longer to settle this year and some of my birding has been in pretty wet conditions. Migration has really picked up though with Northern and Black-eared Wheatears, Woodchat Shrikes, Great Spotted and Common Cuckoos and European Bee-eaters all here in reasonable numbers now.

I saw my first of the season Collared Pratincoles at Castro Marim on the 22nd March but the Black-tailed Godwits, which a couple of weeks ago were looking very smart in their brick-red plumage, seem now to have headed north to their breeding grounds. I'm sure the Dunlins that are now showing smart black bellies will follow very soon.

Collared Pratincole

Dunlin

On the 29th whilst visiting Cerro do Bufo I watched a pair of Great Spotted Cuckoos in their courtship routine. I first saw the male, sitting on a fence post with a huge caterpillar in its beak. The bird then flew to another post and called whilst still holding its prey. This brought the female in and the male quickly mounted her, at the same time presenting her with the caterpillar. Mating is invariably preceded by courtship feeding but the whole episode was over in a matter of a few seconds.

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Male Great Bustards in the Alentejo are in fine plumage and their leks have been fascinating to watch as they throw back their heads, fluff up their feathers and throw their wings forward - almost turning themselves inside out!!

Along the Mértola to Castro Verde road, White Storks are nesting in good numbers, although some of them have had to build new nests. Last year some of them returned to find that their nests had ‘disappeared’ - some of the power poles that support the nests had been replaced as part of the road improvement scheme. Platforms have been provided to help the re-building project and all seems to be going well – let’s hope they have a successful year.

At Quinta do Lago the Purple Swamp-hens, Great Crested Grebes and Red-crested Pochards don't seem to mind that the reeds were very severely cut back earlier in the year - they seem to have other things on their mind!

A Slender-billed Gull that was hanging out on saltpans near the Hotel Vila Galé here in town seems now to have moved on. Not very far from there I have twice recently seen Black-crowned Night-Herons which was something of a surprise. On the first occasion, there were two birds and on the second there appeared to be two adults and a sub-adult bird. We saw a couple of Night-Herons locally before Christmas but these latest birds are presumably migrants.