Costa Rica 2024 - Day 7

Well, it's been a while.  We got busy with another trip, and are about to leave once again, but I thought I'd try to get another day of our Costa Rica trip out before we leave!!

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

This morning we had another boat trip, this time to Medio Queso. We left the lodge at 5:30 in order to arrive at the dock at 6:30. We set out once again with Captain Chambito, but this time he was not driving the boat, but acting as a second guide. Since we were on a different river, he had made arrangements with another boat captain to take us out. He is a great spotter and knows the area well, so we were glad to have him along. 

Before we even boarded the boat we saw a Roadside Hawk perched on a post near the parking area. A good omen!

Roadside Hawk

Medio Queso is very different than our previous locations for boat rides as it is a huge marsh with very few trees. Just thousands of acres of flooded grasses, and full of birds. 

Medio Queso

Our first big find was a Pinnated Bittern spotted by Teri. This was a life bird for us, and it turned out that we would see several before the ride was over. They are similar to our American Bittern and just as well camouflaged. 

Pinnated Bittern

We had a flyover by our first Magnificent Frigatebird of the trip and also saw Black-collared Hawk, Snail Kite, and Sungrebe. 

Magnificent Frigatebird - Female

Black-collared Hawk

Snail Kite

Sungrebe

One of our targets was the Yellow-breasted Crake, a very small and secretive rail that likes to hide in medium height grasses. The captains knew of three different areas to try. At the first area Chambito saw one just as we approached the grassy edge, but it ran off and we didn’t get to see it. At the second location there was no bird, but the third location was the charm. There were two Yellow-breasted Crakes there. One immediately walked off into the grass, never to be seen again, but the other was cooperative and came toward the call being played. We got great looks and good pictures of this rare bird, which was another life bird for us. 

Yellow-breasted Crake

At one point we passed near the road where we had parked. It appeared to dead end at the water, but we got to watch a motorbike cross to the other side on a hand-pulled ferry. It looked big enough for a car, but I don't know that I'd be brave enough to try it!

We saw many other nice birds on the trip, including our best ever looks at a Mangrove Cuckoo, and a White-Tailed Kite.

Mangrove Cuckoo

White-tailed Kite

Back on the dock our final bird for the trip was a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, which is very similar to our Turkey Vulture but with bare pale yellow skin on the face instead of red. 

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

On the drive back to the lodge we passed a small wetland with hundreds of wading birds. There was a single Jabiru in the bunch which was huge compared to even the normally large-looking Wood Storks. 

We returned to the lodge at 11:00 and had lunch at 11:30. The food at this lodge was very nice, and I discovered that their Mango Juice was served as a slush with a lot of finely ground ice. What a nice treat in this warm, humid area. 

Going over the list at lunch.

Pasta with vegetables.

After relaxing in our air-conditioned room until 2:45 we headed out to do some roadside birding. We stopped first in the location where we’d seen the Pacific Screech Owl the previous night. It was next to a small patch of forest, but wasn’t productive. So we headed off to a different nearby road where we had more luck. A Crane Hawk perched in a tree and then used its unusually long legs to reach into a nest hole. It didn’t find anything there to eat and flew away. It was interesting to see this hunting behavior. 

Crane Hawk checking out a cavity.

As we walked alongside the road we saw a nice variety of birds, including Cinnamon and White-winged Becards, Olive-throated Parakeets, and a few Crimson-fronted Parakeets which are much less common in this part of Costa Rica. We ended our evening looking over a lagoon while hundreds of waders, ibis, and cormorants flew in and landed for the night. 

Cinnamon Becard

White-winged Becard - Female

Olive-throated Parakeet

Crimson-fronted Parakeet

High up in the trees we saw a single male Blue Dacnis, and later an unexpected pair of White-necked Puffbirds. 

Blue Dacnis - Male

White-necked Puffbirds

Lower and more cooperative were a pair of White-browed Gnatcatchers and a similar sized Common Tody-Flycatcher which was showing a lot of attitude for a 4" long bird! 

White-browed Gnatcatcher - Female

White-browed Gnatcatcher - male

Common Tody-Flycatcher

We returned to the lodge and had dinner at 6:30. The lodge had been told that this was our anniversary (left over from our 40th anniversary trip last year, apparently) and they served us a special dessert of ice cream with cooked apples. It was a nice gesture.  If we keep returning to Costa Rica in January this may become a thing!

Next - Moving on to Sarapiqui

Costa Rica 2024 - Day 6 continued

Tuesday, January 23, 2024 (continued)

We met Johan at 2:30 for a walk around the lodge grounds which included a short forest trail. Right at the beginning we saw a group of spider monkeys working through the canopy. They move so easily with their long arms and prehensile tail. Two of them were mothers with babies. They got quite close and the last one hung very low and watched us watching him. 

Spider Monkey

Spider Monkey with baby

Who is watching who?

We also saw a pair of Pied Puffbirds, this time a bit lower than this morning. 

Pied Puffbird

We hadn't been out long when Johan got a call from our boat captain telling us that he wouldn’t be able to take us out the following afternoon as planned. But he could take us out now if we wanted. So we jumped in the car and headed down to the dock. 

This trip was upriver into several shallow lagoons. The Cano Negro area is a seasonally flooded wetland, where the entire area floods during the rainy season, but drains down during the dry season, leaving the main channels and a lot of shallow lagoons. 

These lagoons are teaming with shorebirds, waders, kingfishers, hawks, and many other species. So full of life!

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Glossy Ibis

Great Blue Heron eating introduced Armored Catfish

Amazon Kingfisher female

Amazon Kingfisher male with fish

Ringed Kingfisher with nesting burrow in background

There are also a huge number of Caiman. They are not considered dangerous to humans, but they certainly look capable of doing some damage!

Spectacled Caiman

We birded until dark seeing some new birds like Sungrebe, Black-collared Hawk, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and Jabiru.  Jabiru are huge, prehistoric-looking storks, much larger than any other waders in the area. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. 

    

Black-collared Hawk

Jabiru with Wood Storks

Sungrebe male with youngster

We returned to the lodge about 6:00, where we learned a large group had checked in and would be dining at 7:00. So we decided to get our dinner immediately and beat the rush. 

After dinner we drove several miles down the entrance road, looking for night birds. We found a Great Potoo sitting on a pole and got some pictures. These birds sit on poles or stumps and do a great job of blending in. At night you can see their eyes shine. 

Great Potoo

We hadn't gone much farther when Johan heard a Pacific Screech Owl calling. We got out and played it’s song back a few times and it flew in. We got great looks and pictures, and were on our way. 

Pacific Screech-Owl

We found a second Great Potoo, and finally a Black-and-white Owl on a powerline as we neared our lodge. 

Great Potoo

Black-and-white Owl

It was a great way to end another wonderful day in Costa Rica. 

Costa Rica 2024 - Day 6

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Our main event this morning was a boat ride to look for some specific birds like Kingfishers, Herons, and other water-dependent species. Our boat captain had suggested moving the starting time from 6:00 to 6:30 based on forecast overcast conditions, but we wished we’d left at 6:00 because it was clear. 

While we waited at the dock we saw a few nice birds and a huge iguana in a tree on the other side of the river. 

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Green Iguana

Mangrove Swallow

We got underway, and started seeing Egrets, Herons, Cormorants and Anhinga everywhere. 

Teri at the front

Mark, Captain Chambito, Johan

This is such a rich area for waders and divers. We saw one of our favorite birds, a Boat-billed Heron. This is a nocturnal heron named for its oversized bill. 

Boat-billed Heron

Anhinga

Neotropic Cormorant eating invasive Armored Catfish

We headed directly to a spot where we left the boat and made a short hike to an inland lagoon where we would look for our first target, the Agami Heron. 

Unlike most herons this one lives in forested areas and tends to hide on brushy riverbanks. We located one that was partially concealed in some branches, but eventually it moved out into a more open area before flying off. 

Agami Heron

Many people consider it the most attractive of the herons and we would agree. We’d seen this bird very poorly in Belize in 2005 and hadn't seen it since, so we were very happy to be able to watch it for about 30 minutes and get some really excellent views. 

While viewing the heron we also saw a tiny Pied Puffbird way up in a tree, and a Roseate Spoonbill wading nearby. 

Pied Puffbird

Roseate Spoonbill

We got back into the boat and headed down the river to find our next target, the Green-and-rufous Kingfisher. Of the six species of kingfishers in the Americas, this one is the toughest to find. We saw our first in 2018 in Panama and have not seen one since. We spotted one in some dark branches overhanging the river and our captain maneuvered the boat in for great looks and pictures. 

Green-and-rufous Kingfisher

We also saw plenty of Ringed, Amazon, and Green Kingfishers along the river, missing only the tiny American Pygmy Kingfisher and the Belted Kingfisher. It is interesting that the Belted Kingfisher is abundant throughout North America and the only kingfisher to be found in most of the United States. But here in Costa Rica it is relatively rare and harder to find than all but the Green-and-rufous. 

Amazon Kingfisher - female

Amazon Kingfisher - male

Ringed Kingfisher - male

As we cruised the river we saw dozens of different Egrets, Ibis and Herons. 

Great Egret

Green Ibis

Little Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Our captain located a Common Potoo roosting in a tree, looking just like a dead branch, and later a well-hidden Pacific Screech-Owl, which was a life bird for us. 

Common Potoo

Pacific Screech-Owl

We returned to the dock at 9:30 and headed off to bird a short forest trail and check out some lagoons. The day was heating up quickly, and being out in the open was pretty warm. But there was a good breeze and much of the time we were in the shade of the forest, so it was tolerable. Teri and I posed at a sign urging folks to prevent forest fires. I'm the monkey, she's the sloth, in case you were wondering...

On the trail we got good looks at a pair of Black-headed Trogons, as well as a Black-striped Sparrow gathering nesting material. 

Black-headed Trogon - female

Black-headed Trogon - male

Black-striped Sparrow

We returned to the lodge at around 11:00, enjoyed a nice lunch and relaxed in the room until heading out again at 2:30.

 

Next - Back out in the boat.