Costa Rica Birding Trip Report
July 2-12, 2016
Day 9: Sunday, July 10
The wind was howling when we awoke this morning, apparently a common occurrence in these parts. A quick before-breakfast exploration of the hotel grounds added a couple of new birds to our ever-growing trip list: Lesson’s Motmot (just split from Blue-crowned) and White-eared Ground Sparrow. A Black-thighed Grosbeak was heard-only. This morning’s destination was the spectacular Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush and Slate-throated Redstart were hopping about right at the entrance station. Good birds kept coming, including Canivet’s Emerald, Prong-billed Barbet, Smoky-brown Woodpecker, Plain Antvireo, Lineate Foliage-gleaner, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Spotted Barbtail, Red-faced Spinetail and Rufous-capped and Costa Rican Warbler (recently split from Three-striped Warbler). Tawny-throated Leaftosser, Eye-ringed Flatbill and Azure-hooded Jay were heard-only. Arguably the most memorable sighting of the morning was the Chiriqui Quail-Dove that stayed in view for several minutes as this normally challenging-to-see dove meandered across the path ahead of us.
Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, photo courtesy of Ted Center
Rather than retracing our route back to the reserve entrance, we returned via a steeper trail that led to a suspension footbridge/canopy walkway. Unfortunately, a large group waiting at the other end prevented us from spending much time on the walkway. Afterwards, we spent some time at the incredible Hummingbird Gallery, just down the road from the reserve entrance. Hundreds of hummingbirds were swirling around the feeders arranged on all sides of this very popular tourist attraction. We were able to identify seven different species: Green Hermit, Lesser Violetear, Green-crowned Brilliant, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, Violet Sabrewing, Stripe-tailed Hummingbird and the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald. Several Bananaquit were also competing for space at the feeders. As an added bonus, an Orange-bellied Trogon (the expected species here) was spotted in a tree across the street from the gallery.
Violet Sabrewing, photo courtesy of Ted Center
After lunch at a restaurant in town, some in the group went souvenir shopping while the rest returned to the hotel for a short siesta. The group reassembled mid-afternoon for an excursion to Bajo del Tigre, a protected area within the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, the largest private reserve in Costa Rica. The unmistakable calls of Three-wattled Bellbirds, one of our targets at this location, could be heard as soon as we stepped out of the bus. These birds are easy to hear but much more difficult to actually see, as they typically call from the top of the forest canopy and don’t always remain in the same place. Andrew had to work hard to figure out exactly where a bird was calling from and identify a location where we would be able to see it; some of us had to scramble down a steep slope to position ourselves for a view. Eventually, everyone obtained decent looks. Such was not the case for our other target bird, Long-tailed Manakin. These birds form leks in dense forest where males perform courtship displays. We could all hear the bird’s vocalizations easily enough but you had to be in just the right spot to see one as it suddenly popped into view and just as quickly disappeared. Some of us could just never pick the right spot. We stumbled upon a few other new birds while searching for our targets, including Golden-olive Woodpecker, Olivaceous Woodcreeper and White-throated Thrush. It was dusk when we decided to finally call it a day.