Time to set off for our third main stop of our holiday. This was to go from the lush wetlands of the Caribbean coast up into the central highlands. The destination was the area around the Arenal volcano. The trip was due to take about half a day, with the first bit being a repeat of our boat journey back to the pick-up point for our car ongoing for the trip.
Not to miss up on a chance for birding though I was up at first light (travelling West always helps with early starts!) to see what was around in the hotel grounds in Tortuguero.
The answer was, quite a lot. Early morning is always best time for wildlife watching and this was no exception. Toucans appear in the trees at first light to feed then disappear by breakfast only to be heard calling till late evening. This keel-billed toucan did not disappoint. The Montezuma oropendulas were another noisy presence in the gardens, again tucking into the breakfast of fruit from the trees. A number of small bird were flitting about. I was still trying to get my eye in to ID them all, but these olive-backed euphorias and variable seedeaters (both males) made it onto the list. A few brown pelicans were parading up and down on our river and a troop of howler monkeys were foraging behind our lodge. As we were departing I spotted this chestnut-coloured woodpecker wishing us bon voyage!
The trip to Arenal was fairly uneventful apart from a sloth jam by the road with one risking life and limb near some electric wires! This was only yards from a busy road, another pointer to how rich the country is in wildlife.
Once at the hotel we had a free afternoon, so I explored the grounds. Well, I started off with just looking out from our balcony which overlooked lush woodland. This proved a very rich source of sightings.
The first two, which created a bit of an ID issue initially, are the male and female Passerini's tanager (formerly red-rumped tanager). They were the commonest bird seen from the balcony.
A lot faster and harder to catch was this beautifully named bananaquit with its bold eye-stripe.
These three are again a pair, this time the female and then male barred antshrike. The male especially was a very striking bird but both had a cheeky crest which they displayed to good purpose.
One of the larger birds to lurk around in the bushes was this buff-throated saltator. Its larger cousin the black-headed saltator was also around but I failed to get a shot of it (most of these were taken in a very small patch of woodland a few feet from our balcony so birds moving through quickly were hard to see let alone photograph).
Finally, we had a pair of hummingbirds buzzing around, feeding on the heliconias which they apparently love. These are scaly-breasted hummingbirds, told by a number of ID features. First, is a general lack of features, which rules out a lot of them (hummingbirds are hard!). The beak is medium length with a light down turn. Range also helps in eliminating some other birds. Finally, and you can just about make it out in the in-flight photo. these are white tips to the tail feathers.
I did eventually leave the refuge of my balcony and venture out into the wider gardens and car-park. this in particular was a source of rich pickings, partly as it was more open. The most surprising thing greeted me on the road up to it - a great curassow.
It was totally unafraid of people and I suspect was a regular around there. It was in the company of other large birds, the crested guans and grey-headed chachalacas.
All-in-all a quite surprising triumvirate.
There were loads of smaller birds in the trees and bushes, most of which I failed abysmally to ID or get photos of. A few I did manage though one was a classic for RecordShotMyArs.
This is a really beautiful bird, the white-necked jacobin, a member of the hummingbird family. I got all the ID features in a superbly-posed photograph. Just a shame I forgot I had been photographing flowers beforehand and had the camera settings all wrong!!!
I got things a bit better with a few others though. This first one is a hummingbird nest with two young in it. I think it may be the jacobin nest but despite waiting by it the adult didn't return whilst I was there.
This stunning bird is a golden-hooded tanager. Amazing how it is easier to ID birds like this compared to the little brown or green warblers flitting about in the tops of the trees.
Finally, there are a number of wood creepers in Costa Rica, well about a dozen or so, which take the place of our treecreepers in the UK. This one is streak-headed, told by the long-bill, streaks on the head and breast and long tail (and distribution).
This one would go down a storm in the UK: a black-and-white warbler. A classic USA migrant, we saw a few of the throughout CR, always busy feeding in the canopy.
It didn't end after dark. On our way back from the restaurant we found a small pond where frogs were calling. A nip back to the room to get the camera and tripod and we were back on another night walk.
So, a very productive few hours. Just goes to show that you don't need to go a long way from your hotel to find good stuff in a strange country. Still back to the room in time for a beer before dinner as well!!!
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