Thursday, February 2, 2017

Day 6 - 2017 Costa Rica Journal

Right after breakfast Armondo is there to pick us up for our morning in the mangroves.  We start birding immediately as he has some “hot spots” staked out. 

Instead of having one specific destination, our morning is spent stopping at several locations.

Our very first stop is a result of Armando hearing a bird call while he is driving. We pull over and he immediately calls in a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. These little owls are active during the day, and their call is often used to attract other birds.
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
In the same area we heard and saw a group of Groove-billed Ani. This is a pretty common bird and most of the bird guides don't even mention them. Mark had a heck of a time getting Armando to stop long enough for a picture.
Groove-billed Ani
At the entrance to this teak tree plantation we see a black iguana.  Black iguanas spend more time on the ground than in trees, though they are excellent climbers when the need arises.
Teak Trees 
Black Iguana
While we were in the Teak plantation we were treated to another owl. This time it was a beautiful Black-and-white Owl. 
Black-and-white Owl
There are dozens of flycatchers in Costa Rica, and many of them are tough to identify. But the Common Tody-Flycatcher's tiny size and black mask make a positive ID pretty easy, 

Common Tody-Flycatcher
This Barred Antshrike female responded to a Pygmy-Owl call, and was pretty stirred up when she arrived. Doesn't she look annoyed?
Barred Antshrike female
The mangroves we explored were located right on the Pacific ocean. We saw dozens of Magnificent Frigatebirds soaring overhead. 
Magnificent Frigatebirds
A few got low enough to allow closer looks. You can see the bright red throat pouch on this male (click on any of the pictures to make them larger). 
Magnificent Frigatebird male
One of the target birds for the morning was the Mangrove Warbler. This is actually a subspecies of the Yellow Warbler, but with their reddish brown head they look very different. 
Mangrove Warbler
Speaking of warblers we also got great looks at Prothonotary Warblers. 
Prothonotary Warbler
Another target bird was the endemic Panama Flycatcher. Endemic means it occurs in a limited geographic area, in this case the Pacific coast of Costa Rica along with Panama and northern Columbia. This guy seems to have an extra-large bill!
Panama Flycatcher

Next time:  Day 6 continued - 5 Kingfisher trip, American Crocodile's, and more beautiful birds.

Birds seen this morning:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck
Wood Stork
Magnificent Frigatebird
Neotropic Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Gray Hawk
Northern Jacana
Least Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Inca Dove
Ruddy Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
White-winged Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Black-and-white Owl
White-collared Swift
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Black-headed Trogon
Turquoise-browed Motmot
American Pygmy Kingfisher
Hofmann’s Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker (heard)
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Red-lored Parrot
Scarlet Macaw
Barred Antshrike
Streak-headed Woodcreeper
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Yellow-olive Flycatcher
Tropical Peewee
Bright-rumped Atilla
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Panama Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Social Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rose-throated Becard
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Lesser Greenlet
Mangrove Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Rufous-naped Wren
Rufous and White Wren
Cabanis’s Wren
Tropical Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Thrush
Northern Waterthrush
Prothonotary Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Mangrove Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Gray-headed Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Melodious Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole

Variegated Squirrel
Giant Toad


1 comment:

  1. Love the pictures. We need your itinerary as we would like to take this exact trip.

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