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.

Costa Rica 2024 - Day5

Monday, January 22, 2024

Today would be our final day in the Arenal area, and we had a little “cleaning up” to do. We’d heard a couple of life birds but not seen them well, and we were still missing a target for the area.

We headed out on the trails at Arenal Volcano Observatory Lodge at 5:45. It was lighter than yesterday morning and not raining, so we were off to a good start.

Our first siting was a female Spider Monkey carrying her very young baby through the forest canopy. Spider Monkeys generally move aggressively through the canopy, making big leaps and crashing from tree to tree, but this one was moving gently and carefully. It was fun to see.

Spider Monkey

One of our goals this morning was to see the small Thicket Antpitta. Antpittas are known for being vocal, but very secretive. We’d heard several but had yet to see one. 

Out on the trail we got good looks at a Song Wren, another often heard but seldom seen bird. And then we started hearing a Thicket Antpitta. Johan called back to it and it moved closer and closer until he spotted it in a thicket no more than 10 meters from the edge of the trail. We watched it call and I got some decent pictures in spite of the gloomy light in the thicket. Johan was very excited and said that it was the best he’d ever seen it.

Thicket Antpitta

After breakfast we finished packing up and departed from Arenal at 8:40. 

Final morning at Arenal

We’d decided to return to Bogarin in the hope of seeing the Uniform Crake that we’d heard two days ago, and finally seeing a Keel-billed Motmot. After a lot of effort we finally did get to see the Crake as it moved through a thick patch of grass and shrubs. Our views were quick as it passed through openings and breaks in the foliage, but that is typical for the species and we were satisfied to have seen it at all. We also saw a couple of three-toed sloths in the canopy. They seem to be smiling at you sometimes!

Three-toed Sloth

Sloths are the main reason that about 99 percent of folks visit here, and many were perplexed by our staring up into the trees, but not at a sloth! Crazy birders…

We saw a couple of Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs, also known as Blue Jeans Poison Frog. They are tiny, no larger than my thumbnail, but fun to find and observe.

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog

Other non-bird sightings included a Coati and a Common Basilisk Lizard. 

Coati

Common Basilisk

In spite of our best efforts we struck out on the Keel-billed Motmot once again, and set off on our drive. We hadn’t been driving long when Johan swung onto a side street that dead-ended at a stream. He’d been told by a fellow guide that this was a possible place so see the Motmot. Sure enough, we hadn’t been there more than a couple of minutes when a Keel-billed Motmot started calling from a limb over the creek.  This was a lifer for us and we were pleased to get such good looks. So we were three-for-three on our morning clean-up.

Keel-billed Motmot

We had an excellent lunch in the town of El Tanque and then headed on toward Caño Negro, a system of rivers and lagoons very near the Nicaraguan border. 

Icy fruit drink with paper straw

We stopped several times on our drive to view birds like Peregrine Falcon and later the tiny Bat Falcon. Once we turned off of the main highway and on to the gravel road to Cano Negro we started to encounter wetlands and flooded grasslands that we full of birds. Teri and I had visited this area twice before on day trips from Arenal, but this time we were going deeper into the area and would stay three nights at a lodge in the area.

Black-crowned Tityra - female

Black-crowned Tityra - male

We were able to see and photograph several Nicaraguan Seed-Finchs, which just make it south into this area of Costa Rica. The similar Thick-billed Seed-Finch is here as well. The main difference is the color of the bill in the males. 

Nicaraguan Seed-Finch female

Nicaraguan Seed-Finch male

Thick-billed Seed-Finch male

We stopped at a couple of lagoons near our hotel and saw quite a few new waders, shorebirds, and kingfishers for our trip. We also found a small group of Olive-throated Parakeets along the roadside. 

Northern Jacana

Olive-throated Parakeet

We encountered this curiously worded warning sign. Are the crocodiles poor swimmers, or??

Seems to be swimming ok.  A Caiman, actually...

We finally headed to our next lodge, Natural Lodge Caño Negro, where we checked into our (air conditioned!) room and relaxed for an hour before heading off to dinner.

Natural Lodge Caño Negro

Next - Birding from boats.