Earlier this month, I wrote a post about my trip to Costa Rica. The post has a ton of photos on it – probably the most that I have ever included in one single post. If I included the Hummingbirds, it would have had a ton more, so I decided to create a post specifically for them.
I saw many hummingbirds throughout the trip, but my closest encounters were at Monteverde Cloud Forest at their sugar-water feeders. It was almost like cheating, but it was a great experience to have so many new hummingbirds so close. I saw eight species here. It was raining, so photography was tough on the moving birds. I did manage to get some photos though!
I was extremely excited to get close-ups of one of my target birds, the Violet Sabrewing. What a gorgeous bird!
Violet Sabrewing, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Violet Sabrewing, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Violet Sabrewing, Monteverde Cloud Forest
I do not prefer feeder shots, but I’ll take what I can get when it comes to new birds. Some of these are the only doc shots I was able to manage of some of the species, so they are not that great.
Male and female Purple-throated Mountain Gem, Monteverde Cloud Forest
I also caught glimpse of a unique hummingbird while at the volcano.
Stripe-throated Hermit, Arenal Volcano
Other hummingbirds were seen in Corcovado during various hikes.
Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Blue-throated Goldentail, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Charming Hummingbird, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
This trip marked the first time I saw hummingbirds other than my local Ruby-throated. In total, I saw a total of 16 species of hummingbirds during the trip – obviously, every single one of them was a life bird!
Every North American birder should try to make it to the tropics at least once in their lifetime, if finances allow it. The beautiful array of birds would be worth every penny. I took my first trip in December 2011 and stayed through New Years and the first week of January 2012. I visited four different locations: the Osa Peninsula, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Arenal Volcano and San Gerardo de Dota. Even though the trip was not based on birding, I racked up 130 life birds.
The trip was suppose to be during the beginning of the dry season, however, it rained for much of the trip. This led to mostly mediocre photos – many of which I never showed anyone else since they are not up to par with my normal work. Despite this, I wanted to share the beautiful birds that I saw, even with sub-par photos. I will also mix in some of the nicer photos – though, they were few and far between!
I’m not entirely sure where to begin, so I will jump in with some of my target birds. The bird names and locations are under each photo.
Resplendent Quetzal, San Gerardo de Dota
Blue-crowned Motmot, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Keel-billed Toucan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Scarlet Macaw, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Note that I also wrote a post about the Quetzal early last year where you can see more photos. This was on bird that I had great photo ops with! I plan on doing the same for the Motmot.
As expected in the tropics, I saw many species of Tanagers, most of them were very colorful.
Rufous-winged Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
Bay-headed Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Golden-hooded Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Flame-colored Tanager, San Gerardo de Dota
White-throated Shrike-Tanager, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Cherries Tanager with a Variable Seedeater, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager, Trogon Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota
Blue-gray Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Palm Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
These birds are also classified as Tanagers, but do not have it in their name. They are still equally as beautiful!
Green Honeycreeper, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
Bananaquit, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Yellow-faced Grassquits, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Buff-throated Saltator, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
I also saw some species of warblers that I do not get in the northeastern US.
Rufous-capped Warbler, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Buff-rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Slate-throated Redstart, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Collared Redstart, San Gerardo de Dota
Tropical Parula, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Some of the birds were cool surprises.
I nearly jumped out of the car for the White-throated Magpie-Jays, Arenal Volcano
Common Potoo hiding in the brush, Sierpe River
White-whiskered Puffbird, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Slaty Flowerpiercer, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-throated Trogon, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
One of my favorite birds had a great mating display.
Montezuma Oropendola, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna
I saw a nice variety of different Flycatchers throughout my trip.
Great Kiskadee, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Tropical Kingbird in the rain, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Social Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Yellowish Flycatcher, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Black-capped Flycatcher, San Gerardo de Dota
Possible Mountain Elaenia (still being identified), San Gerardo de Dota
Common Tody-Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black Phoebe, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Some of the finches were pretty unique…
Large-footed Finch, San Gerardo de Dota
Thick-billed Seed Finch, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Especially, the colorful ones in the Euphonia family.
Yellow-throated Euphonia, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Tawny-capped Euphonia, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Elegant Euphonias are hidden in this photo, Monteverde Cloud Forest
I did see some nice woodpeckers, including a couple I did not get to photograph like the Pale-billed and Lineated Woodpeckers.
Acorn Woodpecker, San Gerardo de Dota
Red-crowned Woodpecker, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
I also saw some birds from the Thrush family.
Clay-colored Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Sooty Robin, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-billed Nightengale-Thrush, San Gerardo de Dota
Black-headed Nightengale-Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Of course, I did see some parakeets too!
Orange-fronted Parakeets, between San Juan and Monteverde
Orange-chinned Parakeet, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
I did not see many raptors, but I was able to photograph some. Unfortunately, my Owl photos are not even good enough to show on this post and my lifer Crested Caracara is too terrible.
Common Black-Hawk, Cano Island
Yellow-headed Caracara, Sierpe River
Here are a few birds that I found by the water:
Magnificent Frigatebird, off of the Osa Peninsula
Sandwich Tern, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron perched over a waterfall, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Like their North American relatives, some birds were very vocal.
Great-tailed Grackle, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Brown Jay, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Some of the larger birds just chilled and let me get a nice look.
Crested Guan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black Guan, Monteverde Cloud Forest
Gray-headed Chachalaque, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
But many of the smaller ones were hard to catch!
Band-backed Wren, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black-cowled Oriole, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna
Black-hooded Antshrike, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
Ruddy Ground-Dove, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula
As you can see, this post is lacking Hummingbird photos. I will put up a post specifically about them at another time since I saw so many! For now, and to close this post, I will leave you with a photo of my target hummingbird…
It all started with a photo of a Resplendent Quetzal from Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide. I just happened to be looking through the book while we were talking about a winter vacation and came across a beautiful photo of the Quetzal. I told my husband that I wanted to see that bird and eventually started looking through the different tours we could do in Costa Rica – a country that we’ve been planning on visiting even before I started birding. We specifically booked part of our trip in San Gerardo de Dota – my travel agent said that this was the place to see the Quetzal. We left for our four-part tour shortly after Christmas.
The first part of our trip was in the Osa Peninsula. I will eventually write up a separate blog about this amazing location – but I will skip it for now since there are not Quetzals in that area. The first spot that we could potentially see a Quetzal was in Monteverde Cloud forest. The tour leader took us to a spot where the bird often fed on the wild avocados, but it was fairly early in the season for them. After only a few minutes of waiting, I spotted a trogon-like bird that flew above us and into the trees. It was not difficult to relocate the bright green bird where he landed.
Male Resplendent Quetzal in Monteverde Cloud Forest.
It was not the view that I was hoping for and it was tough to get a photo because the wind blew branches all around him, but I was super excited! The bird that started this entire trip was in my sights!
The next part of our trip was also out of range of the Quetzal near Arenal Volcano. Again, I will write about that trip, and more on Monteverde where I saw another key bird, at another time.
According to my travel agent, if I wanted to see the Quetzal, we should book a night in San Gerardo de Dota; and that is exactly what we did. We had a morning Quetzal walk – sounds promising, right? We walked down the road to a private property that was full of Avocado trees. Not long after, a female Quetzal was spotted.
Female Resplendent Quetzal
Her mate eventually joined us in the distance – and then – he flew into clear view!!
Resplendent Quetzal with his beautiful tail feathers.
I was so happy at this point that I’m pretty sure I cried some happy tears. The most beautiful bird on this side of the world was within feet of me!!! The light was low since we were in a valley, but I still walked away with many great photos. He plucked an avocado from the tree and started downing the entire fruit WHOLE.
Resplendent Quetzal eating a wild Avocado whole.
And to our luck, he sat for a while to begin digesting. We ended up having two pairs show up that morning! What a treat it was to hear them call back and forth and, most of all, see the males fly from tree to tree. I wish I could have captured that – they have the most beautiful flight I’ve ever seen!
Resplendent Quetzal digesting.
As you can see from this photo that my husband took, I was HAPPY!!!
iPhone Photo by Diego Penta
Forty minutes and hundreds of photos later, we trekked our way back up to the lodge. The next morning, even though I was not scheduled for the tour, I walked to the area myself to try and get a last look at this beautiful bird. This time, I somehow managed to get even better views and photos of a male.
Resplendent Quetzal
Resplendent Quetzal
And one of my favorite photos of him…
Resplendent Quetzal with tail feathers blowing in the wind
He was so close, that I was having trouble fitting the bird’s body and tail feathers in one frame. At one point, I could get head shots that filled up my entire frame!!
Resplendent Quetzal up close!
I could not have asked for better views of this highly sought-after bird. I’m not sure that I will ever top this. The memories and photos that I walked away with were everything I dreamed of and more! This, however, was not the last time I saw one… as I was making my way back to the lodge, a male flew right past me into a tree behind my room!!! This was the first time I saw him in direct sun light and I was able to say my goodbyes to this resplendent bird.
Resplendent Quetzal behind my room
Resplendent Quetzal behind my room
This was my last day in Costa Rica. It certainly was the best way to end an unforgettable trip with some amazing birds!
