Current Topic: Doves

Remembering My Trip to Costa Rica

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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

Resplendent Quetzal, San Gerardo de Dota

Blue-crowned Motmot

Blue-crowned Motmot, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Keel-billed Toucan

Keel-billed Toucan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Scarlet Macaw

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

Rufous-winged Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna

Bay-headed Tanager

Bay-headed Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Golden-hooded Tanager

Golden-hooded Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Flame-colored Tanager

Flame-colored Tanager, San Gerardo de Dota

White-throated Shrike-Tanager

White-throated Shrike-Tanager, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Cherries Tanager & Variable Seedeater

Cherries Tanager with a Variable Seedeater, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager

Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager, Trogon Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota

Blue-gray Tanager

Blue-gray Tanager, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Palm Tanager

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

Green Honeycreeper, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna

Bananaquit

Bananaquit, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Yellow-faced Grassquits

Yellow-faced Grassquits, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Buff-throated Saltator

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

Rufous-capped Warbler, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Buff-rumped Warbler

Buff-rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Slate-throated Redstart

Slate-throated Redstart, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Collared Redstart

Collared Redstart, San Gerardo de Dota

Tropical Parula

Tropical Parula, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Some of the birds were cool surprises.

White-throated Magpie-Jay

I nearly jumped out of the car for the White-throated Magpie-Jays, Arenal Volcano

Common Potoo

Common Potoo hiding in the brush, Sierpe River

White-whiskered Puffbird

White-whiskered Puffbird, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Slaty Flowerpiercer

Slaty Flowerpiercer, San Gerardo de Dota

Black-throated Trogon

Black-throated Trogon, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

One of my favorite birds had a great mating display.

Montezuma Oropendola

Montezuma Oropendola, Arenal Observatory Lodge feeders, La Fortuna

I saw a nice variety of different Flycatchers throughout my trip.

Great Kiskadee

Great Kiskadee, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Tropical Kingbird

Tropical Kingbird in the rain, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Social Flycatcher

Social Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Yellowish Flycatcher

Yellowish Flycatcher, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Black-capped Flycatcher

Black-capped Flycatcher, San Gerardo de Dota

Flycatcher

Possible Mountain Elaenia (still being identified), San Gerardo de Dota

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Common Tody-Flycatcher, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Black Phoebe

Black Phoebe, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Some of the finches were pretty unique…

Large-footed Finch

Large-footed Finch, San Gerardo de Dota

Thick-billed Seed Finch

Thick-billed Seed Finch, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Especially, the colorful ones in the Euphonia family.

Yellow-throated Euphonia

Yellow-throated Euphonia, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Tawny-capped Euphonia

Tawny-capped Euphonia, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Elegant Euphonias

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

Acorn Woodpecker, San Gerardo de Dota

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Red-crowned Woodpecker, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

I also saw some birds from the Thrush family.

Clay-colored Thrush

Clay-colored Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Sooty Robin

Sooty Robin, San Gerardo de Dota

Black-billed Nightengale-Thrush

Black-billed Nightengale-Thrush, San Gerardo de Dota

Black-headed Nightengale-Thrush

Black-headed Nightengale-Thrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Of course, I did see some parakeets too!

Orange-fronted Parakeets

Orange-fronted Parakeets, between San Juan and Monteverde

Orange-chinned Parakeet

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

Common Black-Hawk, Cano Island

Yellow-headed Caracara

Yellow-headed Caracara, Sierpe River

Here are a few birds that I found by the water:

Magnificent Frigatebird

Magnificent Frigatebird, off of the Osa Peninsula

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

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

Great-tailed Grackle, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Brown Jay

Brown Jay, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Some of the larger birds just chilled and let me get a nice look.

Crested Guan

Crested Guan, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Black Guan

Black Guan, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Gray-headed Chachalaque

Gray-headed Chachalaque, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

But many of the smaller ones were hard to catch!

Band-backed Wren

Band-backed Wren, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Rufous-collared Sparrow, San Gerardo de Dota

White-eared Ground Sparrow

White-eared Ground Sparrow, Monteverde Cloud Forest

Black-cowled Oriole

Black-cowled Oriole, Arenal Observatory Lodge property, La Fortuna

Black-hooded Antshrike

Black-hooded Antshrike, Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Ruddy Ground-Dove

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…

Violet Sabrewing

Violet Sabrewing, Monteverde Cloud Forest

After a Long Winter…

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This winter was a harsh one. Our days were extremely cold and the snow seemed never-ending. It made me more anxious for spring than ever before.

The snow is finally all melted, birds are returning and the migrants are slowly coming through. Birds are pairing up and warm days are here!

Mourning Doves pair up early

Mourning Doves pair up early

While it is getting warm out, we are also having a ton of very windy days. It doesn’t stop the birds from coming, but it’s enough to annoy both of us!

Downy Woodpecker on a windy day

Downy Woodpecker on a windy day

One of my favorite signs of spring are molting Goldfinches. They go from their more-drab winter coat to the most brilliant yellow.

The Goldfinches are molting!

The Goldfinches are molting!

I have a few nesting boxes up – one for Chickadees or Wrens, a ledge for Robins, Doves or Flycatchers, and a Brown Creeper box. So far, I have tenants in at least one of them.

Black-capped Chickadees took over this nesting box

Black-capped Chickadees took over this nesting box

I also found the nests of two other birds – Blue Jays are building one behind my neighbors house.

Blue Jays building a nest

Blue Jays building a nest

I also spotted Nuthatches going in and our of a hole on my neighbors house. As much as I was excited to see this, I think I should tell them now so that they do not unknowingly patch up the hole while there are eggs or babies inside. Oddly enough, I just purchased a Nuthatch nesting box, so if my neighbors choose to evict their tenants, maybe I can set up my box nearby. Speaking of Nuthatches – I’ve seen them exchange gifts to each other a couple of times right outside my window.

White-breasted Nuthatch before stashing the seed

White-breasted Nuthatch before stashing the seed

One bird who is nesting in the area that I have yet to find nests for are the Red-shouldered Hawks. I hear this bird more than I see it (I also hear the Jays mimicking them) and hope to find a nest one day.

Red-shouldered Hawk being mobbed by Blue Jays

Red-shouldered Hawk being mobbed by Blue Jays

I had my first visit from a pair of Cardinals. I’ve been hearing at least two males singing, but this is the first time I’ve seen them. Never again will I take such a beautiful bird for granted as I did in New York. I hope they decide to stick around my yard!

A long-awaited yard bird, the Northern Cardinal

This Cardinal was a long-awaited yard bird

As for birds returning for the summer, I had a quick visit from my first non-Junco yard sparrow, a pair of Flickers are being very vocal behind my house and the Phoebes can be heard singing around the woods.

A brief visit from a Chipping Sparrow

A brief visit from a Chipping Sparrow

Along with geese, blackbirds and gulls migrating overhead, I got my first feeder migrants of the season.

A male Purple Finch - one of many migrants passing through

A male Purple Finch – one of many migrants passing through

A female Purple Finches behind the brightly-colored male

A female Purple Finches behind the brightly-colored male

And that’s not all… the woods are becoming more active! So far, I’ve seen Pine Warblers and both Golden- and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, including some singing males. It was truly the first time that I felt like Spring is here.

Too bad this Pine Warbler would not come closer

Too bad this Pine Warbler would not come closer

The only decent photo I could get of this Ruby-crowned Kinglet

The only decent photo I could get of this Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I cannot wait to see who else will pass by! Spring is HERE!

Getting close to a Tufted Titmouse

Getting close to a Tufted Titmouse

The Snowiest February

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My township is less than two inches away from the being the snowiest February ever recorded set back in 1958. This coming Tuesday snowfall will most likely surpass the record. I am at my wits end with all of this snow!! There is still one thing (and one thing only) that I enjoy about it. That is, of course, the amount of birds that utilize my feeders and the photo ops they bring.

Let’s just say that my feeders were pretty busy…

Busy bird feeders

Busy bird feeders

My most abundant guest is the Goldfinch… I lost count at 40 the other day when counting them for the GBBC. The only other finches I have been getting this year are House Finches.

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

Male House Finch with ice

Male House Finch with ice

Female House Finch

Female House Finch

I live in the woods, so I also have tons of Woodpeckers.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Along all of my other regulars…

Mourning Dove braving the storm

Mourning Dove braving the storm

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse

The snow was so heavy on Thursday that it quickly accumulated on birds if they stayed still for a moment.

Dark-eyed Junco with snow accumulation

Dark-eyed Junco with snow accumulation

Mourning Dove with snow accumulation

Mourning Dove with snow accumulation

Some birds took cover in the Christmas tree I have set up under the feeders.

Black-capped Chickadee in my Christmas tree

Black-capped Chickadee in my Christmas tree

Dark-eyed Junco in my Christmas tree

Dark-eyed Junco in my Christmas tree

I think, overall, the birds are as sick of all of this snow as I am.

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren

Even the local mammals have had enough…

White-tailed Deer with a lot of snow

White-tailed Deer with a lot of snow

Snow and Ice Brings the Birds

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When there is snow or ice, natural food for birds can be more difficult to come by so they flock to feeders in higher numbers. I woke up to plenty of ice this morning and it has not gotten warm enough to melt – the ice is still neatly covering tree branches and anything else that was not manually de-iced. I was able to get some photos this morning through my sliding doors of some of my common feeder birds – the first real “set” of photos from my new house. Enjoy!

Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco

Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

House Finches

House Finches

Male House Finch

Male House Finch

Mourning Doves

Mourning Doves, sticking together like usual

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

Male American Goldfinch

Male American Goldfinch

Even my feeder Chickadee was frozen

Even my feeder Chickadee was frozen

And some more birds from the next morning:

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Blue Jay

Blue Jay close-up

Male Downy Woodpecker

Male Downy Woodpecker

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren

Dark-eyed Junco moving snow around to search for food

Dark-eyed Junco moving snow around to search for food

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee

First Day at the Biggest Week Starts Off Perfectly

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What a way to start off the Biggest Week! After a long seven hour drive my friend and I headed straight to Magee Marsh to stretch our legs and get some initial birding in. As soon as arrived on the boardwalk we noticed a crowd huddling in one spot. A Mourning Warbler just flew into the brush and they were waiting for it to pop back up. They didn’t have to convince us to stay! This bird was on our most-wanted list last year and we dipped on it – we had to get it this year! We were all staring at a shadow of a bird who was not moving – then he started to flit around.

Mourning Warbler foraging down low

Mourning Warbler foraging down low

Our first warbler at the boardwalk was a lifer! I did not manage to get a good photo yet but he has been pretty reliable so I will try again later in the week.

Nearby, another bird with a similar name was sitting on her nest with two chicks poking their heads up. This is the first Mourning Dove nest I’ve seen – and it is right off the boardwalk.

Mourning Dove Nest

Mourning Dove Nest

We walked around and slowly gathered more birds to our lists with great looks at Blackburnian, Magnolia, Nashville, Palm, Black-throated Green and Yellow Warblers. We stumbled upon an area where a White-eyed Vireo had been seen. It did not take long for the bird to pop back up and give me great life bird views!

White-eyed Vireo

White-eyed Vireo

A little further down, another crowd was gathered looking in a wet area of the marsh. A Northern Waterthrush has been seen. This is a bird that I often heard, but never had a visual on. He wasn’t hard to find as he foraged near the water for food. Three life birds in such a small amount of time – all right on the boardwalk!

Northern Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush

We eventually met up with another friend in search of life bird number four – the Worm-eating Warbler. We didn’t find it yet, but hope to later in the week. After dipping on that bird, we headed to the estuary trail to look for the Prothonotary Warbler who has been building a nest. There is a Great-horned Owl nest in good view here, but the birds were hidden when we passed by. On our way in, however, we were greeted with a Gray-cheeked Thrush who gave me my best look and my first real photo of this species.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Further in, we stopped to look at all the Terns, Gulls, Ducks and Shorebirds having dinner. They were backlit, so the photo op was not good. I only took a general view here.

Terns, Gulls and Dunlin

Terns, Gulls and Dunlin

The path was full of Yellow, Pine and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Warbling Vireos (who were taking over the boardwalk!) and others scattered around. The bird that caught our attention though was an Orange-crowned Warbler – another life bird for the both of us! We did eventually get good looks at this bird, but he made photography difficult. It was still very satisfying! We gave up on the Prothonotary Warbler and started to head back to the parking lot. On our way we heard the bird singing and spotted a small group of people gathered around the brush. He made it difficult to get really good looks of since he was on the other side near the water, but we finally found him! Again, no photos – but who can beat the ones I got last year of the bird practically singing in our faces.

It was getting late, but we did stop at the Owls nest once again to find one of the babies poking its head out of the snag.

Great Horned Owlet

Great Horned Owlet

We birded until 8PM and finally made it to Maumee Bay Lodge to finalize our registration and check in. It turns out that we arrived too late to register – oops! We also had to rush to the Lodge’s restaurant because it was going to close in twenty minutes. Time flies by when you are having a great time! The day ended with a beautiful sunset.

Sunset from Maumee Bay Lodge

Sunset from Maumee Bay Lodge

… And now we are ready for day two. We are heading to Oak Openings in search of four key birds – the Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Yellow-breasted Chat and Lark Sparrow. Three of those would be life birds for me. Wish us luck!

Birding in Italy

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Last Summer, I went to Italy to visit family. I have been there before, but not as a birder. I used Birding Pal to find a local birder who may be able to take me around. Thankfully, I found a very kind birder and also met a couple other local friends of his. Since it was the middle of summer, we went looking for water birds. He took me around Castel Volturno, Riserva Oasi Dei Varicon and other areas to the north of Naples.

The first birds we saw were all Sandpipers – Common, Wood, Green – all of which look very similar to me! The most exciting early sighting was a Grey Heron. I was very happy to see the Eurasian counterpart to the American bird that I love so much!

Grey Heron with Eurasian Coots and Black-headed Gulls

Grey Heron with Eurasian Coots and Black-headed Gulls

The next location was full of Black-winged Stilts, Yellow-legged Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Egret and Moorhens. I also caught glimpses of a Eurasian Oystercatcher, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern. I did manage some [bad] photos of some of the birds.

Black-winged Stilts

Black-winged Stilts

Eurasian Oystercatcher with Mediterranean Gulls

Eurasian Oystercatcher with Mediterranean Gulls and Black-winged Stilt up front

Yellow-legged Gulls with Black-winged Stilts

Yellow-legged Gulls with Black-winged Stilts

Common Moorhens

Common Moorhens

We stopped at a beautiful spot, Riserva Oasi Dei Varicon, which brought us many more great waterbirds. Here, we saw Redshank and Greenshank, Kentish Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Little Stint, Shelducks, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe and Sandwich Terns.

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Terns

Shelduck

Shelduck

Redshank and Greenshank

Redshank and Greenshank

While driving around, I got better looks at some of the birds and saw many others that I did not get photos of suck as a Eurasian Kestrel, Crested Lark, Turtle Doves, Magpies and Night-heron. Some that I did get photos of are below.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

Cattle Egret with Cattle

Cattle Egret with Cattle

Zitting Cisticola

Zitting Cisticola

We were staying in Sant Agata were I saw mostly common birds like the Italian Sparrow, Blackbirds, Eurasian Collared Dove and Hooded Crows.

Italian Sparrow

Italian Sparrow

Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

We took a tour to Pompeii and the Vesuvius and saw some other common birds such as swifts, Hooded Crows, Jackdaws and Magpies. The bird I was hoping to see, the Hoopoe, was no where to be seen even though they are known to breed in Pompeii.

Hooded Crow

Hooded Crow

Jackdaws

Jackdaws

Common Swift

Common Swift

Alpine Swift

Alpine Swift

And on our way back home from that tour, we saw a beautiful Serin above the streets.

Serin (wild Canary)

Serin (wild Canary)

Other birds were spotted around family’s property including Spotted Flycatchers and, one that I was very happy to see, the European Robin.

Spotted Flycatcher family

Spotted Flycatcher family

European Robin

European Robin

We took a trip to Trieste to see cousins and were surprised with some good birds in the gardens. Even though these are common birds, I was very happy to see them! They were very attracted to the plum trees which made it easy for me to see them.

Eurasian Jay

Eurasian Jay with a plum

Eurasian Jay

Eurasian Jay

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Great Tit

Blackbird Fledgling

Blackbird Fledgling

We also saw many colorful Chaffinches while out in the area.

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

We made a last minute stop to Isola della Cona, South of Malfalcone. This reserve gave me the best surprise of the entire trip – a bird who was on my must see list that I did not think I would see – the European Bee-eater!

European Bee-eaters

European Bee-eaters

The reserve itself was full of Camarague horses and Cattle Egrets who would hang out nearby.

Camarague Horse with Cattle Egret, Lapwing, Wagtail and Duck

Camarague Horse with Cattle Egret, Lapwing, Wagtail and Duck

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

Other great birds at this location included Northern Lapwings and White Wagtails. I never did have to go chasing any of the Lapwings who showed up on the east coast of the US since I already saw them here!

Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing

White Wagtail

White Wagtail

The reserve was also full of many birds I already saw, plus some new waterfowl.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shoveler

Mixed Ducks

Mixed Ducks

Graylag Geese

Graylag Geese

Common Snipe

Common Snipe

Black-headed Gull in winter plumage

Black-headed Gull in winter plumage

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

The sun was strong and heat made for poor far-away photos, but I am happy that I at least got these memory photos. The last good bird here was another common one that I was happy to see – the European Goldfinch.

European Goldfinches

European Goldfinches

Overall, I saw over 50 life birds, and even though I didn’t get to see a Hoopoe as I had wished, I really enjoyed the birds I did see!