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Remembering My Trip to Costa Rica

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

Rufous-collared Sparrow, San Gerardo de Dota

White-eared Ground Sparrow, Monteverde Cloud Forest

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…

Violet Sabrewing, Monteverde Cloud Forest

The Comedic Sunning Bird

Have you ever caught a bird basking in the sun? They tend to let loose like no one is watching. Feathers spread, bills wide open, wings and tails stretched out… Today’s post will be a short, comical one showing some birds who I caught looking their silliest.

Many birds find my feeder polls to be a nice spot to get some sun.

Blue Jay

Downy Woodpecker

Common Grackle

Others are really attracted to my shed, especially the roof.

Eastern Phoebe

Dark-eyed Junco – notice the wing shadow

The branches on my feeders are also out in the open and a perfect spot to get some rays.

American Goldfinch

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

My local creek residents find places to sun bath after taking a dip in the water.

Gray Catbird

Belted Kingfisher

Last December, I bird-sat my friend’s Kookaburra. I put him near the front window on a very sunny day and even he enjoyed the sun for some time.

Laughing Kookaburra

He eventually closed eye lid

Backyard Begging – It’s Fledgling Season!

This is my favorite time of year for backyard birding. Parent birds are bringing their begging babies to my yard and tirelessly giving them food from my bird feeders.

Common Grackle family

The parents are very often attentive and I hardly ever see them actually feed themselves.

Northern Cardinal mom feeding young

Chipping Sparrow feeding young

House Finch Family

American Goldfinch dad feeding young

The young woodpeckers seem to be the most patient and often quietly wait for their meal, not far off from Mom and Dad. They are also the most fun to watch as they attempt to cling anywhere and everywhere.

Hairy Woodpecker

Young Downy Woodpecker

Some birds, like the Crows and Jays will continuously beg even though the parents ignore them.

Young American Crow begging to an adult

Begging Blue Jay

Others show up after they are already on their own and shyly feed themselves.

Young Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Young male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Young Cedar Waxwing

Feeding young is a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Small Birds Mobbing Raptors

If you pay attention to birds, chances are you’ve seen a Hawk get attacked by birds that are much smaller than itself – typically Blackbirds, Grackles, Crows and Jays. Chickadees even work up the courage to crowd around Owls! This behavior is called mobbing. It occurs when species of birds band together to attack a larger bird, usually in an attempt to protect their nest or territory.

I always know when a Hawk is around my neighborhood – the local Crows are almost always pairing up and chasing it away. My view is typically of either birds hidden in a tree or high-tailing it out of the area. Early last summer, however, I had a front row seat of blackbirds mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk at Cornell’s Sapsucker Woods. This resulted in some pretty good photos of the action!

Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Common Grackle

Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird

I even caught one where the Blackbird has his feet and beak on the Hawk!

Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird

While this perch was great for me and my photos, it was not the best choice for the Hawk who kept losing balance.

Red-tailed Hawk loosing balance

Though, even on a more stable perch, he had to dodge the incoming mob.

Red-tailed Hawk dodging incoming birds

This group included Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, American Crows and even Squirrels. If you look closesly at the photo below, the Squirrel is below her nest!

Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Crow and Squirrel

The Hawk eventually broke away with a crowd of over twenty birds following it.

This was not the only time I witnessed such behavior up close – the next victims were even larger than the Red-tail! Bald Eagles were nesting on a platform out in the open on the north end of Cayuga Lake in New York. I went up to go visit them just as the young Eagles fledged. In fact, according to regulars who were there, I witnessed one of the Eagle’s first flights! The local blackbirds did not make it easy for the fledged Eagles to practice. As soon as they would take flight, the smaller birds would come in.

Young Bald Eagle being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird

This was the first time I witnessed smaller birds riding on the backs of larger birds! It was a great treat! With some luck, I captured two different angles of this behavior.

Young Bald Eagle with a Red-winged Blackbird on his back

Young Bald Eagle with a Red-winged Blackbird on his back

These little birds are very fearless. I sometimes even see just one bird mobbing a Hawk all alone. Anything to protect their territory!