PURA VIDA IV: All Good Things Must Come to an End (or do they?) #371-374

We woke up at our B&B in Playa Carillo, which we had arrived at in the dark, to a private deck overlooking the ocean. We had a (distant) ocean view, but the nice thing was that we were in an elevated spot in the tree tops and it was great for bird watching. We chowed down on yet another gallo pinto while watching hummingbirds come to the feeders and iguanas sunning themselves on the roof. The best part was watching some parrots and parakeets that appeared to be nesting in the tree beside our porch.

#371: White-fronted Parrot/Amazon (spectacled amazon parrot); Playa Carillo, Costa Rica; December 2015

These birds can live up to about 40 years!

Orange-chinned parrot

A clay-coloured thrush was hanging around. It makes an interesting choice as the national bird of Costa Rica, known as el yigüirro.

I always get a special thrill when I discover at home while writing up my blog that I saw a new bird and didn't realize it at the time. I have never even heard of this variety of oriole:

#372: Streak-backed Oriole; Playa Carillo, Costa Rica; December 2015

Thought this would make an interesting reference....this is the picture above BEFORE processing. Pretty awesome how powerful editing software is (and how much good info could be in a "bad" shot)

Not totally sure--maybe a Nutting's flycatcher (leaning this way) or Brown-crested flycatcher?

 Down on the beach we wandered among the rocks and tidal pools and made some good finds too. 

Spotted Sandpiper--I think we see these everywhere we go :)

It would have been easy to miss these guys, since they blend in so well, and it's easy to assume sandpipers are all the same. Always important to look closely! I think these are super striking birds! I love that long bill.

#373: Whimbrel; Playa Carillo, Costa Rica; December 2015

 We noticed this guy flying around and chased him for a while...
Until we found his hilarious friends...

Royal terns at Playa Carillo

Brown Pelican--Still my fave

Finally! A black tern caught on camera. We've seen these a few times and never managed to catch it! Even though it's not in its full black plumage,  it has distinctive markings.

#374: Black Tern; Playa Carillo, Costa Rica; December 2015

Inca dove having a snooze. Lazy beach days...

Just down the road, outside of Samara we stayed one night at an amaazing tucked-away "hotel" (The Flying Crocodile--really, I can't speak more highly of this place). Not far away was Playa Barrigona (OH MY GOD--I FOUND HEAVEN) and also Playa Buenavista, where there is a turtle sanctuary. We went to check it out; there were young volunteers from all over the world there, in what I would call far-from-luxurious conditions, in fact, the conditions were basic at best. I really had no idea how tough/rough these volunteer experiences can be--I'm a pretty tough chick but I think those conditions would snap me like a brittle twig! The work these guys are doing is amazing and so encouraging that people are doing this stuff, out of their own pocket, to make this world a better place. Makes me hopeful despite all the crap that is happening everywhere! Oh geez..now I am tearing up a little just writing this.

We had high hopes to see turtles but it was just the wrong time, and I hated the idea of going out in huge mobs at night looking for them, but we did see this guy fishing on the beach. You know where  there is a big school of fish if you just watch the birds! These are all black terns!


From there, we eventually moved on to Tamarindo for a little sun and surf and eventually onward home. Which means this is the last CR post! I've got to say, it's nice to finish this off, and I'm glad I managed to get through the 2000 pictures (which is why these posts sometimes take me so long to post). But it's been fun revisiting the memories now that a few months have passed.

Meanwhile, migration season has begun at home and I've returned to a few of my old haunts (my own kind of migration, I guess!). We even had a new bird right in the backyard! 

Pura Vida I: Feliz Navidad! Rincon de la Vieja #323-327

Happy new year! I'm back for what seems to be my once-a-year series of posts. Not that there hasn't been any shortage of things to talk about (the first thing that comes to mind is the many birders from far and wide who descended on nearby Pakenham to spot a rare "Bullock's Oriole," which was followed by a dramatic rescue, but then it turned out...not to be a bullock's oriole? Or earlier this year when a Little Egret made an appearance and birders zig-zagged across the city on a daily basis, reporting sightings (and non-sightings) by the day, hour and sometimes even minute. Hmm...seems I forgot to count that one.). But I've got to admit, there's nothing like a lifer to get you excited, and nothing like travelling to a new place to guarantee a nice string of new and amazing birds to spot and observe, especially when they are BIG (and teeny tiny), colorful ones in Costa Rica!

We made a really last-minute decision to take off for the holidays. I had it in my head I needed to get away and Costa Rica was where I wanted to go most. We got really lucky and found a really awesome deal on a flight (booking last-minute accommodations during the holidays was not so much of a great deal, but I don't need to write about that here!).

So, we had basically 2.5 weeks to prepare, find places to stay, order The Birds of Costa Rica and get it in the mail just in time. As it turns out, it was also a frantic 2.5 weeks of research and searching for a new/used camera body to add to the current inventory (more on that later).

So let's just jump right into it. We landed in Liberia on Christmas Eve and headed inland. Yes, it was really hard to turn away from the beach, but I thought it would be better to end on the beach than to start there. Plus, the way I travel, I'd need some rest after a few days of "vacation." Our first challenge was just driving through the myriad of streets of Liberia and attempting to comprehend the logic and rules where street signs, traffic lights and stop signs seemed to be completely non-existent. We got honked at constantly and had no clue what we had done wrong. The rest of the day was spent caked in mud at the Rio Negro hot springs, skyping/messaging home to family, and sitting down to a long table with all the other guests at our bed and breakfast for a Christmas Eve dinner. So it wasn't home, but it was something special nevertheless.

Birding in earnest wouldn't start until Christmas day. I guess you could say we did our own version of a Christmas Bird Count! We set our alarm for 5:30, but the sun wasn't really up enough yet. Finally at about 6 we headed out and just birded around our cabina (which was a revamped storage container...it was very cool!) set on a large rural property.

A few birds were familiar to us (or at least looked that way). I definitely wish I'd had time to use the new camera before we left, but it was literally, fresh out of the box and I couldn't figure out a few things right away---important ones, like selective focus points.  Aye! It's also SO frustrating when you set such a high standard for yourself, and you only see a bird ONCE for a few split seconds, and the lighting is hard, or the settings are wrong, and the picture is just crap. But it's the only shots you've got. This is why vacations need to be longer--so you have more chance to spot and photograph those elusive ones :)

Groove-billed ani, looking a little molty

 #323: Rufous-naped wren; Rincon de laVieja, Costa Rica; December 2015
One of the first birds I noticed  moving around the property in the morning. We had a heated discussion about the type of wren it was over communal breakfast - gallo pinto smothered in salsa lizano. The other guests likely thought we were bananas. They ended up being quite a common sight over the week.

 

Inca Dove hanging out in front of our container

Great Kiskadee - a familiar one!

Didn't quite figure this one out but it sure is a beauty. Feel free to contact me if you have ideas :)

#324: White-necked Jacobin; Rincon de la vieja, Costa Rica; December 2016
It was so frustrating shooting these teeny tiny, incredibly fast little birds zipping around WAY up in a massive tree in pretty harsh light. Matt managed to get this shot, which isn't our best, but it's perfect for identification!

#325: Orange-chinned parakeet; Rincon de la vieja, Costa Rica; December 2016.
Another shot Matt managed to get while I was off wandering, doing I don't know what (I'd given up on shooting). This pic was so dark but I boosted the exposure, which revealed something very interesting--a clincher for ID--the orange under the chin! Booyah!

You have to be really careful and  not just assume they are the same as similar birds you've seen before, and I did this so many times while Matt kept shooting, only to get home and look at the pictures and realize it was something completely new--I won't fall for that again!

CASE IN POINT: As I was finalizing this post and adding tags, I was wondering why "white-throated magpie jay" wasn't popping up in my previously used tags. BECAUSE I'VE NEVER USED IT. We saw a BLACK-throated magpie jay previously in Mexico, not a white-throated. And I just realized that...right now. Literally, after I'd already written this entire post, even edited the pictures. Assuming---bad, bad, bad!

My book is seeming to indicate to me this is a Western Kingbird, but I'm going to be conservative (ha, for once!) and wait to make a call.

#326: Hoffmann's woodpecker; Rincon de la vieja, Costa Rica; December 2016. Another once I was convinced we'd likely seen. Thank goodness we stopped for a few shots. What a gorgeous bird!

After wandering the property, we headed back up to Rincon de la Vieja, mainly to hike the trail to see the mudpots and other volcanic activity. There was bird activity in the forest but we didn't linger--with our typical jam-packed itinerary (I'm trying to slow down, really!), we had other places to be later in the day.

Saw this little guy (I *think* it's a ruby-throated). Seems like odd behaviour--looking for insects? Sourcing mud? I'm not sure and can't find info on ruby-throats using mud.

#327: White-throated magpie jay; Rincon de la vieja, Costa Rica, December 2016.
They are so majestic--like GIANT blue jays (about 50 cm). Compare to the Black-throated magpie jays we saw in Mexico.

When I showed this picture to the ranger after our hike, he had to look twice. This is NOT a poisonous coral snake but it's safe cousin, a milk or king snake. The rhyme to remember it is "Red touch black, safe for Jack. Red touches yellow, kills a fellow."

A coati hanging out near the ranger station--they remind me a lot of raccoons.

As we were on the move that day, we didn't stay to do any of the waterfall trails. Instead, we started weaving our way through the countryside to Tenorio Volcano National Park. We wanted to do lots each day, but it's difficult when the sun sets at 5:30. I was thinking this was because it was winter, but no, it rises at 5:30 in the morning and sets at 5:30 at night every day. As a result, we never slept in (ok, maybe once), but if you want to see anything in daylight, you need to get up! So coming home to Canada was great, because I got to sleep an extra hour and half in the morning!

Let's keep in mind, it's Christmas Day.  And it couldn't feel less like it. No snow, no presents under tree, no family and no Rudolph on TV. But they celebrate a little differently. This isn't a bird-related picture (and I'm going to really try to stick to the birding activities for this series of posts or I would be writing this blog for the next year--plus, the bird stuff is what you're here for, right?!), but it was pretty cool that we stopped at this waterfall on Christmas Day and it was fill of Costa Rican families swimming and having picnics.  Later that night we'd drive through a little town and many of the casitas had Christmas lights and decorations up (sometimes decorated full-size fake Christmas trees on the front porch). It was so strange to see.

Looks like I'm going to have to cut this one short--I've already run out of my 200-character tag limit, and I know it's hard to read super-long blog posts. Be back soon!