Costa Rica -April 6, 7 and 8

Black-mandibled Toucan (Chestnut-mandibled) in flight, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 7, 2013

 

Bay headed Tanager, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 7, 2013

Cherrie's Tanager, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 7, 2013



Masked Tityra, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 7, 2013

This will be the first of several posts regarding our recent trip down to Costa Rica.  We travelled down to Rio Magnolia Lodge on April 6 making the four hour drive from San Jose and arrived there just before sunset.  Along the way the most notable bird was a Bare-throated Tiger Heron south of Quepos which became my fist life bird of the trip.   A few birds were still calling once we arrived at the lodge but I would have to wait until the next day to truly start adding up my bird list. 

Brown Violetear, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 8, 2013

On April 7 I spent the entire day on my own around the various trails and habitats around the lodge.  I ended the day with 63 species with a few new to my life list or Costa Rica list.   The variety of species ranged from various tanagers to toucans to flycatchers to North American bound migrants.  I managed one life bird for the day, a Sulphur belled Flycatcher.  The early morning (prior to sunrise) provided the only rain of the entire trip. 

Rufous tailed Hummingbird, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 9, 2013

Black Hawk Eagle, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 9, 2013

Scarlet Tanager, Rio Magnolia Lodge, April 9, 2013

The following day on April 8 I was joined at the lodge for the morning by a bird guide and we explored other areas around the lodge and had another fabulous day of birding.  Highlights were many and included a half a dozen life birds including Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Yellow Tyrannulet, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Dusky Antbird, and Ruddy Pigeon.  One of the more memorable experiences of the morning was watching the activity associated with the birds near an army ant swarm.  As the army ants move through the jungle the local insects flea from them and become the meal of a variety of bird species that typical follow these ant swarms.  An impressive scene to watch as the birds took advantage of the easy prey.

Many more photos from these days, as well as other days, can be found at my Flickr site at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/sets/72157633255364904/