Costa Rica trip part 2: Rio Magnolia Lodge and Buenos Aires (Dec 17-Dec 26)

Yellow-throated Toucan (Chestnut-mandibled), Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 17, 2016

Brown Jay, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 17, 2016

White crowned Parrots, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 18, 2016

Golden hooded Tanager, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 18, 2016

Common Pauraque, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 18, 2016

Golden winged Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 19, 2016

Fiery billed Aracari, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 19, 2016

The next three days were spent exploring around the grounds and trails of the lodge which once again produced a wide variety of species. On the first full day there I added another life bird with the sighting of a Great Black Hawk soaring above the lodge. I averaged into the 90's for species everyday without an extreme amount of effort which speaks well to the diversity at the lodge (plus I certainly miss species every day as I hear some birds I just cannot identify).

Mountains viewed from grasslands, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Dec 20, 2016

Mountains viewed from grasslands, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Dec 20, 2016

Marsh (which could have contained a Masked Yellowthroat but did not), Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Dec 20, 2016

Snake looking like a stick, Durika area, Costa Rica, Dec 20, 2016

On December 20th I once again met up with Andres plus another guide that he knew. I met them in San Isidro at 5am (requiring a wake up at 3:30am to make the drive down). We then headed south toward the Buenos Aires to explore a variety of locations over the course of the entire day. Although I had a variety of possible new birds in this corner of Costa Rica I have never visited before my main target was another warbler, a Masked Yellowthroat. This subspecies of Masked Yellowthroat only occurs in a small portion of Costa Rica and nearby Panama and is likely a separate species and known as Chiriqui Yellowthoat. Unfortunately we missed finding the warbler but we were really not quite far enough south to guarantee seeing it as the area we visited was at the northern extreme of its range...I will have to try again next time I come down but will just have to go further toward the Panama border. Nonetheless we still had a decent day despite the winds that picked up mid morning and continued for most of the rest of the day. We spent a large portion of the day in the savannah and grasslands in an indigenous peoples reserve to the northeast of Buenos Aires as well as some foothills headed toward the Durika Biological Reserve. The area reminded me a lot of the Antisana area of Ecuador with large sweeping grasslands running up to steep mountains, albeit on a much reduced scale...truly beautiful country especially when compared to all the nearby agricultural areas near Buenos Aires. We had a handful of targets in the grassland area and managed to have some fantastic luck finding Ocellated Crake, a secretive species that is related to rails and has a very restricted range within Costa Rica occurring only in the grasslands we were in. We managed to find at least a dozen individuals with three seen briefly including a juvenile bird that flushed and flew a short distance. The Crakes are absolutely amazing in their ability to move through the grass without moving even a single blade even when within just feet of you. At times multiple birds would be calling almost at our feet but you could not see them. Our big misses despite a whole lot of effort were Wedge tailed Grass Finch and Ruddy breasted Seedeater. We might have heard the grass finch once but could not confirm it. Both species occur in the area but are few in number and can be quite difficult to find especially with the strong winds we had. Once we got up past the grasslands we birded a bit of the forest near the Durika Biological Reserve where we had great looks at a pair of Bare crowned Antbirds and heard a few Bicolored Antbirds as well as a Rosy Thrush Tanager (another species on my target list). Again despite lots of effort we could not get looks at this uncommon and very skulking species. Andres did find a very interesting snake that was right along the path...it was a mimic that looked exactly like a stick except for the last several inches near the head.  After spending the entire morning and the early afternoon in the areas mentioned above we headed back down to Buenos Aires to check a small marsh which held our only chance of finding a Masked Yellowthroat. However as I mentioned above we missed the species but did hear a yellowthroat giving a scolding call but we could not confirm the species. We had a few other marsh species there including a few egrets and herons as well as a Purple Gallinule. An odd surprise there was a female Painted Bunting which at least added another species to my Costa Rica list. With the wind not letting up the guides made a few phone calls and got a tip on another location to try for looks at the Rosy Thrush Tanager at a private house outside Cocoa. We arrived there in the late afternoon as time was running out for the day and scaled a gate and started looking for the bird. After trying several locations without success we were just about to leave when we heard a bird calling distantly. We eventually got a few fleeting glimpses and then finally some killer looks at a male bird that perched in the open for several seconds before disappearing again. I didn't have time to even try for a photo but I got great looks. We ended the day back in San Isidro a little after five were I got picked up for the hour drive back to the lodge. A long day which featured a few misses but some great sightings too.

Spot crowned Euphonia, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 21, 2016

Bat Falcon, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 21, 2016

Mourning Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 21, 2016

Yellow-throated Toucan (Chestnut-mandibled), Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 21, 2016

After a long day away from the lodge on the 20th I spent the 21st just taking it easy around the cottage and the lodge and never ventured very far from either location but still managed over eighty species for the day, even with a break in the afternoon to get an hour massage at our cottage. The next day I also spent the day at Rio Magnolia but covered a larger area including and finally ran across my first decent mixed species flock in the jungle and added a number of new species for the trip.

Red legged Honeycreeper, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 22, 2016

On the 23rd we both took a morning tubing trip along the lower Savegre River. Despite it not being a birding trip and having no binoculars along with me I still managed to turn up a few birds (mainly some waders, a few Spotted Sandpipers, a handful of Neotropic Cormorants and three species of kingfisher). We never made it back to the cottage until mid afternoon and spent the rest of the day just lounging around (still managed to get around fifty species just sitting on the porch including my first female Golden winged Warbler of the trip).

Speckled Tanager, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 23, 2016

Silver throated Tanager, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 25, 2016

The last couple full days (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) we stayed around the grounds of the lodge before having to make the long journey back home to reality. Christmas Eve featured my best single day total at Rio Magnolia for the trip with 118 species. My totals for Christmas were a bit lower as we had some afternoon rain which kept me from covering as many areas but I still managed to find some good stuff including the first Osprey record from the lodge.

White nosed Coati, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 22, 2016

White nosed Coati, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 24, 2016

Moth, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 18, 2016

Moth looking like a leaf, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 17, 2016

Butterfly, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 18, 2016

Beyond the birds I had a number of other encounters including several sightings of White nosed Coati at Rio Magnolia as well as a few White faced Capuchin Monkeys.  There was also a Jaguarundi (a small wild cat) seen around the lodge while we were there but I never managed to find it.  The numbers and variety of butterflies and moths was once again impressive and speaks volumes to the diversity in the tropics.

Overall for the trip I managed to find a total of 233 species of birds with 7 of them being life birds (bringing my total to a nice round 1250). I also added nine species to my Costa Rica list bringing that total to 507. The number of neotropical migrants around was about average with more than the usual amount of Philadelphia Vireos and Tennessee Warblers. The number of Swainson's Thrushes was down a bit compared to my past experiences down here in winter.  Managed to find a total of 13 species of warblers with the vast majority being Chestnut sided and Tennessee Warbler as well as Collared Redstarts (only up in the mountains).

Costa Rica trip part 1: Paraiso Quetzal Lodge (Dec 15-16)

Fiery throated Hummingbird, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Fiery throated Hummingbird, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Lesser Violetear, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Long tailed Silky Flycatcher, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Long tailed Silky Flycatchers, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Magnificent Hummingbird, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Magnificent Hummingbird, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

Sunset with Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 15, 2016

We arrived for our latest (and tenth!) trip to Costa Rica late on December 14th and stayed near San Jose for the night before departing in the morning to visit a wildlife rehab center. The center is doing some great work in education to the public and rehab of a variety of species (mammal and avian). Following that visit we departed midday for the trip up to Paraiso Quetzal Lodge up in the mountains at an elevation just over 2600 meters. Although somewhat cloudy in the valley we arrived at the lodge early in the afternoon to mostly sunny skies and we spent the next few hours admiring the hummingbirds at the feeders as well as visiting the nearby flower gardens. Occasionally the clouds would move in but would quickly disappear returning yet again to sunny skies. The hummingbird activity at the feeders did not disappoint with loads of Magnificent Hummingbirds, Green Violetears and Fiery throated Hummingbirds plus a couple White throated Mountain Gems. The activity at the feeders continued until it was almost too dark to see. A group of Long tailed Silky Flycatchers also made an appearance from time to time.  We ended the day with a spectacular sunset that included some Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds. Unfortunately as the sun went down the clouds rolled in and the winds picked up which dashed my hopes of finding some nocturnal birds...another time perhaps.

Resplendent Quetzal, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 16, 2016

Wrenthrush, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 16, 2016

Black capped Flycatcher, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 16, 2016

Black Guan, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 16, 2016

Flame throated Warbler, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 16, 2016

On the 16th I met Andres at 6 am to guide me around the area and hopefully find some of my target birds. I still have a number of high elevation species that I have not yet seen but my number one target was a Wrenthrush, which is oddly neither a wren or a thrush but is a wood warbler species endemic to Costa Rica and Panama and one of only two species of breeding warbler in Costa Rica I had not yet seen. Wrenthrush is a small, dark bird with a burnt orange crown that inhabits dense growth within the forest and is much more likely to be heard then seen. One other target for the morning was a Resplendent Quetzal which I have seen a few times but Sherri had not (she would join us a little later in the morning to try to find the quetzal). Although there was a glimpses of sun early on the clouds quickly filled in and the drizzle and light rain picked up and continued for most of the mornings. Andres and I still managed to find some good birds despite the weather including a lifer for me, a Black Guan plus a number of other highland specialities. Just before we headed back to have a quick breakfast and meet up with Sherri we found a beautiful male Resplendent Quetzal and got fantastic looks of it through the scope. Sadly that was the only one we would see all morning although we did hear one a little later. After a brief stop to eat we headed back out into the rainy weather and started walking some of the trails within the forest. Andres had a tip on where we might find a Wrenthrush and after a slippery walk down some muddy trails we arrived at the location and almost immediately had brief looks at a couple of Wrenthrush. They moved just way to fast to get photos but I managed to get some recordings as they called from the deep undergrowth. We never got another look at them in that location but we decided to move further down the trail in hopes of finding them further downslope where the trail curved back toward our current location. Sure enough we caught back up with one of them and had brief but very close looks as it foraged among some roots. I tried again for photos with my big camera but it was just too dark and the bird was too fast. I eventually tried my luck with my cellphone camera and I managed a few identifiable photos. I was very happy to have not only found the bird but to have seen it well, managed some recordings and got some photos. We continued our walk until a little before 10:30 when we had to head back to pack up and check out for 11am. We then spent the next hour checking out the hummingbird feeders again while waiting for our transportation which should have arrived at noon. By 12:30 no one had shown so I had to call the driver and he gave me a line of crap about being late and sending someone else in his place (despite being reserved months in advance and agreeing to a later pick up time at his request). Eventually it got to be after one and I had to make a number of other calls but we cancelled our original transport and made some last minute changes to get us out of the mountains and down to Rio Magnolia Lodge. Although we planned to be there by early afternoon we never arrived until after four. Despite our later than intended arrival the lodge once again produced a life bird for me when I heard a Vermiculated Screech Owl while walking back to our cabin after dinner.

Winter arrives

Northern Cardinal, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2016

Horned Lark, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2016

Looking northeast from gate 52, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 13, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 13, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 12, 2016

Winter seems to have arrived in the area and the forecast looks like mid winter by the end of the week with some snow showers, high temps in the teens and strong winds bringing the windchill down to -30 or even worse...ouch!  We also got a few inches of snow yesterday followed by some freezing rain.  Makes me want to be back in the tropics again.  I have gotten out a bit the last few days but have not found anything too noteworthy.  All the small and mid size lakes are now frozen solid with the only open water being some rivers and Quabbin.  I hoped to find some unusual waterfowl showing up but no luck.

Puerto Rico trip- December 1-5

Puerto Rican Woodpecker, Bosque Estatal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

I just returned from a brief trip down to Puerto Rico on Monday after five days there. The island contains 17 endemic species and I found all of them (I have marked the endemic species with an 'E'). I arrived midday into San Juan on December 1st and then drove over to the Fajardo area with a brief stop along the way to El Yunque National Forest. Although it was late in the day and I only covered a couple areas briefly I still managed to add six life birds including Greater Antillean Grackle, Red legged Thrush, Puerto Rican Emerald (E), Puerto Rican Woodpecker (E), Puerto Rican Bullfinch (E) and Black whiskered Vireo.

Puerto Rican Tody, PR 983 at PR 988, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Scaly naped Pigeon, Ceiba-Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

White cheeked Pintail, Ceiba-Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Puerto Rican Tanager, Bosque Nacional El Yunque, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo, Bosque Nacional El Yunque, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Gray Kingbird, PR 983 at PR 988, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Puerto Rican Oriole, PR 983 at PR 988, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Adelaide's Warbler, Ceiba-Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

Adelaide's Warbler, Ceiba-Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico, Dec 2, 2016

On my first full day on the island I hired a guide to explore the El Yunque National Forest and the old Roosevelt Road Naval Station. Before the guide showed up I added two more life birds around the Fajardo Inn where I had a few Pearly eye Thrashers and a group of flyby White winged Parakeets. Once the guide showed up we hit several spots on the way to El Yunque and I added a pair of Puerto Rican Flycatcher (E) at a cemetery plus Puerto Rican Oriole (E), Loggerhead Kingbird, Puerto Rican Tody (E) and Scaly naped Pigeon along the back road into El Yunque. We finished out the morning in El Yunque and I added five more life birds including Puerto Rican Tanager (E), Puerto Rican Spindalis (E), Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo (E), Antillean Euphonia and Green Mango. We ran into a few bouts of rain during the morning but nothing that kept us from seeing most everything quite well. Despite much effort to track down an Elfin Woods Warbler we struck out (we might have heard one but it was during some rain and we never were able to track down the bird). After a quick stop for a late lunch we headed south the Ceiba and the old Roosevelt Road navy base covering a variety of habitats and we racked up quite new birds for the trip including White cheeked Pintail, Black faced Grassquit, Bronze Manakin (introduced) and my first new warbler for the trip...Adelaide's Warbler. We heard quite a few of them but my first look at the bird was an individual that came right to the car when we stopped as it fought with reflection in the mirror. The bird was just too close to use the good camera most of the time and decent shots could be easily obtained with the iPhone camera. We finished the day trying to track down a few more target birds but we had no luck. Overall we had a total of 68 species for the day which I was quite happy with. The area near the old base looks so good for a number of species but sadly I noted a high number of feral cats in the area and sadly I'm sure many birds meet their end here.

Elfin woods Warbler, Bosque Estatal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, Dec 3, 2016

Pearly eye Thrasher, Guanica Forest (Bosque de Guánica), Puerto Rico, Dec 3, 2016

Looking south from Bosque Estatal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, Dec 3, 2016

On Saturday I left bright and early from Fajardo to make the long drive out to the west coast of the island with a few stops along the way. My first stop of the morning was down to Guanica where I hiked around for a bit and had some more good looks at some island specialties but I did't add any new species there. Once I was done there I had to decide if I wanted to try my luck heading to the southwest coast to look for shorebirds and waterfowl or head for the mountains instead. I thought the coast might be too crowded and the road into some of the areas too muddy to attempt so I headed up the long and winding road to Maricao. It appeared that I made the right decision when I stopped at a picnic area known to have some Elfin woods Warblers (E) at times. I immediately ran into a group of birds that produced a few warblers (Black and White and Black throated Blue Warblers and then I heard an Elfin woods Warbler calling and then saw it along with at least two others. I got a few marginal photos but I was super happy to catch up with another new warbler species for the trip and one that is quite rare (an endemic species too). I added another life bird at the picnic spot with a calling Lesser Antillean Pewee (a Puerto Rican subspecies that may be a separate species). After another long and winding road down the mountain I made it up to my cottage outside Mayagüez late in the afternoon and I added two more species during a short walk around the property...a pair of Puerto Rican Vireos (E) and Antillean Mango (E). Once the sun went down I had a Puerto Rican Screech Owl calling (E) plus a bunch of frogs.

Puerto Rican Tody, Bosque Estatal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Puerto Rican Emerald, Bosque Estatal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Puerto Rican Woodpecker, Bosque Estatal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Prairie Warbler, Cabo Rojo NWR, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Black necked Stilt, Cabo Rojo NWR, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Black necked Stilt, Cabo Rojo NWR, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Venezuelan Troupial, La Parguera, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

Yellow shouldered Blackbird, La Parguera, Puerto Rico, Dec 4, 2016

My final full day and my second with a guide started with a visit to the area in and around Maricao. Our primary target for that area was the endangered (and endemic) Puerto Rican Parrot and it took us a lot of looking before we finally ran across a group of four and a bit later another single bird. I was not able to get any photos but we did see them flying away from us plus lots of vocalizations. We also ran across a few more Elfin woods Warblers as well as other endemics I had seen the day before. We dodged a number of rain showers during our time in the mountains and somehow managed to not get caught outside in any downpours.

Our next stop brought us down to the south coast with an mid afternoon stop around La Paguera where we had a few coastal species as well as a few Yellow shouldered Blackbirds after lots of looking around the town. We also found our first Venezuelan Troupials and Indian Silverbills (both introduced species).

Some heavy rain showers came in as we continued along the coast heading towards Cabo Rojo but thankfully missed us at the crucial time right before sunset and we were treated to a spectacular double rainbow and a fantastic sunset as loads of shorebirds and waders enjoyed the mudflats as hundreds of swallows wheeled overhead and dozens of Prairie Warblers moved past. Despite much effort to find a Puerto Rican Nightjar we didn't have any luck. We ended our day after the sunset and we started the drive back to Mayaguez. We arrived at the mall where I dropped off my car in the morning and were rewarded with another new bird as we had an Antillean Nighthawk calling overhead (very few hang around the island during winter). I was starving at this point so I grabbed some food and as I started eating I got a text from owner of the cottage I was staying at saying the power was out due to a tree falling across the road and they were not sure if power would be restored any time soon....not a great way to end the day as no power (and no a/c) for the night didn't sound good at all. I decided to make the drive back to see what the status was before booking another nearby hotel. I arrived and the road was blocked as they worked on restoring power. As it looked like I was not getting back in any time soon I decided to head south to try once again for Puerto Rican Nightjar and I had better luck this time scoring a second nightjar species for the day and finding the last endemic species for the island! I finally made it back to the cottage around nine and the power was restored and the A/C was working again!

I woke up fairly early on Monday to make the long ride to the airport and before leaving the cottage I had a screech owl calling once again. As I started my journey north on Rt 2 I followed up in a tip from my bird guide about a family West Indian Whistling Ducks which I had brief views of through the vegetation....adding a final lifer for the trip.

As mentioned above I found all seventeen endemic species on the island and got photos of many of them. In addition I had a number of Caribbean specialties that occur in just a handful of other locations. Overall for the trip I found a total of 97 species with 35 of them being life birds bringing my life total to 1243.  A very successful trip as far as I'm concerned and a nice reprieve from the cold of early winter back at home. It was a nice warm up to come additional tropical trips to come this winter.