20th August - Kura Design Villas, Uvita , Costa Rica

The rain from the yesterday afternoon persisted through the night, and was still with us at dawn today, although lighter.  With the dawn there were birds outside the villa and we could see them from the bed as we enjoyed a first cup of coffee.  

A Blue Dacis.

And what we had hoped for, a hummingbird, this one a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, a bit distant, and a heavy crop.

A Blue - Grey Tanager, probably the commonest tanger we have seen.

A Golden-hooded Tanager.

A black-crowned Tityra

And a Red-legged Honeycreeper, a male in non-breeding plumage.

Then close to the balcony a Grey-headed Chacalaca, there was in fact four present.

After breakfast we went for a short walk around the site.  The rain had eased, now and there were signs that the weather could improve.  Along the path there were huge spiders webs strung across the path.  The silk used in these webs is incredibly strong, and rather than break through them we dipped under them.  There was another reason to duck under them, the Orb spiders that produced them were huge too.

There were more birds to be seen, sometimes they would just appear in the trees alongside the pool, and with the varying heights of the buildings we could be at eye level or looking down on them.  This I think is a Baird's Trogon, probably a female.

The one bird we had not seen much of, and is one of those that you would associate with this region was the Toucan.. We had seen a distant Keel-billed Toucan in Monteverde, but on one of the trees around the buildings was a Chestnut-mandibled Toucan.

Some lovely views.

And where there is one there is normally a mate, and the two came together, and at our request coordinated the direction of their bills!

I thought at first it was the Toucans calling when a repetitive call sounded out.  It could only be described as a squeaking whistled call.  It took a while to locate but it turned out to be a Roadside Hawk.

It was calling to a mate that would return the calls.  It then flew off, and I was able to locate the other bird.  This one seemed to be drying out its wings following the rains of the last 18 hours.

With all the rain and wind, the area around the pool was littered with dead insects, and also some that were just alive.  Mostly crickets they had some really amazing camouflage, mostly mimicking leaves.

The night before we had rescued a large stick insect from a pool of water, this morning we found it again, still alive.  Here we are looking at the head of the animal.

The weather was now picking up, there was still a considerable amount of cloud about, but you could feel the sun burning through. Around midday there was a significant increase in the number of vultures soaring around the side of the mountain.  Both Black and Turkey vultures were present in very good numbers.  This is a Turkey Vulture.  There is now white in the wings and it has a more pronounced tail than the Black Vulture.

As well as the vultures there were hawks circling around the area, sometimes above us, and at other times below us heading down to wards the beach.  This is a dark phase Short-tailed Hawk.  This is one of the commonest soaring hawks in Costa Rica.

Then it was joined by a much paler bird that had me guessing for some considerable time.  I had identified it as several other species before I realised it was the pale morph of the same bird, the Short-tailed Hawk.

With all the soaring birds of prey around the mountains, and the many Swifts that could be seen high above us I took to scanning all around the area, both above us and looking down.  The staff had told me that an adult King Vulture is seen on regular occasions, sometimes roosting in a distant tree alongside the road that leads down to Uvita.

A group of Black Vultures were soaring away to the west of us, they have broad wings, very little tail and light wing patches on the primaries, easily spotted at distance.  However in among them was a much whiter bird.  It was very distant but definitely a King Vulture from the white on the front of the wings, and the square shape of the wings when soaring.

So from now on it was hoping this particular vulture would come closer, both the Turkey and the Black Vultures had no problem with gliding past close to the pool, would the King Vulture at some point?

Into the early afternoon and I noticed more raptors in the air, this time with white heads, they collected together abd came closer, gliding above and swooping out over the valley below. There was a huge gathering of Swallow-tailed Kites

From our position I was able to get some unique views of these superb birds.

Flying seemed effortless to them, adjusting the position of the wings to drop, turning the lovley forked tail to turn.

  

I was even able to look down on them as they flew past, allowing a different perspective on the plumage.

At anytime there were a maximum of nine birds in the air around us, but they were gathering away from the hotel on a tree top, here I counted 14 birds.

The vultures continued to soar around us through the afternoon, but as the heat turned up other birds were not seen.   The clouds continued to bubble up out across the ocean, and over the sides of the mountains around us.  Over the last few days as we approached 16.00 in the afternoon there would be the threat of rain, but today the skies remained clear.

I was awoken from a nap and told that there was a Caracara nearby, there was and it was a Crested Caracara, perched on the top of one of the nearby trees, just below us.

  
The Caracaras are actually members of the falcon family, but unlike their swift and agile flying cousins, the Caracara is a little sluggish and also prefers scavenging.  They will also steal prey from other birds such as vultures and hawks,  In flight they tend to stay low to the ground, and as a result can be first to carrion, but will also aggressively push vultures from carcasses.  They are also a familiar roadside bird where they will be onthe look out for road kill and food dropped from vehicles.

As it flew off it showed white patches at the base of the primary wing feathers.

Black Vultures were gathering in the trees around the hotel.  They make no noise, and it it was as if they just appeared sitting on the branches spookily watching us.

Of the two common vultures, I think I prefer the appearance of the Black Vulture.

As the sun started to drop in the sky the amount of bird calls increased, the Roadside Hawk pair returned, one cruising past us at eye level.

While the other called repeatedly from a perch on an isolated tree.

The clouds were gathering out over the ocean, but these were not the threatening clouds of previous days, just those cumulus nimbus clouds you associate with the tropics.

To the west and the setting sun it was calm.

While around us on the mountain side there was still cloud lingering within the trees and valleys.

  
The infinity pool at Kura provides some magical reflections come the earl y morning, and now as the sun sets.

  
And with the setting sun came some lovely colours in the sky.

For the first time since we had been here the evening was dry, and we were able to enjoy our drinks and dinner out in the open.  The pool and surrounding tree is a feature throughout the day, and when the weather is right during the evening too.

  
After dinner as we made our way back to the villa we came across this large spider.  It is commonly known as a Banana Spider, and is a species of wandering spiders, which can range from a very small body, around 9 millimetres, to huge like this one with a body of about 40 millimetres and legs that span larger than my hand.

The bite can be venomous, but is likened only to a mild bee sting.

We left the spider where we found it and retired.  Tomorrow we had to be up early once again