31st January - Rancho Naturalista Day One, Turrialba Costa Rica

So the British Airways flight along the south coast was taking us to Costa Rica.  This would be our fourth visit to the country, but the first time we have done so in the dry season, or the summer as the Ticos call it.  

We arrived at Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose the Costa Rican capital at just before five in the afternoon, a six hour time difference meant it was almost midnight by our body clocks as we sat in traffic on route to the hotel.  After a drink and shower it was a welcome sleep, but we were up early the next morning and had to kill time wandering around the streets of San Jose.

Our transfer arrived just before 10:00 am local time and ae endured a troubled journey to Turrialba and our first stop, the Rancho Naturalista lodge up in the highlands around the city.  We arrived at lunch time and after eating we settled in.  We had been here before, back in 2018, our last visit to Costa Rica, so after settling into our room, we made our way to the main balcony that over looked the hummingbird feeders and many feeding stations.

As we left the room to make our way there I stopped for a Ruby Spotted Swallowtail butterfly that was nectaring on the verbena, I had expected hummingbirds, so it was a surprise for the first photograph to be that of a butterfly.

Up on the balcony there were hummingbirds, The White-necked Jacobin, probably the commonest hummingbird around the feeders.

And the drab looking female in comparison.

The lodge is well known for the many bird species that can be found around the grounds, but the main reason I wanted to return was to catch up with the hummingbirds once again.  It takes a while to get the eye in and to work out how best to photograph them.  I don't like photographing them on the feeders so wait until they find a perch nearby of try and catch them in flight.

Some more of the Jacobins.

Showing off the white neck that gives them their name.

Another female.

A flight shot, i increased the shutter speed to 1/3200 of a second and still the wings are not sharp, incredible speeds the wings move at.

Here a Scarlet-rumped Tanager.  Once upon a time this species was split with birds on the Caribbean slopes know as a Passerini's Tanager and those found on the specific side known as Cherie's Tanager.  The taxonomy was based on the differences in the female, but today they are now lumped as one species, the Scarlet-rumped Tanager.

Back to the hummingbirds, a new one for me due to the time of year, the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer.  An uncommon species found on this side of Costa Rica.  The bright red feet are diagnostic.

Not on the feeders but flying around the verbena, the Violet-headed Hummingbird, another lifer.  This is the male showing the bright violet blue crown and the white postocular spot.

Most of the smaller hummingbird species such as the Violet-headed stay clear of the feeders and the larger hummingbirds, preferring to use the flowers around the garden.

The White-necked Jacobins fiercely defend, what they consider to be, their feeder

The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird alternates between the flowers and the feeders, they will stick to a certain perch, returning to it after nectaring.  This is the only Costa Rican Hummingbird that combines the rufous tail with a green breast.

Not sure what was going on here, a yawn maybe?

Some time away from the hummingbirds, the Summer Tanager, the male in its bright red plumage looks so striking in the dark of the foliage.

But even better out in the open.

The subject of a major twitch in Yorkshire in the autumn, it was wonderful to enjoy this beautiful bird without hoards of people around.

A Black and White Warbler creeping amongst the branches like a Treecreeper, last time I saw one of these was in my garden in New Jersey.  The over winter here in Central America before returning to the North American woodland and forest in the spring.

And a new bird for me, the Yellow-faced Grassquit.  There was an interesting discussion later in the evening around the meaning of "quit".  It turns out it means bird, the "grass bird" with a distinctive face pattern.

That was very much it for the afternoon, the tropical sunset rolling in and light going almost immediately.  Dinner was at 18:00 and shortly after it started to rain.  The rain got heavier and heavier and was so loud on the roofs of the lodge and rooms.  It continued throughout the night, the hope was that it would ease by the morning as we had a tour arranged starting at 6:00 am.  We will have to see.  A great start to the trip though, 46 species of which there were 10 lifers for me.