We met at 5:30 and the good news was that it was only us, so we off almost immediately. We headed out of the lodge and then turned onto the dirt road and headed in the direction of Puerto Jimenez. The road was busy with motorbikes heading to the lodges and work. This created quite a bit of dust and was the reason why Edgar wanted to go somewhere away from the busy road.
We reached a turn to a horse farm and drove slowly down an avenue of trees, flushing Ruddy Ground Doves from the track in front of us. The sun was just rising and the moon was still out, the clouds to the west were glowing pink while mist hung over the fields, it was a magical sight.
We reached the farm where we could park and Edgar pointed out a Scarlet Macaw peering out of a hole in a dead tree.
We walked along the road to view a wet area, with reeds and some open water. A Purple Gallinule balanced on the top of a reed.
On the edge of the water a Northern Jacana walked back and forth with those long legs and feet.
The first wader of the trip, a Southern Lapwing.
A Red-crowned Woodpecker on a dead tree close to us.
There had been a good sized flock of Cattle Egrets in the fields amongst the cows, but as the sun came up they flew to the nearby trees and settled at the top in the first light.
Hiding in the trees below the egrets were White Ibis, but it was impossible to get a clear view.
It seemed like there were birds everywhere and Edgar, our guide, was finding them quite quickly. He picked out this Yellow-crowned Night Heron behind the palm leaves.
I found this Lineated Woodpecker at the back of the distant trees. The Red-crowned Woodpeckers were close by and it wasn't clear if the Lineated was taking over the Red-crowned hole, or the Lineated was protecting it's hole.
The Lineated Woodpecker is along with the Ivory-billed the largest woodpecker in Costa Rica
A Yellow-throated Euphonia
And a Blue-throated Goldentail, taking the total hummingbirds seen on the trip to 25 and all, in some way, have been photographed.
A view of the trees alongside the road track, they have an orange bark that peels off at this time of year.
The Scarlet Macaws left the nest hole and engaged in some mutual preening.
There were many birds in the canopy. A Yellow Warbler that evaded me and sevral more Euphonias. The best was this Orchard Oriole, it looks like it is in moult and obtaining the breeding plumage of a male, eventually it will have a black hood and back.
There were swallows flying around the fields, fortunately they would settle on the fences and it was possible to identify them as Mangrove Swallows, which is a dark green upper parts and a white belly, throat and rump.
A Streaked Flycatcher was hawking insects from the low branches of the trees.
I had to get a photograph of the Ruddy Ground Dove.
Seedeaters would come from the grass and then onto the fence. There were several Variable Seedeaters and this Ruddy Seedeater.
Our time was coming to end and we started our way back, but the birds were still about. A Yellow-throated Toucan in the trees above us.
I had seen Roadside Hawk earlier in the morning, so it was nice to be able to get a good view of one in the trees alongside the track.
There was a good sized flock of Red-breasted Meadowlarks, once upon a time they were known a "blackbirds", another name change.
A Blue-black Grosbeak put in an appearance on the fence but was gone as I lifted the camera. But a Smooth-billed Ani flew across in front of us and settled at the top of a bush. This is a member of the cuckoo family.
We turned back on to the main dirt road and made our way back to the lodge, but the birding and wildlife wasn't over. We stopped by the open water to look for Cayman, but better on my side was a Common Basilisk Lizard. It was sat on the metal work left over from a wrecked bridge and with the dark background of the water looked very dramatic.
It is known locally as the Jesus Christ Lizard due to its ability to run across the surface of the water. There were in fact two present and these were the best shots.
This one is my favourite.
Another stop by water produced a Snowy Egret, not unlike our Little Egret, but the Snowy has a a yellow lores, everything else is the same, white body and yellow feet.
The dirt track passed through some open pasture and passed a truck with tourists from Lapa Rios, they looked like they had suffered from the dust and we were glad we had avoided the road.
In the field was a Crested Caracara.
And another white "heron", but this time it was an immature Little Blue Heron. The adult takes on a blueish plumage, the bill remains the same.
When we were at Lapa Rios in 2018 we had been taken out along this road and stopped at the stream, then there had been a Bare-faced Tiger Heron and there was one today.
On the other side of the track was a Pale-vented Pigeon.
We were able to get some breakfast back at the lodge and when we had finished we were visited by a male Howler Monkey who started to feed on the flowers in the tree.
Howler Monkeys are the largest monkey found in Costa Rica. We have been hearing them at many different places, they would wake us up early in the morning. This was the first time we had seen one clearly.
Howler monkeys are the loudest of all monkeys. They call to
let others know where their territory is, alerting them to stay away. The calls
sound like a loud whooping bark or roar. After one group of howlers call,
another group answers. Howler monkeys usually do this in the morning and at the
end of the day.
At home in the forest, they hardly ever leave the
treetops. They don't move very far each day, feeding leisurely at the very top
of the forest canopy. Howlers mainly eat leaves, as well as fruits, nuts,
and flowers. Howler monkeys get almost all the water they need from the food
they eat. One of the few times they can be spotted on the ground, however, is
during very dry spells when they need to find extra water.
Once again we spent the rest of the day by the pool, the sky wasn't as clear as yesterday with a haze which produced an ice rainbow around the sun.
It was hot and very humid, very different from the day before. The butterflies were active and once again not stopping, I did manage to get this Variable Cracker on a leaf.
And these Postman.
Once again a Many-banded Daggerwing.
And the Sunset Daggerwing, the blue seen in the one yesterday was probably a result of the light refraction.
This Charming Hummingbird had a favourite perch above the pool.
An Iguana appeared in one of the trees above the pool and laid on the branch and leisurely ate the leaves.
A male in breeding colours it would display by nodding the head and showing the flange on the throat. Unfortunately I could catch it.
In the late afternoon the water was turned on once again and the birds took a while but eventually turned up.
First was a Tennessee Warbler that had a bath in the shower.
A male Red-legged Honeycreeper.
A view of the Red-capped Manakin in the canopy.
Hummingbirds love to bathe and will do so in rain showers. This Charming Hummingbird was quick to take advantage of the artificial rain shower.
I had the shutter speed at 1/3200 and it was still not enough to freeze the wings as it flicked them about in the water.
I saved the best until last, the Red-capped Manakin posing beautifully for me showing off the lovely yellow legs as well as the white and black eye and red cap.
Back in our room there were three Amazon Parrots having a meal on the seed pods of the tree above our outdoor shower, they would hold the pod with their foot and manipulate the seed out, once all the seeds were eaten they just dropped the empty pod on to the shower.
A great day that took the trip list to 198, hopefully we will be able to get to 200 and more at the final destination. The lifer list stands at 75, incredible considering this was my fourth visit.
Tomorrow wee move to our last destination, Kura in Uvita.
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