3rd February - Rancho Naturalista, Day Four, Turrialba, Costa Rica

We were moving on today, but with breakfast at 7.00am we were up early and there was the opportunity for some birding.  Interestingly the dramatic events of yesterday afternoon meant the garden was quiet, there were no Red-billed Pigeons feeding on the cracked corn that was scattered on the ground and there wasn't any sign of the Gray-headed Chachalacas.  The Bicoloured Hawk was still about and it showed itself by flying through the garden and setting off alarm calls.

Watching from there balcony there was activity in the verbena, first was a Bananaquit, a very distinctive warbler like bird that has a taste for nectar.

A visit from a male Green thorntail was very welcome.

The highlight before breakfast though was a Stripe-throated Hermit.  They are a small hummingbird and like all those that feed on the flowers it moves very quickly around the petals and you almost have to anticipate where it will feed next.

The speed with which the wings beat is too fast for the shutter speed which has to be reduced due to the light.  This means you get blurs of the wings all over the place.

Whilst on the balcony just after breakfast, Harry the english guide came in and told us there was a Tiny Hawk in the trees around the gardens.  It turns out though it wasn't a Tiny Hawk, but it was the Bicoloured Hawk that has been terrorising the pigeons around the garden.  Unfortunately for the pigeons if you feed them, then they will come.

The Red-billed Pigeons could be seen in the trees, out in the open with a good view of their nemesis.

A variegated Squirrel silhouetted on a branch.

We decided to walk down to Lisa's house to see if we could catch up with the hummingbirds one more time, in particular the Barbthroat that managed to elude us yesterday.  The here wasn't any sign of them, but we did get some great views of a Bay-headed Tanager.

I was told that the use of "Bay" refers to a reference of the colour of rats, but I can't find anything to back this up.  I do know that the latin species name refers to "ring.  Either way it is a stunning tanager only found in central america.

There was a movement of tanager with White-shouldered and this Golden-hooded Tanager.

Back at the verbena a Violet-headed Hummingbird was moving around the flowers.

I did see the Black-crested Coquette but it was much too quick today.

Looking down the slope there was a White-crowned Parrot at the top of a tree calling. 

Just as we decided to leave a nice male Snowcap turned up and I got lucky with the shot.

We decided to try the garden around Harry's house once more and struck lucky, the Band-tailed Barbthroat nectaring on the Heliconius.

This is a quite scarce hummingbird of humid evergreen forest and edge in tropical lowlands. It favours the shady understory, especially with Heliconia flowers. Usually visits flowers briefly and whips away with a sharp buzzy squeak. 

This hummingbird has a long arched bill (yellowish below), with a striped face, blackish throat patch, and rusty breast patch. Another feature is the striking tail pattern, black with white tips, and a white base that is only readily seen when the tail is spread, which gives the bird its name, although not sure where the "barbthroat" comes from

It was great to catch up with though, another new hummingbird for me.  As we were about to leave a Postman butterfly perched nicely for me.

Back on the balcony one of the Collared Aracaris showed very nicely for a couple of portraits.

The pattern on the bill looks like it has been cracked.  The name combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "feather" with glōssa meaning "tongue"

Looking out across the valley the orange flowers of the Poro Trees stood out.  This spectacular flowering tree in the bean family (Fabaceae) flowers at the height of the Costa Rican dry season, and can be seen most easily in the Central Valley all around San José where it is planted as shade for coffee plantations. The edible flowers taste and can be treated much the same as green beans.

I finally had some good views of the Golden-olive Woodpecker.

A calling Collared Aracari.

Over the last couple of days I had fleeting glimpses of the beautiful Golden-browed Chlorophonia.  It would move around the top of the trees feeding on the small berries, but never showing in full its stunning plumage.  This morning though I was able to get a good view of a male with the green throat, yellow head and blue ring around the nape.

Our time was finally up and we moved from Turrialba to La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano.  The journey took us around three and a half hours.  We had to wait to get into our room, but the wait was worth it, a large room with our own patio and plunge pool perfect, all we needed now was for the weather to play ball and allow some good views of the volcano.

Four more birds added to the trip list, which is now 87 and a single lifer, the barbthroat taking that total to 26