August has been pretty good for birding in Costa Rica. The rains haven’t been to bad and there have been quite a few highlights. As for myself, I even managed to pick up a lifer and a few more year birds.
- Over at Rancho Naturalista, much to the happiness of lucky visiting birders, a few White-crested Coquettes were present! Although this species is much more regular in the humid south Pacific region, it also shows up in the Central Valley as a rare but regular seasonal migrant (at least that’s what we assume is going on).
- Shorebirds have been showing up, including such uncommon species for the country as Dunlin and Long-billed Curlew. I still need the curlew for my country list so I’m itching to head down to Chomes and see some shorebirds! Finding a Curlew Sandpiper or some other rarity would also be nice…
- Two more birds for the Costa Rica list: Eastern Phoebe and White-cheeked Pintail! Both of these accidental vagrants were found in a series of photos taken at Isla del Coco. Now, all we need is a vagrant Say’s to get the Sayornis trifecta for the country. As for the pintail, it came from the Galapagos (Cocos is half way to that famed archipelago) and I bet it has shown up on Cocos before but no one was there to see it.
- This past August, I also posted about a few things:
A Few More Differences Between Tropical Birding in Costa Rica and Temperate Zone Birding Back Home
Some Highlights from Good Rainy Birding on the Manuel Brenes Reserve Road
a copy of the Press release for the Second Version of the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app
Nice August Birding and Butterflies on the Bijagual Road
Where can I see a Snowcap when Birding in Costa Rica
New and Improved Birding App for Costa Rica Now Available,
How Many Hummingbirds Can You See in Costa Rica in Just One Day- a Plan of Attack.
- As for the lifer, that was an Oilbird (!), a major birding coup for a Costa Rica list. Although Oilbirds have been found at Monteverde in the past, they never seemed to stay very long. This year, several stayed long enough for me to find a couple of days to head up that way and see it (actually 3!) in the Monteverde Wildlife Refuge.
- The Nature Pavilion recently made it onto the list of sustainable tours at the Rainforest Alliance. This is well deserved because these guys aren’t only about fantastic bird photography. They also do tree planting tours, a much needed activity for many parts of the country. If we could just establish more biological corridors and do a bit more reforestation, maybe we could change the Bare-necked Umbrellabird’s ICUN endangered status (and yes, it is most certainly endangered due to deforestation in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica).
This Grayish Saltator was at the Nature Pavilion.
- eBird now has a portal for Central America!