May isn’t the biggest month for birding in Costa Rica. In fact, it’s usually one of the months that sees the fewest visiting birders. Most people plan their trip for the classic birding months of January, February, and March to take advantage of dry weather, migrants, and more dry weather. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise to do a fair bit of guiding in May, 2014. Trips to Braulio Carrillo, Las Bromelias in the north, and Carara sort of made up for missing spring migration action in the northeast (as in the northeastern US as well as southern Canada).
I already blogged about Bromelias but such a wonderful area for birding always deserves another mention. It’s one of those far flung places in Costa Rica I would love to get back to because there is so much to see, and so many areas to explore.
After gazing at Keel-billed and Tody Motmots near Bromelias, I did a bit of guiding around Cinchona, Poas, and the high elevation forests of the Dota. The day around Poas was marked by a male quetzal that fluttered around the Volcan Restaurant. We also got nice looks at Black-headed Tody Flycatcher at Virgen del Socorro, hummingbirds and Prong-billed Barbet at the Cafe Colibri, and a bunch of other middle and high elevation species. At the Dota, we actually dipped on the quetzal (a heard only no show) but enjoyed looks at common highland species like Acorn Woodpecker, Yellow-thighed Finch, and Flame-colored Tanager. No Ochraceous Pewee though, so I still need to head back up there again and dedicate a day to actually seeing the pewee, and getting shots of the jay and a few other fine birds.
Next on the guiding list was a day at El Tapir and Braulio Carrillo. Surprisingly, we didn’t see so many hummingbirds at El Tapir. A male Snowcap eventually showed but there wasn’t a whole lot of hummingbird action, perhaps because they were visiting trees in flower instead. Some of the nice birds we connected with at the El Tapir clearing were Mealy Parrots, White Hawk, Emerald Tanager, Bay Wren, and so on.
Over at Quebrada Gonzalez, we dipped on big mixed flocks but still managged to find White-throated Shrike Tanager, and Carmiol’s, Tawny-crested, Speckled, and Blue and gold Tanagers along with some other nice forest birds like Spotted Antbird, Broad-billed Motmot, White-whiskered Puffbird, and excellent, close looks at Lattice-tailed Trogon.
After Braulio, I guided for a few days at Cerro Lodge and Carara. The weather was sort of brutal hot at times (par for the course around there) but the birding was great. Too many species to mention but I average about 140 species identified during a day of birding at Cerro and Carara and these days were no exception. More birds are singing at this time of the year, there are more bugs in the forest, and it’s also a great time of the year for herps.
The other day, in addition to fantastic close looks at a Short-nosed Vine Snake, we also had several Green and Black Poison Dart Frogs, lots of lizards, and a multitude of leaf litter arthropods that were running for their lives from an Army Ant swarm. Although there weren’t a whole lot of birds at the swarm, we still got nice looks at Bicolored Antbird, Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, White-whiskered Puffbird, and Northern Barred Woodcreeper. On that morning in the primary forest, we also saw Golden-crowned and Stub-tailed Spadebills, saw two and heard at least eight Royal Flycatchers, and had close looks at a Black-faced Antthrush along with dozens of other species.
A week before then, birding along the Laguna Meandrica Trail turned up good looks at four species of wrens (along with Plain Wren near Cerro Lodge in the morning), Dusky Antbird, Long-billed Gnatwren, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Orange-collared Manakins, and so on. That particular day also started off very well with Black and Chestnut-collared Swifts flying right around Cerro Lodge along with looks at expected species like Gartered and Black-headed Trogons, Rose-throated Becard, handsome Stripe-headed Sparrows, and the sort of unbelievable Turquoise-browed Motmot. Oh, and Scarlet Macaws of course. We also picked up Southern Lapwing in the fields on the roads below Cerro Lodge, and a pair of thick-knees at the Crocodile Bridge. That night, the Black and white Owls showed at Cerro and the following day, we picked up more species on the road to Bijagual, including scope views of Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet.
Next week, I head back to Cerro Lodge and Carara for two days of guiding and I hope to get out this Sunday. The amazing thing is that even though I am up to 572 species for the year, I may still pick up a few more by the end of May!