Skip to main content

Birding Day at Rancho Naturalista and surroundings

BIRD OF THE DAY - SUNBITTERN

Today we will spend our day birding the grounds of Rancho Naturalista and surrounding areas, starting early in the morning at the moth light that attracts several species of birds that come at first light to feed on the moths. Then we will have breakfast while we enjoy the feeder’s activity.

And from there we birded the trails and gardens of the reserve – except I didn’t. I felt the need to stay close to the buildings [Are you with me?] But despite that had a pretty cool morning in sight of the feeders.

Soon the others returned, and by then I had recovered slightly, and we went for a short drive down nearby the original owner’s residence to scope out some hummingbirds, in particular the Snowcap. While only one male showed a couple of times the females were more cooperative as was the Green Thorntail.

While there we saw a few other birds, of course, the Common Tody Flycatcher and Oropendula note worthy.

Lunch, for me, was chips. For the others stuffed tomatoes with carne con queso y ensalada y papas frittas.

 A rest until 2 pm and we were out again.

In the afternoon we visited Valle del Rio Tuis, where we found, nesting, the astonishing Sunbittern.  Common species were around as well as Torrent Tyrannulet and  Black Phoebe.




Followed by a twitch of the nocturnal Greater Pottoo at its regular roost.


 A visit to a reservoir was the final destination for the day and we saw a small variety of ducks plus herons, egrets, anhinga, Cormorant, American Coot, Wood Stork, Northern Jacana – to name a few. Variable Seedeaters and our first Ani were highlights and we had a few Yellow headed Caracara fly over. Roadside Hawk, by the roadside was our last species for the day.










 RANCHO NATURALISTA

The premier birding lodge in Costa Rica, Rancho Naturalista is one of the finest birdwatching lodges in Central America. Multiple species of hummingbirds, as well as many other birds, can be seen right from the spacious balcony where you also have a great view of the distant smoking Turrialba volcano. It’s a wonderful getaway for birders, photographers, and naturalists.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ITINERARY 2024

  Ken Cross - Costa Rica Birding and Nature Tour 2024   Costa Rica is a birding destination that lives up to the hype! In this small central American nation there exists nearly 1000 bird species, of which we will see over half in our near four week visit. Hummingbirds, Toucans, Wrens, Flycatchers, Woodpeckers, Trogons, Motmots, Tanagers, Parrots [including Macaws] will be seen. Expect to see squirrels, monkeys, coatimundis and agoutis among other mammal species. We will also see fantastic herps, including Basilisk Lizards, Iguanas and we should see a variety of frogs, including some poison arrow frogs. This will be a great trip that takes around nearly the entire country.  Our local guide is Diego Quesada. Day 1-Mar 2 [S]. Upon our [late] arrival in San Jose we will transfer to the Hotel Bougainvillea. The hotel is well located, very comfortable with a good restaurant and garden.     Accommodation: Hotel Bougainvillea  Day 2-Mar 3 [S]. Today is a rest ...
1 comment
Read more

PELICAN LODGE AND SURROUNDS

  Pelican Lodge.  Birded grounds And nearby Talamanca Reserve . Dipped CR sparrow. Location - Talamanca Reserve Trails Chestnut-collared Swift Streptoprocne rutila White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris Costa Rican Swift Chaetura fumosa Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl Western Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Great EgretArdea alba Black VultureCoragyps atratus Turkey VultureCathartes aura Swallow-tailed KiteElanoides forficatus Barred HawkMorphnarchus princeps Roadside HawkRupornis magnirostris Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus Northern Emerald-ToucanetAulacorhynchus prasinus Fiery-billed AracariPteroglossus frantzii Red-crowned WoodpeckerMelanerpes rubricapillus White-crowned ParrotPionus senilis Masked TityraTityra semifasciata Yellow-olive FlatbillTolmomyias sulphurescens Bright-rumped AttilaAttila spadiceus Dusky-capped FlycatcherMyiarchus tuberculifer Great KiskadeePitangus sulphuratus Boat-billed FlycatcherMegarynchus pitangua Social FlycatcherMyiozetetes simil...
1 comment
Read more

The Valley of the Quetzals

BOD - COLLARED REDSTART! Today we had a big and long day birding in the Savegre Valley. We birded the grounds before and after breakfast of our lodge: Sueños del Bosque [above].   Later we drove down further in the valley for some river side birding – basically at the limits of the Quetzal NP. The Resplendent Quetzal is a big target, not only for birders but for everyone, it seems who is a tourist visiting Costa Rica. March is the beginning of the breeding season for this spectacular bird and every tour company knows it!   We saw at least five or six individuals throughout the day – some testimony to how common they are in this valley. If we were willing to fight other tourist groups we would have seen more.     Towards the top of the Vally we stopped for lunch at Mirriams – a restaurant and accommodation that has been operating for some thirty years. Traditional meal was enjoyed as was the feeders out side. Mountain Thrush, Acorn Woodpecker, Flame coloured Tan...
Post a Comment
Read more