To Tapanti NP and Rancho Naturalista!

 

BIRD OF THE DAY - COLARED TROGON

Today on our second full Costa Rica birding day we started early from Hotel Bougainvillea and returned to the nearby coffee plantation. [c. five minute drive from our hotel].

Perfecto! We were soon rewarded with decent views of our target species – the Cabanis Ground Sparrow.

BIRD OF THE DAY [FOR THE DAY BEFORE] - Cabanis Ground Sparrow

House Wren plus the usual suspects were recorded in the vicinity and other newbies included Rose breasted Grosbeak plus we had a fly over of White fronted Parrots.

Rose breasted Grosbeak

Back at the hotel we went for another walk around the gardens and it proved very rewarding:

Found the roosting Mottled Owl in the Bamboo clump after unsuccessful searches the last two days.

Found White eared Ground Sparrow foraging in the furthest reaches of the property.

Squirrel Cuckoo and Grey headed Chachalacas showed nicely.

Following breakfast we headed towards Tapanti and into the traffic of greater San Jose. A slowish journey followed and two and half hours later we drove into Tapanti NP.

From Wikipedia:

Tapantí National Park

Tapantí - Cerro de la Muerte Massif National Park, (Spanish: Parque Nacional Tapantí - Macizo Cerro de la Muerte), is a national park in the Central Conservation Area of Costa Rica located on the edge of the Talamanca Range, near Cartago. It protects forests to the north of Chirripó National Park, and also contains part of the Orosí River. The area known as Cerro de la Muerte Massif was added to the park on January 14, 2000.

The park covers 583.20 square kilometres and two life zones: lower montane rain forest and pre-montane rain forest. These forests provide habitat for some 45 mammal species, including the Baird's tapir, kinkajou, white-faced capuchin monkey, paca, agouti, ocelot, and jaguarundi. The park's 400 bird species include sparrow hawks, resplendent quetzals, emerald toucanets, and violaceous trogons. There are 28 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a large insect population that includes the thysania agrippina, the largest moth on the American continent.

In 2009, three new species of Lepanthes orchids were discovered in the park, which is so far their only known habitat. All three species, L. graciosa, L. machogaffensis, and L. pelvis, are miniature orchids and neither is longer than 5 mm. They were discovered by a team from the Lankester Botanical Garden and the University of Costa Rica. 

Lunch followed in a nearby town where House Sparrows were added to our list.

Another stop in another town – Paradiso. Here we unsuccessfully attempted to twitch some owls [Barn and Tropical Screech] in the town’s square. The square proved to be the home of a Cabani’s Ground Sparrow – the statue erected to promote the species and its conservation. 

We then travelled on towards our final destination at Rancho Naturalista; A well-known and well established birding lodge with an amazing avian diversity.

A few of us added a few new species of birds plus Central American Agouti and Masked Treefrog. But more about the fauna at Rancho Naturalista tomorrow…