Just a quick post of the Costa Rica Video Compilation that I just finished -- Enjoy!

I took a different approach to study this time.  I loved it AND it was very effective.  When I was there I found I knew almost all of the bird names and recognized at the least the group/family a bird I spotted was in – which is very helpful. I did this because I figured the relaxed & easy tour would not be quite as relaxed or as easy as purported and I might be birding without a guide a fair bit. I was – but that is when this preparation really paid off…   Well then and -- M

Since my last trip to South Africa, I am taking a different approach to my trip blog posts.  Although a journal or day by day account is interesting to me, the feedback I received is that the new approach is more engaging for folks who were not ON the trip.  I start with a summary of the trip itself with limited focus on the creatures, then posts focused on the birds & other creatures.   Finding the perfect way to blog about my birding trips is still a work in progress and if

I arrived at my first VENT tour hotel a little after 2pm and was ready for a restful afternoon/evening.  I would have gone out on the owl walk (scheduled for 5:30pm), but it started raining, so I decided to go down and meet some folks. I bowed out of the walk.  Since I had the weird shower at the last place I was really looking forward to a nice hot one.  What I found was more weirdness. There were three knobs on the shower all of which were marked “C” – I tried turning them

Although I didn’t visit Costa Rica for the non-bird creatures, they are always a bonus.  I was a little concerned about the little creepy crawlers I might encounter, but they were few and manageable.  So here are the creatures we managed to see –   Mammals The iconic Costa Rica mammal would be the sloth – we saw both species – Three-toed and Two-toed but the Two-toed was from the boat on the second to last day and so tucked into the foliage it was impossible to get a decent p

Of a possible 41 species I saw 30, but can't get much closer and that is 73% of my possible species in this group. All life birds except for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird -- Rhode Island's only expected Hummingbird. I saw 12 life Hummingbirds in Arizona and 1 more in California but none of the ones I saw in Costa Rica. I love these little creatures -- it was a lot of fun to experience so many in the space of 15 days. It's also fun when they are a bunch of them together...

It's a bird, it's a plane, its a bird -- probably a Raptor in Costa Rica! Vultures & Hawk Eagles - Only saw two of these and got photos of one - missed the Ornate Hawk-Eagle. King Vulture - Saw this species twice. First time on the coast but too far away (and raining) for a photo, second time on the last full day on the boat trip. No Portrait Black Vulture - amazing that I saw the species on the beach. We have Black Vultures in Rhode Island and we have lots of beaches -- b

With six pages of portraits -- I think this is a largest group of species in Costa Rica. Before I left a friend jokes -- if you don't know what it is, it is a Tanager... not so much, but that does describe Flycatchers. Not all Flycatchers are called Flycatchers -- it is a group the is characterized by catching insects (not always flies) on the "fly" (in the air) - you can see this page features, Spadebill, Tyrannulet, Bentbill & Pygmy-Tyrant. Although these species are smal

A Tanager, a Cardinal, a Tanager, a Cardinal -- which is it -- a Cardinal even though it has the name... David, my guide, explained this to me, but I'm still not certain I quite get it. Apparently birders (and scientists) are rather attached to names and are reticent to change them even when they are down right incorrect. C'est la vie and la birding! Tanagers (even if in name only) Dusky-faced Tanager - We got lucky to see this bird across the road from the tram entrance w

So what I mean by this is that it is not an "official" bird designation -- its just that I need a group for this post and it made sense to me. These lovely birds are basically found in the tropics and have interesting plumage! Motmots - Love these birds! How can you not love a bird with such a cool tail! Lesson's Motmot - the first Motmot of the trip at the Hotel Garden. This used to be called a Blue-browed Motmot -- no clue why they changed it. Broad-billed Motmot - We sa

These are some of the most colorful birds in Costa Rica in additional to the ones in "My version of Tropical Birds". Was lucky to have a wonderful feeder at the Cerro Lodge on the coast with lots of close contact with the huge Scarlet Macaw and happy to have seen a number of Parrots there as well. Saw a good number of these species. Parrots - technically there are not all Parrots but Macaws are pretty parrot-like and Amazon's used to be called Parrots. Scarlet Macaw - The

This group includes the high flyers like Swallows & Swifts, Sparrows that stay close to the ground and Wood birds (Woodcreepers & Woodpecker) that stick to tree trunks. An interesting conglomeration but I like the way they fit together Swallows & Swifts - If your spot a tiny bird way up in the sky it is probably a Swallow, Martin or Swift. Swifts have long narrow wings, Swallows are a little chunkier of body and wing. The one Martin I was looking for looks more like a Swall

Saltator & Finch - Saltators have thick bills, relatively long tails and strong legs and feet. Finches are more petite but still have thick conical bills, except for the Flowerpiercer! Large-footed Finch - You can only really see the Large feet in the second photo. This was a bird I saw from my porch perch when the rest of the group was walking down a steep hill. Buff-throated Saltator - the Saltator we saw the most frequently throughout the trip. Cinnamon-bellied Saltator -

Yes, these are all fairly small birds, although an occasional Wren is larger than I would expect -- most are tiny and therefore belong together! Wrens - Generally small and sulky the usually feature a curved bill and an expressive tail. Rufous-backed Wren - A ubiquitous Wren which I saw throughout the trip. Plainwrens - These species don't have flamboyant plumage and are small but usually quite vocal. Unfortunately no photos from this page, but we did see the Southern Hous

For me species together is a matter of “feel” rather than science, so bear with me. This group contains some of the most interesting birds I saw, they are not tiny birds and although some are not big, they fit in nicely with the group on the page. Because many of these are quirky birds and/or shore dwellers, it contains some of my favorite new birds. Enjoy! Wood-Rails & Field Birds - we had lots of encounters with these species except for the Sungrebe 😕 I didn’t expect t