Idle Sunday Around St. John's

Yet another quiet Sunday birding around St. John's. Basically this means sitting by Quidi Vidi Lake half of the day waiting for a miracle while looking at the same old ducks and going through the gulls seeing the same old species.  No miracle bird noted today.  Attached are a few pictures of the day.

The first three pictures are of a 1st winter hybrid GBBG x GLGU.  This hybrid combo has surpassed HERG x GLGU as the most numerous combo in St. John's during winter. Numerous is a relative term, hybrid gulls are still rare compared to the Pacific coast of North America.

The above two photos are of a 2nd winter hybrid GBBG x HERG. In the first picture the hybrid is swimming with a pure GBBG of the same age. The pale primaries are the key feature in picking out all ages (including adults) of this hybrid combo.

This adult Common Gull is a winter fixture  at Quidi Vidi Lake. It was banded in St. John's when in 2nd winter plumage three winters ago. So the bird is now nearing the end of it fourth year of life.  It's 4th birthday will be in June 2014.

There are endless opportunities to photograph perfect plumaged Tufted Ducks and both scaup species at QV Lake.  They do look good but I don't use up too much digital space on them.

Common Mergansers became a hit for photographers this winter when they started showing up in confined water holes at the lake. 

I did check out other ponds and the harbour today. At the pond in front of the Health Sciences Building I was distracted from the gulls and ducks by a good flock of robins, about 75, that started feeding on the bare patches of grass under the ornamental pine trees. There is a realistic chance there could be a wintering Redwing among them. As per normal when you are getting deep into checking out a winter robin flock a Sharp-shinned Hawk flies in to ruin the party. Usually the hawk disperses the birds and then goes on without catching anything. That is what seemed to be happening again as the 75 robins shot into the air  and headed toward Long Pond.  Then I heard the squealing and looked over to see a puff of feathers. The hawk had surprised a robin and me. They went down behind a snow bank.  The crows reacted and sat low in the trees cawing angrily and looking down to where I was guessing the hawk was.  I drove the car over to the next parking lot to see what I could see.  

The Sharp-shinned Hawk was mantling his prey to shield it from the view of the crows that could potentially drive it off the prized prey.

The robin was still alive.  I am thinking it didn't want to draw attention to robin by killing it while the crow were watching.

The robin was alive in the talons of the hawk for 2 or 3 minutes.  When the bird was finally dead (suffocation?) the hawk picked it up and flew low and rapidly over the lawn into thick cover where it could enjoy that fat robin in peace.  

Carara Area, Costa Rica Feb 26-28, 2014

Carara National Park, midway along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, is one of the best birding locations in Costa Rica.  We stayed in a nearby beach resort called Punta Leona. This gated complex is definitely aimed at pleasing beach goers but the extensive manicured grounds are excellent for birding. The road in from the highway, while busy, goes through some nice forest.  This was a good base for visiting nearby Carara and Tarcoles River. It was also hot and very humid. My Canon EOS 1D Mark IV failed half way through the stay. The mirror was sticking in the up position after every shot.  It was fine again after moving to the cooler mountains but it meant I did not have the camera while visiting Carara.  Carara was the only place I paid for guiding services during the trip. For six hours I had the excellent services of Johan Fernadez.  A true master at getting the birds out of the jungle. The six hours birding with him in Carara was by far the highlight of the entire Costa Rica trip. We saw many nice jungle birds including sweet views of a Streak-chested Antpitta.

Scarlet Macaw is conspicuous and noisy at the Punta Leona beach resort. I ended up knowing about five nests on the grounds. I am sure there were more. 

These macaws were present in the evening at holes used for roosting and probably nesting. No matter how often you saw these spectacular birds it was difficult to think of them as free ranging wild birds and not part of zoo set up. 

A pair of Slaty-tailed Trogons had a territory by our sleeping unit. 

A Pale-billed Woodpecker is bringing this very large grub to a nestling in a tree by the road in the middle of the hotel complex.  An Orange-chinned Parakeet had a nest hole at the top of the same tree.

The Rufous-naped Wren was very numerous on the hotel grounds.

Great Kiskadee and its smaller cousins Social and Gray-capped Flycatchers were rarely out of sight or sound on the Punta Leona hotel grounds.

Groove-billed Anis walk with the Great-tailed Grackles on the manicured lawns looking for insects.

My prize find in the jungle habitat along the road coming into the hotel was this female Black-hooded Antshrike which actually turned out to be fairly common in Carara Nat Park. Oh well it was exciting at the time.

Blue morpho butterflies were common in the jungle habitat. Like waving a sheet of paper up and down that is glowing sky blue on top and brown below this amazing insects turns to leaf brown as soon as it hits the dirt.

Costa Rica is full of surprises for a Newfoundland birder but the biggest surprise of all was encountering this crab  in the woods.  How could I have not heard about this one!? They are called the Halloween Crab. It lives on land.  Then I realised  the leaves on the forest floors were moving with many hundreds of these crabs all crawling down slope like an army of alien  invaders.  There were none to be seen the next morning.

Lizards are a common sight on the hotel grounds. This is called the Jesus Christ lizard because of its ability to run short distances over the surface of water.

The Tarcoles River which empties into the ocean from Carara Nat Park into mangrove delta. There are a number of boat rides into the bird rich channels.  Most people on the boats want to see crocodiles which are unmissable but the boat drivers also know what important birds the birders are after such as Panama Flycatcher, Mangrove Vireo, Mangrove Hummingbird and American Pygmy Kingfisher.  Missed Mangrove Hummer on this trip but luckily did see it on the same boat ride in 2008.

The Tarcoles River crocodiles are very friendly.  This one looks like it hasn't brushed its teeth in a while and it doesn't care.

Purple Gallinules and several species of heron (even Great Blue Heron) and egrets were familiar North American birds numerous along the river.

A Mangrove Cuckoo in the mangroves was a life bird.

American Pygmy Kingfisher was just one of five species of kingfisher we saw along the river  Many people add it to their life lists on this trip, as I did in 2008. We had good looks at two on this trip. They are about one third the size of a Belted Kingfisher.

More Costa Rica shots - Savegra Still

Seems a small hope that I'll get through all my Costa Rica shots while the trip is still fresh in my mind.  These are the last from Savegra.

There were odd reminders that the mountain ranges down the spine of Costa Rica are linked with the mountains of western North America all the way to the Rockies of western Canada.  Band-tailed Pigeon (above) and American Dipper (below) are fairly common at Savegra.

However, it does not take long to remind yourself where you when you turn around from a watching a pair of Dippers in the river and see this Emerald Toucanet having breakfast on roadside berries.

Another river speciality are the Torrent Tyrannulets that fly catch around the river boulders. 

Mountain Robins were uncommon compared to the ubiquitous Clay-coloured Robin and were usually higher up on the hill where few CCROs were present.  The dark bill (yellow on CCRO) is the sure fire mark to ID Mountain Robin.  

There are endless opportunity for point blank hummingbird photos at the hotel feeders. I mostly just looked at them.  Green Violetear (above), Magnificant Hummingbird, White-throated Mountain Gem and Volcano Hummingbird were the most numerous species.

The Scintillant/Volcano Hummingbird duo look very similar. Both are listed as common around the hotel.  In April 2008 I identified only Scintillant where as in early March 2014 they all seemed to be Volcanos. The dark central tail feather on the females is supposed to be good enough to separate from Scintillant. There were nearly no males but dozens of females were present at the feeders and in the wild flowers. 

The Gray-breasted Wood-Wren is commonly heard but is surprisingly difficult to see even when at close range. This is a miracle shot to get one fully in the open.

One of the extra pleasures of birding the Savegra area is that you can confidently identify all the woodcreepers you see because there is mercilessly only one species in the area - the Spot-crowned Woodcreeper.

Black-cheeked Warblers are pleasantly common on the hill (small mountain) behind the hotel. They often form the nucleus of feeding flocks. They shun the sunlight preferring the  dark undergrowth in the forest. While easy to see well you need lots of ISO to get any kind of a photo.  

The Brown-capped Vireo (above) and Yellow-winged Vireo are fairly common along the river. The only other vireo species I saw was Philidelphia (!) with up to five per day.

All of the hotels along the Savegra River Valley have the Respendent Quetzal on their signs. It is the Atlantic Puffin of Costa Rica, the money bird. This pair was investigating a nest hole only five minute walk from the restaurant. Saw one other male feeding in a traditional tree about 15 minute walk down the road. The true colours of the spectacular male can not be captured digitally.

Savegra - Parting Shots

Had from 6 am to 10 am to bird around the Savegra hotel and area and catch up on some photos of birds that I had been putting off.

The Black-faced Solitaire is a common singer around Savegra but difficult to actually see.  It is one of the few species that sang an actual song while I was there. This bird was watching the female building a nest under a bank.

Flycatchers are a nightmare to a neophyte Costa Rican birder. There are so many species and many look similar. Eventually things start to fall into place as you start ticking them off. This empidonax is easy to identify as the Black-capped Flycatcher and gave exceptional views along the roadside.

A poor shot of the beautiful Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher.  There were two pairs right around the restaurant area and others up and down the river. Good views were frequent but they didn't sit still long enough for photos. This is a long distant crop.

The Rufous-collared Sparrow was abundant and tame.  I waited until the last hour before I pointed the camera at one. 

The Flame-coloured Tanager is commonly seen in the flowers beds and bushes around the hotel grounds. Easy to see and photograph but I was forced to snap a feeder shot in the last minute.  

Silver-throated Tanagers are fairly common in the area and often part of the mixed feeding flocks.

Spangle-cheeked Tanagers are local favs but were scarce on this visit unlike 2008 and I was lucky enough to get this photo on the last morning. 

Currently at Hotel Bougainvillea, outside of San Jose. Wednesday afternoon we fly home. According the Environment Canada it is presently -18C with a wind chill of -33C in St. John's, Newfoundland.  Difficult to imagine such cold as I sit in the hotel room after midnight listening to crowing roosters and constantly calling Common Pauraques.  Will have most of the morning to bird the fairly good habitat around the hotel.  It is going to be difficult to say good bye to Costa Rica. It has been a good trip.

Day II in Savegra

An easy pleasant day of birding along the river and around the hotel in Savegra.  It is a very birdy place. Always something to look at with frequent little surprises among the expected. While birding along the stream and checking out a nice mixed flock of Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers, Silver-throated Tanagers, Yellow-thighed Finches, Collared Redstarts, Ruddy Treerunners, Spotted Treecreepers, Yellow-winged, Brown-capped and PhiladelphiaVireos, Black-throated Green and Flame-throated Warblers my attention was suddenly focused on a waterthrush on the side of the creek - it was a Louisiana Waterthrush!  It is expected here but was still a shock to see and great views. The river also has American Dippers, we saw five and plenty of Torrent Tyrannulets.  Saw three Resplendent Quetzals and one Collared Trogon today.

No time to go through today's photos. Attached are a couple of quickies done up 30 minutes before supper.

The Slaty Flowerpiercer (above) and Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager (below) are fairly numerous and relatively easy to photograph.

On the other hand the Chestnut-capped Brush-finch is locally pretty uncommon according my limited experience and likes the dark under growth where the sun it rarely shines. It digs in the leaves like a hefty Fox Sparrow.  This was the best of many bad shots of a pair over a 15 minute period using and ISO of 3200. 

A Pleasant Day in Savegra, Costa Rica

A beautiful clear cool day in Savegra.  Early morning was like a cool very clear day in late September on the Avalon. Went on a six hour walk up the hill/mountain and then birded around the hotel area.  Lots of very nice birds.  My one lifer was half way up the mountain - a Streak-breasted Treehunter. Saw it in the same place on the way up and down.  Second time it was with a mixed flock of birds that included a GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER!  Sure wasn't expecting that.  My warbler list for the day was Golden-winged, Black-throated Green (6), Wilson's (30), Flame-throated (5), Black-cheeked (15), Collared Redstart (4). other N Am birds including Wood Thrush, Philadelphia Vireo (2) and Baltimore Orioles.  I'd tell you more about some of the cool brush-finches I saw today but I don't have my field guide with me in the internet bar and and can't remember their correct names.

Ironically the two best birds of the day were within five minutes of the restaurant.  See the photos.

It would not be right to leave Costa Rica without seeing this bird!  The place where I encountered three of them in 2008 didn't have any today, so it was a little relief to see this one.

In 2008 I was considered lucky to have encountered Spotted Wood-Quail on a trail high in the mountain. So a  group of four scratching in the leaves next to a fairly well used trail around the hotel complex was baffling, but accepted with grace. (ISO 4000 for these photos)

Breather from the Costa Rican Heat

Arrived in our final Costa Rican destination of Savegra in the mountains.  It is refreshingly cool after four nights on the Pacific Coast at Punta Leona. It was great birding location being excellent in the resort and near to famous Carara Nat Park.  Saw some much wanted jungle birds including losing my antpitta virginity with a superb prolonged views of a Streak-chested Antpitta.  It was a bad week of heat and humidity even for the locals. For someone with years of working on the building up polar bear-like insulating attributes it was brutal. Even standing still in the shade every pore in my body was dripping sweat continuously.  Twice I spent too long in the heat with energy sapping results that left me totally wiped for 12 hours afterwards. The birds were good though. More on that later.

Savegra was a favorite site of mine during my 2008 visit to Costa Rica.   It is good to be back. A little walk around in late afternoon quickly reminded me of why I liked it before.  A swarm of hummingbirds at the feeders. A banana feeder that wasn't here six years ago was attracting Flame-coloured Tanagers, Silver-throated Tanagers and Yellow-thighed Finches (and Tennessee Warblers). Easy photo targets for later.  The hummingbird mix was different than late April 2008. There fewer of my favourite White-throated Mountain Gem but there several Striped-tailed Hummingbirds which was a lifer. A short walk down the road turned up a pair of Torrent Tyrannulets, a pair of flycatching Collared Redstarts. A little mixed group birds along the creek included two Black-checked Warblers, Tufted Flycatchers, more Yellow-thighed Finches and my first glimpse of what should be many of the Flame-throated Warbler.   At other locations along the creek a good look at a Dark Pewee, singing Black-faced Solitaires, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-thrushes and my first satisfying look at a Rufous-browed Peppershrike.  From the window of our big windowed unit there is a pair Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers spending time in a bare tree, must be a nest nearby and there is an excellent view of the swifts and swallows over head and group of five Swallow-tailed Kites that seemed to be also flycatching over the woods.  ooh what a dream location.

Tomorrow the dream gets better as I walk the hairpin dirt track up the hill (mountain) to an oak dominated forest where the bird community is a world away from down here in the valley. And I hope to find a little use trail from 2006 where I had prolonged treat to two male Resplendent Quetzals interacting over the favour of female. I stood in the middle of the show for as long as I wanted. Just me, them and no one else anywhere.

The big question is will I be OK with just a long sleeve shirt or will it be so cold I'll need a fleece. You know what I mean!!!?

Collared Redstart is a great bird to have as common, However they are usually in heavily shaded areas making photography a challenge.

Yellow-winged Vireo is a regular member of feeding bird flocks in the vegetation along the creek.

This Yellow-thighed Finch, yes a 'finch' had just taken a bath. It is a common site around the hotel area.