Costa Rica 2013
Fifteen Years Later

January 16, 2013 - Talari Lodge, Los Cusingos (Skutch) and Esquinas Lodge

Up at 6 AM again for early birding at Talari. At least there was coffee this morning. Not much new. After breakfast, we left Talari and headed for Los Cusingos, the refuge/park that was the home of the late Alexander F. Skutch, the coauthor of the leading bird ID book for Costa Rica and the pioneer ornithologist in Costa Rica. His home is preserved as a museum. Good grounds and nice trails; we spent the morning there and got some antbirds and good views of wrens. At these lowland elevations, it gets pretty warm towards the end of the morning. We ate a box lunch from Talari and then made long drive to Esquinas, just off of the Golfo de Dulce, at sea level. Very hot, but tropical rain showers on drive in cooled things off. Spectacular birding on the short, 5 km drive in, despite intermittent rain.

After getting rooms, Nancy and I did a short late afternoon walk with Dave and Therese. Two new birds as well as a dozen others. A very good location. We're looking forward to an all-day serious birding tomorrow.

Almost no photos. Here are some from yesterday.

Birds
Gray-headed Chachalaca
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Roadside Hawk
Gray-necked Wood-Rail
Southern Lapwing
Northern Jacana
Spotted Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Pale-vented Pigeon
Plain-breasted Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Squirrel Cuckoo
Smooth-billed Ani
Costa Rican Swift
Long-billed Hermit
Purple-crowned Fairy
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Blue-crowned Motmot
Fiery-billed Aracari
Black-mandibled Toucan
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Yellow-headed Caracara
Laughing Falcon
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Brown-hooded Parrot
Blue-headed Parrot
White-crowned Parrot
Western Slaty-Antshrike
Black-hooded Antshrike
Chestnut-backed Antbird
Bicolored Antbird
Plain Xenops
Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Gray-capped Flycatcher
Streaked Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Rufous Piha
Orange-collared Manakin
Red-capped Manakin
Yellow-throated Vireo
Lesser Greenlet
Brown Jay
Blue-and-white Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Gray-breasted Martin
House Wren
Rufous-breasted Wren
Riverside Wren
Long-billed Gnatwren
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Clay-colored Thrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
White-shouldered Tanager
Cherrie's Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Palm Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Speckled Tanager
Bay-headed Tanager
Blue Dacnis
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Green Honeycreeper
Variable Seedeater
Thick-billed Seed-Finch
Grayish Saltator
Orange-billed Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Scarlet-rumped Cacique
Yellow-crowned Euphonia
Spot-crowned Euphonia
House Sparrow

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Flame-colored Tanager

Sooty Robin
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