Costa Rica 2013
Fifteen Years Later

January 21, 2013 - La Selva Biological Station, Catarats del Toro, Bosque de Paz

Bosque de Paz, where I am writing this, is pretty posh. Designer hotel rooms in an ecolodge. And the staff are very pleasant all the time.

We were up at 6 AM to do some pre-breakfast birding at La Selva; good stuff, but nothing new. After an especially bland breakfast, we walked a fairly long loop out where two different sets of passerbys pointed out two different sets of owls. The first were a pair of Crested Owls. Difficult to find from closer than the trail, and terrible light, but I managed to document them anyway. The second owl was a Vermiculated Screech-Owl. No photos, but a pleasure to see.

We birded our way out of La Selva to the aging but respectable Cataratas del Toro, a restaurant and lodge on the rim of a dormant cinder cone. There's a spectacular waterfall running into the throat of the volcano. Very nice hummers coming to feeders and spent a long, wholly unsuccessful time chasing a Violaceous Quail-Dove for a photo.

Then to Bosque de Paz, at about 5,000 feet. Excellent facility, a fine supper and lovely people.

Birds
Black Guan
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Buff-fronted Quail-Dove
Vermiculated Screech-Owl
Crested Owl
White-collared Swift
Green Hermit
Long-billed Hermit
Stripe-throated Hermit
Black-crested Coquette
Green-crowned Brilliant
White-bellied Mountain-gem
Purple-throated Mountain-gem
Scintillant Hummingbird
Violet Sabrewing
Black-bellied Hummingbird
Coppery-headed Emerald
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Slaty-tailed Trogon
Broad-billed Motmot
Collared Aracari
Black-mandibled Toucan
Keel-billed Toucan
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Cinnamon Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Brown-throated Parakeet
Great Green Macaw
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Brown-hooded Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
Mealy Parrot
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Red-faced Spinetail
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Paltry Tyrannulet
Black-capped Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Long-tailed Tyrant
Great Kiskadee
Social Flycatcher
Gray-capped Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Black-crowned Tityra
Masked Tityra
Blue-and-white Swallow
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Black-faced Solitaire
Clay-colored Thrush
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Slate-throated Redstart
Passerini's Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Palm Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Spangle-cheeked Tanager
Plain-colored Tanager
Silver-throated Tanager
Variable Seedeater
Bananaquit
Yellow-thighed Finch
Sooty-faced Finch
Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Common Bush-Tanager
Black-faced Grosbeak
Great-tailed Grackle
Black-cowled Oriole
Montezuma Oropendola
Olive-backed Euphonia

Male Black-bellied Hummingbird

Crested Owl

Passerini's Tanager Female

Cataratas del Toro
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