During a fatastic pelagic trip in the Costa Rican Pacific waters about 290 km
offshore, 86º 47' W between 9º 30' and 7º 55' N ( distance and coordinates recorded by Jim Zook)
Jim Zook, Richard Garrigues, Bruce Young, Paul Murgatroyd, and I had 5 sightings of Tahiti Petrel (Psuedobulweria rostrata, a new species for Costa Rica.
The first individual was recorded approximately 33 km away from the Peninsula of Nicoya. Noel Ureña
Visit the following link to seephotos and more details from the trip:
By Jim Zook: “This would be a new species for Costa Rica. Although it has been
reported by researchers working in the eastern Pacific and is included
by S.N.G.Howell and S.Webb in their Guide to the Birds of Mexico as
being a fairly common to common visitor to waters near Clipperton and
Revillagigedo Islands, the species is not included on the AOU's main
check-list to the birds of North America, apparently because
definitive evidence is lacking that would exclude the possibility of
Phoenix Petrel (Pterodroma alba). We plan to publish a note that will
hopefully permit the AOU to finally list this species (along the lines
of what recently happened with Swallow-tailed Gull.) ”
American Redstar (Setophaga ruticilla)
September 20, 2009: As we returned from the pelagic trip and as we saw a
Humpback Whale breching we heard a little song bird flying close to the boat, it happened to be an American Redstart. This female was
tired and quickly became friendly. Once we were closer to land (about 10 km) it took off to complete its trip.
Noel Ureña
Sulfur-winged Parakeet (Pyrrhura hoffmanni)
October 22, 2009: My friends Bryan Pollock, Carey Lee, and I visited San Gerardo de Rivas, a wonderful flock of Sulfur-winged Parakeets arrived on a Guava tree full of fruit, we were able to take a few photos, this is an abundant species of parakeet found in great numbers in middle and high elevations of the Talamanca Mountain Range.
Snowy-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia edward)
October 22, 2009: Also with Bryan and Carey we took some time while in San Gerardo de Rivas to photograph the fantastic Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, they love Stachytarpheta frantzii flowers of
which we have hundreds of plants there. I consider this to be the best place to see this hummingbird.
Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
October 28, 2009: Now at Talari Lodge Bryan Pollock, Carey Lee, and I had a great time with a Summer Tanager in Talari Lodge, it was flycatching and stayed in the same branch for over 10 minutes.
Olivaceous Piculet (Picummus olivaceus) A couple of shots!!
April 19, 09: The Olivaceous Piculet is the smallest of all the woodpckers in Costa Rica, it acts very much like a Plain Xenops. You can find it quite often in the
Central and Southern Pacific Slope working around trees with lots of vines or old decading branches.
They are quite interesting to watch and often tame. This shot on the left shows a
male, the crown shows some orange-yellow color.
Now this is why it is interesting to watch Olivaceous Piculets; look how this female on the left was pecking this vine to extract
a type of termite, but not only that, she was accumulating them in its bill to take them to the nest. You could guess those chicks were going to have a feast!
Great Antshrike (Taraba major) I am happy with the photo as they are hard to get out of the bush!!
As I spent three hours the morning of April 19, 09, my friend Luis Sánchez and I were able to photograph a Great Antshrike male. This is a bird that
usually stays well hidden in the thicket.
Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) Interesting behavior, at least new to me!
These pair of Lineated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus lineatus) flew right over me today April 14th, 2009, and then stop their flight about 50 meters from me on a banana bunch. This is
the first time I have seen this species feeding on bananas, there is always a first time!
In the photo the male is the one at the bottom. This species is found in all Costa Rica except in upper middle to high elevations.
As I walked on the morning of April 7th, 09 with Ross Lein and Valerie Haines in Las Quebradas Biological Preserve on the foorhills above San Isidro de El General,
we found this beautiful Glass-winged Butterfly ( Cithaerias menander ).
Very little is known about this butterfly, there is not information about its hostplant and early stages. It can found from
sea level to 1000 m and in the Pacifc slope even up to 2000 m. Individuals are encountered solitary in the rain forest, flying low to the ground.
Golden-olive Woodpecker!
On April 4th, 09, as we drove to La Lira de Páramo, about 30 km from San Isidro de El General heading Northwest, my daughter María José and
I spotted this nice looking Golden-olive Woodpecker. This is a common resident of middle elevations in Costa Rica from 800 to 2000 meters.
Check out its call in xeno-canto.org:
We also found Black Guan, Crested Guan, Brown-capped Vireo, Gray-tailed Mountain-Gem, Scintillant Hummingbird, White-tailed Emerald, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird,
Emerald Toucanet, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-tailed Hawk, Sulfur-winged Parakeets, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Red-faced Spinetail, Olivaceous Piculet,
Silver-thorated Tanager, Red-crowned Woodpecker, just to mention a few.
A Spinetail Day!
My friend Bryan Pollock and I decided to go out to spend the last minutes of sunlight of March 25th. We drove to Bajo de Las
Esperanzas road not far from San Isidro de El General. As we enter the gravel road we stop in one of my favorite spots there.
A few minutes later spinetails started calling and it wasn't too long after when we
had the two species of spinetails we can find in this type of brushy and grassy areas, the Slaty Spinetail and Pale-breasted Spinetail.
On the left a Pale-breasted Spinetail.
Pale-breasted Spinetails (Synallaxis albescens) are found in the Southern Pacific portion of the country, oftenly found in
overgrown grassy patches where they move mysteriously and build quite architectural nests. To see them is sometimes complicated,
but imitating its call can usually produce good results, the bird pops out and checks aorund, not in many occasions we have had much time to watch it as it drops
quickly back in the grass. There is a nice recording of it in xeno-canto.org, check it out:
I particularly like this photograph on the left, the ferns nicely frame the bird I think, you don't always get chances like this with Spinetails.
The Slaty Spinetail (Synallaxis brachyura) has a bigger distribution range including Caribbean and Pacific lowlands and middle elevations, it can be found in
overgrown brushy areas, quite often on roadsides, it is funny they don't call it the
Roadside Spinetail like they did with the Roadside Hawk. Obviously both birds anyhow live in many other spots besides
roadsides but we get to see them a lot on the sides of roads. Check the bird vocalization in case you run into one, also from xeno-canto.org:
The White-fronted Nunbird (Monasa morphoeus), a member of the puffbirds (Bucconidae family), is also one of the most melodious of its family,
usually in groups of 4 or more individuals, quite often following mixed
flocks that forage through the forests of the Caribbean Slope from lowlands like Tortuguero to approx. 800 m of elevation.
This particular indivual
was photographed from The Hanging Bridges of Arenal, it is a regular inhabitant here, this day we had about 8 individuals following a group of tanagers, antwrens,
warblers, and more. I have also watched them following Army Ant swarms.
Listen to its call from xeno-canto.org:
The Keel-billed Motmot (Electron carinatum) is a quite rare resident of the Caribbean Slope of Costa Rica, the Arenal Conservation
Area is one of the spots where the bird can be seen with some regularity. Its call is quite similar to the oneof the Broad-billed Motmot,
the photo was taking in the Hanging Bridges of Arenal, light wasn't great but I managed to take the photo. Here is a Keel-billed Motmot call from xeno-canto.org
From Caño Negro Area, a trip with my friends Nancy and Ted Sears
A Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) flying over Caño Negro National Park, Costa Rica, they usually fly quite low and decribe
quite fast direction changes as they scan the grounds for carrion, specially dead fish. Many other species can be seen around this refuge and its one of the best places to see Jabiru.
A little while later on the boat in Caño Negro we found this Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) having a
banquet, I truly enjoy moments like this eventhough they could be common. Anhingas spear the fish and then always
seem to have a hard time getting them off their sharp bills, it is worth watching them!
From our trip to Kekoldi, Southern Caribbean Costa Rica. Our goal was to watch the spectacular raptor migration!
I had the chance to photograph this King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa)
from the raptor observation tower at
Kekoldi Preserve in Costa Rica,
on the South Caribbean, site
from where raptor migration is
observed every year. However King Vultures don't migrate, it jus happened to be flying around the tower.
To be able to show a few pictures of this vulture I decided to create an animation....
The photo on your left shows the amazing raptor migration that covers the sky of Costa Rica mostly on the Caribbean Slope as they funel down between
the mountains of Talamanca and the Southern Caribbean Coast. Notice the Caribbean Sea just below the hawks and vultures. This photo was taken on Oct. 12, 2008 and
in 4 hours of observation we were able to watch approximately 70.000 raptors including Broad-winged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Mississippi Kites,
Peregrine Falcons, Ospreys, and Turkey Vultures.
Other interesting observed migrants were Chimney Swifts, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow,
Bank Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Common Nighthawk, Cerulean Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, American Redstart,
Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, and Baltimore Oriole.
To continue with the fantastic time my friend Luis Sánchez and I had in the Southern Carbbean Zone, we were able to watch and photograph the only individual of Jabiru
(Jabiru mycteria) that has been seen describing some kind of migration. At this point there is no information on where is it coming from
and where it heads to. By the way thanks to our friend Daniel Martínez who works at the station and shared this time wiht us!
