Sarapiqui Eco-Observatory Part I

There is something indescribable about the color of a male Green Honeycreeper...and no, calling it "green" doesn't do it justice.

Following advice from Pat O'Donnell's blog, we decided to check out Sarapiqui Eco-Observatory, which isn't mentioned in Lawson's birding guide. The observatory is not far from Puerto Viejo, and is just down the road from the Tirimbina Preserve, a hot spot that we did not get the chance to bird. Despite the incessant rain, checking out the observatory turned out to be a great idea, even if we ran out of time to check out the nice patch of mature forest that runs between the feeders and Rio Sarapiqui. The birding was quality and the photo ops were even better.

Facemelting. What else is there to say???

Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds aren't scared of anything, not even a tropical torrential downpour.

Raindrops must seem quite large to something the size of a hummingbird.

Blue-gray Tanager is one of the commonest birds in Costa Rica (and probably most places in Central America). I wouldn't be surprised if they show up in Texas one day. Birders should have no problem identifying one when it shows up...and if they do, there will be hell to pay.

Banana destruction.

Great Antshrike was the best bird we got at the site; it was the only one of the trip. I know these photos aren't on par with the other stuff on here but GODDAMN what a good bird!

Look at the size of that bill! There is no doubt in my mind that this bird could skin a (live) human being within a matter of minutes.

Collared Aracari. When these birds first appeared (right in front of us), we knew things would never be the same again.

Is this aracari eating papaya, or in the process of projectile-vomiting it? You decide.

Buff-throated Saltator is a common bird in Costa Rica, having membership in many a mixed flock. This bird is at the perfect angle to hide it's namesake field mark perfectly.

Black-cowled Oriole, a well-dressed bird. Both sexes look alike, so not an easy bird to misidentify.

We only got to see these in the Sarapiqui lowlands, but they were not hard to come by. More from the observatory coming soon...

For 364 Days I'm In Hell: Happy Birthday To BB&B!!!

I was channeling how this Red-legged Kittiwake felt about me. Buldir Island, AK, 2009.

Well, well, well. So here we are. Bourbon, Bastards and Birds turns 3 years old today. Who thought that the Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive and I would still be migrating through the internets to a computer near you after all these years? Surely, not I.

Since this is a blogiverssary, lets take a look back at some of Seagull and Felonious' game-changing accomplishments over the years.

....

Well, that was pretty easy. But hopefully we educated or entertained a few people...so thanks for visiting BB&B, the infamous slum of the Birdosphere. The next post will be a Human Birdwatcher Project interview with the notorious Coco...be sure to catch it. After he speaks, birding may never be the same.

Here are a few photos I took since this blog has been started....I even included a "pre-SLR" shot! Yes, those were the dark ages indeed...these aren't meant to be truly representative of what I've done, more like an avian sample platter. Delish.

Massive storm-petrel raft, around 14,000 total. Mostly Ashy and Black Storm-Petrels. Monterey Bay, CA, 2008. Before I had an SLR (how embarrassing).

Red-tailed Tropicbird. Midway Atoll, 2009.

Great Frigatebirds. Midway Atoll, 2009.

Plant vs. wind energy. Near Casselman, PA, 2009.

Wood Stork. Sanibel Island, FL, 2009.

Anhinga. Wakulla Springs State Park, FL, 2009.

"Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco. Florida Canyon, AZ, 2010.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Miller Canyon, AZ, 2010.

Crested Auklet. Buldir Island, AK, 2010.

Lapland Longspur. Buldir Island, AK, 2010.

Heerman's and Western Gulls. San Francisco Bay, CA, 2010? Sure.

Least Bittern. Martinez, CA, 2011.

Gray Flycatcher. Mono Lake, CA, 2011.

Blue-gray Tanager. Chavarillo, Mexico, 2011.

Broad-winged and Swainson's Hawks. Chavarrillo, Mexico, 2011.

Eastern Kingbird. Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, ND, 2011.

Black Tern. Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, ND, 2011.

Are We Paranoid, Or Basically Ok?

A big line of birds moving north (puta madre!). Probably a mixture of Turkey Vultures, Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks. 

Well.

North Dakota, your weather is really bumming everyone out. It's cold. It's raining.  Many birds can't nest in their usual spots, due to high water levels. The unseasonal wetness can't be helping the birds that can nest in their usual spots. I am constantly covered in ticks...which probably isn't weather-related, but it warrants some bitching. 

Mexico, unsurprisingly, had better weather, so here's some more pictures from Chavarrillo.

This week we start the official Piping Plover census. Everyone is predicting very small numbers of birds this year, due to the atrosh weather I've been....piping about. For example, I surveyed the lake that had the most nests out of anywhere on the refuge last year. How many plovers were there? Zero. Cero. Zip. Nothing. Nada. Brutal.

My Año Tranquilo is going along swimmingly...I reckon I'm perched right at 450 bird species in 2011, over 100 of which are life birds (mostly from Mexico). The grand total will reflect where I wind up this fall, as I have no winter plans as of yet, aside from forcing different factions of my social life to hang out together.

I still haven't seen a Baird's Sparrow. It is my North Dakotan grail bird. Rather than seek out some kind of sparrow wizard, I reckon I can find one on my own....but it's been a weird, weird, weird year it seems for birds all over the continent. But the refuge I live in is legendary for its Baird's, so perhaps I will become a sort of Ammodramus Obi-Wan. 

Allegedly, "Ammodramus" translates to "sand-runner" in Latin...so that's something to think about.

Right. In other news, I saw the Aurora Borealis last night for the first time ever, and it was preposterous.

One of the local Roadside Hawks.

Great-tailed Grackles on parade. They often gathered here in the late afternoon and did grackle things in grackle formations.

Blue-gray Tanager. Looks like it made a decision and went with blue today.

This picture speaks for itself.

A "vortex" of Mississippi Kites (in Mexico, there are no kettles, only vortexes). When they get going really fast, they open a wormhole into another dimension. Truth.

Inca Dove, looking scaled back.

A Chavarrillo sunset.