Costa Rica: Hammering Lifers at Las Alturas, Grit Blazing In Golfito

With winter here and another big trip coming up imminently, this is a good opportunity to do what I think is best...bust out another Costa Rica post. The finish line is finally in sight. More than a few of you will probably heading to places like Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico in the next couple of months, so lets get those salivary glands flowing with some tropical goodness.

I'll pick up right where I left off, at Las Alturas, on the South Pacific Slope east of San Vito. It was a very birdy day, too bad we didn't have more time to spend here. We'll start with a Purple-crowned Fairy, a canopy-loving hummingbird that typically scoffs at feeders.

I prefer to crush birds, but when that is not possible, I make them Art. You are currently beholding Art. That's why it's almost impossible to understand what is going on with this Fairy. It is Fairy Art. There is no singular truth to this hummingbird. It is a subjective hummingbird.

Shortly after the Purple-crowned Fairy departed, Dipper Dan and I gazed upon a Long-billed Starthroat, which was a LIFE BIRD. This is a damn good hummingbird, one that I'd been hoping to see. They are large and wonderful, two traits I am drawn to in hummingbirds. This would be the only one I would see on the trip, but it was heck of confiding.

Here is a more familiar bird. In fact, I've seen hundreds of thousands of them, but I will always keep looking at them. Broad-winged Hawks are common and widespread winter residents in Costa Rica, one of the most abundant raptors you will encounter in winter months.

Quite unlike Broad-winged Hawks, Torrent Tyrannulet is a habitat specialist. This wee flycatcher is strictly found along fast-flowing creeks and rivers, mellowing them with its two slaty colors and preference for perching on boulders. We dipped on two other birds that specialize in this habitat, Sunbittern and Fasciated Tiger-Heron...I'll just have to go back and try again, too bad for me.

If you haven't birded south of Texas or Florida yet, you may not know that tropical birding is an exercise in getting gripped off. You are always going to miss birds other people in your group see. It is inevitable. White-whiskered Puffbird was a major gripoff for me early in the trip, back at Quebrada Gonzales, but redemption was had with this cooperative bird sitting out in the open above a road.

How about another life bird? This is a Sulphur-winged Parakeet, an easy ID up close with the red cheeks. Sulphur-winged Parakeet is one of the less abundant parakeets in the country, so a solid bonus bird for us.

This was kind of a random sighting...Dipper Dan spotted it very close outside the car, quietly lurking under the canopy. How very unparrot. It would be our final lifer at Las Alturas.

Lets keep the lifers coming! This is a Bran-colored Flycatcher. This doesn't seem to be a bird that gets photographed a lot or even thought about, so here is a mediocre image for your edification. We talked about this bird a lot before we finally saw one, due to its phenomenally bland-sounding name. I believe this was at Lagunas San Joaquin, near the airport at San Vito. We didn't get a Masked Duck here (which is always my luck), but there are no eBird records of any here since 2008. You are better off checking Finca Cantaros, south of town.

Here is Lagunas San Joaquin, where you too can see a Bran-colored Flycatcher. You can also see an albino river otter here. Masked Ducks...not so much.

After leaving San Vito, Dipper Dan and I lurked back to the west coast for our final few days of slaying tropical birds. Our first stop was Golfito...this was a mistake. What we should have done was bird Las Cruces OTS/Wilson Botanical Garden again. It is a famed birding spot after all, so I feel like a bit of a wanker for only birding it one day. Why was this a mistake? The Golfito site I had picked out to bird was dead that morning. Hella boring. No flocks. Not rad. However, there was some redemption with this lifer mammal! We briefly hung out with a troupe of squirrel monkeys above Golfito, which was most mellow.

We were in some good habitat, but we ended up hanging out on the side of the road blazing grits with somebody's dog. Birding was slow. Obvi.

A lifer Mealy Parrot was nice. Why is it called a Mealy Parrot? Anyways, I can assure you that it was green. This Broad-winged Hawk was very, very confiding though...I have not met such a friendly member of its species before or since.

Here is the view of Golfito Bay from up on the hill. Heck of scenic.

Happy Festivus to all of you. I wish you much luck with the Feats of Strength, if you are selected. Of course, this follows the annual Airing of Grievances, and since you are a birder you probably have much to whinge about. Let the hate flow through you. 

Protip For Blogger Users: How To Fix Your Fucked Up Photos

This goes out to all the dorks. All the nerds. All the people brave and weird enough to have a blog on the Blogger platform. WordPress users or the blogless masses don't have to read on.

You may have noticed earlier this year that some of the photos you post on your blog look remarkably shitty compared to the original version. For example, I put the above photo (featuring a Broad-winged Hawk from Point Reyes, CA) in a draft post I was working on. Instead of the so-so photo you see above, the photo looked like utter bullshit. Blogger had rendered the photo darker and noticeably redder than how the photo actually looked. It was disgusting. This has been a trend many have experienced...pictures uploaded to Blogger are often made darker and redder than how they are supposed to appear.

While complaining to Flycatcher Jen about this problem, she vaguely alluded to a potential fix that she heard about. Remarkably, rumors turned out to be true and it is a real fix! Here is what to do:

- Go to your Google + account.
- Get into your Settings.
- Scroll down to the Auto Enhance section.
- Check "off" instead of "normal".
- Google + should automatically save this new setting. You're all set!

Pretty easy eh? I'm grateful this problem was even fixable...Google/Blogger would be wise to avoid this kind of thing in the future if they want to keep people from jumping to WordPress.

Hella Cool? Or Gross, Nonsensical, and Largely Unappealing?

The word "crushed" is seeing rampant use lately. If you don't know what that means, just know that I crushed this Broad-winged Hawk (in Golfito, Costa Rica). Hard. This new and wonderful definition of crushing first entered the Birdosphere on January 30, 2013, when I spoke of crushing Crimson-collared Tanagers, but as I said before I believe the term was passed to me by one Dave Pereksta.

Hey everyone. It's been quite the week in the birdosphere, and for actual birds across the continent. Late September means either being awash in vagrants or catastrophic disappointment...this time of year, you are experiencing only one or the other.

First on the BB&B agenda, I would like to introduce you to Birdcrusher, the most recent blog by none other than Dipper Dan, pilot of the now defunct TPAD. The photos? Better. The vocabulary? More extensive. Dan is currently posting from Southeast Farallon Island, off the coast of San Francisco, where no birds migrate to or otherwise care to visit.

The big news in the Birdosphere this week was a post by Lukas Musher at Nemesis Bird (also of Boom Chachalacha) on so-called birder coolness, and lack thereof. It echoed of things Felonious Jive and I have said over and over again, but it did not fail to generate quite a bit of both praise and dissent, since Nemesis Bird has a vast readership compared to BB&B (probably due to its hoard of authors, slick web design and not having a penchant for profanity-laden hyperbole). Out of the 12 tips offered, I agree with about half of them, but I like spirit of it all. So, as a leading tastemaker in the Birdosphere, I suggest you give it a look, even (especially?) if it causes bitterness and resentment.

Look. I went to a bar wearing a giant cardboard Starry Flounder I made. This is what edgy, I-don't-give-a-fuck coolness looks like, right?

In the post, BB&B was for reasons unknown designated one of the "cool" birding blogs (personally, I think that's an oxymoron), which may have brought a few new readers to this site...so welcome to you folks. I don't know what you expect, though. Going from Nemesis Bird to BB&B is not a smooth transition for some. Nemesis Bird brands itself as "fast paced birding"; BB&B is all about "the strange and terrible saga of being a birdwatcher"...a much more convoluted and absurdist worldview. Switching from Nemesis Bird to BB&B is like going from listening to The Arcade Fire to Minor Threat. From eating the trendiest fushion sushi to a burrito that doesn't taste too bad but makes you sprint for the nearest toilet later. From the newest and most futuristic Patagonia outerwear to a disgusting band shirt that smells of BO and stale beer.

If that doesn't relate, how about this...it's like going from looking at an adult Ivory Gull 20 feet away while simultaneously getting a back massage by your dream lover to squinting at a sunbleached 1st summer Herring Gull through heat haze a half mile away while just realizing that putrid dog shit you smell is actually caked to your shoe.

Even the most sheltered birder should be able to relate to that. Anyways, thanks for the linkage Lukas.

BB&B is gross, nonsensical, and largely unappealing, much like this California Gull. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

Right. Moving on, you all know what is going on with Blue-footed Boobies. They are everywhere, with a recent record from British Columbia and a plethora of them at the Salton Sea. I saw one in San Francisco last week. Sightings along the California Coast are still occurring all the way up to Bodega Bay, and there is little doubt these birds have pushed even further north. This has led many in the California birding community to criticize birders in Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties as "incompetent", "apathetic" and "stoned". I do not stand by any of this, of course, and BB&B denounces this language.

This Nutmeg Mannikin video has made the rounds recently, but if you haven't seen it yet, now is the time. And yes, Hitler is involved.

Oh yeah, and if you haven't already, I recommend you scroll up a little bit, look for the Facebook badge and follow the shit out of us. It will enhance your life, and has already led readers to experiencing the wonderful sexual encounters they have always deserved, countless life birds, B-list fame and other fictional events. Things may never be the same.

Everglader

Tricolored Herons are one of those birds I never tire of, they are simply too good looking. Check out that glowing purple nape. I'm glad I lifered with this bird at a young age...if I did it now, the shock could be too much for me to take.

After a week of Key West, Booby Brittany and I struck out for Everglades National Park for a change of scenery. As with my last trip there (also in October), the park was mildly to moderately birdy...because of abundant water within the park, concentrations of birds were few and far between. However, I did up pick up a substantial number of year birds, including a number of species I did not expect to get (i.e. Northern Bobwhite, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Barred Owl). Luckily, I did not relive the death march out to Snake Bight to scan for flamingos...if you ever want to experience a place that makes you long for death, you should try that trail out during the wet season. It is Florida's own Trail of Tears...completely brutal.

All photos in this post are from Everglades National Park.

I like how this Great Egret is slightly backlit...it makes that big bill glow like an avian jack-o-lantern, and makes the nape appear deceptively fuzzy.

An adult Green Heron along the Anhinga Trail; this skulker is just as approachable in parts as Florida as its bigger, flashier relatives.

An immature White Ibis. I don't know how Floridians chose Northern Mockingbird as their state bird, I would have gone the ibis route.

White Ibis stretch and shake.

Immature Broad-winged Hawk. Note the stubbier and (ironically?) narrower wings, which help separate it from the very similar immature Red-shouldered Hawk.

There be dragons...everywhere in Florida. This is a Halloween Pennant (Thanks to ABQbirding for the ID). I can see the appeal in getting into dragonfly listing, although I'm still holding off on that.

Ah, the Anhinga (year bird). This is another one of those classic southern species that really seem to liven up any place they occupy. Although superficially designed like a cormorant, they do their best to set themselves apart. On this trip, they were constantly croaking and bellowing from their mangrove perches. 

Female Anhinga. She reminds me of an old homeless lady in this photo for some reason. Look at the length of that neck! 

This stately Little Blue Heron was one of several misidentified birds given on the boat tour that leaves from Flamingo. Aside from bird problems, the dude giving the tour was corny as hell but had a lot of information on the park's recent history and mangrove forests. I also saw hundreds of White-crowned Pigeons from the boat, which left me in a state of shock and awe.

This Cattle Egret had a gimpy (maybe dislocated?) leg. I'm always impressed by handicapped wildlife that manage to beat the odds and keep on living...reminds me of the stubby Snowy Plover I saw earlier this year that had no feet.

Floridian Goodness

Yellow-throated Warblers are flashy birds year-round. Their everlasting luminescence is a optical reprieve from the hordes of homely Palm Warblers that roam the keys. Key West Botanical Gardens, Stock Island, FL.

Boy, I sure saw a lot of birds on my nonbirding vacation. I hope Booby Brittany doesn't read this, I was pretending to be hung over most of the time. I think I managed to go birding every single day we were there, which is not a feat I expected (or thought I wanted to) pull off. It's just so easy though.

One of the benefits of staying on the semi-dilapidated sailboat (Dragonseeker) moored offshore was how quiet it was at night. On at least three nights, we could hear thousands of thrushes, warblers and who knows what else flying over. My moth frothed, my mind reeled. Being a west coast birder I don't really know my flight calls of eastern migrants very well (let alone a lot of their regular calls), so I felt a bit impotent beyond working on my thrush calls (heard lots of Swainson's, Gray-cheeked and Veeries). It was pretty amazing though...those birds had a big flight ahead of them.

I was surprised to keep seeing Clay-colored Sparrows down there, but I guess they aren't that unusual...not something I thought of as a trans-gulf migrant though. Boca Chica Road, Big Coppitt Key, FL.

A lot of my Key birding was done at Zachary Taylor State Park, and I wish I got to spend more time at the botanical gardens and Indigenous Park, which were both very good. Little Hamaca City Park was pretty dull, as was Boca Chica Road on Big Coppitt Key. Of course, I missed the Fork-tailed Flycatcher on Big Pine Key, but at least I didn't drive right by the bird while it was there...

Hope you all had a righteous weekend, full of good birds, safe sex, and responsible drug use.

WHO SAID THAT???? I need to take away The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive's ability to post on here...great birders always think they're rock stars. - Seagull Steve



Yellow-throated Vireo (year bird). This isn't a great picture but considering the unretouched version is all black and white, it came out out amazingly well. This isn't a bird I've seen too much of, it's been many years since I've laid eyes on one. Zachary Taylor State Park, Key West, FL.

Here's an immature Tricolored Heron (year bird) getting photobombed by a Snowy Egret. I had decent opportunities to see waders in the Keys and the Everglades, but it could have been a lot better...I dipped on Roseate Spoonbill and Limpkin (not a heron, I know), if I'm lucky I'll find them in Costa Rica in a couple months. Photographed at Salt Ponds, Key West, FL.

Eastern Wood-Pewee (year bird) was the most abundant flycatcher. Not much else to say about them, except I enjoyed a few half-heartedly singing on the Dry Tortugas. Key West, FL.

Broad-winged Hawks were present in impressive numbers, and could be seen flying over just about anywhere. Little Hamaca City Park, Key West, FL.

White Ibis (year bird) are pretty tame in many areas. I thought this made for a better picture than one on a lawn or next to a picnic table. Boca Chica Road, Big Coppitt Key, FL.

Reddish Egret. Salt Ponds, Key West, FL.

I think is the best Reddish Egret photo I've taken. Obviously, I need to get back to Florida in spring someday...these subdued basic-plumage birds don't quite cut it.

Graves are very attractive to Green Iguanas. This is an exotic species, basically a pest (being vegetarians, they can't be very good for the native veg left out there), albeit a very amusing one. Key West Cemetery, Key West, FL.

Lots of cool butterflies were out, which I almost entirely failed to photograph. This is a Mangrove Skipper (props to Jason for the ID). Boca Chica Road, Big Coppitt Key, FL.

We'd Drink Until We Couldn't Talk

Western Grebe. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

This is officially it. The last blog from North Dakota. I am weeping with joy. I will miss living on the Lostwood Refuge though, some of the people here, the intense mellowness and having nature right outside. Thank you, various deer, squirrels, rabbits, robins, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Kingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Yellow Warblers, Least Flycatchers, etc etc. for being good listeners. As is usually the case when I am living someplace bizarre, I involuntarily end up talking to the wildlife a lot after a while. This disturbing habit is something I developed at Midway Atoll (documented here, to be exact), and I suppose it suits me.

Broad-winged Hawk being assailed by a Purple Martin. Lake Metigoshe, ND.

As I mentioned probably too many times before, I'm leaving tomorrow for points West...Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and then onto Las Vegas. A week full of bourbon, bastards and birds, hehe. The blogging is going to be slim for a bit, but you can at least rest assure that I am having more fun than you.

Fare thee well, gentle souls of the internets. I will be back soon!

Piping Plover nest...I think this one hatched, but the chicks did not make it. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Willet. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Franklin's Gull. I'm pretty stoked on this picture. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Baird's Sparrow, one of my new favorite birds. Never thought I'd be able to get a picture like this though. Redmond Lakes, ND.

Brown-eyed Susans? Turtle Mountains, ND.

Tennessee Warbler. Lostwood NWR, ND.

American Avocet. White Lake, ND.

Swainson's Hawk. Sex with talons. Near Camas NWR, ID.

Vesper Sparrow. Redmond Lakes, ND.