Costa Rica Part IV: Sarapiqui River Cruise

Back to Costa Rica. I am going to attempt to execute this post with concision and precision.

One afternoon I scheduled us for a boat trip on the Sarapiqui River. I didn't expect to see a ton, but afternoon birding is hard anyways, so why not just hang out on a boat for a while? It's pretty much like geri birding, you just sit there and look at the things that are presented in front of you. Plus, there was a realistic-albeit-not-high chance we could see Sunbittern. We could have booked a boat through Hotel Gavilan, but I ended up going with Oasis Nature Tours and booked our boat through their Facebook page. A very low and mostly unobscured two-toed sloth passed out next to the parking lot was a good sign when we arrived at the main boat dock at Puerto Viejo.

Our guide (Carmela) and driver were on time and our party of four had the whole boat. Carmela wasn't a great birder (I wasn't expecting one) but she was a good guide and really came through for us later in the trip. She also introduced us to something we had not previously noticed, the Tico/Tica habit of attaching an affirming short question ("yes?") or affirmative sound to the end of sentences spoken in English that aren't meant to be questions. For example, instead of saying "Here in Costa Rica, it is the dry season", one would say "Here in Costa Rica, it is the dry season, mmhmm!", where the second syllable of "mmhmm" is much higher than the first and both syllables are spoken rapidly, so it sounds really enthusiastic. It's rather similar in emphasis to the "su-wheet!" call of a Pacific-slope Flycatcher. We all thought it was a brilliant mannerism.

So much for being concise...

There were tons of Mangrove Swallows, many of which would feed right next to the boat or remain perched while we passed very close by (see above). Another common but more familiar bird worth mentioning (not pictured) was Spotted Sandpiper...I don't know if I've seen so many in one place in my life.

A mixed flock along the shore contained this Bay-breasted Warbler. It was cool to see them outside of spring and fall migration for the first time, even though they all looked like fall migrants.

I rarely see Anhingas up close so was happy to crush on this bird a bit. In the first two pics you can see it getting at the oil gland at the base of its tail. Mmmm, sweet precious Anhinga oil...

Cattle Egrets are common in the area, and a couple flocks were taking their afternoon egret tea down in the river.

We saw quite a bit of non-avian wildlife. I think these are Rhinoclemmys funerea, black river turtles aka black wood turtles. Life turtle! We also saw a guy on the riverbank mocking us for birdwatching. In response, I also mocked us for birdwatching, which guide and driver appreciated. Their English was good enough to know what "NERDS!" means.

This green iguana was a particularly fine specimen.

Of the three monkey species we saw on the trip (howler, spider, white-faced capuchin) I think I like howlers the most. They make the coolest sounds by far and have the best scrotums, as you can see here.

The nerds enjoyed themselves. Boat times are good times.

We also saw our first spectacled caiman of the trip. This one has a massive insect next to its eye, presumably trying to get tasty caiman tears.

Yeah, it happened. About halfway through the trip, Carmela let us know that we had an excellent chance at seeing a Sunbittern. She was right and the bird obliged. This was a life bird for all of us and I was beside myself. The bird gods were with us.

We got great, prolonged looks. This is one of those birds that you see for the first time and think to yourself, "I can't believe I'm actually looking at this". Sunbittern is an iconic species and there are not enough superlatives out there to do it justice.

And yes, we got excellent looks at everything it had to offer. I could not have been happier.

It was a winning afternoon on the river topped off by an unforgettable bird. Stoked!

Virgen Del Socorro Part I

After 4 days and nights of birding the Sarapiqui lowlands and Quebrada Gonzales (which was amazing...so amazing that I couldnt even take bird pictures because the mixed flocks were so intense...go there!!!) it was finally time to move on to a new hotspot and get some different birds. We decided to bypass birding the Tirimbina Biological Reserve and instead headed to Virgen Del Socorro, a steep canyon that held great habitat and also happened to have a little-traveled road going down one side and up the other, perfect for birding.

After picking up Torrent Tyrannulet from the bridge below the turnoff for the road, we stared furiously at a distant black and white raptor that may have been a dark Hook-billed Kite or a Black Hawk-Eagle (both species would appear, conclusively, later in the trip). Staring furiously at the bird was ultimately fruitless, but shit really hit the fan when a White Hawk appeared over a ridge on the other side of the canyon and flew over the road. Goddamn, what a fine bird that was...a species I had literally dreamed about seeing. Of course, when I went to check my photos, I saw I had a "bumped wheel" and everything I had just shot was pretty much worthless. Not stoked. After we parked our hilariously small and poorly powered rental car, we proceeded down the canyon, where I could hear a loud, repetitive, high-pitched call. Luckily the culprit was sitting in plain view...a juvenile White Hawk!

Barred Hawks showed up shortly after we parked; there were multiple individuals soaring above the canyon for much of the time we were there. Although an easy find at La Virgen, we did not find them anywhere else.

Barred Hawks are big birds with ridiculous proportions; broad wings, a long neck and stubby tail. This shape isn't uncommon in larger tropical and subtropical birds of prey though.

Unlike Barred Hawk, who do not dare to occupy lands north of Costa Rica, Short-tailed Hawk is common in much of Central America.

I think all the Short-taileds we saw were light morphs. They superficially resemble Swainson's Hawks but never form kettles and are much shorter-winged, proportioned more like a Red-tailed Hawk; they often prefer hunting over forests to open country and agricultural lands.

Howler Monkey is a landmark animal of Costa Rica...common, widespread and the loudest land mammal on earth, their iconic bellow resonates from many a forest. If you haven't heard one before, there are a few words I could use to describe hearing them..."visceral" "thrilling" and "terrifying" come to mind. I think this is a Mantled Howler Monkey?

Despite the fact that it wasn't very close, this is one of my favorite Howler images from the trip. I'm not obsessed with monkeys by any means, but that face is pretty precious. Ticos call howlers "Congos".

Blackburnian Warbler, one of many species of North American warblers that winter in the country. All of the "familiar" warblers down there are "eastern" warblers, I assume all of the "western" warblers winter further north. Of course, there's a number of awesome tropical species as well.

A female Violet-crowned Woodnymph, one of the cooler looking female-plumaged hummingbirds we saw. White, green, black, blue...a winning color combo. This one was a brainbird, all of us pretty much drew a blank when we first saw it.

Leafcutter ants are always busy. Yes, they created that dark path themselves...more like a freeway than a path I guess.