Costa Rica Blitz Blogging: Of Swallows, Seedeaters, and Getting Birds at Gamba

Time is running out...the blog window is closing. January is not a month to be blogging about birding in Costa Rica, as I will be very busy. With a great...many...things.

We left off in the tranquilo town of Golfito, where I picked up some absolutely debilitating food poisoning. It was easily the worst I've ever had. This was, predictably, immediately after I proudly declared that I would not get poisoned on this trip....and thus the puke train commenced later that night. A couple days later I thought it was Dengue Fever, had all the right symptoms, but it faded a bit too quickly for Dengue. If I got it where I think I did, the food was actually pretty good. Oh well, at least I picked it up near the end of the trip. Anyways, as popular as it is for birders to publicize their health problems, we should be talking about birding.

Dipper Dan and I weren't really planning on birding along Golfito Bay but we got quite a few trip birds on the mudflats...this sort of habitat isn't exactly widespread in the country, so it was refreshing to get some terns and shorebirds to work with. Of course, it was hell of scenic as well.

A little flock of Gray-breasted Martins were roosting under the roof of a dock. They put the CONFIDING in CONFIDING. It's always bizarre, almost surreal, to see a recent lifer so close-up, although it left my face quite intact.

This martin was crushed with a point-and-shoot. Remember those? Cute little bugger.

After Golfito we did some roadside birding south of Gamba. It was hot as fuck, but the birding was quality. As a great birder once said, "Middle of day is best for make good birding". This is true.

Great Kiskadees are common and widespread in Costa Rica, but thankfully they are not as painfully abundant as Social Flycatchers. It's hard to like Social Flycatchers after a while, because 99% of the time you look at them you are only doing so because you are hoping they are something else.

After the mediocre morning of birding, shit really started to pick up. Lifers began to appear again...Plain Wren, Blue Ground-Dove, and this insidious, little junco-looking bastard, a Yellow-bellied Seedeater.

They really do have yellow bellies, and we got to see quite a few of them. You know, one of the toughest things about blogging this Costa Rica trip is that I don't know jack shit about many of these birds, so it's hard to give them a lot of background. What do I know about Yellow-bellied Seedeaters? They look like juncos and Tricolored Munias, they like fields, and I think I like them. That's about it. We only saw them at this one spot, so there's not much more I can fill in. It's a sad state of affairs. Sorry....I have brought much dishonor to me and my family.

I'm a little more familiar with White-collared Seedeaters; this is one of those.

Oddly similar to a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak from this angle, with a less flashy breast patch of course. There are hella different subspecies of White-collared Seedeater, and the birds in Costa Rica look very different from what I've seen in eastern Mexico.

Now this...this is a bird. This a bird we know...yet it is almost a total stranger. Even those who haven't yet birded out of the country can recognize such a bland creature, for it is a rough-winged swallow. However, it might look a bit different to you...perhaps you are thinking, "Did Sibley just miss on this one?"

No, Sibley didn't miss on this one. This isn't just any rough-winged swallow...it's a Southern Rough-winged Swallow. Yes, there really is a counterpart to our familiar yet unloved Northern Rough-winged Swallow, which is nobody's favorite swallow, let alone favorite bird. Note the bright, contrasty rump and the rusty throat that make this an easy ID.

This is a fucking woodpecker! We saw an acceptable number of these tiny Olivaceous Piculets while in the country, but they were a serious pain to photograph. This was the best I could manage. Awesome birds, one of the many that struck a nerve with me.

Woodcreepers. You know I like woodcreepers, but when blogging about them all I want to talk about is how bloody hard they are to identify, which you likely know all about already because I keep telling you that over and over again. I had to break out the field guide just for posting this photo; I reckon this is a Cocoa Woodcreeper with its big, straight bill, spotted crown, standard underparts, etc.

There hasn't been a great deal of color in this post, so here is a poignant Yellow-crowned Euphonia for your trouble. Speaking of troubling birds, learning how to sort female euphonias was a major chore, so be ready for that group when you head south.

Fuck...you guys, I think I only have one Costa Rica post left. Thanks for staying with me on this trip...for all these years. It might be a while until the next (final!) CR post though, for there will be other birds to blog.

Crazy-looking Mexican

You know you're in San Diego when some crazy-looking Mexican thing pops up in front of you and you go brain-dead for about 10 seconds because you cannot reconcile where you are with what you are looking at. That's what happened when I "slung glass" at this White-collared Seedeater. Needless to say, it is a "plastic" bird,  and you'd have to be a real "stringer" to "tick" it. Dairy Mart Ponds, Tijuana River Valley, CA.

I'm really not used to this business of working in places that actually have people and culture. It's an alien concept to me. I'm even going to a punk show this week....the last time I did that outside of northern California was in San Antonio, Texas, in 2009 (Dead To Me/Banner Pilot!). Of course, living on the east side of the city, I'm awfully close to El Cajon, Lakeside, and several other towns whose denizens make you question what humanity really has to offer...right "bro"? Sick. But I know some good people who crawled their way out of there, so I can only talk so much shit.

I've been birding a lot and working almost as much since I've arrived here. The year birds have been coming at a steady rate, although I've been hampered by being a little stale with my ear-birding. Spring has certainly sprung for a lot of species already, but the vast bulk of migrants will be arriving and moving through over the course of this month. The one bird I really have my eye on is Gray Vireo, who nest about an hour away. This would be life bird....

By the way, is there any lingo out there synonomous with "life bird"? I mean, that's one of the most significant things in birding...is that all the slang there is? Referring to something as "new" or a "first" doesn't count, its just a basic boring description. We need to get creative, people.

Look at this thing! What a stubby bill. I can't believe it's called a "seedeater", what a bloody nondescript name. If you ever bird down here, be warned that a few do lurk in the area.

Meet my first Great-tailed Grackle of the year. Many more will follow...I even ran into a pair on the beach today, pretending they were Snowy Plovers. Kumeyaay Lake, CA.

White-throated Swifts are not hard to come by in much of southern California, but even a passing picture is reason to rejoice. Apologies for the "noise" by the way, I think some settings in my camera got reset after it went for a swim....damn you high ISO!

And here is one of my first Rufous Hummingbirds of the year. Not a diagnostic picture, I know, you'll just have to take my word for it. Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, CA.

For most of the state, Anna's Hummingbird is the only hummingbird species that hangs out year-round. I've never heard anyone spouting accolades about their vocal abilities, but Anna's are one of the few North American hummingbirds who actually sing.

Here you go, the first Phainopepla I have ever photographed. Hopefully the next one will be on a more photogenic perch, in better light, and substantially closer. Mission Trails Park, CA.

Whenever you are having a bad day, just be grateful you do not suffer from some terrible face disease that causes one of your eyes to swell shut. Then you would be easy pickins (pickens?) for a Sharp-shinned Hawk. This not-stoked House Finch and his concerned/repulsed lady-friend were at Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, CA...and yes, we have orange House Finches.

I'm not sure where this fits in with the "Bourbon, Bastards and Birds" theme, but when I was a little kid I was STOKED to find lizards, whether they were common Western Fence Lizards like this one, or rarer stuff like leopard lizards and desert iguanas. An interest in herpetology more often than not is just another avenue to becoming a birdwatcher (how embarrassing), I can assure you.

Song Sparrow. The zoo, without a doubt, has the tamest Song Sparrows I've ever seen. They are so happy to be there, they actually sneak into cages. San Diego Zoo (wild bird).