TROGON LODGE GROUNDS - PROVIDENCIA ROAD - PARAISO LODGE - UJARRAS COFFEE PLANTATIONS
PICTURES TO FOLLOW
WEATHER: another clear start but it soon clouded over, some sunshine later and rain to finish the day.
At 6am we all met near the main office building for a walk around the grounds and along one of the trails into the forest. I was surprised to see so many of the group in attendance, almost a full house of 12! We found all the common species of the garden pretty quickly; Rufous-collared Sparrow, Large-footed Finch, Yellow-thighed Brushfinch, Slaty Flowerpiercer, Volcano Hummingbird and Mountain Elaenia.
View of the River Savegre from my terrace
To be honest we didn't see much else, not even the resident Resplendent Quetzal! Torrent Tyrannulets were on the rocks by the river, Black-billed Nightingale Thrush and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush were both seen as were Sooty Thrush and Mountain Thrush, Sooty-capped & Common Chlorospingus.
Peg-billed Finch - Richard Pettett
After Breakfast we loaded up the bus and headed out of the valley and up the main road, we turned toward Cartago and after a few kilometers we turned off the road onto a dirt track called Providencia Road which the entrance to the Los Quetzales National Park.
Ruddy Treerunner - Richard Pettett
At the entrance to the road we searched for Lesser Goldfinch but drew a blank, we then set off on foot along the track. We walked for an hour or so and found several interesting species. Timberline Wren shoewed after some chasing but the Silvery-fronted Tapaculo was very skulking and only a few of the group got to see it at all.
Talamanca Hummingbird
Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatcher was the next species to go onto our list, they were very showy and a real crowd pleaser. Then we finally found Lesser Goldfinch and a few more hummers, including Lesser Violetear and Scintillent Hummingbirds.
Black-and-Yellow Silky-Flycatcher
A feeding flock held Wislon's & Tenessee Warblers, Ruddy Treerunner, Yellow-winged Vireo, Collared Redstart and Spot-crowned Woodcreeper. We then heard a Wrenthrush but did not locate it.
For lunch we drove for another 30 minutes and pulled into the famous Paraiso Quetzal Lodge. The bird feeders there are amazing, the hummingbirds at very close quarters are wonderful to watch. We spent agood two hours there, we never anything new but it was quality time with quality birds. The Fiery-throated and the Talamanca Hummingboirds were the most numerous with Volcano and Scintillent coming a close second.
Chaos at the feeder at Paraiso Quetzal Lodge
After lunch we walked to the viewing tower having great views of Silky Flycatcher, Peg-billed Finch, Yellowish Flycatcher and all the common species.
White-throated Mountain-Gem
Fiery-throated Hummingbird
For the afternoon we drove down from the mountains to Cartago and spent quite a while getting through this enormous city. We eventually arrived at Ujarris where our last birding session was spent.
The view from the terrace at Paraiso Lodge
Scintillant Hummingbird
We searched the Squash fileds and Coffee plantations for the Cabani's Ground-Sparrow without seeing one. we did find many species whilst looking for the Sparrow. Mourning Warbler, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Variable seedeater, Social Flycatcher, Montezuma Oropendula and several more.
Social Flycatcher
it was dark by the time we arrived at our last hotel, we have two nights there, one full day in the field and many species still missing from our list.