Although the flight was a very sensible 10 o'clock at night the thought of fighting the rush hour on the M25 meant we left around 4.00. The motorway was blocked but the sat nav on the phone got us there in plenty of time. Terminal 2 was a doddle with our transit through security in record time before we met up with Alan and Brenda for a drink before heading for the departure gate.
The flight was on time although the seating wasn't the most comfortable and we found ourselves in Bogota for a three hour layover. The trek to the next gate wasn't very long and we settled down to wait. It got light around 6 and we found a clear window to do some airport birding. The first bird was a Ruddy Ground Dove pecking about beneath the aircraft. A little later we saw a total of 5. There was also a fly by Cattle Egret followed by another. There were several birds flying in the distance but it was impossible to identify them.
We arrived at San Jose at around 9.am and were met by a driver from the hotel we were staying at who gathered our luggage and drove us the 20 minute ride. The weather was hot and the hotel had some lovely grounds with flowers and bushes and a pond, as well as trees and bamboo clumps. We sorted out rooms out and went birding.
We had a good selection of birds to sort out and were introduced to some birds that we would be seeing regularly like Tropical Kingbird, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Brown Jay, Great Kiskadee, Clay-coloured Thrush and Inca Dove.
The hotel is taking part in a programme to encourage Owls to act as rodent control instead of using pesticides so they have two species of owl nesting in the garden. There is a nestbox for Tropical Screech Owl, which we looked for later in the evening with no success, and Feruginous Pygmy Owl which nest in the wooded area around the garden.
While we were wandering around, we met a young man called Emmanuel who was a guide for the hotel. As our guide wasn't going to be with us until about 6 we decided to use his services for the afternoon.
After sorting out that we would have dinner covered we thought we might have to go out for lunch but then were told that we could have lunch in the hotel so we sat down to our first Costa Rican meal. We were entertained by Variable Squirrels in the trees and hummingbirds in the flowers,
We met up with Emmanuel for the afternoon and he drove us a short distance to a local piece of not much used farmland that belonged to a friend of his. We parked up under some trees and walked around the fields, with new birds all over the place. Our only Eastern Meadowlark was in a tree by the track and Ruddy Pigeon, Common Ground-dove and White-tipped doves were in the wood;and beside the track.
Carrying on round the perimeter we walked down a track where we had Northern Beardless-tyrant, Crimson-fronted Parakeet and Yellow-throated Euphonia. Returning we carried on round and then struck off across the grass to a group of large trees. We spent some time in this area with birds coming and going through the canopy. In a thicket we managed to see both male and female Painted Bunting and a Squirrel Cuckoo in the tree above. There were a few butterflies that were difficult to pin down as they were very active and a large grasshopper in the leaf litter.
A gentle walk back to the car was highlighted by Turkey and Black Vultures soaring about overhead and Blue-black Grassquits feeding in the grasses.
We returned to the hotel for a swim, shower and dinner by which time our guide had arrived and introduced himself. We all met up for dinner in the open-sided dinning area before returning to the garden for an unsuccessful look out for any owls. We soon turned in to be ready for our early morning start.
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After sorting out that we would have dinner covered we thought we might have to go out for lunch but then were told that we could have lunch in the hotel so we sat down to our first Costa Rican meal. We were entertained by Variable Squirrels in the trees and hummingbirds in the flowers,
Carrying on round the perimeter we walked down a track where we had Northern Beardless-tyrant, Crimson-fronted Parakeet and Yellow-throated Euphonia. Returning we carried on round and then struck off across the grass to a group of large trees. We spent some time in this area with birds coming and going through the canopy. In a thicket we managed to see both male and female Painted Bunting and a Squirrel Cuckoo in the tree above. There were a few butterflies that were difficult to pin down as they were very active and a large grasshopper in the leaf litter.
A gentle walk back to the car was highlighted by Turkey and Black Vultures soaring about overhead and Blue-black Grassquits feeding in the grasses.
We returned to the hotel for a swim, shower and dinner by which time our guide had arrived and introduced himself. We all met up for dinner in the open-sided dinning area before returning to the garden for an unsuccessful look out for any owls. We soon turned in to be ready for our early morning start.
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