21/3 Day 2: Villa Lapas and the Tarcoles River

6 o'clock and we were out ready for our first full day in Costa Rica. A short walk into the garden, after the dog had been put back in it's kennel and we were looking at two Feruginous Pygmy Owls. One flew off rapidly but the other one stayed put and only moved when a Great-tailed Grackle flew through and disturbed it.

 While walking round the grounds we found this very obliging Rufous-naped Wren prospecting in the dog's bowl.

A wander round under the trees and we began to find birds like Clay-coloured Thrush, Inca Dove,  Kiskadees and Boat-billed Flycatchers as well as Melodious Blackbird. There were also some lovely, but difficult to pin down, butterflies flitting round the Porterweed bushes, something we would see nearly everywhere.

After a great breakfast with typical rice and beans, fruit and eggs we loaded up the car and set off for Villa Lapas and the Tarcoles river.
A stop at the Crocodile bridge over the River Tarcoles and we counted up to 39 American crocs plus Egrets, Jacanas, Mangrove Swallows, American Gallinule and a beautiful Turquoise-browed Motmot.

We were a little early at Villa Lapas so we pottered about the patio looking at butterflies, birds, and Jesus Christ lizards as well as replenishing the fluids with some cold drinks before helping ourselves to a lovely choice of food from the buffet.

A walk round the grounds found a couple of Americans that we got to know and chat with, meeting up again at a comfort stop and at Savegre. Even though it was very hot there were birds to look at.
A short drive to the boat with Frigatebirds, Cattle egrets and Groove-billed Ani and then we were at the boat for our river ride. We had a boat to ourselves and set off upriver first. Along the river banks we saw Hudsonian Whimbrel, Tiger Herons, Jacanas, Black-winged Stilts and Spotted Sandpipers while a black-winged Kite sat in a tree and Caracaras strutted on a bank. We were accompanied all the way by some Mangrove Swallows who used the boat as a perch and could have been nesting in the canopy.

We turned round and headed downstream to the mangrove swamp area. As we cruised along several Ospreys flew over and carlet Macaws flew back and forth. There were Cormorants and Pelicans roosting on a long sandbank and we had a flock of Egrets with a Roseate Spoonbill and some (little waders) on the mud and then we entered the mangroves where the boatman showed us a group of about 6 Boat-billed Herons and a Black-headed Night-heron. As we went further in we saw some warblers and as we caught another boat up we were told of an American Pygmy Kingfisher which we managed to see sitting in the roots of the bank.

We visited an area just up the road from the boat for Black and White Owl but they had already left for the night. However, there were lots of Lesser Nighthawks overhead and a herd of horse galloped through the trees. Back to the lodge for dinner.

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20/3 Day 1: Costa Rica

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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Twitching in Holland

Having twitched the Glaucous-winged Gull last weekend we decided to try for the Siberian Rubythroat as it was still around.

We caught the 6.20 train and the drive north to Hoogwoud. Stopping for a comfort break and some sandwiches. The drive through Noord Holland was memorable for the number of goose flocks, including hundreds of Egyptian Geese and at least 10 Great White Egrets. We arrived around 12.15 local time where the bird hadn't been seen for about an hour. There was a favoured spot which had been staked out with mealworms and a log where we stood and waited. It was a little restricted so I walked round to the other side where the view was better and there were less people.

It was about 2 1/2 hours later a bird flew into the hedge, it was the bird! It was another half an hour before it decided to come out and hop around the log, feeding on the mealworms and pecking about before popping back into the hedge. It showed a few times more and then hopped across into the right hand garden and hopped up into the laurel just as a white cat came along. It looked as if it might be hunting, ignoring the scare sounds from the crowd.

One of the men chucked a lump of wood at it and it soon scooted. This seemed a good time to leave so we collected our bits and went back to the car.

Our next target were some Red-breasted Geese which were a short way north. Having set up the sat nav we were there in under 20 minutes, with a short stop to check through a flock of geese, and a scan through the Brent Geese found them feeding in the middle of flock. A passing helicopter spooked them all into flight and as they resettled there were two Pale-bellied Brents at the edge of the flock. Across the fields were 2 more Great White Egrets, a Heron and at least 3 Hares. We moved on to Den Oever harbour to look for a reported Buffleheads but no luck, although we did see 3 Smew, or with a reported Lesser Scaup, although there were 3 male and 2 female Greater Scaup among and Tufted Duck. A Bittern crouched against the reeds and a Kingfisher was seen by Tony.

The return drive was delayed by very heavy traffic around Amsterdam which meant that we missed our train but it was a really enjoyable day out with great views of one of my target birds.





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Ireland Day 2

Because Ireland is so far west the sun didn't really come up until past 8.00 am. Anxious looks out of the window showed it wasn't raining and we were up and out soon after. We walked along the road to the 2 best viewing spots with no luck but as we walked back Martin spotted it on a lamp post. It showed well on and off all morning, even coming close for bread, although it didn't seem very hungry. We saw two other birders and chatted to a few locals who were curious about what we were looking at. One chap was very informative about how it had looked 40/50 years ago.
The other birder that we met told us about an Iceland gull at Eyeries so we drove over and took a turning for the Strand. A left turn proved a mistake but as we backtracked Martin noticed a white-winged gull on the coast so we took a turning that led us to a small cove where the Iceland gull was loafing on a rock. Not long after it flew off to the west and disappeared. Within the small beach by the road were several Rick Pipits and Turnstones, some Oystercatchers and a sign explaining that Sea-Eagles had been introduced and there was a good possibility of sighting one of these birds.


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Short trip to Castletownbeere

An almost obligatory early morning start as we headed for Stansted through the first snow of the year. As this was just a couple of days we were travelling light with just hold bags, which meant we didn't have to check in our bags giving us plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and cup of tea. It was odd as it felt as if we had forgotten something.

A 90 minute flight and we landed early in Cork, passed through customs, collected the car, a Nissan Juke, and were off to Castletownbeere. It was raining but did ease off and brighten a bit.

The road took us through some lovely countryside very reminiscent of the rocky, grassy hills of Scotland. A brief stop at Glengarriff to look at a flock of gulls included 2 Glaucous gulls and a common seal popped it's head up.  A short drive around Castletown and we eventually found the Glaucous-winged asleep on a rocky island just off the sea wall but the abysmal weather made it difficult to see. We decided to go for lunch and come back later if the weather eased. We ended up in McCarthy's bar which is a local, traditional irish bar/shop where we had a lovely crab sandwich and some tea.









The weather hadn't improved so we booked into the Murphy@s Bar and B&B before driving along the sea wall but no sign and the tide was dropping. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the harbour to no avail. We did see lots of gulls which included a Glaucous Gull, a couple of Med Gulls, Rock Pipits, Ring-billed Gull, Little Egret, Shag and 2 Black Guillemots.

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Last day in Dehli

The lure of yet more shopping was not very high so I decided to book a car and driver for the afternoon and go to the Oklah Barrage reserve, just outside Delhi. Having been there the first time I was fairly certain of at least seeing some birds. So I went to reception and booked it before walking up the road to an emporium. The walk was good after all the sitting round we had been doing but it did mean that various Tuktuk drivers kept trying to take me places. I found the store but it was very disappointing as it didn't have the materials I was looking for so I looked round and then returned to the hotel. As it had rained during the night the humidity was very high. I had found out that I could buy a swimsuit at the spa, so I went down and bought the most amazing costume, with short sleeves, a frilly skirt and thigh length leggings. I then went to the changing rooms, changed and enjoyed half an hour or so just swimming and floating in the pool before I got dressed, went up to the room and then got ready to go out.
The desk were a little confused about the car but eventually I was handed into a very comfortable BMW and we set off, the driver referring to a google map to get us to the right place and then asking at various kiosks until we arrived at the entrance where a Police car blocked the entrance as the place was closed for a Shiva festival. The driver explained that I was an old women who really wanted to take photographs before I flew back the next day and they let us in, apparently for half an hour but we stretched it out for about an hour. There were very few birds on the water with some ducks, Cattle and Great white Egret, Purple Heron and a few Night Herons about. There were lots of sunbirds twitting about the bushes and I saw an oriole in the top of a tree. We had a green bee eater, babblers and many house crows but it was just fun to be birding and looking.

 

All the time we were in there there was a steady stream of men walking through carrying a variety of wooden structures decorated with tinsel and bells. These would be walking for the next few days to a festival in honour of Shiva. The humidity was a nightmare as the glass in my optics just steamed up as soon as I got out of the air conditioned car so photos were very difficult.

As we only had a limited time in the park the driver suggested I went to Haynumyas tomb as there were lots of trees around and I could probably see some birds so I agreed and he parked up in a car park were I walked across and bought a ticket and had my bag searched before going in. It was a large complex of mogul style tombs and buildings and really very interesting. 

There were quite a few birds about including parakeets and hornbills just about photographable in the misty gloom and I spent some time wandering round but I will do some research when I get home.

By 5.00 I had had enough and we returned to the hotel for a shower and sweet lime soda before we got dressed up, ready for our farewell dinner which took quite a while to get to because of the traffic and then wasn't very welcoming or friendly. However, they did offer two choices, a set Indian or Chinese. 5 of us went for the Chinese which was very tasty and lots of choice of dishes. We returned to the hotel and agreed on a 7.30 wake up call with breakfast and cases outside by 9.00, ready to go to the airport by 9.30. The breakfast was once more very comprehensive and international and then we checked our luggage was in the coach, loaded up and were delivered to the airport with plenty of time. Bag check in went Ok, security was lengthened by two bag x-ray machines feeding into one human arch and a woman officer who insisted on doing a thorough check on every female which took forever, added to by a large group of women pilgrims joining the queue where ever they felt like, then having to put bags on the rollers and generally holding things up. Once through there, last minute nicknaks, spending all the Indian money and we were called for the plane. Once onboard, it wasn't long before we were off, first having a short delay because of 'bird activity' not that I could see any. The flight back lasts around 9 hours and the visibility was quite good, so it was interesting to see the effect of water in the desert regions around northern Afghanistan and just how big the Caspian Sea is.


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