Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — The Resplendent Quetzal is, of course, the main attraction in the highland forests of Costa Rica. It is a stunning, relatively large, and almost impossibly beautiful, bird. Everyone wants to see it, and those who have seen one, want to see another. On our first December trip to Costa Rica last year, on our first morning in the mountains, we were up at 5 am, and on the bus by 5:30, for our first try at a Quetzal. We saw one. A single male flew into the wild avocado tree where it had been feeding at the time, and sat for maybe 5 minutes, just at dawn. Then it flew off, and did not re-appear in the time we had before breakfast at 7:30. Enough to say we had seen it, but not enough to satisfy. So on the second morning in the mountains, we were up again and on the road even earlier. The wild avocado trees do not all flower and fruit at the same time. Generally there will be only a few trees in the Savegre Valley in fruit on any given day, so finding the Quetzals is a matter of knowing which trees have fruit. A fruiting tree, if it is along the road where it is easy to get to, can attract 100s of birders and tourists from the lodges all up and down the valley each morning who are eager to see the Quetzal. It is also a waiting game. If you get there early you wait for the first bird to fly in. If you leave right after that, you take the chance of missing the real show. Our guide insisted that we wait, and indeed, as the sun crept down the slopes above us, two more male Quetzals flew in. It might have been hard to tell that we were seeing three different birds, but each of these males had different length “tail streamers” (the tail streamers are actually coverts…normally small feathers that grow from and cover the base of the true tail). Male Quetzals lose the covert streamers during nesting season as they fly into and out of the cavity nest, tending young, and have to grow them out each year, so the length of the streamers is a good indication of how recently the birds have nested. These three were clearly on different nesting cycles. Long, medium, and short. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reductions. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 and 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Golden-browed Chlorophonia: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — I may have told this story before, but on our first trip to Costa Rica this past December, we had a glimpse of a Golden-browed Chlorophonia, wee and far, in the canopy while hiking, and I, somewhat rashly, promised Dave (an avid birder and bird photographer) that I would show him one close up the next day when we visited Batsu Gardens on the mountain side above Savegre Resort. When we got in the van that takes you up to the gardens, I asked the owner if the Chlorophonia was coming to the feeders, and he said, “Some days”. Hum. So we sat there on the viewing platform all afternoon, watching and photographing hummingbirds, tanagers, finches, and toucanets. We were beginning to lose the light, and Dave had wandered off looking for photo-ops in the larger garden. I was beginning to think I was going to have to eat my words. And then suddenly, the Golden-browed Chlorophonia was there on the feeding station. Dave. Dave. DAVE! Chlorophonia. CHLOROPHONIA! I finally yelled. Dave came. We saw the Chlorophonia. We photographed the Chlorophonia. Whew. Close one. On the next trip I did not promise anyone anything, but we did see the Golden-browed Chlorophonia at Batsu again. And it is certainly a bird worth seeing. Such a bright little bird and such a striking color combination. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Western Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — Of course a fair number of the birds you see in Costa Rica in December are wintering migrants who nest in North America…our birds of the forest and edges. There are many warblers, and they can be among the most common birds you see in the lowland and foothills. I have seen way more Wilson’s Warblers in Costa Rica than I have ever seen in North America. These two larger passerines were high in the mountains at Batsu Gardens, mixed in with the tropical specialties of the cloud forest. Both are typical of the winter plumage of birds that we see in more colorful plumage here in the US. The Western Tanager, as its name suggests, is limited to the western third of the US and Canada, while the Grosbeak is pretty much restricted to the eastern two-thirds. There are limited areas, in Canada mostly, where you might see both birds in the same location. They coexist nicely on the Pacific Slope of Costa Rica in winter, neither in large numbers…but they can be seen, as we saw them at Batsu, in the same place at the same time. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Tanager ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Grosbeak ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Flame-colored Tanager: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — Tropical tanagers are among the most colorful songbirds…covering pretty much the full spectrum from deep red to brightest blue (sometimes in the same bird). The Flame-colored Tanger is relatively plane by that standard, though it can cover the full spectrum of orange pretty well. It is the typical highlands Tanager…it’s only rival for numbers at the elevations where you see it is the Blue-grey Tanager (and that you can see from sea-level to the highest peaks). This specimen was around the feeders at Batsu Gardens. Batsu is a project of one of the grandsons of the original settlers of the deep Savegre River Valley on the western slopes of the Talamanca Mountains. The Chacon family, two brothers and their wives and children, homesteaded the San Geraldo de Dota region in the 1950s, and as the family grew and more settlers were attracted to the valley, pioneered efforts to balance development with a healthy and rich environment. Eventually, 40 years later, they built the first cabins and lodge to accommodate birders, fishermen, and other tourists who were attracted to this beautiful area. Batsu Gardens, high on the mountain side, over 500 feet above the original lodge and the river, provides birders and photographers with covered viewing platforms, toilets, a coffee station, abundant native plantings, and responsibly managed feeders for the area birds. If you love birds, Batsu is one of the best places in Costa Rica to spend a morning or afternoon. Flame-colored Tanager is almost guaranteed 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Slaty Flowerpiercer: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica — There are 18 species of flowerpiercers, most in the highlands of South America. Two reach Central America, but only one is found in Costa Rica: the Slaty Flowerpiercer. All have the adapted beak that allows them to draw nectar from the base of flowers by making a small hole and sucking it out. They are common wherever there are masses of flowers at high elevations, so are often seen in gardens and the landscaped grounds around lodges. Here we have two close shots of the female and one, taken from a good distance, of the male. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 and 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Blue-throated Toucanet (Emerald Toucanet?): There seems to some confusion around the Emerald Toucanets found in Central America. Some authorities call them all Emerald Toucanet wherever they are found, some call them all Northern Emerald Toucanet, with as many as 5 subspecies, some list individual races to describe the differences between birds of say, Honduras and Costa Rica (Honduran birds have white throats, and Costa Rican have bright unmistakable blue throats…the nominate of the Northern Emerald Toucanet has a white throat). And some authorities have the Emerald Toucanets of Costa Rica and Panama as a separate species: The Blue-throated Toucanet. Striking birds by whatever name, and I am always happy to see them at mid to high elevations in the mountains. They are generally at the feeders at Soda y Mirador Cinchona at 4000 feet on our way over the central volcanic range from San Jose to Selva Verde, and we see them at the feeders at Batsu Gardens at 8000 feet above the Savegre River in the Talamancas (and, very often, when out looking for Quetzals in the same area). This bird was at Batsu. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO from 1000, 1250 and 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Spotted Wood-Quail: Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — not an easy bird to see since they forage in pairs or small groups in the interior undergrowth of high mountain forests in Costa Rica and Panama, and are generally very quiet. There is a small covey near Batsu Gardens at about 8000 feet, above the Savegre River valley, that have been coming out to some scattered corn and rice for a few years now…generally just once a day, and generally late in the day. You have to be there at the right time. As it happened, when we visited San Gerardo de Dota on our first trip to Costa Rica last December, two were foraging when we got out of the 4 wheel drive van that takes you up the mountain to the gardens. They were there for maybe 5 minutes, but long enough to get a few photos. We did not see them a week later when we visited Batsu with my second group. I will post more about Batsu Gardens in the next couple of days. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Interestingly, eBird incorrectly lists this bird as “lowlands and foothills”, but it is definitely a bird of the higher elevation forests.

Black-faced Solitaire: Savegre Mountain Resort, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — The beautiful song of the Black-faced Solitaire has made it a target of the local caged-bird trade in Costa Rica and Panama where you hear it singing in the high mountain forests. It is a thrush and has that resonate fluting sound, somewhat like a Hermit Thrush in the US. We found this one on the mountain above the lodge at Savegre. Sony Rx10iv at 517mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.