A New Sighting of Red-breasted
Blackbirds
12 October:
Herson Guevara was horseback riding at Hotel Hacienda Moravia en Chirripo
de Turrialba (1130 m) and saw eight Red-breasted
Blackbirds Sturnella militaris in
a grassy field. The local guide, German Loiza, who has worked at the hotel for
six years, said the birds have been around for the past six months. This
represents the highest elevation yet reported for this species in CR.
Herson also
mentioned seeing a pair of Lesser
Goldfinches Carduelis psaltria in
the hotel’s garden.
Tody Motmot Found at Arenal
07 October:
Juan Carlos Solano was hiking up the Cerro Chato Trail at Arenal Observatory
Lodge early in the morning, when he spotted a small bird perched low, about
200m into the forested part of the trail. He was quite surprised [indeed!] to
discover that it was a Tody Motmot Hylomanes momotula! He had good looks at
it for a minute or more before it flew. This is the southernmost record in CR
that I know of for this species.
Highlights of a Great Birding
Trip
From 27
September to 10 October 2007, I had the pleasure of accompanying Jonas Nilsson
and Jim and Bonnie Olson during their visit to Costa Rica. We were quite
fortunate with the weather and saw nearly 450 species of birds in 13 field
days. Of course, with that many species there were obviously lots of great
birds and fantastic moments. Here I report only the rarer findings, in addition
to the migrants mentioned above.
27 Sep: A
pair of Lesser Goldfinches Carduelis psaltria visiting the Mexican
Cypress trees at the Casa Vieja Restaurant (on the Cartago –
Paraíso road by the entrance to Lankester Gardens) were among the very
first birds on our trip list—an auspicious start!
28 Sep: A
pair of Tropical Mockingbirds Mimus gilvus was found in a garden
between Paraíso and Orosi, near the entrance to Sanchiri Lodge. I was
unaware of this location for the species (which we also saw at two other sites
during the trip).
29 Sep: In the
morning, while birding at Jorge Serrano’s Paraíso del Quetzal, we
had both Rough-legged Tyrannulet Phyllomyias
burmeisteri and Ochraceous Pewee Contopus ochraceus. Then, at dusk in San Gerardo de Dota, Jonas
found a Scaled Antpitta Grallaria guatimalensis near the start
of the Waterfall Trail, just after crossing the log bridge. I’m not aware
of previous records of this species in the valley.
30 Sep:
Melvin Fernández, of Savegre Mountain Hotel, had told me that both he
and Ernesto Carman had seen a male Black-throated
Trogon Trogon rufus in the area
below the hotel in recent months, and we also got to see it as we birded the
Los Ranchos area that morning. At 2100 m, this is an incredibly high elevation
for this species.
03 Oct: A Ruddy Woodcreeper Dendrocincla homochroa put in a brief appearance on the Oxbow Lake
Trail at Carara. It was very possibly the first time I’ve seen this
species in Carara, and, if not, it was certainly the first sighting I’ve
had of it there in a long time.
05 Oct: A Rufous-necked Wood-Rail Aramides axillaris was quite cooperative
as it preened in a patch of sunlight during a brief stop we made at the Mata
Limón mangrove.
10 Oct: And
one of the last species to make it onto our trip list was a Blue-and-gold Tanager Bangsia arcaei that showed very nicely
at La Virgen del Socorro.
Streaked Xenops Seen at Monte
Sky
03 October
2007: Rafa Campos and William Granados had excellent looks at a Streaked Xenops Xenops rutilans in the garden at Monte Sky, near Tapantí NP.
Lance Scores a Double Birdie
on the Links
02 October
2007: Lance Barnett reported seeing two Southern
Lapwings Vanellus chilensis at
the Valle del Sol golf course in Pozos de Santa Ana. This is apparently the
first record for the species in the Central Valley.
Yet Another Motmot Mixed Pair at Arenal
14
September 2007: While birding the La Peninsula road at Arenal NP with James and
Monroe McKay, late in the afternoon, I heard a motmot vocalize. It sounded like
the typical “hoarse” vocalization of a Broad-billed Motmot Electron platyrhynchum, but given the locality I decided to play a
recording of Keel-billed Motmot
E. carinatum, just to see what would happen. The result? Nothing. So, I
switched to David L. Ross’s recording of Broad-billed Motmot (the one on
the Costa Rica Bird Songs CD). When the recording got to the second part, which
sounds like two birds giving a fast, rhythmic duet, a bird immediately flew in
and landed on a looping vine just a few meters from where I stood. A second
bird followed momentarily and landed another meter away, behind vegetation. I
called James and Monroe over to see the first bird: a Keel-billed Motmot, and a
second-ever sighting for me! As we admired the bird, and James took
photographs, the second bird continued calling incessantly. Manuevering to get
a view, I discovered that it was a Broad-billed Motmot! Curiousity got the best
of me and I played the recording again. This time, when the faster rendition
began, the broad-billed flew to the vine where the keel-billed was perched and
the two performed the exact call together!!
Rare Observation of Mammal Predation by a Toucan
14
September 2007: James McKay took this image of a Chestnut-mandibled Toucan Ramphastos
swainsonii at Hotel Villa Lapas. What the bird is holding in its beak is a Common Tent-making Bat Uroderma bilobatum! Unfortunately, none
of us witnessed the actual attack, and so I cannot describe how the toucan
caught the bat.
This
species of bat roosts in Coconut Palms on the grounds of the hotel, where for
years naturalist guides have been able to show their clients small colonies
(average four to six individuals per frond) spending the daylight hours hanging
beneath fronds that they have modified by chewing part way through the leaflets,
causing them to bend about 90° and thus forming a “tent.” On my
last two visits to Villa Lapas, I found no bats under the fronds of the small
coconut nearest the restaurant, where they typically could be seen daily. I
eventually found just four bats (two per frond) roosting under the leaves of a
much taller palm beside the swimming pool.
Most
members of the Ramphastidae are known to take eggs and nestlings from the nests
of other bird species, but there seem to be few reports of them predating small
mammals.
Black-cowled Oriole Seen on
Pacific Side of Tilarán Range
03
September 2007: Johan Fernandez spotted a Black-cowled
Oriole Icterus prosthemelas
beside the road near the village of Dos de Tilarán. This adds to the
growing number of sightings on the Pacific side of CR in recent years and is
the northernmost sighting to date.
For reports
prior to these, please check previous Costa Rica Rare Bird Reports:
For reports
prior to those, please check the Gone Birding
Newsletter.
Have you seen
a rare bird in Costa Rica, or a species in an unexpected locality, or
exhibiting odd behavior? If you have any noteworthy sightings, I (and the rest
of the birding community) would appreciate hearing about them. Please send
reports to Richard Garrigues gonebirdingcr@gmail.com and include pertinent details such as
location (as precise as possible), date, time, and observers’ names. If
you have digital images, all the better; however, please send images at file
sizes of less than 500 kb.
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