January 28
As tomorrow is a travel day, today was our final nature day of the trip. We started with a pre-breakfast walk near the lodge. This contributed two new bird species— it is incredible that Costa Rica is so rich in birds that the same places have new things to offer on successive days!
After breakfast we drove to a wetlands and lake formed by a hydroelectric power station. We walked there for several hours. We saw some fascinating behaviors, particularly of shore birds chasing one another, presumably to protect nesting sites. We also saw not one but two Great Potoo, affectionately called “stick birds”. The Potoo is a nocturnal species related to ftogmouths and its coloration looks like tree bark, which makes them hard to find. So of course that makes them a birdwatching treasure.
After lunch we walked through the nearby forest. We spent a long time trying to coax little wrens to come see us, with only marginal success — small, shy, dark colored birds against leaf matter and shadows make viewing very difficult. Our local birding guide, Steve, was remarkable and patient. On the other hand we had a great view of a mottled owl, low to the ground and awake. We also saw two endemics plus a king vulture flying over head.
All in all it was a beautiful day both weather-wise and for birding. We finished the trip with 236 bird species sighted, of which 30 were new.
Pictured: summer tanager, great potoo (he’s looking to the left), tawny-chested flycatcher (a Costa Rican endemic), unknown beetle, mottled owl, red-tailed squirrel
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