Ecuador Adventure Part 1 - Pululahua Crater



Hola Amigos -

Before the Goddard Ecuador Tour began, Magda and I arrived 2 days earlier and visited the Pululahua Crater with our friends Juan Carlos and Paulina Calvachi.  We stayed at a very comfortable hosteria within the crater, which was more than adequate. 

On our first night we went out searching for owls, but the only nocturnal bird seen was Band-winged Nightjar, which was Magdas first lifer.  We heard several owl species, but weren't able to track any of them down.  The most notable 'heard only' was a Stygian Owl, which called at least 4 different times, but never came in to playback.

The next morning, we started before daylight and we soon found a pair of White-throated Screech-Owl, which was new for both of us. Later in the morning, we managed to track down a Rusty-breasted Antpitta as well as a nice pair of Andean Pygmy-Owls. 

After leaving the crater, we spent about 30 minutes with several Grassland Yellow-Finches and a pair of Band-tailed Sierra-Finches.  The tiny Tufted Tit-Tyrant put in a quick appearance as did a female Purple-throated Woodstar and then we were off to Mindo.  We stay at the Alambi Guesthouse at the bottom of the Tandayapa Valley.  Fabian and his wife were excellent hosts and the food was fantastic. 

The next day, we left early to visit Mashpy.  The moss-covered trees along the entrance road were full of activity and we had nice views of  Indigo Flowerpiercer, Glistening-green Tanager, Moss-backed Tanager, Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, Choco Vireo, Rufous-rumped Antwren, Andean Solitaire, Rufous-brown Solitaire, Black Solitaire, Toucan Barbet, Wedge-billed Hummingbird, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant, Pacific Tuftedcheek and lots more...
We visited the Mashpy area later with the Goddard Tour Group so I will post more photos in that section!
Good birding - STEVEN EASLEY


Pululahua Crater Hoseteria



Andean Guan (Pululahua Crater)



Andean Pygmy-Owl (Pululahua Crater)

Andean Pygmy-Owl (Pululahua Crater)

Band-tailed Sierra-Finch (near Mitad del Mundo)

Tufted Tit-Tyrant (near Mitad del Mundo)

Grassland Yellow-Finch (near Mitad del Mundo)



Purple-throated Woodstar - female (near Mitad del Mundo)



Wedge-billed Hummingbird (Mashpy)

Wedge-billed Hummingbird (Mashpy)

Orange-breasted Fruiteater (Mashpy)

Orange-breasted Fruiteater (Mashpy)

Orange-breasted Fruiteater (Mashpy)

Andean Emerald (Mashpy)

Golden-naped Tanager (Mashpy)

Moss-backed Tanager (Mashpy)







NEW YARD BIRD - 4 GREAT GREEN MACAWS!!!

Hello Friends -
The biggest surprise for us yet at our new house happened this morning at around 10:30am.  We were outside birdwatching when we heard the unmistakable sound of macaws.  We scanned the trees for about 20 minutes with no luck and then we began to think that we must have just been "hearing things".  Suddenly, we heard and saw 4 Great Green Macaws flying above the valley to the east of our house.  I was so excited that I could barely hold the camera up to take a picture of them.  I did manage to snap off about 10 photos of them in flight, and only 2 of those came out OK.  Great Green Macaw is an endangered species and it is still very tough to find in Costa Rica.  They normally live in the lowlands on the Caribean side, but in Oct and Nov they move up into the mountains to find food.  That is certainly why these magnificent birds showed up here near our house.  I never would have imagined that these birds would show up so close to our place, WOW, WOW, WOW!
Good Birding - STEVEN EASLEY

Great Green Macaws (Verbena Norte)

Green Great Macaws - zoomed in (Verbena Norte)

Great Green Macaws (Verbena Norte)

Back Home Safe and Sound & the 200 mark bites the dust!

Hola Amigos -
We arrived safely back home last night from our adventure in Ecuador. What a great trip it was!!!  I will be posting many photos and short stories over the next week about our trip.  I have downloaded all of my photos and now the long process of editing them begins. 
Todays post however, is about the birds we found this morning in our own "garden".  Migration is in full swing right now in Costa Rica and this morning we saw quite a nice selection of migrants.  A few of the species seen were:  Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Warbler and Cerulean Warbler. 
We also managed to finally reach the 200 mark for our yard list.  We had 4 new yard birds this morning - Ovenbird - Acadian Flycatcher - Yellow-throated Vireo - and Mountain Thrush!!!  Our total is now at 201 and our new goal is to reach 250 by this time next year, we'll see...
Like I mentioned before I will be posting lots of photos from our Ecuador trip shortly.
All the images posted below were taken this morning from our patio!  I'm really looking forward to see what turns up tomorrow morning!
Good Birding - STEVEN EASLEY

Ovenbird (Verbena Norte)

Ovenbird (Verbena Norte)

Blackburnian Warbler (Verbena Norte)

Mountain Thrush (Verbena Norte)

Swainson's Thrush (Verbena Norte)

Swainson's Thrush (Verbena Norte)

Trying to find her lost love!

Hola Amigos,
We are off to Ecuador tomorrow morning to try and find Magda's lost love.  She has been in misery without him since our last trip there.  We will be searching every forest patch and deep ravine in search of her mysterious friend!
We are actually going on a birding trip with our good friend Tony Goddard from England.
We will be posting a full report upon our return!
Best wishes, STEVEN


Magda and her friend (from Gareno, Ecuador)



Recent Butterflies from Verbena Norte!



Burning Firetip (from Verbena Norte)




Yellow-fronted Owl-Butterfly (from Verbena Norte)



Feathered Fiestamark (from Verbena Norte)

 

A Nice Newcomer!!!

Hola Amigos -
This morning, while making my coffee, I noticed a large mixed species flock outside our kitchen window.  I quickly grabs my binoculars to check if there was anything good.  Here is the list of birds that I saw in 5 minutes just standing in one place on our patio: 
White-tipped Dove, White-crowned Parrot, Brown-hooded Parrot, Brown Jay, Montezuma Oropendola, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Green-crowned Brilliant, Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Green Thorntail, Green Hermit, Stripe-throated Hermit, Violet Sabrewing, Spotted Woodcreeper, Plain Xenops, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Keel-billed Toucan, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Stripe-breasted Wren, Paltry Tyrannulet, Mountain Elaenia, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Social Flycatcher, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Masked Tityra, Blue-and-white Swallow, Clay-colored Thrush, Russet Antshrike, Tropical Parula, Golden-crowned Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Lesser Greenlet, Red-eyed Vireo, White-shouldered Tanager, Silver-throated Tanager, Palm Tanager, Blue-gray Tanager, Golden-hooded Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Green Honeycreeper, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Variable Seedeater, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Buff-throated Saltator, Yellow-throated Euphonia, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Olive-backed Euphonia, White-eared Ground-Sparrow and the...
BIG SURPRISE *** Prevost's Ground-Sparrow***

This new addition to our yard list was #196.

I have been putting out cracked corn for about 2 months now to try and lure in the Black-breasted Wood-Quails that hang out near our house, but not luck thus far.  Instead the Prevost's Ground-Sparrow shows up in the same area that I have been putting the cracked corn.  Coincidence?  I never saw the bird eating corn on the ground, but it was in a tree not more than 20 ft. from the food.  Hopefully this will become a regular sighting for us in Verbena Norte.

The images posted below are of the White-eared Ground-Sparrow that comes in and out of our garden almost everyday.  I would show you pictures of the Prevost's, but I don't have any!
Good birding - Steven Easley

White-eared Ground-Sparrow (from my archives)

White-eared Ground-Sparrow (from my archives)

White-collared Swift

White-collared Swift (from Verbena Norte)

A few Birds of Prey from around our house!

Ornate Hawk-Eagle (from Verbena Norte)

Roadside Hawk (from my archives)

Laughing Falcon (from my archives)

Broad-winged Hawk (from my archives)

White Hawk (from my archives)

Bicolored Hawk (from Verbena Norte)

More Great Butterflies from Costa Rica!

Five-spotted Heliconian (from Verbena Norte)

Grinning Heliconian (from Verbena Norte)

Tricolored Fiestamark (from Verbena Norte)

Complete Red-ring (from Verbena Norte)

Blue-winged Sheenmark (from Arenal Observatory Lodge)

Split-banded Owlet (from Verbena Norte)

Leucophthalma Sister (from Arenal Hanging Bridges)

White-checked Jewelmark (from Platanillo)

Unidentified species (from Verbena Norte)

New Yard Bird - A Day roosting Tropical Screech-Owl

Hola Amigos - Today while birding in our yard, Magdalena and I found a day roosting Tropical Screech-Owl.  The roost site is about 75 ft. from our back door.  Here is an image of this little beauty!

Tropical Screech-Owl (from Verbena Norte)

Mexican Mouse-Opossum

Mexican Mouse-Opossum (from Carara National Park)

Mexican Mouse-Opossum (from Carara National Park)