If you are staying in Guanacaste (Las Catalinas area … dry forest habitat), and you have a 4wd vehicle drive up and over the extremely steep hill towards Zapotal Beach. I love to bird the region from the start of the road to the beach. Do not drive past the Steam Crossing. Assuming you head over early in the morning (like sunrise before the heat of the day), just park at the beginning of the road to Zapotal (wooden sign to beach) and walk the road. The combination of the stream / river on your left as you walk towards the ocean and the savannah habitat on your right makes for fantastic birding. The Pacific Ocean is less than 1/2 mile by foot, and Zapotal is an extremely private beach. I never see anyone there! (see my prior post with pics of the beach and a video). This morning I had Trogons, a Pale Billed Woodpecker, Turquoise-Browed MotMots, a Gray Hawk, Tropical Kingbirds and much, much more. Quite frankly the new golf course with its ponds have actually enhanced the birding since I last visited two years ago. Hopefully the savannah habitat will be left untouched.

Anyhow … from this morning! (the hawk is a life)

Gray Hawk (looks like a male Northern Harrier to me, but it is NOT!)

Pale Billed Woodpecker

Turquoise-Browed MotMots

Some Orange Fronted Parakeets from the prior evening … when these little guys actually slow down right before sunset … at Las Catalinas Town.

And sometime in the next few days … need to process the photographs … my trip to Hacienda El Roble. Birding started at 6:00 AM. Scarlet MaCaw spotted within moments. Shortly thereafter a Pygmy Owl, but I get ahead of myself.

Our rental is a 4WD vehicle, and at sunrise this morning I decided to utilize that fact. I drove some amazingly rutted dirt roads and up super steep inclines (and down) and ultimately reached a stream crossing that I found two years ago during a prior visit to Costa Rica. It is the dry season right now, and I was able to easily walk the stream bed and then 600 yards further to the Pacific Ocean. For 3 hours I saw nary another person as I birded in Paradise.

My private beach … the movie (video link for email subscribers)

Upon returning to the stream bed crossing, the Black-Headed Trogons started to sing. For over 30 minutes I watched and photographed the large number of Trogons.

Black-Headed Trogon Song Fest (I saw over six individual trogons)(video link for email subscribers)

I might have stayed longer, but my ears heard a Pale-Billed Woodpecker drumming. Thus, I popped back out to the Savannah from the forest and ocean area. While I never did find the woodpecker, other delights awaited me!

Iguana and Prey (Black Spiny-Tailed Iguana ??)

Tropical Kingbirds

White-Faced Monkey