Over the past few days I have spent a decent amount of time birding over at Playa Potrero, a beach near Las Catalinas. See yesterday’s post for maps. While all beaches may have herons and other seabirds, this beach is nice because of the small lagoon in which fish get trapped at low tide. The local heron population and a few kingfishers are very aware of this fact.  In addition the beach tends to attract a local crowd. Thus, when I visited early Sunday morning  there were lots of locals fishing the surf, but on Monday I had almost one mile of beach to myself! Birding is better on weekdays because fewer people are around.

Anyhow … the Herons of Playa Potrero (and some other friends)

• One of my very enjoyable tasks while down here in Costa Rica is updating my Costa Rican Birding Book … The Birds of Las Catalinas (Free full copy PDF’s of Version 1 are available). While the major focus of the book is the birds of this region, Version 2 will also cover El Viejo Wetlands and the Rainforest Highlands. Full copies of Release #2 will also be freely available as a PDF Download.

Brown Pelican

Franklin Gull

Great Egret

Snowy and Great Egrets

Royal Tern

Royal Tern and White Ibis

Tri-Colored Heron and Snowy Egret

Tri-Colored Heron

White Ibis (immature)

Friday Molly, Jon, Beth and I drove over from Las Catalinas to El Viejo Wetlands (90 minutes). This private wildlife sanctuary of 5,000 acres directly borders Palo Verde National Park. El Viejo has a basic boat tour on the River Tempisque plus lunch at the Hacienda. The first public tours of the day are at 9 am (purchase via their website), but if you arrive a bit early you will also get out on the river earlier before everyone else!  Regardless of whether everyone in your group enjoys birding, everyone loves this tour! There is enough wildlife and plants to keep is the most jaded non-outdoors person happy. Finally all boats have large canopies. Thus, you are always in the shade and moving (getting a breeze). If you want a true private early morning birding experience, it is possible to arrange a private tour starting at 7 am. Call El Viejo for pricing and to reserve same.

Before showing some of the birds et al that we saw … first a few maps for our time down here in Costa Rica. Be aware that roads do not allow one to travel quickly. Here are a couple of notes before the maps:

• From the airport in Liberia to our rainforest lodge (La Carolina Lodge) was three hours of driving.
• It also takes about three hours to drive from the airport to Las Catalinas … unless you have 4 wheel drive and want to drive CR 911 (do not attempt even with 4 Wheel Drive in Rainy Season).
• Playa Potrero is about 15 minutes from Las Catalinas
• The Stream next to the golf course which is under construction is also about a 15 minute drive. This is where I repeatedly saw trogons.
• If you wanted to bird / visit the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, you would fly into San Jose, not Liberia. I am on the Pacific side of the country. Remember my comments about roads … getting around is a slow proposition.

Regional Map

Detailed Las Catalinas Area Map

And now the El Viejo Wetlands Birds!

• One of my very enjoyable tasks while down here in Costa Rica is updating my Costa Rican Birding Book … The Birds of Las Catalinas (Free full copy PDF’s of Version 1 are available). While the major focus of the book is the birds of this region, Version 2 will also cover El Viejo Wetlands and the Rainforest Highlands. Full copies of Release #2 will also be freely available as a PDF Download.

First … the Kingfishers!

Green Kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher

And the Herons!

Bare-Throated Tiger Heron (final image is a juvenile)

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Little Blue Heron

Crocodiles and Bats (Mom guarding recently hatched young … apparently only about 1 in 60 crocodile kids reach adulthood according to our guide … the rest become food for other birds and animals)

Northern Jacana

Roadside Hawk (its actual name … I kid you not!)

We are over on the coast, and we hope the Rainy Season will start soon … and with it some thunderstorms which may provide some afternoon cooling temperatures. While Duluth just set an all time record for snow in a single winter (135+ inches of snow), we reach close to 100F every afternoon, plus humidity.

The two birds I most wanted to find here at Las Catalinas were the Black-Headed Trogon, and Turquoise-Browed Mot Mot. I am pleased to report both birds after early morning and late afternoon hikes have yielded themselves up to my camera. April makes birding a bit easier as one may follow bird song as our feathered friends search for  mates. Both the Mot Mots and Trogon’s song helped me narrow down the areas of my search, which leads to this comment … if you are not using Cornell’s Merlin app, you should. By installing the bird pack for Costa Rica (and earlier this year for Hawaii) I was able to learn more about my target birds habits. Once I obtain good photographs, Merlin’s Bird Photo ID helps with identification.

• One of my very enjoyable tasks while down here in Costa Rica is updating my Costa Rican Birding Book … The Birds of Las Catalinas (Free full copy PDF’s of Version 1 are available). While the major focus of the book is the birds of this region, Version 2 will also cover El Viejo Wetlands and the Rainforest Highlands. Full copies of Release #2 will also be freely available as a PDF Download.

Anyhow … the Black-Headed Trogon and Turquoise-Browed Mot Mot