I arrived back in Virginia this week after spending 2 and a half months in Costa Rica. I finished with 287 birds (not 300 as I planned because of last minute scheduling change). But that's Ok. I saw lots of cool birds, and other things as well. Such as this Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) Notice how when it is sleeping it hides its brilliant colors very well in an attempt to avoid predation, but once awakened looks like a totally different animal. It must work very well since despite being fairly common, this is the only one I saw.








Another interesting thing I saw only once was this strange looking, but beautiful mushroom. The bizarre looking fruiting body is only around for a few days and smells like rotting flesh in order to attract flies that will carry away the spores.





Here is yet another eyelash viper found in Tortuguero National Park. This is the brown phase which much less easily seen that the yellow phase I had seen earlier. It was only 10 feet away from our banding station and we worked nearly the whole day before guide pointed it out to a group of tourists who were passing by the banding station. Scary but beautiful.






One of the most amazing things I visited in Costa Rica was the Hummingbird Feeder Garden just outside the gates of the famed Monte Verde Cloud Forest Reserve. There are numerous feeders up and the entire garden is buzzing with hummingbirds of all kinds. I counted 13 species in the 20 minutes that I was there but I overheard a guide saying that over 30 species have been seen at the garden. I managed to snap a few pictures while I was there.

(above 2) Purple-throated Mountain Gem - male and female

A Magenta-throated Woodstar hovers while a Coppery-headed Emerald feeds.

My personal favorite, the Violet Sabrewing

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A Green Violetear feeds while a Stripe-tailed Hummingbird come in for a landing.

Imposter!!! A Bananaquit pretends to be a hummingbird. I am not fooled.

(Above 3) Scenic shots from Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific. This park is home to some endemic Costa Rican birds such as Fiery-billed Aracari.

The last bird I banded, a male Chestnut backed Antbird at Cano Palma in Barro Colorado Reserve, Costa Rica.

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So my short banding stint has finished in Tortugero. All in all it was great. I got to band lots of cool birds, and hang out on the beach for seven weeks. I leave behind the tremendous staff at CCC who work so hard to make the research center successful. I also leave behind the turtle researchers and incoming bird banders. It is such a treat to be able to work with other biologists from around the globe. Special thanks to Ivan the boat captain for graciously waking at the crack of dawn to drive us through the canals (and leave us isolated in the pouring rain), Juanita for cooking wonderful Costa Rica fare (beans and rice) and Javier for overseeing the lodge. I finished in Tortuguero having seen 153 bird species including the rare WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON and beauties such as ROYAL FLYCATCHER, GREAT GREEN MACAW & GREEN IBIS. I am now on a mad dash throughout the country to try and see 300 species before I leave. I am currently at 249 and have a full day of birding Manuel Antonio National Park tomorrow where I hope to find some south Pacific endemics. I have seen over 100 life birds in the past week including remarkable species such as RESPLENDENT QUETZAL, 3 WATTLED BELLBIRD, EMERALD TOUCANET, SCARLET THIGHED DACNIS, AND BLUE LEGGED HONEY CREEPER as well as 13 species of humming bird including the endemics FIERY THROATED HUMMINGBIRD and COPPERY HEADED EMERALD. I hope to continue this pace throughout my visit. Costa Rica is truly an astounding place with so many beautiful birds that words cannot describe. Since I have shelved my camera in order to focus more on finding birds I will have to leave you to google any birds I mention (which I suggest you do).

My travels took me up through the central valley to Arenal Volcano National Park to look for some middle altitude species on the Carribean side of the Continental Divide. The park and surrounding areas are amazing and I found many interesting species such as NICARAGUAN SEEDFINCH, whose massive beak is bigger than it's head, and the stunningly beautiful GREEN HONEYCREEPER as well as a BLACK SWIFT that flew to a perch behind a waterfall.






I then headed out through the valley across Lake Arenal and up to Monte Verde, the world renowned cloud forests. Here I had the most amazing day of birding I have ever had. I was able to log 27 lifers in the park. The mountain is uniquely situated on the continental divide and offers chances to see middle altitude species as well as those from both sides of the divide. It is also home to the stunning RESLENDENT QUETZAL of which I was able to find 4 in the day and countless species of hummingbird. I found 13 hummers in the park in one day. The following day I headed out to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. Located slightly higher in altitude the park boasts slightly different bird fauna than Monte Verde. Here I was able to find the stunning EMERALD TOUCANET as well as Costa Rica's 2 resident Redstart species - COLLARED REDSTART, & SLATE-THROATED REDSTART. I was able to add 9 more lifers to my list before the day was done including an 8KM walk back to town to tick off a few new grassland species most notably OLIVE-CROWNED YELLOWTHROAT, a long overdue bird.









Back to Monteverde and 8 hours on 3 buses brought me to Manuel Antonio where I ticked of 3 new species near the hotel. Tomorrow I will spend the day in the park before heading to Carara National Park, about 75 KM north along the coast. This is Costa Rica's premier birding spot. It is located in a transition zone between the southern humid rainforests and the northern dry forests. As a result species from both wet and dry zones are possible. I will finish my trip off banding for 3 days with Chespi, the Partners in Flight Costa Rica Representative in the higlands at over 2500 Meters. Here I hope to find highland specialties such as SOOTY ROBIN, VOLCANO JUNCO, VOLCANO HUMMINGBIRD, & TIMBERLINE WREN in my quest for 300 Costa Rican species. Wish me luck!!!!