Bienvenidos al San Jose

Tropical Kingbirds are common in Downtown San Jose. Public Domain Photo by Unknown Author

San Jose is the gateway to the rest of Costa Rica. Inevitably anyone who wants to witness the treasures of the country must past through this bustling city whose beehive marketplaces can both dazzle and frighten the traveler. I am staying at a popular hostel in the financial district of town. I am already familiar with the country's two most popular beers Imperial, and Pilsen, which are made by the same company and actually taste the same. Surely they just slap another label on the bottle and call it something different. Last night I got a chance to see the University, and the busy district adjacent not to unlike an American college town. Chespi who will be overseeing our work in Tortuguero, took us out so that we could go over some of what we will need to know, however the noise from the bar made communication difficult. Hopefully I will have another opportunity to listen to what he said.

For me, the one thing that always assures me that I am traveling and no longer at home, is hearing the the different pigeon songs of the morning. I think this was even true before I was a birder. The one here seems to be White-winged Dove, whereas this summer I was awakened by Eurasian Collared Dove. Both songs are very different than the locally abundant early morning singer the Mourning Dove. So far I have been able to track down: Rufous-collared sparrows, Tropical Kingbirds, Great-tailed grackels, Rufous-tailed hummingbird, Rock dove, and some unknown parrots. It promises to be a good trip filled with new birds. Today I will visit the metropolitan park of the city, and will have special permission to bird the research section thanks again to Chespi.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Tortuguero for a few days of machete work to reclaim the net lanes from a season of jungle growth and hope to be banding birds by Monday.

The widespread Rufous Collared Sparrow. Public Domain Photo by: Dario Sanches