Costa Rica Birding, Day 3 - Hummertime

Cynthia and I just finished our breakfast and mulling on which route to take for our next birding venture. Perhaps he read out thoughts because Marino who was about to lead a group on another tour asked us if we have seen the Torrent Tyrannulet. 

"The what?" I asked. 

"Torrent Tyrannulet," he patiently repeated, "a small grayish bird that can always be found by the stream."

We thanked our angel and proceeded towards the tyrannulet playground. Along the way, I got distracted by a Blue-and-white Swallow picking up some nesting material on the ground.

My wife, on the other hand, was taking photos of another lifer, the Dark Pewee.

As soon as we arrived by the stream, a tiny speck of grey flew from a boulder to some dead branches. Then we realized that there was actually a pair of Torrent Tyrannulets diligently hunting for insects by the gurgling brook.

Having had our fill of the grey-feathered dynamos, we again tried for the American Dipper. And dipped once more. There was nothing there but those oh so common Resplendent Quetzals.

Lunch time. We were in the middle of enjoying the delicious buffet when through the window I saw some flying raptors. Among them were some Swallow-tailed Kites! Although we've seen this species before in Florida, we were not able to get any pictures then. I grabbed my camera, bolted out the door, and managed to fire off a few documentary shots before the kites flew farther away.

After lunch, we were too stuffed to do some walking so we decided to concentrate on the hummingbirds just outside the restaurant. We did not pay much attention to them when we first arrived here since we wanted to explore the area and get as many lifers possible. They were always there anyway. Now it's hummer time and the birding was easy.

Grey-tailed Hummingbird

Magnificent Hummingbird

Stripe-tailed Hummingbird

At around 3pm, we tried the path towards the Canto de la Aves once again. In the garden next to some of the cottages we saw something new. Only to realize that it was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, which was not a lifer since we've seen it in the U.S. already.

Other than that, what we saw were the usual species that were quite common here. We returned to our cottage earlier than usual because we have to start packing for our 8 am departure tomorrow.