If I Were Going...: Birding in Costa Rica #11: Caño Negro

Another stunning Falcon

Our next morning dawned a bit rainy and the not-so-great weather continued on-and-off during the first part of the day.

A Pale-vented Pigeon braving the rain

We were headed northwest to the Caño Negro area to visit Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge via two boat trips on the Río Frío.

We got within ten miles of Nicaragua

The boat trips were so fruitful that I will cover them in a separate post. Here I'll just talk about the birding on land.

A female Great-tailed Grackle along the route

Before heading out, we swung by La Selva for some morning birding, but I covered that in my last post.

Black-faced Grosbeak in La Selva

Owl in a Thicket

Our path(?)

Then we made a stop somewhere along the way to try to find an Owl that Juan Diego was familiar with in the area.

It was dripping rain, so the prospects didn't look too good.

Some of the tourmates opted to sit it out on the bus, but I wrapped my camera in its waterproof sheath and followed Juan Diego into the jungle.

We had to climb into a thicket (watching all the time for Bullet Ants).

Juan getting a good angle with the scope, while Neil sizes up the situation

But, once again, there it was.

Looks like an Owl

Do guides go out the night before and plant them? It was a Middle American Screech-Owl tucked in the thicket, trying to take a nap. With all the twigs, it was tricky to see, much less photograph. But, here it is.

A napping Middle American Screech-Owl

The path we walked to find the Owl crossed over a collapsed Leaf-cutter Ant nest that was huge; perhaps 10 square feet.

Remnants of a big colony

As I said before, Costa Rica has lots of Ants.

The drive north was fairly uneventful, but we did see some enormous Green Iguanas when we stopped at a small café for mid-morning coffee.

When they get this big, they lose their green coloring

As we drove north, the land became flatter and more marshy and civilization became sparser.

The vegetation was changing, too

Hotel

Then, we were driving down a very rough road toward our hotel, the Hotel Campo de Caño Negro. The rain ...

A very wet female White-lined Tanager

... had stopped and the sun was out full force, so we would be taking a break once we arrived at the hotel.

A pretty day, after all (that's a Clay-colored Thrush)

This part of Costa Rica is the poorest in the country, so it was a surprise to find such lovely accommodations. Owned by a family that immigrated from Italy, the Hotel Campo de Caño Negro has a series of duplex bungalows dotted around truly gorgeous grounds ...

My room

... that are actually a botanical garden ...

The Hotel Campo de Caño Negro grounds

There are trails and birding opportunities on the property.

An Amazon Kingfisher on the lake behind the hotel

Over the two days we were there, I went out several times, alone and with the group, and saw some birds I hadn't seen elsewhere on the trip, including ducks ...

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks; we also saw Blue-winged Teals

We hadn't seen many ducks so far. But, then, we hadn't been in this kind of wetland before. And, since it was the dry season, it was dotted with fields and marshes that become lakes in the rainy season.

Lake and marsh

The hotel had a pool (once again, I didn't swim, but I was tempted in the heat of mid-day) and a very good restaurant that serves a mix of Costa Rican and Italian food. It was lovely and provided a great base for our adventures in the area.

The hotel has lovely plants and paths

Caño Negro Birding

After our midday heat break, we headed out for some afternoon birding and we were not disappointed. A highlight was a Bat Falcon that posed for us on a tall tree snag.

Bat Falcon by the road

Using my typical raptor photography technique, I shot a few photos and then stepped forward and so forth and so forth. I got quite close before it suddenly flew off. I thought I had frightened it until it came back with a small bird for lunch.

Today's lunch was a bird, not a bat

This is the same Falcon species that I had driven two days to south Texas to see in January. I think, at this point, I had seen most of my Texas lifers in Costa Rica. But, the Texas trip was still fun. And, the photos of this Bat Falcon were taken in bright sunlight, not the foggy dawn and sunset I had in Texas.

I am glad the rain stopped

Orange-chinned Parakeet, Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Now that the sun was out, we started to see more birds.

A stop along the road finally yielded a good photo opportunity for two birds that had been teasing me up to now.

We saw quite a few Orange-chinned Parakeets that were feeding and possibly nesting in the base of a large palm tree.

Nearby were some Red-lored Parrots that decided to land in a huge tree covered with beautiful pink flowers ...

Finally a good view!

Most of the time, we had seen these birds in flight ...

Orange-chinned Parakeets

... so, this was a treat ...

Red-lored Parrot

Also along the road, we saw a Groove-billed Ani ...

A close-up

... a couple of Pale-billed Woodpeckers ...

The black on the head indicated that this is a female

... several Roadside Hawks ...

He looks intense

... a Crested Caracara ...

He looks goofy

... Some more Hoffman's Woodpeckers ...

A female feeding high up in a tree

... a beautiful Plumbeous Kite ...

Gray with red eyes

... and even a few Hummingbirds ...

Green-breasted Mangoes; Left, female; Right, male

Much of the wetlands have been converted into cattle ranches, which means that the land has been raised and is then drained by a series of ditches through the fields and along the side of the road. These ditches were filled with water and with Caimans ...

We saw lots along the route

... plus we would see wading birds from time to time ...

A Solitary Sandpiper (by itself!)

And, to remind us that we were in the tropics was a troop of Spider Monkeys swinging through the distant trees ...

Geoffroy's Spider Monkeys

One of the most common type of birds in the area is the Seedeater ...

In the reeds

We saw several species feeding on the abundant grasses and grains growing in the marshlands ...

Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, Morelet's Seedeater, Variable Seedeater, Thick-billed Seed-Finch

A Bad Night and a Good Night

Both nights we were in Caño Negro, we went out looking for Striped Owls. Both nights were a bit rainy and the first evening, we failed to find our target. But we did see a Black-and-white Owl sitting on the power lines. The next night, Juan Diego decided to change the road strategy to driving quickly to the end and then working our way back to look for the Striped Owls. The weather was worse, but we were all game.

Juvenile Striped Owl

As we were jostling down the bumpy road, Juan Diego suddenly told the driver to stop because he "heard the Owl." What? We couldn't hear anything but the crunch of gravel, the patter of rain and bus' AC. What could he have heard? But, when we opened the bus door, we heard it too. A definite repeating hoot.

In the dark, it appeared that there were several Owls in a distant tree (maybe a few recently fledged youngsters and an adult; it was impossible to tell).

Very hard to see in the trees

Anyway, they flew about a bit and all disappeared except one youngster who sat of a branch, frequently calling out.

Either calling for food or for safety

We suspect it was a defensive technique to ensure that the parents, who were out hunting, knew that their offspring was safe and where it was supposed to be. It was dark and it was rainy. But, I still got some passable photos.

Not bad for a rainy, dark night

Then, a little later we came upon an adult sitting on a wire way, way, way far away. I didn't even try for a photo. But, I did get some nice photos of another Black-and-white Owl we came upon on our way home.

Black-and-white Owl

That was a good night. And, our Owl count was up to ten. Awesome.

Some Between-the-Boats Birding

On the day that we took two boat trips, we also encountered a couple of birds as we were traveling back and forth to the river. This included a really nice encounter with a Black-crowned Tityra ...

A beautiful bird

... some Purple Gallinules ...

Working the marshes

... a Streak-headed Woodcreeper ...

Working the trees

... and, a Stripe-breasted Wren ...

A cute little bird

But, while we were in Caño Negro, most of the real action was on the river. I'll cover that in the next post.

A Half-Cheese Morning

After our time in Caño Negro, it was time to end the mainland portion of our tour.

A Julia Butterfly

Medio Queso

That meant a long day's drive back to San José.

But before turning south, we drove (in the pouring rain) to a spot just off the main road called Medio Queso (that means "half cheese;" I cannot remember why they call it that) for some final wetland birding.

Medio Queso is true wetland

We had some targets that we did not find, including the Pinnated Bittern (may someday I will see a Bittern!). But, we did get another nice look at a Black-collared Hawk ...

Remaining regal in the rain

We saw more Seedeaters, including Morelet's ...

Taking a break from feeding

... and a Ruddy-breasted ...

A new bird

... that seemed intent on eating all the seeds ...

Not a very neat eater

We also saw pretty Yellow-bellied Elaenia ...

I like its "crown"

... and a female Slaty-tailed Trogon ...

Scratching still didn't fix that fluff on her face

A goal this day was to see Great Green Macaws, but the heavy rain chased them away. So, we headed south to San Jose, with our only stop at Soda Cinchona for the bird feeders (which I already told you about) ...