gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

The Arenal Observatory Lodge acts as both a tourist lodge and a scientific station keeping a watch on this active volcano. This was one of the prettiest places we stayed with great views from the deck of the volcano ….

…. with a plume of steam rising from the summit ….

…. and  the nearby lake. This is the same volcano that we saw from San Gerado (see post Costa Rica part 6) which isn’t far away at all, its just that we came the long way round.

There were some feeders close to the decking where a number of birds that I have already illustrated, like Red-legged Honeycreeper, were seen. We also regularly saw Bananaquits, this is a species that gets a surprisingly poor press. It is quite pretty and is the only member of the Coerebidae, so of great interest to ‘family collectors’ but because it is common it gets dismissed as a ‘trash bird’.

Small birds like Bananaquit are to be expected at feeders but imagining opening your curtains at home and seeing a Great Currasow on your bird table.

…. or seeing a whole bunch of Coatis playing around below it for that matter.

One of the amazing thing about the lodges in Costa Rica was how tame the cracids had become. Guans, Currasows and Chachalacas have been hunted for millennia and hence are very timid, but here these Crested Guans were just walking around on the lawn ….

…. or perched up on a wall.

Seeing the turkey-sized female Great Currasow wandering around on the road was a treat ..

…. upstaged perhaps by by the black male with it’s punk crest.

Early in the morning we took a trail to a scenic waterfall seeing a nice range of birds but the real excitement happened on the way back.

Totally unexpected was this encounter with a Bare-necked Umbrellabird. In my post about Monteverde and San Gerado I explained how we were disappointed that the nearby ‘brollybird’ lek had been abandoned and they hadn’t been seen reliably at the site since 2014. Having given up hope of seeing this mega we were amazed when one flew over the ornamental gardens of the lodge. Initial views were poor but a local guide leading a couple of guests around relocated it and we all got superb views.

It wasn’t a full adult but a juvenile male with the start of the ‘umbrella’ (the forward pointing crest that hangs over the bill) and the bare red throat that is inflated in display.

It goes without saying that this was the bird of the trip, not just for me but for just about everyone else as well. I was asked earlier ‘if the Zeldonia was number two bird of the trip what ever was number one’, well here it is!

As well as birding around the lodge we also visited the area around the lake.

The river near the lodge was crossed by a number of suspension bridges, of far better quality than the ones at Heliconia (see last post).

Other interesting birds seen in the area included the retiring White-tipped Dove,

…. Keel-billed Motmot, which were often paired with a Broad-billed Motmot (bringing their true specific status into doubt)

…. and Rufous-winged Woodpecker (hiding it’s rufous wings under the mantle).

On the first night at the lodge I had excellent views of Black-and-white Owl, the second night some of us went ‘herping’. First to be seen was this small venomous viper ….

…. and at a pond we found this beautiful yellow frog ….

…. but the highlight was this pretty Red-eyed Tree Frog.

The day we departed Arenal Observatory we headed for private reserve at La Fortuna in the hope of seeing Uniform Crake, this time we did  and very well, we even saw a pair building a nest. As the light level was so low when we set out I didn’t take my camera, which was a mistake as the views were prolonged and as the light improved they were highly photographable. Back at the reception we did see a pair of White-throated Crakes though (above).

As on our previous visit Grey-headed Chachalacas were common and tame ….

…. and even their small chicks came to the bird table.

Other visitors included the ubiquitous Blue-grey Tanager ….

…. and Tropical Mockingbird. On my 1981 trip the guide and two of the clients saw this species near San Isidro and it was the first record for the country, since then it has colonised much of lowland Costa Rica.

We headed back into the mountains to Cataracta de Torro, a small lodge that has a number of trails, hummingbird feeders and spectacular views.

We were just after two species, both of which we saw well; Black-bellied Hummingbird ….

…. and White-bellied Mountain-gem.

We continued on the mountain roads to Cinchoma were we stopped for lunch. From the cafe we had views of several bird feeders with the backdrop of another waterfall.

However within minutes of our arrival the heavens opened and we were caught in a torrential downpour.

At least we were undercover!

The hummers sheltered under leaves during the worst of the rain but it only had to ease off slightly and they were back. This is a Green Thorntail.

I have posted pictures of Green-crowned Brilliant previously, but none catching the light quite like this.

…. our old friend Violet Sabrewing put on a good show too.

But of all the wonderful things we saw today, the Red-eyed Tree Frog early this morning was one of the best. In daylight with the pupils contracted and the iris at full size, the red-eyes look totally  amazing.