Christmas Trip 2003
Part 14: Last Day at the Tower
All photographs © 2004 Mary Beth Stowe
The next morning was a sleep-in day if you wanted it, but I woke up early, so after QT I was the first one up top (got to unlatch the hatch) and listened to Howler Monkeys and all three forest falcons waking up! Before long others started making their way up, and as it got lighter we saw and heard many of the same birds we had the first morning, such as both toucans, good looks at Red-lored Parrots, close "Gabriels" (Collared Aracaris), a Scaled Pigeon, and a distant Blue Cotinga that Tony shot for me through the scope (he couldn’t lower it or else the view would be blocked)! Both trogons and a Slate-colored Grosbeak sang unseen, as well as both motmots.
Mary next to what used to be the radar dome Bob B. having a deep discussion with Tony...
Looking down at the entrance road Headless Squirrel Cuckoo Very distant male
Blue Cotinga (and
even this was taken
through the scope!)
After breakfast we made our way downstairs, into the vehicle, and down the hill, where Tony spotted a White-whiskered Puffbird by the side of the road! Everyone got stunning looks, and then we parked down at the bottom and walked our way up a little (after helping a couple ID a Fulvous-vented Euphonia). Our goal was to try and call out that stubborn Great Jacamar, but Tony had been fantasizing about a Pheasant Cuckoo the whole trip, as that was a dream bird for him! Jose didn’t give him a whole lot of hope, but suddenly what should he hear but a singing Pheasant Cuckoo! He played the tape, and that thing came tearing in in plain view! What a bird! Unfortunately my camera wouldn’t focus on him, and he flew just as I was setting up in Jose’s scope, but he positioned himself in another spot where Tony got his scope on him, so by holding my breath (the light was pretty low) I could at least get a documentation shot! Tony was ecstatic, of course, but it just showed me once again how good our God is in giving good gifts to His children!
White-whiskered Puffbirds Possibly the bird of the trip, a magnificent
Pheasant Cuckoo (even a lifer for Tony)!
Everything was kinda anti-climactic after that, but we did have the jays again, and a small flock near the cars yielded both Yellow-olive Flycatcher and Southern Bentbill (Jose was looking at the latter while I had the former, and it turned into one of those, "No, it’s not a such-and-such!" sort of conversations...), plus a Blue-black Grosbeak that came tearing in. A pair of Yellow-backed Orioles put on a good show, and someone got a look at another Black-bellied Wren. (I think it was in here where I finally got an identifiable look at Scarlet-rumped Caciques!) Up Plantation Road we had a Golden-crowned Spadebill on territory, just as cute as he could be! We enjoyed a beautiful waterfall where a female Black-throated Trogon gave good looks, and on the way back had a beautiful little Blue-crowned Manakin, a scolding Dusky Antbird that I finally saw (after hearing them daily), yet another White-whiskered Puffbird, and a male Fasciated Antshrike knocking the snot out of a katydid! Also had a Checker-throated Antwren feeding a baby, which was real cute.
Searching for goodies along Plantation Road...
Yet another White- Baby Checker-throated Antwren Waterfall and pool along the trail
whiskered Puffbird
Fuzzy head-on of a Female Black- Flower that had fallen from a tree Butterfly sp.
male Fasciated throated Trogon
Antshrike
Came back for lunch, where Tony educated us on the origins of jazz, which was great (but can I remember any of it? Of course not!! Come to find out he was a composition major as well!) Some of us went back up to the top, where someone discovered the "secret hatch" that led directly into the dome; any sound was amplified 100 fold, it seemed, and you had a spider‘s-eye view of the common area below! Then I showered and caught up on the journal.
View from inside the dome itself Jan enjoys a siesta in the swing!
Withered cecropia leaf provides a stark contrast Crimson-backed Tanager
against its healthy neighbors
At 3:00 we headed out to an area next to Pipeline Road that was hopping with a lot of little stuff (honeycreepers, tody flycatchers, etc.), but the star was a White-winged Becard that kept giving everyone fits! (He looked much darker than the illustration in the book, too...) The Rosy Thrush Tanager again gave good vocalizations, but a zip across the road was the only view anyone got; a Red-throated Ant Tanager came out instead. Somewhere in here we stopped at the post office where we had a Great Kiskadee and Social Flycatcher in the same tree, and when we had to stop at the one-lane bridge we enjoyed Blue-gray, Plain-colored, and a knockout Crimson-backed Tanager!
I think we went to the Ammo Ponds after that, where we heard White-throated Crakes going in, and shortly after we piled out a Gray-necked Wood Rail made an appearance! Part of the crew went down an embankment after him, but I stayed up top and enjoyed a sub-adult Wattled Jacana right next to the road (Charles found one walking around the compound that was most cooperative)! Two military guys were fishing, so we enjoyed looking at their catch before zooming in on the birds in the dead trees across the way: Palm and Blue-gray Tanagers, a knockout female Blue Dacnis, a Red-crowned Woodpecker (sounds very different than our Red-bellied, interestingly, even though it looks virtually identical; ironically it’s the bold Black-cheeked Woodpecker that sounds just like our Red-bellied), and several cooperative Pale-vented Pigeons came in. Closer at hand was a nice Golden-hooded Tanager with nesting material and a shy White-tipped Dove. We dipped on the tiger herons, but on the way out we picked up a flock of Yellow-bellied Seedeaters.
The “Ammo Ponds”, a military installation where I guess Two soldiers fish by the water’s edge
they literally dump their ammo...
Pale-vented Pigeons Wattled Jacanas (adults above, sub-adult at right)
Golden-hooded Tanagers Red-crowned Woodpecker
In the waning light we headed over to Carmen’s house, where after Jose put some bananas out (and indulged himself ☺) the usual suspects showed up; the Ruddy Ground Doves were especially funny as they lifted their wingpits at each other! The Crimson-backed Tanager came back, but along with him was a male Flame-rumped Tanager! An Agouti also came to visit (I figure that’s Central America’s answer to the bunnies that show up in our yards). Red-legged Honeycreepers were coming in to the hummer feeders three at a time, and on the way home we netted a flock of Gray-headed Chachalacas and another Yellow-headed Caracara!
An Agouti bounds across the Flame-rumped Tanager Gray-headed Chachalaca
yard in the waning light
After getting home I had an hour to purge the camera and catch up on the journal before dinner, where we had a great time chatting about lodges in Costa Rica and pet birds before doing our checklist and saying goodbye to those leaving at oh dark hundred!
Me and Jane Bob and Jan’s favorite part: dessert!
Louise and Carolyn peruse the book Our two fearless leaders!
Squeezed in a new trip bird during QT the next morning (Mottled Owl) then went up to the top, where the same chorus greeted us (Bob, Jan, and Tony were the only ones left) and we actually spent most of our time learning about each other where we really didn't have the time before! After a nice breakfast we kissed Tony goodbye, headed to the airport, and got there in plenty of time and enjoyed some Gray-breasted Martins and Tropical Mockingbirds (which really do look quite different, almost like a thrasher in jizz and size) out the window! Security was a breeze, and so was the flight, but getting to the hotel was another matter (I ended up at the wrong Holiday Inn and ended up taking a cab to the right one...)! Jip was still there safe and sound, so it was good to have dinner and crash!
Tropical Mockingbirds; note the lack of white in the wings and tail, as Gray-breasted Martins
ours have