Puerto Limon, Costa Rica I

By the time Voyager got alongside at Limon, Costa Rica we had already clocked up Brown Booby, Magnificent Frigatebird, Royal Tern, Great, Cattle and Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture  plus Laughing Gull so a decent foundation for another days intense ‘birding’! So successful was the day that it has been split into 3 sections, which will serve to fill 2 more days at sea when no more than a dozen Brown Boobies entered the log.

 One of the remnants of our 2 days at sea,

and the 'opposition' already alongside.

Little Blue Heron
 

PLUMBEOUS PIGEON*

 

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

A very flighty Butterfly that we were willing to land, but hadn't accounted for it landing in the river. Unfortunately, the flow was too fast to make a rescue.

 
juvenile Roadside Hawk

 
 
RUDDY GROUND DOVE

female NICARAGUAN SEEDFINCH*

Turkey Vulture
 

SPOT-BREASTED WREN*

Banana Seed Case

A passing car flushes a

juvenile ZONE-TAILED HAWK which, from a distance looked to be ringed on the left leg.
 
Closer inspection reveled this not to be a 'band' at all

but a Land Crab fighting for its life.

Whether it won or not is unknown, but the Raptor did let it go at this point

but looking at its distended stomach probably because it was satiated?

This photo has hardly been cropped, we got that close
 
and still it was reluctant to leave the area.

Ay Up Skinney Kid, best get Liz to open some of that 'posh' pop as we're so close!

MONTEZUMA OROPENDOLA colony

No close approach here but a chance to see them performing their acrobatics

and displaying. The locals call them 'Yellow Tail' I wonder why?

The 'party piece' is to stand on a Palm frond then

slowly lean forward

turning completely upside-down and letting out a wonderful sound.

Oropendola are part of the Oriole family.

Young men showing off their catch which they sell by the roadside.

and finally, "there came a big Spider".

Also during the day, Turnstone, Common Ground Dove, Green Kingfisher,  Smoky-Brown and RED-RUMPED WOODPECKER*, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, COMMON TODY FLYCATCHER*, Black-crowned Tityra, BROWN-CHESTED MARTIN*GREEN PARAKEET*, GREY-RUMPED SWIFT*, WHITE-COLLERED SWIFT*, WHITE_NAPED SWIFT*,  Mangrove Swallow, Grey Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Bananaquit, Blue-Grey Tanager, TROPICAL PARULA*, Blue-Black Grassquit, BLUE-HOODED EUPHONIA*, House Sparrow, BLACK-COWLED ORIOLE*, RED-RUMPED CACIQUE* plus  Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Plover. With more to come over the next couple of days

* = addition to the Trip List

RED = Lifer

Trip Total = 280        Lifers = 67

Puerto Cortes, Honduras

Bit of a disaster day in Puerto Cortes as I knew exactly where I wanted to go, taxi driver assured me he knew where the Nature Reserve was, agreed a price then two and a half hours later he starts asking the locals if they knew where it was. Not a good sign! Well, that's as maybe and we did see a few birds but not the Macaws and Toucans promised.

Wherever this tiny coastal village was it wasn't where we needed to be!

I felt the taxi driver was now well enough trained to know to stop at the mere sight of a bird and did so for this overflying 

ROADSIDE HAWK

which conveniently perched in a nearby tree.

 GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE

 BLACK VULTURE

BROWN JAY

 RED-CROWNED WOODPECKER

 BUTTERFLY may be same as a couple of days ago?

 

 ORCHARD ORIOLE

 and a small flock of WOOD STORK (5)

 (4)

 (3)

 (2)

 (1)

and finally, this hapless RODENT had 'fallen' to the local children who, despite a cash incentive, where not prepared to release to poor beast. However, that was a league better than what was met further ahead, c10 White-fronted Parrots confined to a cage and 'for sale' by the roadside!