We found Juan to be one of the best birders we have ever encountered.   His knowledge of birds and other wild life, no matter what bird or birds we encountered, either by sight or sound, was both thorough and quick.  In other words, he could identify a bird species and tell you specific details about the bird, before you could open your bird book.  Keep in mind he did this because we had asked him to so we could enjoy more time observing the bird instead of spending precious time in the bird book trying to make the ID ourselves.  Besides, with the 1000 photos I took we had time to go back later to confirm ID’s.

Our trip started up in the Monteverde area by La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano.  This is where we stayed at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge, a beautiful eco lodge where they make and server almost 100% of the food they serve you, fresh and delicious.  We spent 4 days in this mountain region.  Juan provided a spiral bound birding check list that he made for me and my wife, one for each of us, which would come in very handy as we recorded 286 different species of birds during our trip.  Every day started at 5:30 AM where we would hike at various locations until around lunch time.  We would take about an hour to an hour and a half for lunch before we would head out again until about 6:30 PM.  Again, he did this because we asked him to.  We wanted to maximize the birds we could see and this strategy seemed to work well.  However, we needed a vacation when we arrived home.  The highlight birds in this region were the Lovely Cotinga (one of the few birds I did not get a photo of), Resplendent Quetzal, Brown Billed Scythebill, Long Tailed Tyrant, Gray-necked Wood Rail, Several Hummingbirds, Orange-bellied Trogon, White-collared Manakin, Squirrel Cuckoo, and Black-mandibled Toucan.

On the 4th day we headed down the Pacific coast to another eco lodge called, Cerro Lodge, info@cerrolodge.net.

This lodge was not as comfortable as Finca Luna Nueva mostly because this region is warmer, but also because they had poorly designed bungalows that didn’t allow the heat to escape at night.  However, the birding was fantastic!    We kept to the same schedule as above only taking about an hour break at mid day and we saw many quality birds.  We spent a good portion of our time in this region at Carara National Park, a beautifully preserved and protected park where we saw many birds and other wildlife species.  We also spent about a half day on a boat ride exploring the mangroves along the Tarcoles River.  I regret not spending more time along the river as the mangroves seemed to be loaded with warblers and we just didn’t have the time to investigate more.  The highlight birds in this region were the Orange-collared Manakin, Long-tailed Manakin, Blue-crowned Manakin, Red-capped Manakin, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Southern Lapwing,  Mangrove Hummingbird, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Amazon kingfisher, White-necked Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Black and White Owl, and of course, the Scarlet Macaws.  Not to say the other bird species like the Tanagers, Flycatchers, Woodpeckers, Warblers, etc… where not great to see these birds to us were just highlights of our trip.

I highly recommend Juan Vargas to anyone looking for a birding guide while in Costa Rica or other areas of Central America.  Juan told us he does not limit his services to Costa Rica only.  If you would like to find out more about Juan I have provided his contract information below.  I cannot emphasize enough how impressed we were with his knowledge and quick recognition of birds.  Juan is a native Costa Rican who holds a Bachelors degree in Ornithology, and is currently working on him master’s degree.  Also, please feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about our trip.  I have attached a few photos for enjoyment.

Randall Hitchcock

Rhitchcock1@cfl.rr.com

Juan Diego Vargas

Birding & Nature, Professional Services

birdingcostarica@gmail.com

(506) 88-96-91-41

Founder and Coordinator

Cerulean Warbler Conservation Costa Rica

www.cerulea.org

cerulean.org@gmail.com

So after birding that end of the park, we decided to have lunch in a pavilion near the store and boat ramp. After lunch, we ask in the store about the museum. We were told that the building we found had been the museum but the exhibits had been removed about three years ago due to lack of funds to maintain them. It would have been nice after three years to change the map to reflect the new use for the building. Or to put up a sign near the building labeling the “building formerly known as museum.”

After leaving the park, some of us went to a new park in Ormond Beach at the intersection of SR 40 and Beach Street.  It featured a chapel with a sign indicating that near that spot the first Christian marriage occurred in North America.  It was between a Huguenot nobleman and a Timucuan Princess and happened in 1566.  There was also a fishing pier that went from the North side of the Causeway, into the river and around to the South side of the Causeway.

There many beautiful butterflies, especially the Gulf Frittalaries.  Here is a complete list of the birds we saw.

Red-winged Blackbird
Northern Cardinal
Carolina Chickadee
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Fish Crow
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Bald Eagle
Cattle Egret
Great Crested Flycatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Boat-tailed Grackle
Laughing Gull
Red-shouldered Hawk
Great Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Glossy Ibis
Blue Jay
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Brown Pelican
Rock Pigeon
Black-bellied Plover
American Redstart
Tree Swallow
Royal Tern
Tufted Titmouse
Wild Turkey
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Common Yellowthroat

Gail

Gail

Moncton is a city of about 140,000 people located on the Petitcodiac River.  The river feeds into nearby Bay of Fundy and is tidal.  Locals call it Chocolate River because its banks are a rich chocolate color which gives a similar hue to the water.   Since the banks and nearby shoreline stay wet, the brown clay glistens whenever the sun is on it but in spite of that glow it is still ugly mud.

I can see the river, a block away, from my hotel window.  However, even though I have been here for twenty-five days, I had not had time to sit and watch the tidal bore arrive until this evening, April 1. I walked over to the river bank to watch it arrive.  Wouldn’t you know it, again I hit new moon, and low tides, almost dead on!  The water ridge was only eighteen inches high, although, because of the brown water and strong turbulence, the sight was somewhat more impressive than at the Shubenacadie last summer.  The ridge rounded a bend in the river about a mile away and quickly moved toward my vantage point.  Then an odd thing happened.  The ridge close to the far bank continued intact but the near ridge began to lag.  First the front became an angular line, then as the near side lagged more and more, about half of it disintegrated as a crest.  It became a series of nearly twenty angry waves and was at least two hundred yards behind the ridge across the river as it proceeded around an S-curve above me and out of sight.  The water level in front of me rose rapidly but I retreated to the nearby lobster house and dinner.

The water here, dirty or not, apparently still provides nourishment for carrion birds.  In February and early March, the river banks were lined with crows, some ravens and a few gulls.  The banks were black with birds and just before the tide turned, all the surrounding trees would be full also.  Now, all but a few of the crows have gone.  Where in the world would crows that winter here migrate to?  Haven’t they heard of wintering in Florida?

Now the bird population is mainly gulls and tonight I saw Ringbills, Glaucous, Herring and Greater Blackbacks.  A few were still working the mud flats at bends in the river but most huddled in flocks along the shore and on nearby ponds, waiting.   As soon as the tidal bore arrived, about a quarter took flight and began to patrol the river.  The remainder stayed put, apparently having decided their energy would be better spent scrapping over odds and ends left in the mud, after the water reverses.

It will be interesting to see if there has been another changing of the guard when I return near the end of April.  And before summer is over, I aim to see the tidal bore under a full moon!

After a leisurely lunch and Painted Bunting viewing at the Visitor Center, we scoped the ponds along the beach road and found Lesser Scaup, Red-head Ducks and two American Avocets.

On the way out through Bio-lab Road we did find several of the Stilt Sandpipers that had been reported at the Visitor Center.

Dick & Gail

Nine birders including guests Tom and Doris from Vermont enjoyed a very productive morning at Lake Apopka Restoration Area. Our guide, Jim Peterson, had already picked out several sites where birds were active so our time viewing was maximized. We saw approximately 70 species within the restoration area including several Krider’s Red- tailed Hawks. This pale color morph of the Red- tailed Hawk was new to most of us. We traveled a few miles further west on hwy 48 and found the Say’s Phoebe that has been visiting the same area for several years. This was a life bird for some including our president, Don Picard, who found the bird in a small pine tree.

After a leisurely lunch at Tangerine Park everyone agreed it had been a long but rewarding day with 76 species overall. See following list.

Our next field trip will be to Merritt Island NWR, Friday, March 23, 7a.m.

Gail

Ed note. The light was really flat that morning. It was heavily overcast with the noon sun trying desperately to break through. That gave some interesting light for the reflections off the water in some of the pictures.

The rescue of her first raptor was a life-changing event for her. She decided she wanted to work closely with raptors. She first volunteered and then became a staff member at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.  She learned all she could about the care of these birds and finally got her permits to have raptors for environmental education programs.  About five years ago, she started her company, Wild About Birds, Inc., dedicated to environmental education, conservation and preservation of habitats for the benefit of Florida’s birds and other wildlife.

She specializes in environmental education programs for schools and her programs meet the Sunshine State Standards.

Gina brought her birds with her. They are Katie, an American Kestrel, Mr. Frodo, an Eastern Screech Owl, and Tomahawk, a Red-shouldered Hawk.  She  introduced them and told their individual stories.  She then discussed raptors in their natural environment.

Of the many things I learned was how the birds could swivel their heads around 270 degrees.  She said all birds can do this because they have 14 vertebrae in their necks.  We only have seven, which limits our ability to about 180 degrees.

To learn more about her and her company check out http://www.wildaboutbirds.org .

Thank you to everyone for your participation, to the boat and car owners for donating their vessels and vehicles and to the Marine Discovery Center for loaning us two kayaks. Special thanks to Capt Bill Rostock of Turtle Mound Enterprises for volunteering his time and boat to take Don and Nancy G. into Mosquito Lagoon.

We had a total of thirty surveyors out, six of whom were participating in their very first bird count of any kind.  They came from SEVAS, West Volusia Audubon, Halifax River Audubon and the Marine Discovery Center.  We had two cars on the causeways and inland, three boats on the Intra-coastal Waterway and Indian River Lagoon, four teams of walkers on the beach and for the first time two kayak teams from the Marine Discovery Center in the wetlands.  In total, we counted 8587 birds comprised of 45 species.  On the surface, this was good as we only saw 6371 birds in 43 species last year.  Unfortunately, the difference is mainly in the number of Laughing Gulls and Royal Terns counted.  The higher number of surveyors and broader area covered certainly helped with the species count.  As a matter of fact we have increased count every year as we have increased surveyors and covered the non-beach areas better.  The first year, 2009, we counted 3327 birds in 28 species and in 2010 we counted 4352 birds in 47 species.  This year, had the wind held off, we were hoping for 50 species.

We did not see any of the targeted birds on the beach but three of our teams saw a total of seven American Oystercatchers.  This is extremely positive as I hadn’t talked to anyone who had seen an Oystercatcher for the last couple of years.  We also did not see any banded shorebirds but did see a total of 62 banded Royal Terns, one with a band on each leg.

Citizen science is such a large part of the information gathering for the professionals, who use it to determine trends, set aside critical areas and in general look after the health and well-being of our feathered population.

All in all, it was a fun day and I hope everyone comes back next year.

To see a complete list of the  birds we saw in Excel format, click here.

Thanks to all who submitted pictures including:

Alan Wells: Willet, Black-bellied Plover and Red Knot

Dick Domroski: line-up of egrets and egrets with Red-breasted Mergansers

Glenn Gracom: kayak party and immature White Ibis

Snookie: White Pelicans near Three Sisters Islands

Tom Lee:Gulls and terns with Great Blacked-Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull and gaggle of gulls and terns

Sonya Guidry: Observers at the beach

Eli Shaperow: Common Loon, White Pelicans, Black-bellied Plover

Don Picard: American Oystercatcher

Thanks again.

Ken

The fly-in consists of about 100,000 gulls that spend their daytime at the landfill and other places where they eat.  They come to the beach for a few hours and then spend the night in the water just beyond the breakers.  It is the largest concentration of gulls anywhere in the U.S.

Although we did not see any unusual gulls, we got views of Laughing, Ring-billed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring and Great black-backed gulls.  Their proximity to each other gave us a visual distinction of their relative sizes which made for easier identification.

Many of us got new life birds when some Pomeranian Jaegers demonstrated their aerobatic maneuvers trying to force gulls into dropping food from their mouths.  Jaegers are klepto-parasitic, which means they will force other birds to let go their food as opposed to finding their own.

Thanks to Michael for spending some of his valuable time with us.