Tropical Parula, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 14, 2022
Ovenbird, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 23, 2022
Costa Rican Warbler, Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Townsend's Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Chestnut sided Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 11, 2022
Tennessee Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 11, 2022
Golden winged Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 11, 2022
The first full day produced a half a dozen species of warbler with nothing unusual but it was nice to see multiple species in a single day.
Buff rumped Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 12, 2022
On the second day I had seven species of warbler despite a few afternoon showers and a blister on my foot keeping me close to the lodge. Among the warblers was a Northern Waterthrush I had early in the morning which made photos impossible to obtain. This was my first record of the species at the lodge.
Golden winged Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 13, 2022
Chestnut sided Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 13, 2022
Yellow Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 13, 2022
The third day produced not one but two Northern Waterthrushes with one in the exact same spot I had it the previous morning and another on my way to the water slide area in the lower end of the lodges property. I also turned up my first Yellow Warbler of the trip and found a total of eight species of warbler.
Tropical Parula, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 14, 2022
Tennessee Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 14, 2022
Friday stayed cloudy most of the day but the birds were still active and I found yet another new warbler for me at the lodge when a Tropical Parula showed up late in the day. I was watching birds moving along the hill below our deck and sighted the parula. It took a bit of patience but I eventually got some photos. My second new warbler species at the lodge for the trip and the first record for the lodge ever as far as I can tell. A total of eight warbler species for the day.
Tennessee Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 15, 2022
Black and White Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 15, 2022
Saturday featured seven species with nothing out of the ordinary but some nice views in the afternoon as various species worked their way along the hill near our room.
Tennessee Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 16, 2022
Black and White Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 16, 2022
Blackburnian Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 16, 2022
Chestnut sided Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 16, 2022
American Redstart, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 16, 2022
Yellow Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 16, 2022
Sunday turned out to be the ‘big day’ in regards to warbler diversity for a single day on this trip with a total of eleven species. I started the morning with a walk out to the gate and picked up the Northern Waterthrush yet again at first light as well as Buff rumped Warblers plus the first of many Chestnut sided Warblers and Tennessee Warblers. Once I made it to the gate I picked up Mourning Warbler and Gray crowned Yellowthroat (neither of which wanted to cooperate for photos). Just beyond the gate I had a nice little flock of birds that added three more warblers for the day including my first American Redstarts and Blackburnian Warbler for the trip (plus a Black and White Warbler). At this point I figured the day held the best chance of maximizing total warbler species for the day so I concentrated on turning up more. I made a couple trips down from the lodge heading toward the water slide area and on my second try picked up a Yellow Warbler. I then went in search of a Golden winged Warbler and eventually found a male in a large mixed flock moving along the river.
Golden winged Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 17, 2022
Blackburnian Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 17, 2022
Monday was a slower paced day after a more intense day on Sunday but I still managed a total of ten species of warbler including my second ever Louisiana Waterthrush at the lodge.
Black and White Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 18, 2022
Wilson's Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 18, 2022
Golden winged Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 18, 2022
Blackburnian Warbler, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Jan 18, 2022
On the last full day at the lodge I had a total of nine species of warbler including a Wilson’s Warbler (no trip is complete without a Wilson’s Warbler!). I covered the same areas as previous days but still managed to find something different.
Mourning Warbler, Hacienda Baru NWR, Costa Rica, Jan 19, 2022
Northern Waterthrush, Hacienda Baru NWR, Costa Rica, Jan 19, 2022
After a brief time of birding at the lodge we had our final breakfast and then headed out around 9:30 with our next destination being Hacienda Baru near Dominical. We decided to break up the long trip back to San Jose with a couple hours at Hacienda Baru. Despite the mid morning heat and corresponding lack of bird activity I still turned up some warblers including a Prothonotary Warbler among some five species of warblers present.
The entire trip went great until the time we wanted to leave to head back home. As the US requires a negative Covid test to enter the country I took one on our way to the airport and it came back positive. I quickly took another test in the hopes it was a false positive and this one came back positive too. This meant no flight home for me and a ten day quarantine in Costa Rica. I felt fine beyond some mild cold like symptoms that started several days before. Although it sounds on the surface like a great idea to get to spend another week and a half in the warmth the reality is it stinks when you are not prepared for another vacation…you don’t have supplies, clothes, lodging, time off, etc, etc. I eventually worked out a place to spend my quarantine in the Monteverde area.
Chestnut capped Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 22, 2022
Black throated Green Warbler, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 22, 2022
Chestnut sided Warbler, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 22, 2022
Wilson's Warbler, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 22, 2022
Slate throated Redstart, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 22, 2022
Golden crowned Warbler, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 22, 2022
After spending the 20th and 21st figuring out everything and finally making the journey I was able to get out and bird on Saturday the 22nd. I spent most of my morning at the nearby Santuario Ecológico where I turned up a total of ten species of warbler with multiple species new for the trip including Ovenbird (a new warbler for me in Costa Rica), Black throated Green Warbler, Chestnut capped Warbler, Golden crowned Warbler and Slate throated Redstart. The nearly continuous windy conditions made tracking down stuff really difficult at times.
Ovenbird, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 23, 2022
I made a return trip to Santuario Ecologico on Sunday and although the overall warbler diversity was down a bit I still had some good stuff including a very uncooperative Kentucky Warbler that only showed itself fleetingly and I got no photos (but did get a recording as it chipped away in a thick area of brush). Later in the day when I was walking around the town I came across a Townsend’s Warbler mixed in with a lot of Tennessee Warblers (the predominate warbler species by far in the area).
Costa Rican Warbler, Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Yellow Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Black throated Green Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Townsend's Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Tennessee Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Black and White Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 24, 2022
Monday I explored a small portion of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and had five species of warblers as I sought out other target species. Among the highlights were several Costa Rican Warblers (a species I had seen previously but never got photos of before). During the late morning and well into the afternoon I birded in town and along the road. I was once again amazed at the number of Tennessee Warblers around. I also found at least three Townsend’s Warblers in a small area among a large flock of Tennessee Warblers. I ended the day with ten species of warbler.
Kentucky Warbler, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 25, 2022
Wilson's Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 25, 2022
Chestnut capped Warbler, Santuario Ecológico, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 25, 2022
Tennessee Warblers, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 25, 2022
Chestnut sided Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 25, 2022
After getting a notice that my quarantine time was up (I never got notification of how long it would be so had to guess by looking online and that information pointed toward 10 days and possibly more). I was happy to start planning my escape back home. With all the details to be worked out I picked Thursday as the day to make my flight back home. With this in mind Tuesday would became my last full day in Monteverde and I decided to try to try a big warbler day. I figured I had a fairly good handle on where to find various species after a few days checking out the area. I decided to start at Santuario Ecologico and had some great luck there turning up eleven species there including two Kentucky Warblers (one of which I was finally able to photograph). I then walked around various other spots in town over the course of the day in between trying to set up all the details for my trip back home. I added two more species during the rest of the day giving me a total of 13 species for the day.
Black and White Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 26, 2022
Golden winged Warbler, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Costa Rica, Jan 26, 2022
I had a little time in the morning before taking the 3+ hour ride back to San Jose. I walked along the road to the preserve and had a few pockets of warblers including at least one Louisiana Waterthrush along a fast moving stream.
Overall I found a total of 23 species of warbler for the entire trip. Two of the species were new for me in Costa Rica (Ovenbird and Townsend’s Warbler…both seen in the Monteverde area) bringing my total warbler species in the country to 33.
Species seen during the trip included the following: Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Waterthrush, Golden winged Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Gray crowned Yellowthroat, Mourning Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, American Redstart, Tropical Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut sided Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler, Black throated Green Warbler, Chestnut capped Warbler, Golden crowned Warbler, Costa Rican Warbler, Buff rumped Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler and Slate throated Redstart.
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