Went to see IDLES with Ruby at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.



Went to see IDLES with Ruby at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.



Coue’s Arctic Redpoll at Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve on 24/3/2019.

Before we left Ensenada there was time for a walk down to the sea where we spotted a couple of Surfbirds

We spent our last full day returning to San Jose but we did have time for a couple of stops on the way.
Black & White Owl

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Lesser Nighthawk

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl


Barn Owl




The tour group

Roseate Spoonbill

White-necked Puffbird

Scrub Euphonia

Southern Lapwing

Wood Stork

Double-striped Thick-knee

Green-breasted Mango

Brown Pelicans, Royal and Elegant Terns and Laughing Gulls.



Canivet’s Emerald



Our final destination was the La Ensenada Wildlife Refuge and my first impression was that it was the hottest place we had visited. Whilst here we had a boat trip out to the mangroves early in the morning where we saw Mangrove Hummingbird, Panama Flycatcher, Mangrove Warbler (Yellow Warbler), Boat-billed Heron and many other birds. We also had a tractor ride to the salt pans, a lake and hill with a great view over the area.

Magnificent Frigatebird


Pacific Screech-Owl


Crested Caracara

White-throated Magpie-Jay. These birds would often join us in the lodge at meal times hoping for scraps



Spot-breasted Oriole

Streak-backed Oriole


Streaked Flycatcher

Eastern Meadowlark

Black-headed Trogon

Turquoise-browed Motmot

We stopped at Carara National Park for a few hours on our way to our final destination and saw quite a few new birds.
Scarlet Macaw

Gray-headed Tanager

Black-hooded Antshrike

Turquoise-browed Motmot

Gartered Trogon

White-whiskered Puffbird

Dot-winged Antwren (female)

Crested Guan

The sounds and sights from Macaw Lodge early morning.
White-throated Rail

Golden-Naped Woodpecker

Rufous Piha

Northern Jacana




We left the Highlands and travelled to Macaw Lodge during day 9 of the trip. It was a long journey but broken up with a couple of stops as usual which allowed us to see some new birds enroute such as Red-headed Barbet and Roadside Hawk. We arrived at Macaw Lodge in the dark and the noise of the jungle at night was amazing.
Sounds in the Jungle
Red-headed Barbet & Silver-throated Tanager

Green-crowned Brilliant

Slate-throated Redstart

Roadside Hawk

Muscovy Duck

White-crested Coquette

King Vulture


Charming Hummingbird

Baird’s Trogon




Volcano Junco

Black-cheeked Warbler

Mountain Thrush

Sooty-capped Chlorospingus

Resplendent Quetzal

Black Guan

Large-footed Finch

Bronzed Cowbird

Sooty Thrush

White-throated Mountain-gem

Swallow-tailed Kites



Our next destination was the Savegre Valley in the Talamanca Mountain Range which is about 7000 feet above sea level and the home of the Resplendent Quetzal a bird that is the star turn for visitors. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a very good picture of the spectacular male, maybe a reason to come back again! We also visited The high Paramo which is the highest point of the Pan-American Highway at over 11000 feet above sea level, there were great views from here. We also had two visits to the excellent restaurant Paraiso Quetzal where the bird feeders attract a great variety of birds. We had also stopped on the journey to this destination at our guide Lalo’s boss’s house where we saw Buff-fronted Quail-Dove.
Resplendent Quetzal (female)

Resplendent Quetzal (male)

Quetzal mania!

Buff-fronted Quail-Dove

Flame-coloured Tanager

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

Volcano Hummingbird

Hairy Woodpecker

Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher

Collared Redstart

Slaty Flowerpiercer

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Yellow-bellied Siskin

Yellow-faced Grassquit
