A Day Of Birding In Bijagua, Costa Rica

Steve here. On our vacation to Guanacaste, Costa Rica, we spent the day November 6 doing a private birdwatching tour at Valle del Tapir nature park, Tapir Valley (TapirValley.com), in Bijagua (bee-HA-gwa), Costa Rica. The park is located near the Miravalles and Tenorio volcanoes.

This was through On The Beach Tours, the tour company at the hotel (OnTheBeachTours.com). Our guide, Jose, was extremely knowledgeable; he could identify birds by sound and visually way up in the trees and the leaves and at a distance.

We saw a stunning variety of species in just one day, all but one new ones on our life list. In addition to the ones here, there were several I wasn't able to get good shots of. 

The weather was variably sunny and rainy; it rained 4 times and cleared up 4 times while we were there.

The park has several sheltered observation platforms, including one with a feeding station where bananas were set out. The shelters made the rain tolerable. The feeder attracted a number of birds!

You can click on any of the photos to bring up a gallery view. Photos by Steve Branam, except where noted.

Equipment

• Camera: Canon R5.
• Lenses: mostly Canon 800mm (some of the shots were nearly 50 yards away into the trees), some Canon 24-105mm and Canon 100-400mm.
• Photo editing: Adobe LightRoom Classic.
• Identification guides: The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, 2nd ed., by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean, and Photo Guide to Birds of Costa Rica, by Richard Garrigues.

Sloth

On the way to the park, Jose had the driver pull over so we could look at this sloth way up in a tree across the street. We asked him how he managed to see it, because the camouflage was perfect. He said he knew where it was because sloths stay in one spot for a couple weeks without moving, and this one had been there for a while!

White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys

Just outside the park while we were getting ready to go in, we saw a small group of white-faced capuchins in the trees along the road.

Tapirs

Yes, there are tapirs in the park!

Green Anole

Hummingbirds

We love hummingbirds! They were all over the place. They're hard to photograph because they flit around so fast, but there were so many opportunities I managed to get some good shots. You can see pollen on some of their bills.

Their colors are due to structural coloration, not pigment, so they flash brightly at different angles; that's what makes them appear iridescent. It's hard enough just getting an in-focus photo, getting the best color flash is really a matter of luck! They often flashed brighter than these photos.

Rufous-Tailed

This next one is really amazing. I was trying to get the butterfly on the flower (these are called "cat tails"), but got the hummingbird chasing the butterfly away! Some hummingbird species are very territorial.

Green Hermit

Stripe-Throated Hermit

Violet-Headed

Cuckoo Wasp

Speaking of iridescent, this was just incredible!

Titan Sphinx Moth

The first time we saw one of these, we thought it was a hummingbird. It was about the size of one, and it moved like one, flitting quickly between the same flowers as the hummingbirds. I got a couple photos of it and realized it had antennae. Here you can see its curved proboscis for reaching into flowers.

Yellow-Throated Euphonia

Mistletoe Tyrannulet

Dusky-Capped Flycatcher

Barred Antshrike

Black-Striped Sparrow

Long-Tailed Tyrant

Tayras

Chestnut-Sided Warbler

Golden-Olive Woodpecker

This is a female.

Bananaquit

Social Flycatcher

Great Egret

Northern Jacana

Great Curassow

Male and female.

Green Honeycreeper

Male and female.

Red-Legged Honeycreeper

Non-breeding male. I love the turquoise dots on its head!

Baltimore Oriole

This is a female.

Toucans

We saw several birds eating the bananas by biting off pieces with their bills, then flipping them into the air and into their open mouths. But the toucans' giant bills make it particularly amusing!

Yellow-Throated

 

Keel-Billed

Collared Aracari

Pronounced "ar-a-SA-ri", the C is an S sound.

Summer Tanager

Atlas Moth

We saw this moth fluttering along the floor like an injured bird at the restaurant near the park where we ate, then found it outside on the wall. Note the torn lower right wing. It was larger than my hand with all my fingers spread. This is a female. Cat got this photo with her iPhone.