10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

It was when I searched for migrant birds on gorgeous days of September, usually near the Niagara Gorge, sometimes while fishing for salmon in the powerful green waters. It was also when October came with cool weather and bunches of White-throated Sparrows, shy Hermit Thrushes. In Costa Rica, they become another sort of animal.

Costa Rica 327

Costa Rica West Virginia New York South America 327

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2021

Costa Rica is a tropical country but it doesn’t have to be hot. To be honest, I shouldn’t downplay the lower temperatures of Costa Rica’s high elevations. The night was understandably cool, not quite freezing but cool enough to warrant a sweater and jacket at this high elevation birding hotspot.

Costa Rica 231

Costa Rica Birds Farming Litter 231

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2022

Situated in misty, cool montane oak forest, the touristy hamlet of San Gerardo de Dota is the most popular birding area in Talamanca: it hosts the largest population of the Resplendent Quetzal in the world. Miriam’s is a plain, simple place offering delicious local cuisine cooked in a wood oven, combined with an awesome birding station!

Costa Rica 245

Costa Rica Opossums Mammals United States 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2019

Costa Rica is well known for national parks and other protected areas than offer access to tropical ecosystems dripping with biodiversity. Lots of birds, a lot of really cool birds! In Costa Rica, the Crimson-fronted Parakeet can nest in buildings and forages in a variety of fruiting trees. An owl by day?

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Sparrows 199

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2022

December birding in Costa Rica is a time of transition. They get replaced by sun and a bit of wind; ironically, not the best situation for birding but still better than blinding, heavy rains. Now, we can head out birding again, now, the end of the year is suddenly nigh…we have to go out birding!

Costa Rica 147

Costa Rica Birds Panama North America 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. Where can I see Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow followed by a fantastic meal ? Of course, unless you live on Venus, we all know that this year is far from normal and so is the birding news.

Costa Rica 223

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Family 223

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2020

There wasn’t much in the way of birds in the yard, maybe a Cooper’s Hawk winging through from the north, crows calling and House Sparrows chirping. That’s where the birds were, thousands of gulls, rafts of diving ducks, Buffleheads and goldeneyes buzzing the cold, gray water.

Costa Rica 239

Costa Rica Turkey Iceland Eagles 239

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

However, no matter how one enjoys or takes in interest in the avian side of life, an official list of the birds for a given area is of vital importance. With the rise in birding tourism, bird lists for entire countries have also become increasingly important. Not every list has Great Tinamou on it.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Birds Owls South America 202

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

No matter where you happen to be, you can’t really go wrong when beginning a new year of birding. Birds are everywhere and if you keep the mind open to appreciation, even the most common of familiar birds are incredible, beautiful creatures. That said, more birds are always better and ones infrequently seen even more so.

Costa Rica 201

Costa Rica Birds Falcons Philadelphia 201

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

White-tailed Kite in action- a classic airport species in Costa Rica. Odd habitats attract odd birds. Or rather, I should say that out of place habitats attract lost birds. One of the most frequently visited is a place created for fake birds of the large metal flying kind. I wonder where they come from?

Costa Rica 162

Costa Rica Ecuador North America Peru 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

Growing up birding in Western New York was also a time when the old woods of the Niagara Gorge were punctuated with the songs of hidden Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos and the lazy notes of Eastern Wood-Pewees. ” During migration, I also see Eastern Wood-Pewees in Costa Rica. We had one in the Arenal area.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Species Birds New York 202

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. Aren’t all birds worth watching? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and watching every bird but there’s also nothing wrong about going to great efforts to see lifers only found in dreams.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 203

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

For many folks who live in places with cold winters, toucans are the birds on cereal boxes. It was all too easy to look at that natural cartoon of a bird and leave it as that; some funny looking caricature of a supposed wild bird because really, how could such a strange thing exist? Yes, this bird acts like a jay.

Costa Rica 182

Costa Rica Panama Eating Eggs South America 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2018

In Costa Rica, we know it by way of windy nights with clear skies, slightly cooler temperatures, and an abundance of festivities featuring carnie rides, prancing horses, and parades. Personally, I had a year accompanied by a blend of changes and birds. The end of another year is nigh. It has been good, I am grateful!

Costa Rica 175

Costa Rica 2018 Birds West Virginia 175

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2021

2021 is already well underway, are you birding? During anxious times, birding is therapeutic, it brings us back to center, can wipe away the worries and act as a source of mental fortitude. Watch some birds today and see where it takes you. Watch some birds all year long and enjoy the journey, keep a list.

Costa Rica 164

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Woodpeckers 164

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2020

And this doesn’t mean you are obsessed or a little bit too much into birds because keeping track of a year list actually comes with some side benefits. Yeah, many of us living the birding life do so anyways because we can’t help it. Go birding! House Sparrow – Passer domesticus; Calle Jocote, 1-Jan.

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2017

I have just returned from Costa Rica, the country about which I knew very little, despite it coming under my radar all the way back in 1999 when the “Africa – Birds & Birding” magazine published some of John Graham’s experiences from his visit in 1993. The unspoken words “to watch birds” were left hanging in the air.

Costa Rica 187

Costa Rica San Jose Serbia Europe 187

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2018

December is a busy time in Costa Rica. It’s busy on the birding side of things as well. Migrant species are around, rarities are waiting to be found (such as, believe it or not, Lincoln’s Sparrow ), and, most of all, we have Christmas Counts to attend to. This year’s official count shirt.

Costa Rica 181

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Falcons 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Recently, I moved to a new place in Costa Rica. Although it was nothing like going from New York to California or even Buffalo, New York to North Carolina, a change of location, however slight, can bring new birds especially in Costa Rica. Right at home. These were. Great Kiskadee. Social Flycatcher.

Costa Rica 177

Costa Rica Barn Owls Stray Dog Blackbirds 177

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2018

It’s warm as always in Costa Rica but I know there’s a change of seasons up north. In Costa Rica, the seasons are changing as well, nothing like the drastic turn up north but changes nonetheless. The rains are calming down but the biggest difference comes in the form of birds, thousands of them.

Costa Rica 145

Costa Rica Baltimore Tennessee Parrots 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2018

I’m sure we also saw some cool birds although the memories of his birthday species are understandably eclipsed by that of America’s biggest cat. Although you would be very lucky to glimpse the spotted feline with the large head in Costa Rica, giving the birding birthday hypothesis a try is always worth a shot.

Costa Rica 127

Costa Rica Birds Sparrows Ecuador 127

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2015

In Costa Rica, when speaking English, we use a combination of words associated with both North American and UK birding communities. Quetzal” In sounding like the name of a rap star, this also gives the bird a modern, catchy title that befits the fame and splendid appearance. There are plenty of these in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 165

Costa Rica Sparrows Birds Eagles 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

Birders head to Costa Rica to see stunners like Resplendent Quetzal , Three-wattled Bellbird , Orange-collared Manakin , fancy hummingbirds , tanagers, and literally hundreds of other birds. This bunch of possible Costa Rican crypto birds can be grouped into four main categories: (1). One of them quetzals.

Costa Rica 219

Costa Rica Species South America America 219

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2019

It’s good to have birding goals. Challenges like a Big Year, county lists, or a Big Sit can push a birder to learn more, to improve the birding focus, and become more aware of what’s happening in the avian neighborhood. Such stops have already yield the tiger-heron and dipper.

Costa Rica 184

Costa Rica Tigers Birds Tennessee 184

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2016

You see, we don’t just go outside and randomly watch birds during a set day in December. But then we remember that special birding moment when we saw a wood-warbler freezing it out with the rest of us (and thus sacrificing itself for the count) when it should be chasing bugs in Belize. Gulls on the cold Niagara.

Costa Rica 235

Costa Rica 2016 Eagles Belize 235

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2019

One of the quandaries of birding in Costa Rica is deciding where to go birding. Costa Rica’s small size, ease of access and massive avian diversity promises a wealth of birds in many places. With shorebirds on my mind, the other day, we opted for birding at Punta Morales.

Costa Rica 148

Costa Rica Morals Panama Parrots 148

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

A rare bird is one we don’t see very often. However, that doesn’t mean that the bird species in question is necessarily endangered. None of these are rare in their normal haunts but seeing them in Costa Rica would be a major birding event. Lincoln’s Sparrow for example.

Costa Rica 162

Costa Rica Birds Panama Sparrows 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2019

Global Big Day is an initiative created by the folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to promote the use of eBird and birding in general. A birder can participate in Global Big Day (GBD) by eBirding as much or as little as one feels like doing but why not just go all in and give yourself over to birding? To bird until we drop?

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica Species 2019 Owls 199

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2017

In Costa Rica, October is our May. Birds begin to filter down through this southern part of Central America by August but the biggest avian movement happens during the third and final weeks of October. Some of the Birding Club at Selva Bananito. or almost anything else, that’s the way the birding ball bounces.

Costa Rica 166

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Farming 166

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2015

Birding opens numerous portals to knowledge. For example, if we had never been bitten by the birding bug, why on Earth would any of us try to figure out how to use our phones to take pictures through a telescope? And why would we become amateur metreologists to predict where and when migrants birds would appear?

Costa Rica 170

Costa Rica Parrots Birds Sparrows 170

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Flying in to Costa Rica is accompanied by porthole views of the Central Valley and the mountains that flank it. That circular, uninviting body of water marks the main crater of Poas Volcano, a mountain that hosts the most accessible and nearest area of quality bird habitat to the Juan Santamaria airport. Two hundred?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2016

It’s one of the top birding hotspots in Costa Rica and Central America. That’s alright because given the wealth of bird species all over, you can begin with the binos wherever you want and always see a lot. But back to the birds. Raptors : Hawks and their like are not all that common in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 173

Costa Rica Birds Malaysia Protection 173

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2017

Are you on your way to Costa Rica? Good choice, the birding is fantastic! If not, I hope the following tips will convince you to come on down to this easy birding paradise: 100s of bird species are closer than you think. That said, not even 300 of those were identified in an area around the same size as Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 118

Costa Rica 2017 Birds West Virginia 118

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2015

After the birding bugs bites, the abundance of new and colorful birds makes it easy to overlook or even blatantly ignore sparrows, “seagulls”, female ducks, and flycatchers. In fact, thanks to the Empids, few other groups of birds seem to be more associated with dread than the tyrant-flycatchers.

Costa Rica 200

Costa Rica Panama Species Sparrows 200

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2022

If a reporter would have rambled on about fishing or bird migration or the biggest, oldest trees in the area, I would have been all ears but no, I don’t recall any reporting on such esteemed subjects as those. It’s fall migration and I got birds to listen to. See a small pale bird flit into view? Fall migrants!

Costa Rica 220

Costa Rica Buffalo Rights Sparrows 220

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2017

Some birds are so familiar, even non-birders can’t help but know what they are, or at least what family they belong to. That’s OK, we love all sorts of birds, I even love imaginary ones, and the ones that come to the backyard are also ideal starter species. Gartered Trogon.

Costa Rica 116

Costa Rica Dominican Republic Kansas Guinea 116

10,000 Birds

JULY 8, 2017

If you are doing any sort of year list, you know what I’m talking about and also know that now is the time to take a moment, count up the species, and go over strategies to reach those birding goals for 2017. Of course, while we see those friendly, expected common species, sharp eyes and ears also pick up uncommon birds.

Costa Rica 101

Costa Rica 2017 Birds Tigers 101