10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

I live in the Central Valley, the most populated part of Costa Rica. Ranging across a large swath of the northern evergreen zone, they spend their summers hunting small birds from Canada to Scandinavia and on east to the shores of the Bering Sea.

Costa Rica 188

Costa Rica Falcons Farming Baltimore 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2019

Matt was working on his own US Big Year, and wanted to join me for the hunt. Costa Rica Totals: 351. Murray Hunt – Daintree River Guide Caines, Australia – Boatman@daintreerivertours.com.au. Susana Blanco Susana.cotinga@gmail.com Birding BNB coordinator in Costa Rica. New Zealand Total: 104. Qatar Totals: 9.

Costa Rica 133

Costa Rica Tucson South Africa Bahamas 133

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2018

I love the challenge of “the hunt” and the satisfaction of the find but I also have the ones I want to see the most, my biggest targets if you will. In Costa Rica, the growing local birding community likewise have their lists of most wanted species, both local and global. Still need it for Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 101

Costa Rica Bald Eagle Eagles Birds 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

This bird is 3 inches long, lives in the darkest part of the jungle understory of Costa Rica, and never sits still! In Caines, Australia, we enjoyed a wet morning on the Daintree River, with Murray Hunt, of the Dain Tree River Tours. We spent a total of 22 days in Costa Rica, with 15 of those days spent truly birding.

2018 162

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Having mobility issues, I still remember birding from a van along a rather productive dirt road in Costa Rica ( Broad-billed Motmot , Lineated Woodpecker , Cocoa Woodcreeper , etc.), His host’s house was smoke-blackened, everything but his shiny hunting rifles. while the rest of the group took a hike. At some stage they stopped.

Bears 141

Bears San Jose Greece Costa Rica 141

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Later, Harry Fuller, President of the Klamath Bird Observatory, led us to an open meadow where we saw a pair of Great Gray Owls hunting in a meadow. Patrick had many birds to choose from for his Best Bird of the Year but he chose a new species for him in Costa Rica, a real regional rarity: My BBOTY for 2014 goes to Hudsonian Godwit.

2014 189

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2017

My recent trip was fantastic, and really re-kindled my love of diving, so much so that I’ve started planning and saving for a diving (and birding) trip to Costa Rica in 2019. Note the beaked mouth, used for hunting invetebrates. Their lack of concern for divers also makes them easy and appealing photographic subjects.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Porcupines Fish New Zealand 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

When Costa Rica becomes a topic of conversation, we don’t usually hear the word “extinction” being thrown around. But how about when the Costa Rica conversation involves a birder? It’s easy to bedazzle the bins with this one when birding in Costa Rica. Must be a joke, right?

Costa Rica 219

Costa Rica Species Panama Birds 219

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

If you’ve birded the Neoptropics, then you’re familiar with the haunting sound of Great Tinamou, and may have even seen the bird, as I did in Costa Rica, walking through thick rain forest foliage. Like the Great Tinamou , Tinamus major. It’s there in the shadows and then it’s gone.

Honduras 250

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 250

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

Our recent trip to Selva Verde Lodge in Costa Rica was one such trip that held an unexpected surprise. A displaying Sunbittern close to Selva Verde Lodge, Costa Rica Secondly, Sunbitterns belong to a monotypic family, Eurypygidae. But I digress. I’ve had the same difficulty getting a good sighting of Elvis.

Costa Rica 255

Costa Rica Suriname Eggs Hunting 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2017

In Costa Rica, we don’t get many chances to chase birds. Most times, because they don’t usually stick to one spot, you can’t really twitch the super rare residents and since they live in Costa Rica all year long, I’m not so sure if they fall into the twitchable category anyways.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Nicaragua 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2017

Another surprise is the two pieces on hunting, an interesting change from the essays on bird feeding in volume one. Dorian Anderson finds a moment of connection with a duck hunter during his bicycle big year, and, despite his distaste for the sport, realizes that in hunters we have allies for conservation. In the next essay, J.

2017 141

2017 Costa Rica 2007 Hunters 141

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

For those who happen to be faithful followers of posts about birding in Costa Rica, no, you haven’t accidentally browsed to the wrong place. It might not be Costa Rica, but it is one of the most important, birdiest events on the planet, and checking it out was a dream come true. And yes, the need is desperate.

Costa Rica 175

Costa Rica Eagles Birds 175

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

As climates are transformed, habitats plundered, and nonnative fauna carried to virgin hunting grounds, extinction rates are increasing. Which Bird Species Have Gone Extinct in Costa Rica? And if we keep exploring the undelved nooks and crannies of our globe, we’re sure to make up the difference, right?

Marsupials 169

Marsupials Costa Rica Elephants Cuba 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2017

I had blown my chance, and now the bird was heading for Guatemala, or Costa Rica, at least some place very far away from where I was. I was sure it was gone, but, in the back of my head, my little voice said to keep going.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Guatemala Bears Hunting 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

Since that trip, I’ve seen Rose-throated Becard in Costa Rica, but not with the rosy throat. And, seeing a bird in Costa Rica is not the same as seeing it in the U.S. I never saw the bird. Well, maybe a bit of a wing. Hence my birding travel (and blogging) has been curtail (but life much enriched!)

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2020

However, it wasn’t until the infamous year of 2020 that I finally laid eyes on it in the marshes of Las Pangas in southern Costa Rica. A non-bird Best Bird of the Year? Preposterous! This weird little skulking waterfowl is a species I had hoped to chance upon in various places for quite some time.

2020 233

2020 Birds Germany Costa Rica 233