February 27th

During this past week in our garden I have seen up to eleven Reed Buntings,eight Goldfinch,two Siskin and one Lesser Redpoll.
We have only had one sighting of a Blackcap in the garden this winter,way back in December.Our Ivy berry crop this year was rather poor,so perhaps this has something to do with it.

A very quick look at the river this morning viewed from the path around the Sunken marsh produced (127)Teal (1)Redshank (4) Shelduck and (2)Great Black-backed Gulls.

January 26th-February 16th (Costa Rica)

Jeanette and I traveled with Saga Holidays to Costa Rica.We flew from Heathrow with American Airlines via Dallas/Fort Worth.On our return we flew via New York,J F Kennedy.

We Stayed for three nights at the Gran Hotel in San Jose.Three nights at the Villa Lapas,near Tarcoles.Seven nights at the Tilajari Resort Hotel in the Caribbean lowlands and then a further seven at the Doubletree Hotel,Puntarenas,on the Pacific coast.

Villa Lapas

The Villa Lapas has large lush grounds and its Forest with trails,borders onto the Carara National Park.The Waterfall Road (public dirt track)which is good for seeing a large selection of birds runs past the hotel.

Whilst we were staying at Villa Lapas we visit Carara National Park and the Tarcoles river.

Costa Rica,Villa Lapas (Continued)

Costa Rica (Continued) Tilajari Hotel

We next spent seven nights at the Tilajari Resort Hotel in the Caribbean lowlands.This Hotel has large lush grounds and is situated on the banks of the San Carlos river.

I`ve found it difficult to find out much about the birds that occur at Tilajari.So I thought it may be useful to list the birds that I have found there.

1. Anhinga,Wood Stork,Cattle Egret,Green Heron,Northern Jacana,Killdeer,Collared Plover,Spotted Sandpiper (Great Tinamou,heard,Tilajari Forest),Turkey Vulture,Black Vulture,Crested Caracara,Semiplumbeous Hawk,Roadside Hawk,Gray Hawk,Laughing Falcon,Common Black Hawk,Ruddy Ground Dove,Gray-chested Dove,Mealy Parrot,White-crowned Parrot,Olive-throated Parrot,Orange-chinned Parrot (Common Potoo,one found dead)Groove-billed Ani,Black Swift,Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift,Barn Swallow,Northern Rough-winged Swallow,Mangrove Swallow,White-collared Swift,Green-breasted Mango,Long-billed Starthroat,Rufous-tailed Hummingbird(Slaty-tailed Trogan,Black-throated Trogan,Tilajari,Forest)Blue-crowned Motmot,Lineated Woodpecker,Golden-olive Woodpecker,Black-cheeked Woodpecker,Collared Aracari,Keel-billed Toucan,Streak-headed Woodcreeper,Barred Antshrike (Chestnut-backed Antbird,Tilajari,Forest)Masked Tityra,Tropical Kingbird,Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,Bright-rumped Attila,Social Flycatcher,Common Tody Flycatcher,Yellow Tyrannulet,Great Kiskadee,Tropical Pewee,House Wren,Wood Thrush,Clay-colored Thrush,Brown Jay,Bananaquit,American Redstart,Black-and white Warbler,Yellow Warbler,Chestnut-sided Warbler,Tennessee Warbler,Waterthrush,Ochard Oriole,Northern Oriole,Montezuma Oropendola,Red-winged Blackbird,Bronzed Cowbird,Yellow-throated Euphonia,Red-legged Honeycreeper,Golden-hooded Tanager,Blue-gray Tanager,Summer Tanager,Buff-throated Salator,Grayish Salator,White-collared Seedeater,Variable Seedeater,Yellow-faced Grassquit,Blue-black,Thick-billed Seed-Finch,Striped-headed Sparrow.

The White Hawk was seen close to the Arenal Volcano Observatory Lodge.

On our trip out of Tilajari to the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge.I was very pleased to see Sungrebe and American Pygmy Kingfisher,two birds I had missed seeing five years ago.

Whilst staying at Tilarjari we took a boat trip along the Penas Blancas river.This was the only occasion during the holiday that I saw Western and Solitary Sandpipers.

Costa Rica (Continued)

(Costa Rica) (continued) Doubletree Resort

The last week of our holiday was spent on the pacific coast at the Doubletree Resort,Puntarenas.We had chosen this hotel because it has the advantage of being close to some good birdwatching areas,notably Carara and the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
One big disadvantage however which we didn`t know about until we had arrived was the fact that you were strongly advised not to take cameras and bins outside the hotel grounds into the local area.

I managed to photograph the Brown-crested Flycatcher just across the road from the hotel before I was advised not to take valuables,especially cameras and bins outside of the hotel grounds.

One of the trips we took from the hotel,was the Jungle,crocodile and birdwatching tour along the Tarcoles river,greatly recommended.