It was December 10th – half way though the tour and we were at Laguna Del Lagarto Lodge maybe our favorite lodge on the tour with Greg Homel and Natural Encounters Birding Tours. This was going to be an extraordinary day. A prime attraction at Laguna Del Lagarto is a blind where on a good day visitors can view the spectacular King Vultures up close as they are drawn in my cow or pig heads placed in front of a photo blind. They are almost guaranteed if the weather cooperated. There is a great viewing deck at the lodge and that is where we started our morning waiting for the vultures to arrive at the blind a short drive away. If there had been no King Vultures, our early morning at the deck would have made for a great day. Since we returned to the deck after several hours watching the King Vultures and I did not separate the lists, I am combining them here. Altogether we had 41 species with photos of 27. I am including many of them here.

Perhaps the best of the species seen early from the deck were the Great Curassows – both sexes being spectacular and with the “tiger” form of the female especially so. These are large charismatic birds with strong sexual dimorphism. I had just recently added Red Billed Curassow to my life list in Brazil. That was a cool bird but these Great Curassows were better yet.

If I had to choose a kind of bird that best says “tropics”, it would most likely be the toucan maybe adding in the toucanets and aracaris. If so then this was a great morning in the tropics as two species of toucan and an aracari showed off their stuff. None were lifers or life photos, but the trip would have been less without them.

If toucans aren’t the iconic species of the tropics, maybe parrots including Macaws and parakeets might be and they, too, were well represented at Laguna Del Lagarto that morning with a flyby Green Macaw, several Brown Hooded Parrots, and Red Lored and Mealy Amazons. And maybe not the icon but definitely a “wow” bird is the Montezuma Oropendola – which is a must see for the name if nothing else.

Oh yeah, and then there are the tanagers, another group of iconic tropical birds. Including the honeycreepers, there were 9 species that morning including a lifer Plain Colored Tanager.

I have seen Buff Throated Saltators more than 20 times, in 6 different countries, with many photos, but this is the first time I got a photo actually showing that buff breast. And a last photo before moving on to those King Vultures, the reason we were at this lodge, after all. That last photo is of a failure -not mine but of a pair of Russet Naped Wood Rails that tried to pair up and apparently did not have enough experience, because it just didn’t work.

I first saw a King Vulture in Belize in 2010. Distant – no photograph. I saw another in Peru in 2013 – distant – no photograph. I saw one in Ecuador in 2022 and again in 2024 – distant – no photograph. Earlier this year in Colombia I saw one and finally got a photo – distant but yes a photo. When Greg sent promotional material about this trip to Costa Rica, a fabulous photo of a King Vulture was one of the featured images – and there was essentially a guarantee that we would get close up views and great photo opportunities. December 10th was to be the day. We drove a short distance from the Lodge and walked 100 feet or so to a blind together with many other birders with expensive cameras and even more expensive lenses. In front of us were vultures – lots of vultures – mostly Black Vultures but as promised, as guaranteed, there were King Vultures as well. They were there because pig or cow heads had been strategically placed in small pits – drawing in the vultures from afar – endless photo ops for those of us fortunate enough to have paid the entrance fee to take in this natural/unnatural spectacle.

At about 2.5 feet tall and weighing up to 8 lbs. with a wingspan up to 6 feet, the King Vulture is a medium sized vulture, larger than the far more common Black and Turkey Vultures but significantly smaller than the American and Andean Condors and smaller than many of the African vultures. It is however the most colorful of the vultures and is very impressive in appearance. King Vultures dominate their smaller Western Hemisphere cousins but at this gathering place, they seemed to get along well. Photo ops of even the Black Vultures were great but without question, the King Vultures were the royalty at the show.

Given that it is very unlikely that I will ever have opportunities to see King Vultures this close and as well again, my comment that I would have been just as happy leaving a little earlier may be misunderstood, but the dozen or so King Vultures we saw were almost an overload and the photo ops were so numerous and constant that at the time, I thought more time looking for additional species would have been welcome.

That afternoon we birded on the grounds of the lodge and were stymied by a lot of heavy rain that made much more birding impossible. A few more species were added and these included reminders that many of the species that migrate to North America to breed in our spring and summer spend their winters in Central and South America. During our tour we would see several North American warblers. Most plentiful were Chestnut Sided, Tennessee, Prothonotary and Wilson’s Warblers and Northern Waterthrushes – heard often but seen only at Laguna Del Lagarto. Baltimore Orioles were also commonplace.

My last two photos to include from Laguna Del Lagarto are of “wood” species – a woodcreeper and a woodpecker. There are dozens of woodcreeper species in Central and South America, but we had only two species – Streak Headed and Cocoa. We did a little better with woodpeckers – with six species – all except Hoffman’s being photographed before.

Two more lodges remained on our itinerary – Tortuguero and Arenal. It was another long drive from Laguna Del Lagarto to Tortuguero National Park – normally 3.5 hours but longer for us due to a bridge closure, a wrong turn and again lots of traffic. Along the way, however, we had a lucky view of a pair of Great Green Macaws providing an opportunity for a life photo. The pair were distant and high in a tree and I was pleased and surprised to get the photos that I did. Once at the park, there was still a long way to go as we parked our car, transferred everything to a boat that would take us to our lodge 45 minutes away. With a late arrival, we birded a bit on the grounds of the lodge and walked out to the beach. Greg said we would return the next morning to find birds in the trees bordering the beach. There were none that afternoon and unfortunately none the next morning either.

On the morning of December 12th Cindy, Greg and I boarded a small motorized boat with local boatman, Jose for a long trip on the canals running through Tortuguero National Park. Unlike our boat rides on the Tarcoles River that started our trip, there were lots of other boats on the river/canals. They never interfered with our birding, but the feeling was quite different – an awareness that Costa Rica is a very popular eco-tourism area. The highlight of the trip on the water was probably our first sloth on the tour – a Two Toed Sloth. A highlight only because they are such unique animals, but definitely boring as we watched for many minutes as it basically hung upside down, mostly obscured by the leaves it was eating. We had 41 species with the only lifer being an Olive Crowned Yellowthroat that was a source of great frustration as it essentially remained hidden in tall grass with intermittent quick flights from one invisible spot to another. I got a picture, but it is so poor that I am too embarrassed to include it. A number of the species were heard only in the distance in the forest impossible to see from the water which was disappointing because several could have been life photos. The only worthwhile photos in addition to the Two Toed Sloth were of a Boat Billed Heron, a Northern Jacana that was so close to the boat that it was impossible to focus on it until it moved a bit away, and two distant Green Ibises in the canopy, the only ones I saw on the trip.

The boat trip was – pleasant – but from a wildlife and birding perspective quite disappointing. Back at the lodge, there was a lot of rain and no more birding. We would leave early the next morning on the same boat we had used the previous day – with all flaps up to protect us from the continuing rain. No birding or sightseeing along the way. We loaded back onto the car, a very nice and comfortable 4WD diesel that Greg had rented for the trip and then we were on our way to Arenal Observatory Lodge, our final lodge for the tour and one that I had been looking forward to both because I had visited it in 1997 and also because it had a very extensive bird list.

Maybe under better weather conditions it could have been otherwise, but to be honest, I felt that our visit to Tortuguero was a waste of time – precious time. It took far too many hours to get there on tough roads and the boat trip – taking a lot of time both ways – was merely a means of transportation – nothing more. And the birds were far too few, far too distant, far too “already seen” and far too “heard only”. The visit essentially consumed two days which I wish had been spent either at a different location or maybe allocated to more time at Arenal. The numbers tell the story. We essentially spent about 18% of our time there or getting to or from there. Our bird list for that time included only 16 new species, half of which were heard only and there was only the one lifer Olive Crowned Yellowthroat with the barely identifiable photo. The lodge accommodations were fine and my time there was at least somewhat productive as I was able to work on photos for several hours – where the rain did not matter. All trips have stops that are better or worse than others, but this one really ranked low on my “life list”.

We arrived at the Arenal Observatory Lodge midafternoon on December 13th and immediately had a problem. The Lodge is highly regarded, very popular, very birdy, with a good restaurant and beautiful grounds. It is not inexpensive. Our room was at the end of the hall on the second floor of the building that included the reception area. Our view was of the restaurant building with an ugly metal roof, some utility poles, a garbage area and a mess of “whatever”. It was the worst view of any at the lodge and frankly the worst view from any room I had been in any respectable lodge. And, another thing, one of the towels (there were only two) looked like it had been there since the lodge’s first days (well over 30 years ago) – frayed and worn. It took some doing and some added payment but Greg got us transferred to a lovely room in a well situated building located maybe a quarter mile from the main building. It had a beautiful view of the hummingbird garden and of the Arenal volcano (assuming the clouds parted to make it visible). After our relocation, we came back to the main building with the restaurant and a great viewing deck and birded for awhile adding some nice species and photos.

These included two lifers – Chestnut Headed Oropendola and Emerald Tanager and two life photos of species on the heard only list from the previous day, but now added as life photos – Gray Headed Chachalaca and White Collared Manakin. Not new by any means but one of the best photos and experiences of the whole tour was watching and photographing a Great Kiskadee catching and then consuming a gecko that I would have thought far too big for it to eat.

There was one other species of note that afternoon – a Brown Jay. I first saw a Brown Jay at Falcon Dam State Park in Texas in 1975. It was the only place in the United States where that was possible. No camera so no photo of course. I think the small population there remained for a few years and then there were no more until seen again in 2005, then 2010 and then again in a few places over the past few years. I would next see one with a life photo in Belize in 2010. This would be only my third observation and second photo. Certainly not new for the trip but a great photo op was of a Crested Guan very close.

Unfortunately the rain that had become a problem at Tortuguero haunted us at Arenal as well limiting our birding opportunities. On the morning of the 14th Cindy took a break and Greg and I searched for birds on the grounds at Arenal moving a little deeper into the forest drawn in by calls from a Thicket Antpitta, a lifer that we never could coax out of the “thicket”. We had better luck with a lifer Black Throated Wren that played hide and seek and never came completely into the open but at least gave us a peek and an OK photo. But other wrens were being little bastards as we also heard Band Backed Wren, Nightingale Wren and Stripe Breasted Wren, the latter two lifers and the first a potential life photo. We had better luck with a Black Cowled Oriole, one of those species that I had seen previously without a photo. At that point I was happy to get anything and even a so so photo of a lifer Dusky Antbird added to that feeling.

The final insult was a Black and Yellow Tanager another lifer that I got a quick glimpse of and thought I had gotten a photo – but I never found it. This happens in birding all the time but there is usually or at least often a consolation prize when good effort is put in. So there were some other photos repeats of ones taken earlier but at least one or two were better ones than those earlier ones – worth doing.

Rain continued to haunt us and Arenal delivered far fewer lifers and life photos than expected. With such disappointing weather maybe it would not have made any difference, but looking back the days “wasted” at Tortuguero may have produced more at Arenal. Maybe someday I will be back once more and find out. On the 15th we left Arenal and began our journey back to San Jose where we would depart on the 16th to return home. A couple more photos from Arenal – two of the hummingbirds we did see – but how I wish we could have found the Black Crested Coquette that was a possibility at Arenal

and was really hoped for.

I left Arenal Observatory Lodge with mixed feelings, at least partially a result of the poor weather which limited our birding opportunities. The bottom line was that despite having 60 species on the Ebird lists for the location, my expectations, perhaps too high had been for at least a different list – probably more species for sure – but especially for better observations since many of mine had been either heard only or barely seen. Fortunately Greg’s effort in improving our room situation was a major positive both because it was such a nice room itself and also because it got us out of the frankly awful initial room. I will be writing the Lodge expressing disappointment in that experience. The room should be turned into a storage room for the Lodge and NEVER used for any visitor – far below the standards that should be expected.

Our return to San Jose was pleasant with our first stop at the Sendero Bogarin – the Bogarin trail. We paid for entry and hung out at a small pond with some feeders near the entrance. I think the hope was that a crake would appear but that did not happen. There was also the possibility of the aforementioned Black Crested Coquette – again it did not happen. But there were a variety of birds. None were new but we had great looks at Red Legged and Green Honeycreepers, Bananaquits, Yellow Throated Euphonias and Orange Chinned Parakeets. We also had close views of several Russet Naped Wood Rails and a very interesting Bare Throated Tiger Heron which provided an exciting and suspenseful drama.

It soon became clear to us that the Bare Throated Tiger Heron was hunting. It positioned itself near the feeders that attracted as many as a dozen small birds (primarily Bananaquits, Honeycreepers and Euphonias). It would stand perfectly still with neck coiled ready to strike only to have the small birds fly off. It might then move around the pond but would return when the birds returned to the feeder. On perhaps the third time we watched it eyeing the small prey, it felt like this might be the time for action. Sure enough after a tiny visible repositioning movement it was like a lightning bolt extending its neck and grabbing a Euphonia. It then marched away with the Euphonia dangling in its bill, soon to be consumed. These photos capture some of the sequence as well as the Tiger Heron with its prize.

We continued our drive to San Jose with a very notable final stop at a very birdy “soda”. In Costa Rica these are convenient mom and pop roadside cafes serving simple homemade meals sometimes combined with souvenirs, convenience store items and most importantly bird feeders. A mirador is a lookout. Our stop was a combination of both – hence the Soda y Mirador Cinchona. It is a famous birding location in Costa Rica with well kept feeders and overlooking excellent natural forest and a view of a pretty cool waterfall.

We spent almost two hours at the Soda with a nice lunch and 20 birds coming in to show off. Included were a number of hummingbirds, most importantly for me a Black Bellied Hummingbird, my last lifer for the trip, a Coppery Headed Emerald which became a life photo, beautiful views of a Violet Sabrewing and a much improved photo of a Green Hermit. Finally there were three truly gorgeous birds – Red Headed Barbet, one of my true favorites – Prong Billed Barbet, a life photo – and Northern Emerald Toucanet – always gorgeous.

With the lifer species, the lifer photos and the gorgeous birds and the familiar down home comfort, the Soda and Mirador Cinchona was a perfect way to end our trip. We easily made it back to the Hampton Inn in San Jose and had a “Last Supper” at Denny’s. The next morning despite his staying in Costa Rica for yet more birding as he chased some special photo ops, Greg got up early to say goodbye as we caught the shuttle to the airport. This was Greg, through and through, ALWAYS accommodating, ALWAYS attentive and ALWAYS putting his clients first. I don’t know if our paths will cross again but hope there will be a chance to do so.

POSTSCRIPT: Time for a summary and reflection – some numbers, some reviews, some matters left out of these blog posts as they were written.

Numbers:

The numbers are the easiest – just pull them off of Ebird. We logged 238 species. I posted photos of 169 of them and expect I could have added maybe another 9 or so of species that either I took but ignored or did not bother taking. Those numbers are not important to me. There are three that are: New Lifers – 41; New Life Photos – 62; and 1211 – the number of species I had seen worldwide in 2025. It wasn’t important per se, but the species added on this trip brought my Costa Rica Life list to 300 – a pleasing round number.

As I expressed in the first blog post, I had hoped for both more new life photos and more lifers. My year end totals for each now stand at 4113 Lifers and 2833 Life Photos. I had already surpassed my “goal” of 4000 species on my life list after my Brazil trip in October. I knew I would not reach my goal of 3000 life photos in Costa Rica but had hoped to perhaps get to at least 2850 knowing that my planned trip to Thailand would probably produce 150 new photos. Unfortunately due to a lingering respiratory problem that came home with me from Costa Rica and still won’t admit full defeat, I have had to cancel that trip so the path to 3000 is uncertain.

It was through my quest to see more than 1000 species in a year in 2023, my first time to reach that goal, that I met Greg Homel as he led a short private tour for me in Mexico. I ended that year with 1095 species. In 2024 I beat that number seeing 1427 species and now I had passed the 1000 mark again with those 1211 species. Of course there is a lot of overlap with species seen in each of those years. I was curious how many species were seen combining the three years. That number is 2706 which is just under two-thirds of my total life list!!

Food, Lodging and Infrastructure

Cindy and I have been fortunate to have travelled to many countries in the past few years with very different approaches to food, tourism, lodging and travel in general. Without question from a culinary perspective, our “Wine and Birds Tour of Chile and Argentina” was the best and will most likely not be surpassed unless we do a similar tour to say South Africa or Portugal, both possibilities. The lodging on that trip was pretty great as well, but probably our favorite places to stay have been the lodges and camps in Africa, both Uganda and Tanzania. The room problem at Arenal aside which was vey well remedied, the lodging on this trip was just fine but a bit below the more lavish places we have stayed in Africa but also better than many of the places I have stayed on trips without Cindy elsewhere. Food ranged from pretty straightforward and good to better than that but we cannot say there was anything especially “Costa Rican” that was compelling. We had several good steaks and hamburgers and nice fish but again nothing memorable. I should stress however, that people were great everywhere, with excellent service, genuine smiles and an eagerness to interact with us foreigners. English is spoken almost everywhere within the tourism sector. We also always felt safe and as mentioned before although the roads and traffic were often abominable, we never had intersections with the Policia or road stops, which have been stressful in some other countries. The airport at San Jose was easy to use with very efficient processing at customs and immigration. We wish there had been a bigger presence of quality crafts/art either on the road or at the airport, but we saw no sense of that – lots of “pura vida” souvenirs and of course duty free shops, but we saw nothing of interest to bring home to remember the trip. I also need to say that there are many parts of the Costa Rica Eco-tourism world that were not of interest to us on this trip – no hiking, climbs, rafting, ziplining, ballooning, kayaking, swimming, beach or poolside activities. Costa Rica offers much that was just not what we were interested in but are very popular and heavily used by others.

Quality not Quantity:

With the exception of missing some very cool hummingbirds and as said earlier, maybe hoping for more species seen, the quality of birding and especially bird photography on the trip was sensational. This is Greg Homel’s forte and was part of the planning in setting the itinerary from the start. I continue to learn a lot from Greg on camera settings and details that go into higher quality bird photography. He was great with beginner Cindy as well. His choice of locations, boat trips, hiring local guides and accessing private blinds were all critical parts of the tour with wonderful results. Of course Costa Rica cooperated by showing us some truly spectacular birds: hummingbirds, tanagers, parrots and their relatives, quetzals and trogons, waders and numerous other tropical specialties. The photos from the trip have been the heart and soul of these blog posts, so readers can come to their own conclusions about quality. More related to subject matter and opportunities than to my skill in taking advantage of those opportunities, we were fortunate to get many of the photos we did.

Non-Birding Photos:

I may later go back and insert photos of people and places – mostly from Cindy’s phone – and probably should include some mammal and reptile photos taken but not used so far. But this was not a trip with many of those opportunities. We saw a couple of species of monkeys, some iguanas, crocodiles and caimans, some squirrels, a few agoutis and lots of coatimundis but no snakes, no frogs and very few butterflies or insects of note – somewhat surprisingly. There were mosquitos and some flies and I got a number of bites on my hands but no chiggers or ticks or anything serious. Tropical forests were beautiful but there was little that grabbed us from a scenery perspective – honestly not unlike much of the tropics. It was the birds that drew our attention and also delivered.

Bottom line a great trip with a great guide and great birds. It was nice to be back!

In April 1997 I visited Costa Rica with my family. The itinerary was put together by a company I had found online – in for me the early days of “online” – called Wilderness Adventures or something like that. I had been birding off and on for the past 25 years but my only bird focused international birding trip had been to Trinidad in 1978 with three Seattle area friends. I had also birded for a day in Hong Kong in 1979 and had also “seen some birds” on fishing trips to Argentina and Kiribati in 1989. This trip would not focus on birds, but Costa Rica is a very bird rich country and we would be visiting some great lodges including Monteverde, Tiskita Jungle Lodge and Arenal lodge. There would be birds.

I did not have a camera in 1997 and while I certainly paid attention to listing the species I saw, I was not really into the drive for an increased life list and there was no thought of photography and “life photos”. For at least part of the trip we had a naturalist that accompanied us and a driver that took us between places. We saw lots of scenery, mountains, a coffee plantation and frogs and butterflies in addition to birdlife and probably some mammals. I remember it as a fun trip with my wife, daughter who had just turned 13 and son who was turning 9. No real specific memories but there was a bird list that named 151 species including some pretty cool ones: 13 hummingbird species, trogons, Resplendent Quetzal, toucans, toucanets, parrots and their allies and many tanagers among others.

My next international trip would be a one day excursion in Hungary which I was visiting in 2002 with my daughter serving as a part time chaperone to the Seattle Youth Symphony. Still no camera but I was at least aware of a “life list” and after that day, that list would be nearing 1000. Next was a 3 week solo trip to Australia in 2003, not exclusively about the birds but with a definite focus and a hope to add species to my growing life list but still no photos and no camera. More than 250 species were seen on that very enjoyable trip and I was now looking forward to international birding trips as part of my birding life. When I joined a Victor Emanuel Nature Tours trip to Kenya in 2005, I was keen on listing and had bought a point and shoot zoom camera. My photo life list had begun.

I can now look back over the ensuing 20 years with more than 20 international trips with many wonderful birds and many bird photos, some wonderful and some not so wonderful. Building my life list of birds observed and also birds photographed has been a driving force in this passion/hobby providing many thousand hours of enjoyment and definitely some frustration as well. 2025 was a very busy and full year with bird focused trips to Japan, Colombia, and Brazil in addition to a day of birding in Amsterdam on a broader based visit. After Brazil, my life list had passed 4000, my goal, and I had photos of more than 2800 species – within striking distance of my self important goal of 3000 photos. If only I had taken photos on those earlier trips to Trinidad, Hungary, Australia and Costa Rica, 3000 would have easily been reached. I of course hoped to have more international trips to new places in the future, and in fact had scheduled a trip to Thailand in January 2026 (more on that later) but two photo rich opportunities from the past screamed for attention.

Return trips to Costa Rica and Australia would easily yield at least 300 new photos and both places were great places to visit. Cindy had been to Australia before meeting me and before birds were any part of her life. It requires a long stay, but we had talked about it and were interested. She had never been to Costa Rica but based on her enjoyment of a trip together to Ecuador, I was pretty sure she would enjoy it. In 2023 I had birded in Mexico with Greg Homel (Natural Encounters Birding Tours) with great birds, many photos and lots of fun. Greg had guided extensively in Costa Rica (and almost everywhere else) and was available in December, so we booked a trip. The remainder of this and subsequent blog posts covers that tour.

A cloud hung over our lives in early November. Our wonderful beautiful dog, Chica, was no longer with us. She had been going downhill for a while, losing her energy and struggling with what had been easy day to day activities. A listless and confused visit to our local dog park convinced us it was time. She was a brave girl but she was suffering. We said goodbye but were pained by the loss and both saddened and made happy by her memory. Maybe a trip would be a good distraction.

Greg Homel is an amazing naturalist, bird guide and photographer. Cindy was beginning to engage with photography and I asked Greg to design a trip that would cater to those needs. A longer trip would have included visits to more areas and brought us more birds, but we limited the trip to under two weeks and included several boat trips that would be bird and photo rich and very appealing. I of course still wanted to add species to my life list and especially to get photos of species seen but not photographed in 1997 but the emphasis would not be on numbers. We flew from Seattle to San Jose on December 3rd with a stopover in Dallas arriving very early on the morning of the 4th. We took the shuttle from the airport to the Hampton Inn San Jose and got some sleep. We would have the entirety of the 4th to acclimatize before Greg would join us that night and then we would formally start the tour on December 5th.

The Hampton Inn was actually quite pleasant, recently remodeled, definitely convenient and surrounded by some trees and landscaping. Given its location near the airport and some industrial surroundings, we were surprised by the number of birds there including lots of roosting Crimson Fronted Parrots. It did not at first sound like a positive, but there was a Denny’s just across the street. Not gourmet fare, but easy and acceptable quality, it was our lunch and dinner spot. Better than Denny’s we see in the U.S. On December 4th waiting for Greg to arrive and before our first meal at that Denny’s I wandered the grounds at the Hampton Inn and had some of those familiar birds that always seem to be there in the tropics as well as getting photos of two that I had seen many years ago on that earlier Costa Rica trip before photos were important. The familiar species were Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, White Winged Dove, Tropical Mockingbird, Rufous Collared Sparrow and Great Tailed Grackle. The new photos were of Rufous Backed Wren and Crimson Fronted Parakeet.

Before embarking on my bird trips, I make a “Targets List” which identifies potential new life birds as well as potential new life photos – which of course includes all those potential lifers as well. Since this trip to Costa Rica was chosen in large part because of photos I had missed in 1997 in my pre-camera visit, I paid particular attention to the list of species seen on that trip for which I did not have a photo. That list was of 57 species. This is a good time to point out that although I had seen 151 photo-less species on that earlier trip, as I left for this trip, I was only missing photos of 57 – the difference coming from having gotten photos of many of those species on my many later trips to the tropics from Mexico through all of South America. Since we would not be visiting the same areas I visited in 1997 I knew that many of the desired photos would be unlikely or impossible. Perhaps unrealistically, I hope to get at least 35 of those photos. A disappointment for the trip was that I only got photos of 19 of them. There were also 32 photos of new lifers, but since I doubt I will return again to Costa Rica, those misses will continue to hurt.

Greg arrived late on December 4th joining us for dinner at that nearby Denny’s. It was a reunion for me and a new friend for Cindy. We kicked around the hotel grounds at dusk fascinated by the hundreds of Crimson Fronted Parakeets coming in to roost. It would be a typical early start the next morning after a decent buffet breakfast at the hotel. We birded several spots in the morning including at a bridge over the Tarcoles River where we saw our first Crocodiles, some waders, and I got a life photo of a Hoffman’s Woodpecker, one of those seen without a photo species from 1997.

The highlight of the morning though was visiting a stakeout for some roosting Spectacled Owls. Owls are always highlights and the Spectacled Owl, a lifer, was one of the top species on my want list for the trip. It was not completely in the open, so we had to work for photos, but Cindy and I were both pleased with our results. Other great photos were our first of the spectacular Scarlet Macaw and a pair of Streak Backed Orioles.

On my birding trip in Jalisco, Mexico in 2023, highlights included two boat trips. These trips always provided great photo ops with the ability to get close to species along the route. Cindy and I had great boat trips in Uganda last year and I knew she would enjoy them in Costa Rica. Greg planned two trips on the Tarcoles River with our first on the afternoon of the 5th. It was a great trip. Barely a few minutes into our voyage, our boat pulled up next to a sand bar and we spent the next 20 minutes their reveling in a show with changing characters as our boatman brought in many species responding to fish bits that he tossed onto the land and into the water providing great changes to photograph them in flight, still and interacting. Among the species seen at this one spot were Crested and Yellow Headed Caracaras, Great Egret, Common Black Hawk, Great Blue Heron and Roseate Spoonbill. Later on the river we would add other waders: Yellow and Black Crowned Night Herons, Little Blue, Tricolored, and Boat Billed Herons, Bare Throated Tiger Heron, Wood Stork, Snowy and Western Cattle Egrets, and White Ibis.

Boat trips also provide great opportunities for seeing kingfishers – we had Amazon, American Pygmy and Ringed – and many other species including a lifer Mangrove Hummingbird, expertly located by our boatman. Not a rarity but a cool photo was of Hudsonian Whimbrels perched on a snag midstream – very different from the habitats where I generally see them.

Back at the lodge after our float we had another lifer owl expertly located just a short walk from the driveway – Pacific Screech Owl. Earlier we had heard but failed to locate a Black and White Owl, a real beauty that I had seen with Greg Homel on the first night of our trip there in 2023. As we walked towards the Pacific Screech Owl, we flushed a Pauraque, a common nightjar found in the U.S. near the Mexico border and then throughout Central America. My picture is NOT worth sharing.

The next morning we would be returning to the Tarcoles River for another boat ride. The previous day we had traveled to the mouth of the river and this time we would be venturing downstream. In the few minutes of dusk at the lodge, we added a lifer Turquoise Browed Motmot to our bird list. Given the low light and the short time it remained perched, I should be happy with any photo, but it is a real beauty and I wish the photo was better. It was the sixth lifer so far.

There wouldn’t be as many species or as many photo ops on the river this morning but without question, it was reptiles that were the show stoppers as we had vey close encounters with several large crocodiles. One was estimated to be 18 feet long with an enormous head and very sharp teeth. As we maneuvered the boat immediately alongside one that seemed in deep torpor, I was tempted to reach over and touch it. Cindy quickly talked me out of that temptation.

We again encountered many waders on the journey but unlike the previous day, we also had many shorebirds including a pair of Wilson’s Plovers, a species I first saw in Texas then amazingly in my home state of Washington and seldom otherwise. All told eight shorebird species. Towards the end of the trip we came upon a tree filled with Magnificent Frigatebirds, reminiscent of the close encounters we had in the Galapagos in 2024. The puffed out red air sacs of the males showed they were “in the mood”.

Back at the lodge in the afternoon after a brief rest following lunch, we got to see and photograph a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, had more killer looks at Scarlet Macaws and had a very cooperative Lineated Woodpecker perch on a stump just below us. I also got photos of Cinnamon Hummingbird and Stripe Headed Sparrow, a species I had only seen and photographed previously with Greg in Puerto Vallarta. Unfortunately I somehow missed a photo of a lifer Blue Vented Hummingbird.

Later that evening the local guide at the lodge who specialized in owls, located the Black and White Owl providing excellent views in the open and fairly low in its tree. It is a real beauty – seen by me only once before.

We would be moving on the next day but first had time to watch the many hummingbirds coming in to the feeders as well as a great mix of other species in and around the lodge. Hummingbirds included Lesser Violetear, Talamanca Hummingbird, Fiery Throated Hummingbird, White Throated Mountain Gem, Volcano Hummingbird, Scintillant Hummingbird, Ruby Throated Hummingbird and Green Breasted Mango. All except the Violetear and the Ruby Throated Hummingbird were lifers and/or life photos!!

Other new species were Laughing Falcon, Gartered Violaceous and Black Headed Trogons, Rose Throated and White Winged Becards, Yellow Naped Amazon, Black Crowned Tityra, Yellow Throated Euphonia and Red Crowned Woodpecker among others.

We had a long drive to get to our next lodge, Paraiso Quetzal Lodge at an elevation of over 9000 feet. Some words about driving in Costa Rica. Bottom line, it was awful. Although some roads have improved, they have not kept up with the dramatic increase in automobiles and travel times are ridiculous. It would almost always take at least an hour to go 40 kilometers, an average speed of about 25 mph. This was in large part due to the many slow trucks but was made worse by insufficient passing areas and in my opinion very poor drivers who were especially poor at passing or letting others pass. We spent far too much time on the road taking away from birding opportunities. Costa Rica is mountainous with twisting curvy roads and another problem was that far more than I remembered in other recent birding trips in Central and South America, there just weren’t good opportunities to pull off and bird along the road.

At such a high elevation, it got really cold at the lodge. Rooms had no heat. Hot water bottles were available (and well received) but the main source of warmth was many layers (4 or 5) of blankets. Bearable but I wish I had brought another warm layer. But the birding was great. The morning of December 8th was definitely a highlight of the trip as we visited a private lek where Resplendent Quetzals put on quite a show. It started dark and cold but it was a thrill when the first quetzal made an appearance not more than 10 minutes after we arrived. Lighting improved and there were many fine photo ops. If anything I felt we stayed there too long (over two hours) as Greg emphasized flight shots and the possibility that the next one would be better than the preceding one. I would have preferred moving on an hour earlier and trying for some other species. But definitely no complaint about the photos and views that we got.

Later back at the lodge I added several lifers with life photos adding to a very productive morning.

Two more lifers were found and photographed that afternoon – the spectacular Golden Browed Chlorophonia and the Black Billed Nightingale Thrush. I also heard but never got a look at a Ruddy Capped Nightingale Thrush – another lifer.

A special blind was available to hire at Quetzal Paraiso Lodge which provided views of feeders on the ground that were loaded with corn meal. The previous day we had a partial distant view of the feeders from outside the blind and saw some Buffy Crowned Wood Partridge – an exceedingly difficult species to see – usually on forest roads in the morning. Greg immediately decided to reserve some time in the blind the next morning. It was a great decision as not only did the Wood Partridge return but we earlier had a small flock of equally hard to see Spotted Wood Quail – both were lifers. We also had great looks at Yellow Thighed Brushfinch, another lifer in addition to life photos of Scarlet Rumped Tanager and Olive Backed Euphonia and more great hummingbird photo ops.

We had another long drive (4.5 hours) to get to our next lodging – Laguna del Lagarto Lodge. We arrived too late for any birding but had a very welcomed surprise as there was a known Crested Owl roost on the property. A spectacular owl, Cindy and I had seen a pair of them at Sacha Lodge in the Ecuadorean Amazon in 2023.

The owl was species #160 for the trip. We were less than half way through the adventure. This seems like a good place to end this first blog post for the trip.

It happens every year beginning in August, picking up steam in September and continuing into October. The “it” is Fall Migration, birds that came north in the Spring to breed are now returning south for their wintering grounds where the young grow up, and the adults find enough food to build up their bodies to be ready to head north again in the spring to begin the cycle again. While nonresident birds of all types participate in this spectacle, for many of us the shorebirds are the ones that are easiest and perhaps most rewarding to track, largely because as suggested in their categorized names, they congregate along the “shore” and whether that is the shore of the ocean or the shore of a river or a lake or a pond, birders know the likely spots where they will be found – shorebirding hotspots where the shorebirds return each year. It is fun to see all of the shorebirds, even if their Fall plumages are far plainer than their more colorful feathers of the Spring. But the birds that get the adrenalin flowing and get us out earlier and further from home are the less common species, especially the rarities. Now with technology enhanced communication opportunities with Ebird posts, Facebook and WhatsApp groups, and the large number of birders using all of them, word of uncommon, unusual and rare finds are almost instantly shared in the community of birders and “the chase is on”.

In my earlier birding days, come August and September, I would most often be off to the game range at Ocean Shores in Grays Harbor County, Eide Road in Snohomish County, the “Montlake Fill” in King County, Wylie Slough in Skagit County or up to Sequim in Clallam County to look for the incoming shorebirds. Not that birds do not still come to those places, albeit with major changes to some of them that have lessened their productivity; but certainly this year, in addition to many spots on the Coast, two other locations have emerged as the “go to” hotspots: Channel Drive in Skagit County and the Mouth of the Cedar River in King County. Along with a report of a trip to the Washington Pacific Ocean Coast, the remainder of this blog will share my experiences at those locations.

My Fall Migration quest for 2025 started when I visited the Coast with friends Tom St. John and Dennis Westover on August 16th looking primarily for photo opportunities as they are both excellent photographers. Our hope that there would be many shorebirds went unrealized, as maybe we were a bit ahead of the migration at least on the coast. Particularly disappointing was that we found very few species driving the open beach. At our first stop at the Hoquiam Sewage Ponds (another former great spot for shorebirds that has been changed with some of the mud no longer visible), we had only a few Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and some Least Sandpipers. At our next stop at the Brown Point Jetty in Ocean Shores, we had distant views of a Wandering Tattler, a Surfbird and some Black Turnstones. A new for the year species for me at least in Washington was Brown Pelican as many flew by.

On the open beach we found only a few Semipalmated Plovers and some Sanderlings, a far cry qualitatively and quantitatively from our hopes and expectations. It was only noon so we had time to back track through Hoquiam and Aberdeen and head south on the Westport side of the Coast with our first stop at Tokeland.

At Tokeland we quickly found the resident Willets and the huge flock of Marbled Godwits that have also become resident there – all photo friendly. We scanned the latter hoping for a Bar Tailed Godwit, often found in the group and a rare species that Tom and I had seen there last year. No luck but I saw that one had been seen (the first time for 2025) in the flock a few days later. Denny is far more interested in photography (he is a star) than the birds themselves so this was an especially great stop for him. As a side note, Tokeland is the “go to” place for Willets in Washington. My first Washington record was of 5 Willets there in 2012. The population has expanded each year and this time we had at least 25. The most I have ever had there was 30. They seem to be thriving.

Undaunted by our disappointing open beach drive on the Ocean Shores side we then drove the open beach beginning at Cranberry Beach. We had even fewer birds, but were successful in locating a single Snowy Plover, the main target.

Our final stop was at Bottle Beach where birding can be excellent but catching the tides right is a challenge. We were pretty good on the tides but again the birds were not super cooperative. We had a good group of Marbled Godwits, a relatively small number of Black Bellied Plovers, a single uncommon Ruddy Turnstone, a handful of Least Sandpipers, a small flock of Short Billed Dowitchers and maybe 75 Western Sandpipers. I have had a good number of rarities at Bottle Beach and 15 different shorebird species altogether, so it was a bit disappointing.

Regular and common although not numerous in Fall Migration, when Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers are reported, they draw attention from birders, particularly those of us looking to add new species to our year lists. Both had been reported the first week of August this year at Channel Drive joining the more common Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Long and Short Billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers but engaged in other activities, I did not go looking for them. But I could resist only so long and finally it was time to grab my camera and head north. Unfortunately on my first of such trips, I forgot to read the tide tables and arrived to a high tide and a water covered area with no mud and no shorebirds. Lesson learned (well at least partially), a few days later I timed my visit to arrive at low tide expecting to find shorebirds or to be there for the incoming tide which would bring them to me. Wrong again. A low tide, yes, a low enough tide, no. Again almost no mud in the main ponds. A few Greater Yellowlegs, some Killdeer on the mud at the channel itself and a small group of Least Sandpipers that flew by. Nothing new for the year, nothing exciting. A stop at the Hayton Reserve also misjudged the tide – way too low, but a consolation prize was a beautiful first of the year juvenile Peregrine Falcon.

Ok, enough of Channel Drive. A “rare for the area” Red Knot was being reported at the Mouth of the Cedar River in Renton, Washington not as quite far my Edmonds home to the South as Channel Drive was to the north. So I headed south. Prior to that visit I had seen 57 species at that location including 10 shorebirds, most notably both American and Pacific Golden Plovers, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Least, Western, Pectoral, Semipalmated and Spotted Sandpipers, and Greater Yellowlegs. Not surprisingly there were many birders there when I arrived, several looking at the main target, the juvenile Red Knot, and there were many other shorebirds there as well. New to me for the location in addition to the Red Knot were Short and Long Billed Dowitchers and a Baird’s Sandpiper. The Knot, the Baird’s Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Sandpiper were new for my 2025 Year List. Other shorebirds seen there were Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, and Western and Least Sandpipers. Seen by others previously but not by me this day was what would have been a first of the year Pectoral Sandpiper.

Good reports continued for Channel Drive including for Stilt Sandpiper, regular but uncommon, so I would give it one one more try – paying attention not just to whether it was a low tide, but how low. It was now September 3rd, and I finally got the tide right. Nine shorebird species were there including my first Pectoral Sandpiper for the year but the Stilt Sandpiper failed to make an appearance.

The Stilt Sandpipers were seen again a day or two later at Channel Drive but attention for birders in Western Washington shifted back to the Mouth of the Cedar River as a young excellent birder, Eric Hope, visited every morning and in addition to continuing to report on the continuing Red Knot among others, he added Stilt Sandpipers, Sabine’s Gull and then a mega rarity, a Red Necked Stint. Time to get back to the Cedar River mouth. In my blog posts, I often refer to two cardinal rules for a chase. Rule 1 is “Go now!” That means as soon as you hear about a bird of interest, pick up your gear and go for it. Don’t wait. Rule 2 is if you fail to follow Rule 1 and you don’t get the bird, you are not allowed to whine about it, because – hey you knew Rule 1. I had seen Red Necked Stints in Washington twice and had photos so I did not go right away, but then a Ruff was found by Eric the next morning, and even though again I had seen and photographed that species in Washington on many occasions, it was quite rare and it was not possible to stay away.

I knew that friend Jon Houghton “needed” a Red Necked Stint for his life list, so he was an easy recruit to go. Unfortunately the Mouth of the Cedar River site is adjacent to a municipal airport and even though it had not done so previously in the year, on the morning we were going to go, they shot off fireworks “to scare the birds away” theoretically to prevent collisions with aircraft, even though there had been no recent issues. The Stint was seen that morning before the fireworks but not thereafter. When Jon and I got there, we quickly found the Ruff and hung around with many other birders for a couple of hours, hoping the Stint would return – no such luck. BUT in addition to the first of year Ruff, I did see a couple of Stilt Sandpipers, first for 2024. Unfortunately I was never able to get a photo with them close and with heads out of the water. Jon and I decided to chase a Solitary Sandpiper at the Redmond retention ponds, a place I have seen them twice before. Nothing when we first walked in but a few minutes later, a single shorebird flew in – and we had our target.

At the Mouth of the Cedar, the Red Knot had continued and there were a lot of other shorebirds and the hope was that the Ruff would continue as well. I called Denny and Tom and when asked if they were interested in some photo ops, we agreed to visit there the next morning. The way things were going, maybe something new would show up, and neither had seen a Ruff, so that was a great appeal. Once again, however, the airport shot off the fireworks and the Ruff was nowhere to be found. But other birds were there including the continuing Red Knot and Stilt Sandpipers, this time closer and with their heads up allowing for photos. And even though they missed the Ruff, there were many photo opportunities for Denny and Tom – and, thus for me, too. This included a very cooperative Osprey, a fly over by a Peregrine Falcon, a Pectoral Sandpiper, both Dowitchers and a close-in Wilson’s Snipe.

If that had been the end of the story, even missing the Red-Necked Stint, it would have been a great story for just one month with 14 shorebirds seen at the Mouth of the Cedar in addition to the ones seen at Channel Drive and the species seen earlier at the coast, that altogether made it 26 for the month: Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling, Killdeer, Semipalmated, Black Bellied and Snowy Plovers, Ruddy and Black Turnstones, Surfbird, Wandering Tattler, Western, Least, Pectoral, Spotted, Semipalmated, Solitary, Stilt and Baird’s Sandpipers, Wilson’s Snipe, Ruff, Red Knot, Short and Long Billed Dowitchers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs.

I have seen 50 species of shorebird in Washington that in addition to the 26 above include 9 that would be considered very rare: the aforementioned Red-Necked Stint and Hudsonian Godwit (each seen twice), Little Stint, Wilson’s Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Siberian Sand Plover, Upland and White Rumped Sandpipers, and Mountain Plover (each seen only once) and another three that are seen not as rarely but are considered very uncommon at best: Sharp Tailed Sandpiper, Bar Tailed Godwit and Buff Breasted Sandpiper. The other 12 species are regular and/or common but for the most part are found in different habitats: Black Oystercatcher (resident and seen mostly on rocky coasts), Rock Sandpiper (uncommon and also on rocky coasts in the winter), three species of Phalarope all migratory and either pelagic (Red) or mostly in Eastern Washington (Red Necked and Wilson’s), Pacific and American Golden Plover uncommon but regular in the Fall, American Avocet and Black Necked Stilt (migratory and then breeds in Eastern Washington), Long Billed Curlew (migratory and then breeds in Eastern Washington), Whimbrel (migratory found mostly in Western Washington) and Dunlin (a nonbreeder seen throughout the year and throughout the state and abundant wintering in Western Washington). So doing the math in about a month, I had seen 50% of all of the shorebirds for the state with another 24% being either rare or very rare and the others being generally found elsewhere or at another time.

If the story ended there it would be a really good story. But there is one more twist to the story. I have taken photos of all but two of those 50 species in Washington. The Wood Sandpiper is a mega-rarity that I saw in Skagit County in August 2011. That is the only record of it for Washington on Ebird. It was a go now chase and I did not even have my camera. I have seen and photographed many in Europe, Asia and Africa but the odds are slim that there will be another one in Washington. The only other photo of any of the 50 Washington shorebirds I am missing is the very rare for Washington Upland Sandpiper seen by me with Dennis Paulson as a fly over at the Game Range in Ocean Shores in 2013 and then missed by 30 minutes after a chase to Damon Point, again in Ocean Shores in 2020. So when a WhatsApp message appeared on the morning of September 10th that one was being seen – and of course it was at the Mouth of the Cedar River – I followed Rule 1, got into my car, and headed south. This time I missed it by an hour – AAARGH!!! Dozens of birders were there when I arrived or came later and it was just never seen again.

It had been a great 3 weeks, but I would have traded all of the observations and all of the other photos for a single photo of the Upland Sandpiper – even a lousy one. I have a photo of one in Maine and another of one in Texas. Maybe next year – maybe at the Mouth of the Cedar River a new favorite Hotspot.

[August 17 Addendum – I just came back to this post after visiting the Tulalip Spit in Snohomish County with Jon Houghton chasing an American Golden Plover that was being reported there. After an unsuccessful 45 minutes alone, we were joined by 8 other birders and after another 30 minutes when the tide came in and pushed the birds somewhat closer, we were successful in locating the American Golden Plover among 170+ Black Bellied Plovers. Other shorebirds were two Red Knots, a Baird’s Sandpiper and many Dowitchers. One of the many Great Blue Herons provided a nice photo op. The American Golden Plover brought my Fall 2025 shorebird count to 27 species. I leave for Amsterdam next week and unless something really special shows up, there will be no more birding in Washington before I return in early October. There is a chance to add some Eurasian shorebird species in Amsterdam as I hope to get out birding one day. Back in Washington next month, there may be another species or two to be found. I like round numbers, so maybe 30 will complete the story.]

After a good early breakfast at Mountain House, we were again on the rocky road leading down the Santa Martas with a productive stop at Bellavista – Vereda which is an Ebird hotspot but confusingly translates to good view – sidewalk. My recollection, probably inaccurate, is that we birded along various trails. In any event in a bit less than 90 minutes we had 25 species, dismal photo ops but 5 lifers: Band-tailed Guan, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Sooty-capped Hermit, Rufous-breasted Wren and Black-hooded Thrush with photos of none. I managed photos of only two species, Golden-faced Tyrannulet seen and photographed previously in Ecuador and Golden-crowned Warbler, seen previously in Belize and Brazil and later as a mega rarity in South Texas where I got a photo. It was a tough morning although we did add 11 species to our trip list.

Continuing our way out of the Santa Martas, our next stop was in Minca, where during a brief stop we had 12 species, 5 new for the trip of which 3 were lifers, and continuing the bad photo morning, with only 2 more photos – a lifer Bran-colored Flycatcher, missing photos of a Black-fronted Wood-Quail and a Gray-throated Leaftosser. I would get a photo of the Wood-Quail later, but none of the Leaftosser.

Two more stops in the Santa Martas (I think still there) that morning produced 13 more species: 6 new for Colombia, 1 lifer and 2 life photos. Unfortunately I somehow missed a photo of the lifer Rosy Thrush-tanager.

It was good to be back on a paved road again and now we would be on the coast and continuing mostly east. This is where I wish I had taken notes along the way. As usual, I was focused on birds and being in good hands with Breiner and unfamiliar with the country, often, I was just “along for the ride” waiting for the next birding stop. I cannot recall exactly where it was, but in one of the small towns along the coast we added another member to the group, Jhonys Alarza Berrios, a local birder who would accompany us for several days including to the Perija area. This was one of those two or three steps forward and one step back kinds of things. The step back was as I think I mentioned in my first blog post, Johnis had some English but spent most of his time speaking Spanish with Breiner and Jeferson and this contributed to my feeling of isolation at times. On the other hand, he was a very cool guy, an excellent birder with great eyes and often found some of our birds and also often was helpful getting me on them, so all in all a major plus.

Although we had seen a lot of birds in the morning and I had added the 9 lifers, I was a bit down from not getting photos of many of the birds. Not the first time this has happened in forest habitats, but the percentage of photos was low even for me. The Rosy Thrush-Tanager turned out to be lifer 3800 for me and it would have been nice to at least get that photo. So again, a little down. But birding for the rest of the day would end that feeling as we had an excellent afternoon with another 69 species including only 5 lifers and 5 life photos, but lots of other photos and what would be my favorite bird of the whole trip. We started with 40 species in a little over an hour at Villa Maria Tayrona, added a few more on Costeno Beach Road and then had a wonderful boat ride (unmotorized) at the Sanctuary of Fauna and Flora Los Flamencos in Riohacha with 30 species.

Birding by boat is an exceptional way to get close to species that are usually seen at distance and thus is a great way to get photographs. Especially with a boat without a motor the birds are less likely to flush and remain in their feeding or roosting spots, relatively still – another benefit for photography. At the Sanctuary we had 30 species. I have photos of 12 and simply passed on photos of at least 8 more since I already had many photos of them – for example the omnipresent Black Vultures and Tropical Kingbirds. One of the first photos was of a lifer Mangrove Rail, hunting in the open, giving us great views. Although also seen many times earlier, it was impossible not to grab photos of Black Necked Stilt, Snowy Egret, Reddish Egret and especially Black Skimmers as they skimmed the water surface very close. I never got the perfect shot but it was fun trying. The photo of Great and Snowy Egrets together is a favorite showing the significant size difference and black vs. yellow bills.

With the preceding photos, I had mostly forgotten about the photo failures of the morning, but the best was yet to come. I had not been aware of it as we started our trip, but this was the place where there was a chance to see a Scarlet Ibis. Our group had somehow failed to find this species on our trip to Trinidad in May 1978. It is the national bird of Trinidad and I believe they are resident at Caroni Swamp. I did not take photos back then and my record keeping left much to be desired. I know we stayed at the Asa Wright Nature Center which is an hour away from Caroni Swamp, but my bird list is only for a single day so maybe we just did not have time or perhaps a way to get there. It is a very striking bird and was at or near the top of my list for birds wanted on this tour. Maybe an hour into our boat trip, Breiner said we were nearing the area where Scarlet Ibis was possible. A good sign was seeing several White Ibis feeding in the shallow water.

As we rounded a bend and another shoreline came into view, we saw a wall of pink – getting closer to scarlet, but just a teaser – it was a flock of Roseate Spoonbills. A particularly attractive photo was of a White Cheeked Pintail next to a Roseate Spoonbill that seemed to be wearing headphones.

We rounded another corner and saw a large group of White Ibis and our heartbeats jumped when we saw a pinkish ibis in their midst. Was this it – maybe a juvenile since the coloring was nothing like expected. No – just another teaser as it was a very unusual hybrid, a cross between a White Ibis and a Scarlet Ibis – maybe a little smaller than the first and a little larger than the second. Was this all we would get? Then we saw a truly scarlet colored ibis fly out from the trees behind this group and circle to the back. We raced on – well as fast as our boatman could push us with his pole – hoping we would find it in the water.

We got around to the back of the area and there it was on a mostly obscured perch – but with its back to us, pretty far away – and it stayed for just a second before taking off again. It turned out to be a very cooperative bird. It could have just flown away from us, but instead, and only for just enough time to get a single photo, it flew parallel before again turning away and then disappearing. But I got what is probably my favorite photo of the trip, certainly in the top 3 or 4.

Our return used a crude sail and had a beautiful sunset. We would spend the night at our hotel in Riohacha and then meet Jhonys the next day for some early morning birding, breakfast at his mother’s home – a real treat – and then a visit to a unique feeder looking for a very unique bird. Day 6 totals: 108 species seen; 14 lifers and 8 life photos. My Colombia list was now at 269 species, and 47 years after it could have/should have happened, I had finally seen a Scarlet Ibis.

Day 7 – June 26

We picked up Jhonys at his home in Camarones and began birding at what is listed on our Ebird report as Via La Plazoleta which just means “Via the Square”. Without notes, I can only add that we made several stops in over two hours starting at 6:00 a.m. and we had mixed lowland forest habitat with a few ponds and lots of new birds including 10 lifers starting with a Crested Bobwhite that stayed on the road in front of us just long enough for one photo. Johnys also had a camera- a nice Sony that he had won in a community auction. He was very helpful in lining me up on birds. The Bobwhite was the largest of the lifers, as the others were mostly small forest birds, primarily flycatchers, not always great photo ops.

Here are the lifers. The ones in italics were also photo lifers: Crested Bobwhite, White-whiskered Spinetail, Buffy Hummingbird, Pale-tipped Tyrannulet, Pearly-Vented Tody-Tyrant (love that name), Fulvous-Crowned Scrub-Tyrant, Scrub Greenlet, Tocoyu Sparrow, Lesson’s Seedeater and Pileated Finch. I also got life photos of Chestnut Piculet and Tropical Gnatcatcher.

After the great morning there was a surprise as breakfast was at the home of Jhonys’ mother in the town of Camarones. A simple but excellent breakfast with eggs scrambled just the way I like them, excellent coffee as was the case everywhere in Colombia, and a couple of other things that I cannot name. This real life peek into local lives was greatly appreciated as from the street, I would not have known of the courtyard in the back where the family spends much of the time, well cared for and well used. There was also a bonus as a lifer Brown-throated Parakeet landed on a shrub on the adjoining yard with its head poking up above the wall allowing for a picture.

After breakfast we headed to the Pushaina Cardinal feeders. As nondescript a spot as one could imagine – a mostly open area with some shrubs and most importantly the strangest feeders I had ever seen – a few cacti with cut tops creating wells into which seed was placed and the seeds attracted the star of the show and perhaps the species second on my must see list – the Vermilion Cardinal. Only one came to the “feeder” but what a prize – beautiful male with its long crest and its brilliant vermilion body in bright sunshine. It stayed several minutes, long enough for good photos and then was followed by another lifer on the cactus feeder, an Orinocan Saltator and then a Black-faced Grassquit giving me the chance for a life photo of a species I had seen once before – in Jamaica in 1980 in the days of no camera.

Not on the feeder was a Green-rumped Parrotlet, another species seen many years ago, in Trinidad in 1978, again before I had a camera, so a very welcomed life photo. [As written in the blog post that provided background and an introduction to this trip, I did not start taking photos until 2005, and even then neither well nor religiously, so I missed photos of lots of species (potentially 300 – 400) – especially in Australia, China, Costa Rica, Hungary and both Trinidad and Jamaica. So getting photos of these two species missed in Jamaica and Trinidad was a real treat.]

We then had a long drive on our way to the Perija mountains. We would be spending the night in Valledupar at the Sonesta Hotel (nice), but first there would be some birding at a small village in the foothills, Chemesquena. These were interesting stops for two reasons. One of course was the birds and the other was that while Breiner and Jhonys chased after an unlikely but possible new bird for them, I was pretty tired and opted to sit it out along a stream in the town. The town was unique among the ones we had seen in that there were many indigenous people (I believe of the Wayuu group) there and I watched a lifestyle that dated back many years, distinctly different in many ways from that observed elsewhere as some of the men wore unique clothes, all carried locally made bags, with burros, horses and mules playing a large part in their life transporting agricultural goods, firewood etc.

Three birds were of note: a lifer Rufous-vented Chachalaca (heard only), a Chivi Vireo – notable because it was our first for the trip and I identified it myself while Breiner was off by call, which is very similar to our Red-Eyed Vireo in the U.S., as I waited by myself for Breiner and Jhonys to return, and especially a Red-legged Honeycreeper, again found on my own and which allowed me to get a life photo of a species I had seen (and not photographed) in Trinidad, Costa, Rica, Mexico and Belize.

In addition to Breiner and Jhonys failing to find their target (so my decision not to go was supported by that result), there was one other negative from the stop. Earlier in the trip I had some bad insect bites, probably chiggers, that had bothered me for days. While I was sitting on the bridge observing the town life, I got bit by something else on my hand. It swelled up immediately – not horrendously, but definitely noticeably and the swelling continued for several days, maybe getting a little worse that night. I monitored it closely and was sure that I had no other effects, but it was a concern as I envisioned an emergency visit to a local medical something or other with my life at risk. Fortunately no such problems and the swelling was 99% gone by the time I was home.

I am attaching a couple of photos from my observations in the town. Note the bags draped over each of their shoulders. I was immediately attracted to them as works of handcrafted art in addition to their obvious functional use. I wished that I could have acquired one as a memory of the trip and as a gift for Cindy. It did not feel right to ask if it was possible to purchase one, but research back home found a You-Tube Video of someone doing so in one village. I saw some similar bags for sale at the Barranquilla Airport when I was departing, but they looked too gaudy/touristy. When I got home I showed these photos to Cindy and she also liked the bags. Continued research found that authentic ones were available as Wayuu/Mochila cross shoulder bags – on both Etsy and of course also on Amazon and that they are very fashion forward items here. I was able to get one for her and it has drawn many positive comments. On the way out of the town we saw some kind of festival and two men in obvious festival attire.

It had been another excellent day and as mentioned the Sonesta Hotel in Valledupar was excellent. Day 7 totals were 55 species seen with 14 lifers and 15 life photos. My Colombia list was 289 species. Tomorrow we would be visiting the Perija mountains, adjoining Venezuela.

Day 8 – June 27th

After an early breakfast at the hotel, actually my favorite breakfast with just granola, good croissants, fruit and coffee, we were checked out and on the road by 6:20 a.m. As we were driving towards Perija, Breiner spotted two Buff-Necked Ibis in a field. Jeferson expertly backed up along the side of the road and I was able to get a life photo of this bird, a species I had seen but not photographed in Brazil 20 years earlier. There are 16 ibis species on my World List of which I have seen 9 in South America and now have photos of all except the Puna Ibis seen in Peru in 2013. I am also missing photos of Southern Bald Ibis (South Africa) and Straw-necked Ibis from Australia. With luck future travels could produce all those photos.

There would be more lifers as we started in the Perija mountains and got one of the Perija endemics, a Perija Brushfinch. This was fairly quickly followed by lifers Gray-throated Warbler and then a Golden-breasted Fruiteater and life photos of Beryl-spangled Tanager, Black-and-Chestnut Eagle (endangered) and Yellow-breasted Brushfinch. Breiner always compiled the Ebird lists and was always thorough in indicating if the individual we saw was of a particular race or subspecies especially if there might be the chance for a species split later. In endemic rich areas like Santa Marta previously or now Perija, this might prove to be important later. For example he was sure to identify our Gray-breasted Wood-Wren as “Perija” perhaps distinguishing it from the “Choco” or “Andean” ones I had seen in Ecuador or the “bangsi” that we had seen earlier on the trip. Olive Striped Flycatcher was on my world list from 3 observations in Peru and two more in Ecuador. We had it again and like all of those other occasions – no photo.

We were now in the heart of the Perija Mountains on a road that may have surpassed the road in the Santa Martas as challenging and rough but again handled excellently by Jeferson. Not a lifer or life photo, but I have to include the photo of a Golden Headed Quetzal, first seen and photographed in Ecuador in 2022. We made it to our quarters at the fairly primitive Perija Bird Reserve research station at lunchtime and quickly added a world lifer Longuemare’s Sunangel (photographed) and 3 more life photos: Bluish Flowerpiercer, Blue-capped Tanager, and Mountain Velvetbreast.

After lunch we had a couple of hours for a little siesta before returning to birding on trails leading from our lodging into the Chamicero Pro Aves Perija Reserve. We had a flyover by two more Black-and-Chestnut Eagles and 2 Andean Condors, our first of the trip, but stay tuned, not our last. Barely starting on our walk, Breiner signaled to “STOP!” just as a bird flushed from the trail not more than 20 feet ahead of us and then fortunately landed again another 50 feet further ahead. It was a Band-Winged Nightjar, a species we had heard only 3 days earlier and now I could get a photo and then another and another as I crept closer and closer in 10 foot stretches eventually getting within no more than 30 feet of the bird. On our return later, we found the nightjar in the same area, again flushing it only to have it return. The reason turned out to be a nest on the ground immediately adjacent to the trail with a single small egg – not the safest location, but undisturbed again by us.

Further along the trail, we added a lifer endemic Perija Antpitta, a poor life photo of a flyby Scarlet-fronted Parakeet and a much nicer photo of a handsome Green-and-black Fruiteater. We also had a Glossy-black Thrush, a species I had seen twice earlier in Ecuador without a photo. I thought I had a photo of this observation – or at least of the birds very evident orange bill, but despite repeated searches, I cannot find it. Maybe someday.

We returned to the research center and then went down the road for some more birding which provided one of the more amazing experiences on the trip. We added 5 new species for the trip including a lifer endemic Perija Tapaculo. Like most tapaculos, it was heard only – although maybe I should say heard and heard and heard and heard again only as it was very active and responsive but would just not come into the open even for a moment. We would have this experience with this species many more times. Another species that was heard only was a Rufous-bellied Nighthawk which I had heard only previously in Ecuador. Then there was the Andean Solitaire, seen previously in Peru and twice in Ecuador. This time I got a glimpse of a bird high in the forest but no shot at a photo. SO that leaves two species with photos – a Strong-billed Woodcreeper, seen and photographed previously in Peru, Belize and Ecuador and an Oilbird, seen many years ago in Trinidad and then seen at a roosting site in Ecuador with many photos. Those two sightings were expected at known sites. This one was totally unexpected and we believe the first ever sighting in the Cesar Department in Colombia. It flushed and flew around us for a couple of minutes allowing only a poor in-flight shot, but it was pretty unmistakable.

Day 8 totals were 76 species seen with 6 lifers and 11 life photos. My Colombia list was 321 species.

Day 9 – June 28

Today we would be going high up into the Paramo alpine tundra ecosystem hoping for some of the endemics that could found in this unique habitat. With an early start we added our first specialty, a Paramo Seedeater. Cindy and I had seen the species high in the Andes in Ecuador in 2022 but without a photo. This time I got one. We spent the next 2.5 hours in the area and added 3 lifers with photos of 2 that were endemics plus 5 more life photos. Obviously it was a great morning but the best experience was with a species I had seen on 11 previous occasions in Colombia as well as Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Chile – the spectacular Andean Condor. Those other observations had been at distance – either perched on a rocky bluff or high in the distant sky. This time we had two that flew quite close and circled above us for several minutes providing my best photographs of this magnificent bird, with the largest wingspan of any raptor.

It was a good morning for photos as I also got maybe my favorite photo of the very common Rufous-collared Sparrow, which in addition to many sightings in Colombia, I have seen in Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Chile as well as photos of Hooded Mountain Tanager, Red-crested Cotinga, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle and Great Thrush, although sadly yet again missed a photo of a White-throated Tyrannulet.

The next species added and photographed was a Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, a species I had seen and photographed in Ecuador – but still striking and a nice add for the day. And then there was one more great addition, a Black-fronted Wood-Quail, added as a heard only lifer a few days earlier but now seen and photographed at the research station feasting on some seed that had been left for it – I thought that was a great ending for the day but we still had some birding to do. Again on the road down from the Pro Aves Reserve, we added a Yellow-throated Toucan (Black-mandibled) and a Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager – but forms found in the Perija area and might be split and I also got a nice photo of a Lesser Violetear. We had missed one of the most sought after Perija endemics, the endangered Perija Starfrontlet but otherwise had done very well with 36 species for the day, 3 lifers and 9 life photos and my Colombia list stood at 339 species.

At the beginning of the trip, Breiner thought we might get to 400 species. We would have another full day of birding and some birding along the way as we got back to Barranquilla, but 400 seemed very unlikely. I had added 116 lifers to my world list and 126 species to my world photo list. I did not care about 400 but hoped both life lists would improve. We spent the night again at the Perija Research station.

Day 10 – June 29th

A bit after 6:00 a.m. we were back on the road down from Perija on our way again to Valledupar. We added Three-striped Warbler and Chestnut-capped Brushfinch to the trip list and once again failed to get photos of Perija Tapaculo, Slaty-backed Nightingale Thrush and Rufous Spinetail. We birded with stops on the road as we made our way towards Valledupar. At one spot we had a fly over display by 4 White-booted Racket-tails very cool hummingbirds that I had seen close up and photographed in Ecuador. I was happy to get any photo of this group which were somewhat distant. We also had another Tyrian Metal-tail (I am adding a photo here that I forgot to include from the Santa Martas). It wasn’t a lifer or a life photo but a good photo that was almost a great one was of a Rufous-crowned Tody-flycatcher. We had found a somewhat concealed nest that the bird left and returned to repeatedly. If I had tried multiple frames a second I might have captured it entering the tiny nest, but not doing so I settled for a fun picture of it perched with nesting material – a bit of spider web.

We came upon a brushy grassy area that proved to be terrific for several new birds including a lifer Sooty Grassquit, a Dull Colored Grassquit (life photo) and a Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager (poor life photo). Further along I finally got life photos of Black-hooded Thrush and Whiskered Wren.

Another stop produced three more important adds to our list – a lifer Black-faced Tanager, a lifer Mouse-colored Tyrannulet and a life photo of a distant King Vulture that flew by quickly. The tyrannulet was another disappointing surprise as I was sure I had a photo, but again have not been able to find it.

After lunch a Gray Seedeater was a lifer with a photo and a Black and White Seedeater was a life photo as was a Streak-headed Woodcreeper. The last bird for the day was an American Kestrel. The night would be at the Valledupar Hotel Sonesta, a welcome stay after two nights at the much more basic Perija Bird Reserve. We had 66 species for the day with 4 lifers and 11 life photos. Now the Colombia list was at 358 species. We would be heading back to Barranquilla the next day with some birding stops along the way. Breiner was sure we could add some new lifers and new photos.

Day 11 – June 30th

After another good breakfast at the Sonesta Hotel, we were back on the road picking up a few birds here and there that we had seen before. At Laguna del Tigre, a nice lagoon/wetland, we added several new species for the trip but no new lifers or life photos. New species for Colombia included an unexpected Least Grebe, Anhinga, Purple Gallinule, Glossy Ibis, White-headed Marsh-tyrant and Rufescent Tiger Heron. Also I got a nice Striated Heron photo, a species seen previously in Colombia but not photographed.. Unfortunately the Marsh-tyrant was seen far off and just briefly as it could have been a life photo.

There would be only one more stop before getting back to Barranquilla and a great stop it was at another lowlands forest in the foothills. Only 11 species in about an hour, but four were lifers with photos of three and a life photo of another species. Lifers were Black-crowned and Black-backed Antshrikes, and Jet and White-bellied Antbirds. No photo of the Jet Antbird, but there was a photo (definitely poor) of a Scrub Greenlet.

And then it was back to Barranquilla, a last night at the Barranquilla Hotel, a last good meal, a good nights sleep, a driver to get me to the airport, a flight leaving on time and that was it. But like most trips, the memories endure and especially with posts on Facebook, processing pictures, doing blogs like this and stories for Cindy and friends, the trip lives on and although it was nice to be home and to wind down, not more than a week after my return, I was missing it. On trips like these there is just so much stimulation, so many experiences – hopefully good – birds found and birds missed – some really spectacular birds and some pretty boring ones – but especially for a lister, which I easily acknowledge is me, there is a constant feeling of possibility – what’s next? And I guess this carried over to being home and that question – what’s next? Fortunately there would be two answers that have kept me focused and engaged and happy. The first was a very successful 75th birthday party for my very special spouse – filled with friends and family and neighbors – another reminder of how fortunate I am – certainly to have her, but also, mostly because of her, to have wonderful people in my life. And the second answer was that I had to begin planning for some great trips ahead – scheduling flights and guides and target lists for upcoming trips to Amsterdam and Boston, Southeastern Brazil, Costa Rica and Thailand. The last three will be birding trips and with luck I will be able to include at least one day of birding in Amsterdam. No plans beyond those trips (all in the next six months) but again how fortunate I am to be able to travel like that.

I should probably spend more time sharing non-birding details from this Colombia trip and maybe I will revisit these blogs and add some more. Before summing up the birding results, I want to add two experiences that were unique in all my travels, and not in a good way although there were no adverse consequences. We spent many hours traveling between birding spots on the trip and during that road travel, we were stopped 4 times by local police. No particular reason, no legal transgressions, just “standard stops”. But we had to show licenses, identifications and sometimes we had to get out of the car, while the police searched the interior and on two occasions patted us down. These were occasions when being with a local guide, especially an easy going, savvy one with a great personality was important. Had I been on my own, with no Spanish and no familiarity with local customs, I wonder what might have happened – probably at the least some Colombian pesos would have changed hands to “avoid problems”. A second, somewhat similar situation arose at the airport as I was leaving. When my bags went through the security scanner, they were pulled off to the side and I was asked to open them for further inspection. The man in charge went through everything closely including asking me to open my cameras. Again no harm done but it is the first time that this has ever happened. Very polite but a bit stressful. Let me stress that at no time was I ever concerned for my safety when out birding, at hotels, at restaurants, meeting people – all of whom were great. Colombia has had some bad press, partially well-deserved as there have definitely been drug issues with some violence and unrest. Guide Breiner said that things are very good now, that he has had no problems and knows of none for visiting birders, and he gave props to recent political changes where there has been a more concerted effort to rid the country of these problems – and maybe that is one reason behind both the road stops and the examination at the airport.

The last paragraph may be seen as negative reflection on the country. Interpret it as you will, just something to note. But for me it was easily offset by the wonderful people I met, starting with guide Breiner Tarazona, driver Jeferson, and Jhonys and other birders we met and especially people we met in some remote locations where we were welcomed, offered coffee and smiles. And I want to end with compliments to Giovani Ortiz and Icaro Birding. They were exceptional handling details, arrangements and communications. There was not a single miss in any way.

OK – here are the bottom lines. On day 11, we had 39 species with 4 lifers and 4 life photos. For the trip I had 367 species seen with 124 lifers bringing me to 3836 species. With luck adding a few species in Amsterdam and hopefully many in Southeastern Brazil, I will get to 4000 – certainly close and for sure if those scheduled trips to Costa Rica and Thailand happen, I should be past that milestone for sure. I got photos of 272 species on the trip and easily would have had at least a dozen more if I took photos of common birds I had seen and photographed many times before. More than half of the photos, 142 were life photos, bringing my total to 2,572 life photos. There is at least a chance that the trips to Amsterdam, Brazil, Costa Rica and Thailand can get me over 3000 life photos. Not going to stop when those goals are met, but there is nothing specific planned and there is no chance I will move the goal posts to 5000 lifers and 4000 photos. The years are adding up and I just hope good health continues and the joy of travel can continue. My goal should be just to continue having fun and hopefully improve photography skills along the way.

At the end of organized birding tours at a final dinner, the group often picks it favorite 5 species or experiences. My top three are easy – seeing and photographing: Scarlet Ibis, Vermilion Cardinal, Andean Condor. After that it gets a lot harder but under pressure I guess I would go with the close encounter with the nesting Band-winged Nightjar and getting a photo of the Yellow-breasted Crake – especially seeing how happy it made Breiner. Will I get back to Colombia? There are over 1800 species in Colombia – it’s is a target rich environment!!