This page shows the blog pages. For most trips, there is one blog per day. Clicking on the photo for a day will take you to a slider: a photo carousel that shows the photos large. Clicking on the title will take you to another page with more information about the photos.
The link Top will take you back to the top of this list.
| Titel | Day 2: Excursion to Canopy San Luis |
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| The introduction to tropical weather is in style: the schools are closed today because the government is afraid that the roads cannot handle the rain. But my guide thinks it is possible. We drive almost two hours to a higher mountain range where there are nature parks and entertainment. In normal weather, daredevils can float above the trees with a cable line. Now the waiting room is only a nice place to watch the birds that are attracted to bananas in particular. After a few hours it rains a little less hard. We go to another park, now focused on nature. There is a trail of 300 meters on a concrete path with hummingbird feeders, ideal. There is also a 2.5 km walk, but in this weather it is an unpassable mud path. So I don't think about that. In addition to birds, they also have a butterfly house, where they show butterflies from the area and sell them to other organizations. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-11 |
| Titel | Day 3: Rest day at the hotel |
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| The weather is the same: mostly rain, with the occasional half hour of almost dry. I start to understand the hotel: the paths to the restaurant are covered everywhere. Of course there are also some birds in the garden, but strangely enough there are no feeders. I walk to a small park nearby, which turns out to be a golf course. The houses are matching. Via the maintenance entrance I walk around the golf course. I quickly see a car stop at the entrance, I thought I would be chased away quickly. But it is a birdwatcher who gives me tips. The maintenance team is friendly, but I don't see many birds. Via a small park with ducks I walk back to the hotel. When it is half an hour dry in the afternoon, I make another attempt at the flowering trees at the duck park. Unfortunately the birds prefer the flowers at the top, but it still produces a hummingbird and a warbler. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-12 |
| Titel | Day 4: To the lowlands near the Pacific coast |
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| On the first day with the group we first have to leave the city of San Jose, and that takes a very long time. There are many cars, patient people and few main roads. It takes at least 2 hours to get out of the city. We first go to the hill area near San Jose known as the University of La Paz, where the guide finds a pair of Barred Antshrike. And of course butterflies and hummingbirds. The butterflies are a profession in their own right, so they are not in the post at the moment. Then we continue through roads to the coastal plain. By Dutch standards it is rougher than Limburg, but it is under 100 meters. The hotel garden is home to regular macaws, the large birds that are often seen in the zoo. We will also come and have a look tonight, but apparently the bananas are not to their liking. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-13 |
| Titel | Day 5: Birding in the rain |
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| Today I am not going with the group, the highlight was a path that was too difficult for me, especially in the rain. I had some fun in the garden in the morning, but in the afternoon it rained too hard. It's nice to bring the website up to date again and make a bug list. There is still some work to be done with the website code. Peace and quiet in the garden makes for nice photos. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-14 |
| Titel | Day 6: Birding in more rain |
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| It is raining very heavily, so heavily that the Tarcoles River runs too fast for a boat trip. We wait a bit longer, but it keeps raining. So we go to the next stop, a very basic hotel at 2850m. There it is drizzling with 10-15 degrees, compared to the downpours with 25-30 degrees we came from. Their restaurant is not heated, we eat with warm clothes. But they do have a lot of birds on their feeders. Many of the species on the promise list are already being fulfilled on their small deck. You can approach the hummingbirds very closely, something for a 40-150mm lens, not for the 150-400mm lens. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-15 |
| Titel | Day 7: Resplendent Quetzals |
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| Yesterday the guide called around to acquaintances and arranged a spot where a Quetzal is likely to be seen. At a number of large fruit trees another hotel has made an easy approach route for the quetzals. No feeding place, but just a comfortable waiting bar with photogenic moss and bromeliads. Later we bird on their terrain and again on the feeders of our hotel. I have now been given nice warm blankets. The next day the guide takes me to a clinic where I get strong and more effective medication. I should have done that earlier. So day 8 is missing. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-16 |
| Titel | Day 9: Sun and warmth |
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| In the morning we see mountains near our simple hotel. Nice weather for the last photos at the feeders. We go back via the Pan-American Highway, which follows the mountain ridge. Our guide takes us (in the car) over a forest road from the ridge. He finds the necessary (for us) special birds. Lunch is at a botanical garden close to our destination. Now at a few hundred meters high, so nice and warm. We stay after lunch until evening falls (17:00), and see special animals. The colorful frog is unexpected. We spend the next two nights in Sarapiqui. A big improvement. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-18 |
| Titel | Day 10: A garden with an abundant meal for birds |
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| Today we start with the garden of local nature photographer Cope in Guapiles. With a pond and feeders he offers an abundant bird meal from his garden, and many species come in demand. From small hummingbirds that are satisfied with sugar water, to toucans and oropondolas. The group goes with Cope to look for two owls. It was a boot walk like a mudflat walk. They do find the owls, beautiful animals. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-19 |
| Titel | Day 11: Boat trip through the Medio Queso wetland |
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| In the afternoon we drive a few hours to an excursion in the Medio Queso wetland. A beautiful large freshwater marsh, where the local guide can find very special species. Very small rails that you would never see yourself. At the end of his tour he finds 5 species with the help of playing the tunes of the certain species while the boat is stuck in some bushes. Very effective. He has been doing it for 10 years says our guide. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-20 |
| Titel | Day 12: River trips at Caño Negro |
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| Our hotel is special again. The rooms are super simple and old, the lights are crooked, but the shower works well. The restaurant is new, with matching prices and fancy meals for fancy prices. The staff is not yet, so we only eat there once. But anyway, we were there for boat trips. The morning was great again: the same good guide, the sun was shining and he saw a lot. In the afternoon it rains heavily and that seems to affect the guide quite a bit. He only saw bigger stuff like herons and spoonbills. Too bad. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-21 |
| Titel | Day 13: Good food for humans and birds |
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| The day is again divided into traveling and enjoying the food at lunch. The area is fun to drive through because the guide has a good nose for where to stop. And often there appears to be more than he first saw. He first saw a heron that was new to me, but then he hears a small rail and another seekeater. All new species. The resort is nice for birdwatchers. Good food for people, a large beautiful garden, with new species as in most places. We see a gray falcon, several curassows and another toucan. It is spacious, and as one of the bird photographers says you can take pictures with a quiet background. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-22 |
| Titel | Day 14: King Vulture |
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| After breakfast we go to a feeding place for vultures. Besides the regular black vultures there are three King Vultures. They are much more beautiful and bigger than the black vultures. After 1.5 hours of photographing I let myself be brought back for a nap. One of the other photographers manages to make a picture with the vulture in flight. With my one-armed photo technique that is too much to ask for me at the moment. It is not raining, which means that we can also take nice pictures of the birds at the feeders, such as the toucans and the gray falcon. Later in the afternoon we go looking for other species along the road. We find a few more species than you would expect, including seedeaters. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-23 |
| Titel | Day 15: From farmland to the big city |
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| We drive over a back road and a high pass to San José. The farmland is beautiful: nothing large-scale, lots of trees in the meadows, and puddles and pools in the meadows. Probably also less fertilized, although there are also large plots that according to our guide need a lot of poison. We see a tapir in the hilly area, quite special. I am also happy with a green ibis, a species that was unknown to me. Green in an ibis is black with a green tinge. When we have lunch at the pass it rains a lot, and the promised feeders are quickly eaten empty by large chachalacas. Still, the weather produces a few new species. Without us getting soaked. Today's destination in a hotel in San Jose. In the hotel garden we see unexpectedly nice birds: an owl pointed out by the gardener, and a nightjar spotted by our guide. In the evening we have our last group meal. At 5:30 they have to go to the airport. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-24 |
| Titel | Day 16: To the bird resort Rancho Naturalista |
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| The group does indeed leave, and at the end of the day they are on the flight from Houston to Amsterdam. My driver comes to pick me up with a nice van to take me to Rancho Naturalista. He immediately tells me that he only speaks Spanish, so it is a quiet ride. Many bad roads though. That gives me the opportunity to type blog stories. At the resort I am immediately greeted in English and taken to my room in the main building. Suitable for my abilities, not many steps. I try to photograph hummingbirds, but they are small and fast. I will try again tomorrow. I also walk down a path, but that was not very smart. I was glad that an English lady overtook me. That felt safer, it was not suitable for me. For tomorrow morning I discuss a trip with a guide, safer anyway. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-25 |
| Titel | Day 17: Too much rain for an excursion |
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| I was supposed to go looking for a sunbitter today, but it's raining too hard to walk safely. The guide delays the excursion with a day to get less (no?) rain. I'm mainly working on the website today; there are 4 new blogs. I do manage take some nice pictures of the snowcap. That name is much better that Dutch name: "white-crowned Hummingbird". In many photos there's actually too little light for decent photos. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-26 |
| Titel | Day 18: The sunbittern |
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| The predicted dry day did not come, but usually it did not rain much. The excursion in search of the sunbittern went ahead. According to the guide, they are not very rare, but they are too difficult to find. The first one was found by the intern that came along in a garden. The sunbittern can be photographed reasonably well, but flies away quickly. The guide finds the same bird again at the river, but I was too slow for a photo. That is a recurring theme. The driver also sees one, searching for insects in the verge. This one let itself be photographed from a distance, I am satisfied. The excursion also yields a few new species, some from very far away. In the afternoon it rained again, so I took an afternoon nap and wrote this blog. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-27 |
| Titel | Day 19: Antpitta |
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| The weather was beautiful, very special. Today I'm moving to a new location, Quelitales. They mainly focus on birdwatchers. It was very quiet there, that must have something to do with the rainy season. The hotel has special species. On their property is a fairly high waterfall where a hummingbird hunts mosquitoes and has no interest in flowers: the Green-fronted Lancet. The owner's pride is that he got an Antpitta to come and get a tasty bite around 5 o'clock in the afternoon. At first it had to be from a great distance, but after 4 years of training of getting closer it can be photographed well. Not always, how often the antpitta comes I will know after 6 days. That's how long I'll stay here. The photo of the Antpitta is special: with 300 mm (effectively 600 mm), handheld, ISO 16000 and 1/13th second. The combination of Olympus camera and DxO Photolab makes things you could only dream of before. Says the technician. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-28 |
| Titel | Day 20: Special species |
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| Today half a day of guiding with specific target species. Or actually mainly one species: the Cabanis' Ground Bunting. The municipality uses the Ground Bunting as a mascot: there is a large colorful statue of the species in front of the town hall. The municipality is also the place where the guide lives, so he also knew that owls sleep in the trees on the central plain. The owls had moved to another tree on the square, which the local employee could point out. And indeed they were in that tree. The tour also provides beautiful photos of the Common Tody-Flycatcher and another new flycacher. | |
| Date: | 2024-11-29 |
| Titel | Day 21: El Copal |
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| El Copal is a park and lodge an hour's drive from my hotel. El Copal is located in an area where there are no asphalt roads. It is a relatively poor and sparsely populated area, and to get to the lodge you first have to open the gate yourself. In short, very different from the Netherlands. The guide was already at my hotel at 5 am, so we start with breakfast, with the Costa Rica version of an uitsmijter, with rice and beans next to the eggs and fried cheese. El Copal has a feeder for tanagers, but the attraction for me are the other birds. They are not attracted by feeders but are just there. That was difficult for me, but luckily the guide recognizes the sounds. He manages to find a number of new species. And of course the blog contains new photos of old acquaintances. |
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| Date: | 2024-11-30 |
| Titel | Day 22 and 23: Heavy rain |
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| The weather is not cooperating. It rains almost continuously, only occasionally it is dry. One of the dry moments now gives the opportunity to test whether ISO 40,000 also works. The image of the hummingbird is of course not super sharp, but the hummingbird still looks quite nice with DxO PhotoLab. The photo is 10 minutes before sunset on Sunday in a dark forest. The photos were taken with a tripod. There are no photos of day 22 (December 2). The rain was too bad. I used the time to make more photo blogs. | |
| Date: | 2024-12-01 |
| Titel | Day 24: Working on the website |
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| Today I also made a blog for the last few days that are missing. All together, almost all the bird species that I have a photo of are included in a blog. In the penultimate location I have 199 bird species in a photo, of which 9 are missing in the blogs, also in the overview by the way. Of the 199 photos, 128 were new, the other species I saw in the US or Brazil. Tomorrow I will go to a location where I am sure that a few more species will be added. While processing the photos, I also find things that I want to improve in my website program. I don't have to be annoying in the rain. The morning of day 24 is such a rain programming moment. Today's photos are from the dining and viewing area of the hotel. | |
| Date: | 2024-12-03 |
| Titel | Day 25: Rain at 2000m |
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| The depressions from the US are still coming this way. Last month had the most rain in 140 years, so you could say it is above average. But last (Dutch) summer it was so dry that the hydroelectric power stations could not run at full capacity. Wherever you go there is record weather. The location Case Tangare Dowii is 2000 meters high, on the slope where the showers from the west empty. At least there is a lot of rain available. The location is specifically aimed at birdwatchers. A professor who has a cottage on the mountain ridge, with 3 guest rooms. I am now sitting in the living room with a view of the feeders. At this altitude a few new species are reporting. There are also verbana bushes for the hummingbirds, but hummingbirds do not like wind and rain. I do not either, so I mainly stay inside. |
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| Date: | 2024-12-04 |
| Titel | Day 26: Mist at 2000m, nice weather at 1000m |
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| The wind is less than yesterday, but it is so cold. The feeders are on the wind side, and you have to open a window if you see a bird that you want to photograph. Usually the birds fly away then. The bedroom is just as cold, cold wind with rain of 10 degrees against single glass cools the room to 12 degrees I think. I didn't bring any clothes for that. A learning moment, better look at what you buy. Rain with strong wind at 2300m is just as cold as the wind is in a sailboat on the North Sea at night. Just like the Scots walked with a T-shirt and shorts in 14 degrees, the owner walks with a T-shirt. At 2 o'clock I was picked up for San Jose, where it is 23 degrees. That is better. The photos show the same birds as yesterday. |
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| Date: | 2024-12-05 |