We have been to Costa Rica quite a few times, but it was
our first visit to Puerto Quepos which is on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast.
It is a small town that lies amongst a dense tropical rainforest. Named for the
fierce Quepoa Indians who once inhabited the region, Puerto Quepos was
officially put on the map by famed explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1519.
sail in
Here I set up a birding tour with Andres. Andrés Socio - Endemic Bird Expert Costa Rica TOURS - aclaves@gmail.com
We walked right by him
at the dock since we didn’t see a sign with my name on it. We called and he
waked out to meet us. He said he didn’t like to hold a sign as it looks “too
commercial”. While we waited the few minutes for him we saw 4 Macaws fly
overhead. He later told us that this side of Costa Rica only has Scarlet
Macaws, so that made them easy to identify. (they were a bit high overhead and
I hadn’t gotten out my binoculars yet.) Andres was very nice and he talked
about the various birds on our target list that we had a probability of seeing
at our 3 stops. He also had a driver/guide with him named Alejandro. He also
was quite knowledgeable and also does tours. He speaks Spanish, English and
French and is learning the bird names in French so he can guide all the French
speaking guests. (they receive quite a few)
Our first stop was Esquipulas
about 35 minutes from the Marina and about 900 ft above sea level. Our day
started slow in seeing birds, but once we started seeing them we found a lot. I
spotted a Hummingbird and Andres ID’d it as a Charming Hummingbird which was
one of our new birds today. We saw a lot of raptors and wrens, tanagers, flycatchers,
warblers and I spotted a Yellow-fronted Toucan. We also worked really hard to
find the Black-hooded Antshrike. Andres called it and called it and finally it
came right out for us to see it. There were also quite a few different tanagers
and a beautiful pair of Blue Dacnis. The female was exceptionally colorful and
the male was young and blotchy. There was also a horse that seemed quite amused
at our birding efforts.
Great-crested Flycatchers
Great-crested Flycatcher
Charming Hummingbird
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Gray Hawk
Yellow-throated Toucan
Juvenile Gray Hawk
Charming Hummingbird
immature male Blue Dacnis
female Blue Dacnis
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Lineated Woodpecker
Black-hooded Antshrike
From there we went to Playa
Rey located south of Manuel Antonio Park which is a seasonal wetland. This area
also was a Palm restoration forest. There were lots of Squirrel Monkeys there.
We got one photo of the fast moving little guys. The wetland had a lot of
birds. We saw a Grey-necked Wood Rail (now called something else), Great
Egrets, Blue Herons, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, several Bare-throated Tiger
Herons, Northern Jacana, a couple of American Pygmy Kingfishers, Ringed
Kingfishers, Little Blue Herons, Green Heron, several different woodpeckers,
Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-gray & Cherries Tanagers, Inca Doves, Morelet's
Seedeater and more.
Squirrel Monkey
Palm reforestation (for Palm Oil)
American Pygmy Kingfisher
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Blue-gray Tanager
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Inca Dove
Green Heron
female Ruddy Dove
Yellow-throated Vireo
Morelet's Seedeater
We drove back to Quepos
for lunch. Andres gave us several choices to choose from and he called ahead so
it would be ready for us. We had Chicken Rice and the guides had Shrimp Rice.
(Arroz con Pollo & Arroz con Camerones. The restaurant was just outside the
National Park and was called Costa Linda. It was the best Arroz con Pollo I
have ever tasted. We talked about the difference in Panama’s food which is
bland in comparison to the tasty food in all the other Central American
countries.
Costa Linda Restaurant
Arroz con Pollo
After lunch we birded in
Manuel Antonio National Park. One of the most beautiful and bio-diverse areas
in the world, this 1,700-acre national park features tropical plants and
animals living within the lush rainforest, white-sand beaches and amid the
coral reefs.
We saw quite a few birds
here including more hawks, euphonias, Tropical Gnat Catchers, a Chestnut-backed
Antbird, a couple of more Yellow-fronted Toucans and a Scaly-breasted
Hummingbird. We also saw 2 very young White-tailed deer, an Agouti and an
unusual Basalisk lizard that acts like a chameleon.
walking to National Park
juvenile Common Black Hawk
Yellow-crowned Euphonia
this guy took our photo - he was selling bags of ice
We saw a lot of birds
today (around 90 different kinds and 8 of them were new.) It was a very nice
day with our 2 guides out in nature and of course finding a few new birds.
Back at the dock, we
watched a ceremony for a bunch of people that had been sport fishing and they
were competing to see who got the largest of each species.
on the tender back to the ship
inside the tender
We caught one of the
last tenders back to the ship. We showered and went upstairs for dinner since
we missed our time for the dining room. Then, we went to watch another
production show called Motor City. I’m a Motown gal, so it’s always one of my
favorites and this group of singers and dancers are amazing.
We went upstairs to play
the 70’s music trivia. We won! I know my disco and Motown and we won the “cheap
ship champagne”. The assistant CD said mix it with OJ to make it drinkable. If
I didn’t mention it in an earlier post, our table-mates from 2017 Bill &
Fran sent us a bottle of bubbly which we enjoyed on the Panama Canal transit.
Out travel agent also sent us a bottle of wine. Thank you both!
Puerto Quepos, Costa
Rica photo link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2ySVdnPkk2KMxULv5
We now have 2 sea days before Huatulco, Mexico.
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