Birding Around the World

23/05/2019

White-Throated Mountain Gem

We saw this little guy amongst the hummingbird species at San Gerardo de Dota in the highlands of Costa Rica where this species is endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama.

03/04/2019

Slaty Spinetail

We saw this spinetail in the highlands of Costa Rica last week. The highlands of Costa Rica have such a wide array of unique and endemic species!

01/04/2019

Prong-Billed Barbet

We saw a pair of these barbets in the highlands close to where we saw the hordes of resplendent quetzals and the sound of the black-faced solitaires and three-wattled bellbirds.

We had to tell the quetzals to get out of the way so we could photograph the barbets. Haha.

What an amazing morning in the highlands of Costa Rica!

29/03/2019

Who would love to come to the highlands of Costa Rica to see the Resplendent Quetzal?

Due to high levels of competition in a limited geographic area the resplendent quetzal evolved to have two-feet long tail feathers, bright colors, and a variety of other eye-catching features.

They live in the highlands of central America and where we were at Las Tablas, we saw at least 10 of them out in the open. Incredible.

28/03/2019

Three-Wattled Bellbird

The sound this bird makes is absolutely incredible. It's song sounds like a single note an electric guitar. Or an electric keyboard. It also has 3 wattles hanging from its beak.

Nature is incredibly fascinating. This bird is found in the higher elevations of Costa Rica.

28/03/2019

Green Thorntail

This hummingbird is one of the gems in the highlands of Costa Rica. We saw this one along with nine other species of hummingbirds within 5 minutes at the feeders at La Paz Waterfalls.

Who wants to see this gem in Costa Rica?

26/03/2019

Red-Headed Barbet

This barbet is found in the highlands of Costa Rica on some of the sky islands in Central America where there are a nigh number of endemic species. We saw 150 species in just a day and a half of birding.

Question: If I organized a 10-day birding trip throughout Costa Rica for April 2020, who would seriously be interested in joining us?

21/03/2019

The King Vulture

Typically this raptor is seen soaring in the air. We saw it on the ground towering above other black vultures eating a carcass. They're quite impressive up close.

20/03/2019

Violet Sabrewing

After we saw eight other smaller green hummingbird species, a few min later this much larger violet sabrewing entered the picture. It was much more striking than the other species due to its size and color.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens is a hummingbird haven in the mountains of Costa Rica!

18/03/2019

Black-Bellied Hummingbird

At La Paz Waterfall Gardens in Costa Rica just a 60 min drive from the airport you can find loads of hummingbird species at the feederes and in the garden, many of which are endemic to the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama, including this Black-Bellied Hummingbird!

13/03/2019

Red-Legged Honeycreeper

This is a breeding male and a common site in these areas in the Caribbean. Just photographed him eating a papaya out of a tree.

26/02/2019

American Pygmy Kingfisher in the House!

Did he make it out??

This little guy flew through the front entrance and then couldn't find its way out. It kept trying to go through the screen windows. And then it kept hitting up against the ceiling and the wall met trying to find a way through.

This kingfisher is used to taking cover in small bushes and dense thickets, and it was surprised it couldn't find a way through the wall. It flew around and around the house and made its way into my office.

I tried to guide it outside, but it wasn't working. I went out of the room as the cat entered the room. Our cat has been quite useless and has never been a hunter or caught a mouse to save its life.

But two seconds later the cat came trotting out of the house with the kingfisher in its mouth. I was happy that our cat is now hunting, but sad that it took this little kingfisher.

This little guy was an American Pygmy Kingfisher to be exact, the rarest kind of the 6 species of kingfishers. I've seen all the other 5 species except for this one. This little guy is more difficult to find because it's so small and stays hidden in bushes and streams.

He was only 5 inches big, the smallest type of kingfisher. Rest in peace.

25/02/2019

C**k of the Rock

Did you know Manu Park in Peru has more than 1,000 bird species within its boundaries??

There are more than 500 species in the cloud forest at higher elevations and another 500 species in the lowland rainforests.

A 2-week safari in Manu typically yields between 400-500 species counts, with lots of other jungle mammals and creatures possible too, including monkeys, jaguars, peccaries and more.

If Manu isn't on your bucket list for birds, it should be a top destination!

24/02/2019

Would You Rather See an Easy-To-See Toucan or a Drab-Looking Rare Endemic??

These keel-billed toucans in Costa Rica are gaudy and colorful just like any quintessential tropical bird. They are also so easy to see that tourists spot them all the time without trying.

So would you rather see that or a geographically limited rare endemic like the volcano junco that occurs only in Costa Rica and Panama above 9,000 ft?

Except it's also mostly gray and a little black. It's very drab and boring by most people's standards.

Which would you prefer to see??

23/02/2019

What Country Would You MOST Want to Visit for Birdwatching?

For me it would be the country that has one of the highest number of bird species AND endemics in the world. Fun facts --

- Almost 10,000 bird species exist worldwide.
- More than 1,800 species are found in each Columbia and Peru
- That's almost 20% of bird species worldwide are found in just Peru or Colombia. That's incredible!
- Within Peru there are 3 trips (North, Central and South) in order to encounter as many species as possible.

I first became interested in birdwatching when I went to Manu Park in Peru to look for jaguars and ended up seeing 229 species in addition to jaguars.

The species pictured here is the Puna Teal which we saw in the Andes on the way to Manu.

22/02/2019

Blue-Throated Goldentail

This is one of 8 hummingbird species we've seen on the property. There are 12 species in the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.

They are not easy to photograph! This female was perched almost exactly where we saw the black and white owl in the starfruit tree.

She can be identified by the red beak and the white on the breast shows she is a female.

21/02/2019

White-Necked Puffbird

I've seen this bird now in two different countries -- in Costa Rica and Peru. The puffbirds are interesting because their bodies are more rotund than your average bird.

And they typically hang out on exposed branches and stay still for a period of time making photography much easier! I photographed this bird at the top of the tower in Kekoldi on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica -- about 20 min away from our home.

21/02/2019

20/02/2019

Broad-Winged Hawk

I was out with my 4-yr-old daughter and saw this broad-winged hawk. These are one of the more common hawk species to see here in the Caribbean.

At school my daughter had made some binoculars made out of 2 finished rolls of toilet paper bound together with some string.

So she brought her binoculars out and was trying to see birds while I was eyeing this hawk. It was quite cute.

19/02/2019

Black and White Owl

This owl is very common in Central America and Costa Rica, but seldom seen. I was able to get a photograph of one because this guy landed in our starfruit tree right outside our home. He stayed there all day sleeping. This one was a lifer for me after being in Costa Rica for almost two years now. A really stunning owl.

18/02/2019

Slaty-Tailed Trogon

This slaty-tailed trogon we regularly see at our retreat center in Costa Rica near the Caribbean Ocean. We moved to Costa Rica a few years ago to be more out in nature and for me, specifically bird watching and exploring in nature.

My wife is a yoga instructor so we have a yoga retreat center, but my love is different. :) I also love taking groups to different locales around the world.

I hear the sound of this trogon almost every morning when I wake up or when I'm walking through the forest. Trogons also like to stay in one spot so they are easier to photograph.

26/07/2016

elf owl - smallest owl in the world. Taken in California Gulch southwest of Tucson.

26/07/2016

Just went birdwatching south of Tucson in Arizona and saw 38 new species including some rarer species like the buff-collared nightjar and the elf owl.

07/02/2016

If you completed A Big Year in North America, the max number of species that even the best see are just above 700 species. In ONE 2-week trip to Columbia or Peru, you could see up to 650 species, many of which are endemic, and are insanely beautiful and decorated with gaudy exotic colors, beaks, tail feathers and more.

05/02/2016

I first became interested in bird watching when I went on safari in the Amazon Jungle in Peru in Manu National Park. My intent was to see jaguars. I did see jaguars, but I also saw hundreds of exotic birds along the way. Since then, I have become an avid birdwatcher. My intent is not just to see 5,000 of the 10,000 worldwide species, but to appreciate the beauty and variety of species AND to bring others with me to have them see with their own eyes the beauty of Mother Nature.