Today was our first full day at Savegre. What a place! Waking early, we descended the hill to the feeder area where we saw many new birds for the trip. Lifers came quickly with the feeders ablur with Green Violet-Ears, White-throated Mountain-Gems, Magnificent Hummingbirds, and other non-hummingbirds like Slaty Flowerpiercer.
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The most common hummingbird at Savegre, the Green Violet-ear, photographed above.
Mountain Thrush, above, was very common during our stay at Savegre.
After breakfast, we headed uphill to the trails in the oak cloudforests. The transformation between habitats was amazing and the birdlife even moreso!
Hearing a beautiful thrush-like song, we eventually traced it down. See below.
The Black-faced Solitaire, an endemic of the highlands of Costa Rica and nearby Panama.
Spangle-cheeked Tanagers, photographed above, were present in many of the mixed flocks. This is also a highland endemic.
We decided to head back downhill and it was a good thing we did, the rain showers began. We took this time to mention to the Savegre staff that we had no hot water in our cabin! And as they said... "one DEFINITELY needs hot water at Savegre". They were right.
The rain continued through most of the afternoon. That evening after the rain broke, Ashley and I decided to walk down on the Waterfall Trail.
A Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush, pictured above, were easy to spot along the road to the trail.
It wasn't long before we spotted a particular bird perched over the stream, a Resplendent Quetzal! The striking male sat in view for many minutes to our delight.
The evenings get dark QUICKLY down in the bottom of the valley and we raced the dark to get back to the lodge that evening.
Overall, a great day of highland birding! Below is a list of NEW bird species we saw today:
* = Highland endemic
* Chlorophonia, Golden-browed
Elaenia, Mountain
* Finch, Large-footed
* Finch, Yellow-thighed
* Flowerpiercer, Slaty
* Flycatcher, Black-capped
* Flycatcher, Long-tailed Silky-
Flycatcher, Tufted
Flycatcher, Yellowish
Hawk, Red-tailed
Hummingbird, Magnificent
* Hummingbird, Scintillant
Hummingbird, Stripe-tailed
Kite, Swallow-tailed
* Mountain-gem, White-throated
* Owl, Costa Rican Pygmy-
* Parakeet, Sulphur-winged
Pigeon, Band-tailed
Pigeon, Ruddy
Quetzal, Resplendent
* Redstart, Collared Robin, Mountain
* Solitarie, Black-faced
Tanager, Flame-colored
* Tanager, Sooty-capped Bush-
* Tanager, Spangle-cheeked
* Tapaculo, Silvery-fronted
Thrush, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-
* Treerunner, Ruddy
Trogon, Collared
Tuftedcheek, Buffy
Violet-ear, Green
Vireo, Brown-capped
* Vireo, Yellow-winged
* Warbler, Black-cheeked
* Warbler, Flame-throated
Waterthrush, Louisiana
Woodcreeper, Spot-crowned
Woodpecker, Acorn
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