Today was our last day in Costa Rica. But before focusing on the fact that we had to LEAVE this lush paradise, we decided to get up and get some more birding in!
Realizing that only later today I was going to be in the snow of Chicago, I put my camera to good use, trying to capture some species I hadn't yet.
The endemic Yellow-thighed Finch, above, was common during our stay at Savegre.
One can't leave Savegre without seeing the White-throated Mountain-Gem, pictured above. This, too, was a common highland endemic species present at Savegre.
Another hummingbird you can't miss at Savegre is the above Magnificent Hummingbird.
We snagged the uncommon Yellow-bellied Siskin near the headquarters that morning. This was our only new species of the day. See picture below.
With just a few minutes before 8:30, we took one last stroll down along the river. Although we didn't turn up any new species for the trip, we got more looks of Yellow-thighed Finch, Band-tailed Pigeons, Louisiana Waterthrush, etc.
During our stay at Savegre, we were surprised to find not only one, but two Stripe-tailed Hummingbirds along the river! A very rare bird at Savegre proper, we made it a priority to get photos (see above).Our transportation to the airport arrived at 8:30 AM. Our drive back to the airport was delayed a good hour due to a car wreck! Luckily we were still on time for our flights, etc.
The rest of the trip was uneventuful. We shed our shorts for pants and our t-shirts for sweatshirts. We arrived back in Chicago that night to a nice 4" of new snow, below freezing temperatures, and not a new bird for hundreds of miles around.
