3D"Text

Odd Plumage or New CR Re= cord?

Dave Keeling was recently visiting CR [exa= ct date not given] and took two photographs of a tityra in the Orotina town square. When he sent a batch of his photos to Kevin Easley for review, the tityra images immediately raised a red flag. Kevin then sent me the image on the left for my comments. I instantly thought, “Black-tailed Tityra!?” since I’d never seen a tityra in CR with a head patte= rn like the one in the photo—one which fits Black-tailed Tityra <= i>Tityra cayana perfectly. The only problem is that Black-tailed Tityra is not k= nown to occur farther north than Colombia. I remembered once seeing a Senegal Pa= rrot Poicephalus senegalus in a palm tree across the street from the squa= re and considered the possibility of an introduction, but tityras aren’t commonly kept in captivity.

Kevin later sent a second image and this comment from Dave, “= The tityra photo is not a prank or a test. I'm glad to have captured a per= haps out-of-the-ordinary bird. I put it in with the Villa Lapas photos, bec= ause that's where we were going, but the photo was actually taken in the plaza at Orotina where we stopped to see the famous Black-and-white Owls Ciccaba nigrolineata. I remember being self-conscious about being the grin= go with the camera and tripod, and not spotting the owls immediately and wonde= ring about the patience of our driver, so that the tityra pair got minimal attention. They were pretty mellow and at one point one was too close = to fully fit in my frame. I looked in my Birds of Columbia book to= see the Black-tailed Tityra and the match looks pretty good. I wish my mem= ory was more clear. The excitement of the owls and later the toucans, aracaris, hummingbirds and quetzals were pretty overwhelming. I defini= tely remember that there were two individuals, and I'm reasonably certain that o= ne was browner than the other. My assumption was a mated pair. The bird in [the second] photo seems to have slightly more brownish trim, but to be hon= est, I cannot say for certain it is the other individual.”

You can just discern a brownish-gray coloration on the bird’s shoulder in the second image, which would fi= t a female Masked Tityra T. semifasciata; and the bit of pale coloration= on the underside of the tail also fits. Still, the darkness of the head and the extent of the dark give a distinct impression of Black-tailed Tityra. =

If you plan on stopping by the square in Orotina in the near future, in addition to admiring the owls, keep an eye o= ut for the “mystery” tityra.

Yellow-breasted Crakes Photographed at Caño Negro

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Kevin Easley sent these two = images taken in Caño Negro in mid-January. He also wrote, “There was a lot of floating vegetation in the main lagoon - photos are not spectacular = but hey - it's a Yellow-breasted Crake= Porzana flaviventer! I went = back a couple of weeks later but th= e water level had gone down about 1 1/2 feet and we were unable to get anywhere clo= se to the area in the boat. The only reason we found them was that I had spotted a pair of Pinnated Bittern= s Botaurus pinnatus on the far shore and I asked= the boatman to get us closer. He went directly into some floating vegetati= on and they came running out. We watched them off and on for 30 minutes -= one of my favorite experiences in birding here in Costa Rica.”=

Rare Record of Overwinte= ring Canada Warbler

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M= ost Canada Warblers Wilsonia canadensis should be spending the month of January flitting about in tropical foothill forests of the eastern Andes. However, = at least one individual decided to remain in Costa Rica this year. Kevin Easley reported to me that Ernesto Carman “saw an adult Canada Warbler on the Puentes Colgantes [Hanging Bridges] in Arenal back in early January and I commented to him that I had never heard of overwintering Canada Warblers be= ing reported. I forgot about it and then in late Jan at the same Puentes I= had it in a mixed flock - this after telling the British clients that Canada Warbler was not possible in Costa Rica at this time of year - whoops! Never say never I guess.”

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Resplendent Quetzal Witnessed at Quebrada Gonz&aac= ute;lez

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1= 5 Jan: Again, Kev= in Easley passed along news of “a very strange record in my opinion. A g= roup of clients including Mark Lockwood and Paul Sunby were on the Las Palmas tr= ail at Quebrada González at Braulio Carrillo NP and took this photo of a young male or female Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno feeding near a male Lattice-tailed Trogon Trogon clathratus.&= #8221; Unexpected, indeed!

Spotted Rail Seen at Pelón de La Bajura

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1= 8 Nov: [Please no= te that for this and the following entry I have deviated from the usual chronological order due to the fact that they are quite newsworthy (albeit,= a bit after the fact) and I didn’t want to “bury” them belo= w by inserting them with the November entries.] Jim Zook sent this fascinating account of his encounter with a Spotted Rail Pardirallus maculatu= s back in November:

“The coordinates for the Spotted Rail are 10.441, -85.3603. The images [on Google Earth] have great resoluti= on but were taken in the dry season and so show dry looking rice fields. If you pan out a bit you can see that the Rio Tempisque is not far away. When I was there in November the fields closest to the river were fallow and mostly covered with water and overgrown with aquatic vegetation and the roads were just drying out enough to drive on without getting struck. The areas further away from the river were mostly in mature rice that was just being harveste= d. There were many ducks and shorebirds here and this is an area that you can reach via public roads without having to go through any gates. I found the = rail by pure luck. I was driving slowly with the window down and heard the distr= ess call of a frog, the one they make while being eaten by a snake. I stop= ped and got out and thought, OK lets see a snake. I walked over to t= he ditch were the noise was coming from and as I came to the edge of the ditch, just off to my right the rail scurried out of the water-filled ditch and up onto the berm at the edge of the rice field. It stopped and looked at me fr= om about five feet away and I froze not daring to raise my binos. This staring match didn't last long, but what a glorious few seconds that was. The after= noon sun was at my back and there was hardly any wind. It finally shot off into = the flooded rice and out of sight. Never did find out what was making that frog cry, but it wasn't the rail.”

Second Coast Rican Recor= d of Curlew Sandpiper

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2= 1 Nov: Here’= ;s Jim Zook’s description of discovering a Curlew Sandpiper Calidr= is ferruginea—a lifer for him and the second record for Costa Rica:<= o:p>

“The Curlew Sandpiper was in flooded rice fields at the La Cutacha sector of Pelón de La Bajura (10.4118, -85.3825). The roads were just starting to dry out and the mucking tractors were making their first passes through fallow muddy fields that still had a fair amount of standing water. This is inside the Hacienda and behind a loc= ked gate (at the good time of year). You need to get permission and enter from = the Interamerican highway just W of Pijije (entrance to Lomas Barbudal). It is = a U shaped area surrounded on three sides by the Río Tempisque and if th= ere is a big flood it fills in with water during the wet season. If you were to= go there now in verano the area is much as the satellite photo [on Goog= le Earth] shows it except that it is super dry and dusty and a main thoroughfa= re for trucks hauling sugar cane across the Rio Tempisque. They build a tempor= ary crossing in the dry season so cane from the N side of the river can get ove= r to the El Viejo mill at La Guinea.

”Almost got a photo of the sandpiper but just as I was setting up to digiscope it a Peregrine blew through and chased up the 3000 or so other shorebirds and ducks that were with it (G. and L. Yellowlegs, BN Stilts, St= ilt Sandpipers, Dowitchers, BB Plovers, Am. Golden Plovers, and assorted peeps)= . I spent the next 1.5 hours trying to find it again but had to finally give up= as the sun got bad (only view available was looking W) and the birds started to doze with bills under wings. In the search also picked up a Ruddy Turnstone, some Collared Plovers and a Wilson's Phalarope. Also a few Franklin's Gulls and both Caspian and Gull-billed Terns. An amazing shorebird show so = far from the coast. The ducks were also great there too, mostly BW Teal but also both Whistling-Ducks, 4 N. Pintails, 9 N. Shovelers, 11 L. Scaup and 1 Am. Wigeon. Throw in 9 Jabirus and a ton of the other Palo Verde type marsh regulars and it was not to be beat.”

[Note: I have added the rest of Jim’s migrant sightings from his mid-November visit to Guanacaste in the “Autumn Migrant Roundup” section below.]

Some Other Interesting R= ecords From Guanacaste

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05 Jan: Leo Garrigues observed a Jabiru= Jabiru mycteria going to roost in a mangrove lagoon behind Playa Nar= anjo in Santa Rosa NP.

19 Nov: Jim Zook reported a group of six <= b>Crimson-fronted Parakeets Aratinga finschi, four kilometers south of Bagaces, on= the road to Palo Verde.

29 Dec: Leo Garrigues saw a Blue-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia cyanura foraging along a creekbed on the Sendero Carbonal in Santa Rosa NP.

15 Nov: Jim Zook encountered a single adul= t Tricolored Munia Lonchura malacca accompanying a group of Indigo Bunting= s Passerina cyanea in rice fields near Bagatzí. And Carlos Jime= nez came across two adult munias along the new road from Comunidad to Playa Pan= ama on 10 Oct. These two sightings would seem to indicate that this non-native species may be spreading out from the known population center in Guinea. The first site is some 19 kilometers to the east, and the latter is about 22 kilometers to the northwest of Guinea.

[Carlos also reported a nesting pair of Ja= biru at the same locality.]

Yet Another Caribbean Pe= arl Kite

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0= 4 Jan: Luis Sando= val found a Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii just this sid= e of the Panamanian border, along the Sixaola River near Bribri. Apparently, this species is beginning to make inroads on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica—see below for the report from north of Cahuita a month earlier.<= o:p>

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T= hat same morning, Luis also saw five Snowy Cotingas Carpodectes nitidus (three males and two females). It’s always nice to see this fairly uncommon cotinga, but quite uncommon to see that many individuals!<= /span>

Mountain Elaenia Visits = the Coast

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3= 1 Dec: Leo Chaves reported seeing a solitary Mountain Elaenia Elaenia frantzii = from the Hotel Villa Caletas restaurant. This makes the third consecutive year t= hat he has seen the species at this site, which sits atop a coastal promontory between Punta Leona and Herradura.

First Central Valley Rec= ord of Pearl Kite

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2= 8 Dec: While driv= ing along the road from the La Garita monument to Cebadilla, I spotted a “flycatcher” perched at the top of a leafless tree. Stopping to= get a better look, I was stunned by the realization that the bird was a = Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii! This is the first time that this species = has been seen in the Central Valley, the actual site being about 15 km west of = the airport. It will be interesting to see if the species becomes established in the valley, as it has in other parts of the country. [For example, Jim Zook reported a pair nest building on 19 Nov, about 4 km south of Bagaces on the road to Palo Verde. The nest is in a tree about 75 meters from the road, on= the right when going towards Palo Verde.]

Another Southern Lapwing Sighting in the Central Valley

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2= 4 Dec: During a b= rief visit to the I.C.E. empoundment west of San Miguel de Turrúcares, Da= niel Garrigues picked out a pair of Southern Lapwings Vanellus chilens= is loafing on a cement structure at the southern end of the dam. However, when= we returned on 28 Dec, we were unable to find them, despite birding the site f= or a little over an hour (nor were there any interesting ducks about).

Laughing Falcon Heard Ea= st of San José

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1= 8 Dec: Cés= ar Sánchez heard a Laughing Falcon H= erpetotheres cachinnans calling from the University of Costa Rica’s sports complex in Sabanilla. This species = is uncommon at the western end of the valley, and this is probably the first report for the center of the valley.

Black-and-white Hawk-Eag= le Pair at El Ceibo

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1= 5 Dec: Birders who hiked up to the El Ceibo ranger station, and beyond to the 1050 m outpost, = in Braulio Carrillo NP on the La Selva CBC were rewarded by the spectacle of a pair of Black-and-white Hawk-Eagles Spizaetus melanoleucus. According to the park guards, the birds we= re being seen regularly in the days prior to the bird count, and may well have= a nest in the area. This was the first time the species had been recorded on = the La Selva CBC in more than twenty years of running the count.

20 Dec: Robert Dean also reported this species on = the Monteverde CBC. His route included the San Luis Waterfall and Cerro Buen Amigos. “On the way back down, at about 13:30, soaring above us= in the semi-open was a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle! I was mystified at fi= rst because in the very strong afternoon light I saw buffy patches in the wings, so immediately thought of Laughing Falcon, but this bird was clearly white, and was soaring fairly high. Further investigation caused me to discover that in very strong light, the Black-and-White Hawk-Eagle shows 'cinnamon windows' = in the wings, (Raptors of The World, Ferguson-Lees, etc., page 768). So i'm quite certain that's what we had. Be= ing very close to the continental divide it's not outside the realms of possibi= lity that one could stray over to the Pacific slope.

Yellow-headed Caracara S= een at Tortuguero

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2= 5 Nov: Dennis Wil= le reported what may well be the first record of this species in the northeast= ern corner of Costa Rica. He saw an adult Yellow-headed Caracara = Milvago chimachima fly across the Tortuguero River in front of the park ranger statio= n at about 09:00, but couldn’t quite believe his eyes. They boated closer = and watched the bird for nearly a minute as it perched on a bare branch before flying north towards the river mouth and out of view.

Mystery Raptor Photo

H= awks can often be difficult to identify, even when they perch long enough for scope views. This image was taken by Rich Hoyer on 16 Nov, along the road between= La Virgen de Sarapiquí and San Miguel. To check your guess, scroll to t= he end of this page.

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And Speaking of Raptors = . . .

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01 December: Paco Madrigal and José Alberto “Cope” Pé= ;rez Arrieta found a Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii perched besid= e the road a few kilometers south of Bananito, about “100 m beyond a one-la= ne bridge that curves.” There is a row of Erythrina trees on the left side of the road (as one heads towa= rds Cahuita, coming from Limón), where the bird sat as they watched it f= or about 15 minutes. Paco noted that it constantly raised and lowered its tail—a habit that he had not observed in his sightings of this specie= s on the Pacific side of CR. This represents one of just a mere few reports of t= his little raptor on the Caribbean side of the country, and the first that has reached me in a number of years.

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And a Bit Farther on Dow= n the Road . . .<= o:p>

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15 November: Daniel Martínez and Dimeiston Peñaranda watched sev= en Hook-billed Kites Chondrohierax uncinatus fly past the Kèköldi Hawk Watch tower in less than an hour. The first group consisted of four individuals, including a juvenile. This was followed by a pair, and finally a lone individual. There had only been one other sighting= of the species in the three months that the observers have been monitoring hawk migration this season—and thus far they have seen nearly 3.5 million birds on their way south!

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Parasitic Jaeger in the = Gulf of Nicoya

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16 November: Pat O'Donnell reported “a juvenile seen on Puntarenas-Paque= ra ferry about halfway across. Successfuly chased and robbed a Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus of prey item. Identified as Parasitic Jaeger Sterco= rarius parasiticus by medium size as opposed to more elegant look of Long-tail= ed S. longicaudus and more bulky look= of Pomarine S. pomarinus. Was over= all dark brown, lacking grayish tones often shown by Long-tailed. Also had less= er amount of white at base of primaries than is typically shown by Pomarine.”

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Autumn (and Winter) Migr= ant Roundup

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American Wigeon Anas americana: Jim Zook had one male at La Cutacha, Pelón de La Bajura, on 21 Nov.

Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata: Jim Zook saw nine females at La Cutacha, Pelón de La Bajura, on= 21 Nov.

Northern Pintail Anas acuta: Jim Zook found four females at La Cutacha, Pelón de La Bajura, on= 21 Nov.

Lesser Scaup Aythia affinis<= /span>: Jim Zook counted ten females and one male at La Cutacha, Pelón de La Bajura, on 21 Nov. Paco Madrigal a= nd José Alberto “Cope” Pérez Arrieta observed four birds on a pond near Bananito, s= outh of Limón, on 01 Dec. There were also four Pied-billed Grebes = Podilymbus podiceps, which, while presumably not migrants, are still noteworthy in= CR.

Reddish Egret Egretta rufesc= ens: There were several sightin= gs of a bird in the Tarcoles River estuary in Nov and Dec. Leo Garrigues had two bi= rds, one dark morph juv and one pale m= orph adult, in the estuary at Playa Naranjo, Santa Rosa NP, on 04 Jan. Luis Sand= oval also reported seeing a bird in the Tamarindo/Playa Grande estuary on 13 Jan. And this photograph of a bird was taken in the Golfo de Papagayo on 04 Feb.

Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus: One individual was seen flying past the Kèköldi Observation Tower during the period from 15 Aug to 15 Sep, and another was reported in the following count period between 16 Sep and 15 Oct..

Sharp-shinned Hawk Ac= cipiter striatus: Around 07:30 on the morning of 03 Sep 20= 07, Paco Madrigal watched a perched individual preen itself for about ten minut= es. The sighting took place on the grounds of the Hotel Sueño Azul in Horquetas de Sarapiquí. Then, at about 10:00 the same morning, a Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen flying over the reception-area clearing at La S= elva Biological Station. The only other reports of this species thus far are a t= otal of five birds seen from the Kèköldi Observation Tower between 16 Sep and 15 Oct.

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii: Likewise, five individuals were reported from the Kèköldi Observation T= ower between 16 Sep and 15 Oct. Jim Zook saw a second-year female at Chomes on 12 Nov.

Merlin Falco columbar= ius: Twelve individuals were ob= served from the Kèköldi Tower between 16 Sep and 15 Oct. Jim Zook saw two birds on 19 Nov; one was = at Pijije, by the Lomas de Barbudal turnoff from the PanAmerican Highway, and = the other was in Upala. He also had another sighting of a bird near Filadelfia = on 22 Nov.

American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica= : Jim Zook found ten birds at La Cutacha, Pelón de La Bajura, on 21 Nov.<= /p>

American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus<= /i>:= One individual was spotted along the coast at Chomes on 05 Oct by Jonas Nilsson= . A single bird, seen by Jim Zook, Bruce Young, Paul Murgatroyd and myself, was= on a rock above the waterline on the island off Cabo Blanco Reserve on 11 Jan.=

Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa: Jonas Nilsson found two individuals along the coast at Chomes on 05 Oct.

Red Knot Calidris canutu= s: = Leo Garrigues saw four birds along a lagoon in the mangrove estuary behind Playa Naranjo in Santa Rosa NP on 05 Jan.

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Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii: Jørgen Peter Kjeldsen sent this image showing two of the nine individuals he encountered foraging at a small pool on the summit of Irazú Volcano at about 3400 meters above sea level. All previous rec= ords for this species are from 1500 meters, or below. The visiting Danish ornithologist took the photograph on 14 Oct.

Pectoral Sandpiper = Calidris melanotos: Jim Zook reported two birds from the eastern sector of Pelón de La Bajura on 18 Nov.

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Dunlin Calidris alpina: Juan Carlos V= argas, while birding with Luis Campos from his boat dock near the mouth of the Tarcoles River, saw one individual among a group of Least Sandpipers= Calidris minutilla on both 03 and = 04 Nov. He reports that, according to Luis, the bird was still being seen two weeks later. Jason van Horn spotted one bird at Chomes in mid-Jan.<= /o:p>

Wilson’s Phalarope Phalaropus tric= olor: = Jim Zook had one bird at La Cutacha, Pelón de La Bajura, on 21 Nov.

Mourning Dove Zenaida macrour= a: = Rich Hoyer found one along the coastal highway some 10 to 15 km south of Quepos = on 07 Nov. This is much farther south than wintering birds are normally encountered.

Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi: I = noticed a perched individual at La Selva on 17 Sep and again on 08 Oct. Leo Chaves = had a bird in paramo vegetation atop Cerro Asuncion on 29 Sep. Max Vindas also reported one from the Atlantic Rain Forest Aerial Tram on 02 Oct. Together = with Jonas Nilsson and Jim and Bonnie Olson, we saw a bird working from a perch = over the road at La Virgen del = Socorro on 09 Oct. Luis Sandoval observed two individuals near the Caribbean coastal village of Manzanillo on 20 Oct.

White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus: On 17 Dec, John and Maureen Woodcock captu= red and banded their first individual in seven years now of monitoring migrants= at several stations on the Guanacaste coast. This bird turned up at the Refugio Iguanita station in Bahia de Culebra. Most records of this very rare CR mig= rant are from the Caribbean side of the country.

Blue-headed Vi= reo Vireo solitarius: Rich Hoyer h= ad one between the cheese factory and Stella's Bakery in Monteverde on 11 Nov. Car= los Jiménez and Jim Zook found one individual on Cerro Diriá on 16 Feb.

Warbling Vireo= = Vireo gilvus: Rich Hoyer spotted a= bird along the road above Hotel Villa Lapas on 09 Nov.

Purple Martin Progne subis: Jim Zook reported one male= from Bagatzí on 15 Nov.

Tree Swallow Tachycineta bi= color: César Sánchez watched a group of about 15 birds on the Lava Flow trail in Arenal NP on 28 Dec. Curiously, the swallows were feeding by plucking berries off a shrub (= Myrica sp.).

Gray-cheeked Thrush Ca= tharus minimus: Ernesto Carman saw one bird near the reception area of Savegre Hotel de Montaña in San Gerardo de Dota on= 28 Oct. Rich Hoyer also found one at Savegre on 06 Nov—possibly the same bird?

Blue-winged Warbler Vermivora pinus: The only report = comes from Leo Chaves, who saw one on 20 Sep, while birding at the Los Coyotes Reserve in Jaboncillal de El Carmen de Guadalupe—a site on the north = side of the Central Valley at about 1700 m.

<= br> Golden-winged Warbler Vermi= vora chrysoptera: Just two sighti= ngs that I know of: I had a bird at Jorge Serrano’s Paraíso= del Quetzal (Km 70) on 29 Sep, and J= ulio Sánchez and Ernesto Carman saw another individual above Frailes de Desamparados (Copalchí de Quebradilla) on 15 Oct.

<= br> “Brewster’s Warbler” Vermivora pinus x chrysoptera: Leo Garri= gues found a first generation male in a mixed flock at the edge of the forest by= the “1070 m” ranger station in the Braulio Carrillo NP transect on = 15 Dec. Avery Bartels, of British Columbia, reported seeing a bird along the r= oad leading to Tapantí NP, about 150 m before Finca Los Maestros, on 14 Jan. He described the individual as “overall grey with a yellow cap, thin black eye line and two white (slightly yellowish?) wingbars. Unfortunately, it disappeared before I could get a picture.”

Northern Parula Parula american= a: Ernesto Carman spotted one= bird in a mixed flock along the road to San Gerardo de Dota, above the Trogon Lodge= , on 28 Oct. [A female Blue Seedeater Amaurospiza concolor was also accompanying the same flock.]

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Magnolia Warbler Dendroica magnolia: Jim Zook came across a female in mangrove trees at Chomes on 12 No= v.

Black-throated Blue Warbler Dendroica caerulescens: Max Vindas reported seeing one individual at the Aerial Tram on 02 Oct.

Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata: Jim Zook saw a female near Bagatzí on 15 Nov. César Sánchez watched a group of six birds standing atop the (cooled) lava flow on the trail to this geologic attraction in Arenal NP on 28 Dec. Jim Z= ook found another bird near Liberia on 07 Feb.

Golden-cheeked Warbler Dendroica chrysoparia: After first being recorded for Costa Rica in Sep 2002, this species has since been sighted yearly at different middle elevation sites, which now include the Monteverde area. Robert Dean wrote with news of an adult female= in his back yard on the outskirts of Santa Elena in mid-December. Apparently t= he same bird was seen in more or less the same general area on the two followi= ng days by Dev Joslin and Gary Diller, respectively.

Townsend’s Warbler Dendroica townsendi: Jonas Nilsson and I saw one at Cabinas Suria, in San Gerardo= de Dota on 30 Sep. A dead Townsend’s Warbler found on the beach at Tortuguero (near Mawamba Lodge) by Walter Sakai on 14 Oct! Ernesto Carman h= ad a young male along the road to San Gerardo de Dota on 26 Oct.

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Palm Warbler Dendroica palm= arum: Jim Zook spotted one in ca= ne fields near Filadelfia on 20 Nov.<= o:p>

Bay-breasted Warbler Dendroica castanea: Max Vindas had a bird at the Aerial Tram on 02 Oct.

Blackpoll Warbler Dendroica striata: The day after his above-mentioned Golden-cheeked Warbler sighting = in mid-Dec, Robert Dean discovered an adult non-breeding plumage Blackpoll War= bler in a mixed flock by Stella's Bakery.

Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea: Esteban Biamonte saw a female on 03 = Sep in Coronado. Then, on 05 Sep he found a male at the same site. Both individuals were foraging with mixed flocks of resident species. James McKay and I had a very nice male foraging in a mixed flock at the edge of some woods at the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 15 Sep. Rafa Campos and William Granados also s= aw a male of the species at Kirí Lodge on 03 Oct. And Rich Hoyer reported seeing a first fall male in the trees on the first part of the Lankester Gardens road on 05 Nov. But what comes as quite a surprise is Luis Sandoval’s sighting of a female at Rincón de la Vieja Lodge on= 10 Jan 2008, when most of the species should be contentedly wintering on the eastern slope of the northern Andes!

<= br> Louisiana Waterthrush Seiurus motacilla: By no means a r= arity, but I was surprised to see one foraging on the Oxbow Lake trail at Carara o= n 12 Sep. This species tends to be found at middle and upper elevations in CR, though it goes to show that in migration things can turn up just about anywhere.

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Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas: Jim Zook found two birds, a male and a female, in cane fields near Filadelfia on 20 Nov.

Hooded Warbler Wilsonia citrina: Mariano Cruz reported seeing two individuals near the water tank, south of the village of Tortuguero, on 08 Sep. Jim Zook spotted a male in Liberia on 20 Nov. By the= second week of Dec, several individuals were being seen daily at La Selva, primari= ly along the entrance road and the SAZ trail.

Canada Warbler Wilsonia canadensis: James McKay = and I observed a bird at the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 15 Sep. Then, two indivi= duals at La Selva on 17 Sep. Max Vindas had one bird at the Aerial Tram on 02 Oct. During my birding trip with Jonas Nilsson and Jim and Bonnie Olson, we had three birds at Tapantí on 28 Sep, two at Los Cusingos on 01 Oct, one= at Carara on both 03 and 04 Oct, two at the Arenal Observatory Lodge on 06 Oct, and finally two more at La Virgen del Socorro on 10 Oct. =

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Mystery Raptor Resolutio= n

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I= f you identified the bird in the photo as an adult Bicolored Hawk Accipiter bicolor, you were correct! In his note, Rich mentioned that it even puz= zled him for a bit, which is understandable since the diagnostic rufous thighs a= re not visible given the bird’s pose. Still, in CR, no other raptor comb= ines pale gray underparts, dark gray upperparts, a banded tail, and a yellow-ora= nge cere.

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F= or reports prior to these, please check previous Costa Rica Rare Bird Reports:

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Oct/Sep 2007= <= o:p>

Aug/Jul/Jun = 2007<= o:p>

May/Apr/Mar 2007

Feb/Jan 2007=

Dec/Nov/Oct = 2006

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F= or reports prior to those, please check the Gone Birding Newsletter.

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H= ave you seen a rare bird in Costa Rica, or a species in an unexpected locality, or exhibiting odd behavior? If you have any noteworthy sightings, I (and the r= est of the birding community) would appreciate hearing about them. Please send reports to Richard Garrigues gonebirdingcr@gmail.com and include pertinent details such= as location (as precise as possible), date, time, and observers’ names. = If you have digital images, all the better; however, please send images at fil= e sizes of less than 500 kb.

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R= eturn to my home page.

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