Birding the Alameda Open Space

As I arrived at the parking area at the Alameda Open Space, a Red-tail Hawk sat on a bare snag surveying the world – and then he was off. We would see him circling as we made our way through the bosque during our morning’s walk.
Our first stop for the morning for the [...]

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Scouting for Longspurs and more – Socorro County

The flock of birds swooped in, landed at the far edge of the dirt water tank, briefly took a drink, and then was off again.
A group of Thursday Birders had traveled east from San Antonio on Highway 380 for almost 16 miles, and then followed a series of dirt roads that led north [...]

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Birding Costa Rica’s Northwestern Pacific Coast

“Jabiru,” called Charlie, our Costa Rica Expeditions guide. The large bird rose to the sky over the catfish ponds at Guardia with slow steady wing beats. It clearly was larger than the storks that also were in flight.
Our Audubon Naturalist tour group had traveled north on the Interamericana Highway to Liberia, [...]

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Birding Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Lowlands

As we dropped down through the clouds hovering over the crest of the Cordillera Guanacaste, the landscape suddenly changed. Our Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) tour group had entered Costa Rica’s dry seasonal forest and was greeted with rolling hills of dry grass, cattle ranches, rice fields and sparse trees. Never in my wildest [...]

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Birding Costa Rica’s Northwestern Lowlands at Caño Negro

A variety of waders fed in the marshy areas on both sides of the road as we headed towards Caño Negro –Great, Snowy and Cattle Egrets, a Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Storks, a Green Heron and Northern Jacanas were dotted around the edges of the ponds. The air was balmy, with a slight breeze – [...]

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Birding Costa Rica’s Central Mountains at Bosque de Paz

Hummingbirds danced in and out of the bushes as they visited the feeders at Bosque de Paz , a private ecological preserve between Poás Volcano National Park and the Juan Castro Blanco National Park in Costa Rica’s Cordilleran Central. There were Magnificent Hummingbirds, Green Hermits, Purple-crowned Fairies, Green-crowned Brilliants, Magenta-throated Woodstars, and my favorite [...]

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