Ann and Jim, excellent friends, happy and the most adorable couple you can imagine. They have been more times in CR than me I think (Im costarican) . Not only for birds and general nature lovers but also for spanish lessons.

Ana speaks better spanish than me!. They know the country so well and birds. Again another target list that Ann called wish list with no pressure!! They had never been in North pacific of this coutry (dry forest) so we focused on that region, we knew the list wasnt gonna be too high but some targets for them were still there. We had over 275 sps

Some of their targets were ghosts, some one of the questions: Carlos, could we get Umbrellabird and Lovely Cotinga? when you have to answer that question if you are positive then you say » maybe» but inside of your logic, NO.

Anyway to try for those and otherones we needed rain forest, so Arenal volcano, Tenorio and Caño Negro regions were listed on this trip.

We were punished by the rain in Arenal and Tenorio, it was bad..But our good vibes were there.

Stayed for 2 nights at Observatory Lodge and told them that days before Lovely Cotinga had been seen around. Our two days rained straight, Last morning before breakfast under the rain, just before leaving the area we sat for one hour and a half, accompained by other guides we were all giving the last try, when suddenly when we were all about to leave the area !!!!!!!! a blue bird perched one hundred feet away from us, eye level!!!!!!! Lovely cotinga.

Not only that after that high blood pressure moment, we walked along lake arenal, and I saw a black bird about the size of Brown Jay, I knew it!! A juv male Bare necked Umbrellabird!!! one of the most elusive birds of CR.

After that all birds remaining were coming one by one, our pockets were full of targest, so much we needed a sac to carry all those moments.

Some of the top birds:

Yellow eared Toucanet, Jabiru (mating, yes that´s right, I know),Pinneated Bittern,Great Potoo, Palm Warbler, Black collared Hawk, White fronted Nunbird, Bare crowned Antbird, thicket Antpitta,Dull mantled Antbird, Thicket Tinamou, Elegant trogon, Tody Motmot, Centralamerican Pygmy Owl, Keel billed Motmot.

 

Jim and Ann had many furnarids and nesting Ornate Hawk-Eagle with Esteban Viamontes in Monteverde!!