We had a quick walk around the grounds of the lodge seeing a few new birds such as Grey-necked Wood-Rail, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Glittering-belling Emerald, and a flyover Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture.
Leaving here we drove for a good 5 hours, stopping beside a decent sized lake where we saw our first Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and Muscovy Ducks, as well as Cocoi Heron, Striated Heron, Purple Gallinule, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, and quite a few commoner species.
On the other side of the road a Dark-billed Cuckoo posed nicely and we were surprised and elated to see a White-naped Xenopsaris fly into the same tree. Scanning from the same spot also revealed Brown-crested Flycatcher, White-throated Seedeater, Chestnut-vented Conebill, Savanna Hawk, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Grey Pileated Finch, and a stunning endemic Campo Troupial.
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| Masked Duck - phonescoped |
On the other side of the road a Dark-billed Cuckoo posed nicely and we were surprised and elated to see a White-naped Xenopsaris fly into the same tree. Scanning from the same spot also revealed Brown-crested Flycatcher, White-throated Seedeater, Chestnut-vented Conebill, Savanna Hawk, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Grey Pileated Finch, and a stunning endemic Campo Troupial.
An hour later we pulled off the main road and drove for quite a while along a dirt track to our lodge. This place was a little rustic but was situated in the middle of nowhere. There were some feeders here with stacks of endemic Red-cowled Cardinals coming down, as well as endemic Pale Baywings and Shiny Cowbirds.
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| Pale Baywing |
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| Red-cowled Cardinal |
After a siesta we walked along the trails and out into the Caating habitat. Close to the lodge we scored with a pair of Stripe-backed Antbirds and a pair of endemic Red-shouldered Spinetails. There was also a pair of Great Antshrikes here and despite the dense habitat everyone managed to see these birds. Nearby we saw both Lesser and Greater Wagtail-Tyrants in the same open area – both of which are due to be split in the near future. Continuing our walk we found Lined Seedeater, a Rufescent Tiger-Heron eating a huge frog, Hooded Tanager, and best of all a group of stunning endemic Scarlet-throated Tanagers. Initially only seeing a flock of females we eventually had a male fly in to the tree in front of us.
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| Rufescent Tiger-Heron |
Scanning from beside a large lake was good with White Woodpecker, Western Osprey, Snail Kite, Limpkin, Neotropic Cormorant, and White-winged Swallow all being new additions to our list. Walking back to the lodge we saw a few Masked Ducks in a small pool, both Green-backed and Crested Becards in the same tree and an impressive flock of endemic White-bellied Seedeaters.
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| White-bellied Seedeaters |
We ended the day with a close perched Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture at the lodge, quaffed a few beers and watched several Least Nighthawks flying overhead.
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| Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture |
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