First - a few hours on the back of a muffler-less Unimog. There will be no wildlife within a 5-mile radius when this beast is barreling down the road.
.......and the remaining couple of hours on the back of a tractor that has wheels that tend to fall off from time-to-time
We finally got there and thought "what the hell - where are all the birds?" (uhhh - maybe THAT'S why the place is called "rare birds" - because there ain't any) . But after hanging out for a few days we realized they mostly came in the morning in flocks that pass though in 10 minute blocks. In those ten minutes you could easily see 5-6 species - and I'm talking 5-6 NEW species each time. Pretty cool. We didn't see a LOT of birds, but we saw a huge variety. Check out the list at the bottom (about 1/2 of those are from Rara Avis).
.....The place may now have been renamed "Rara Cervezas" after we pretty much cleaned out their stock of beer and wine. The bar bill was more than the room.
We stayed in the more rustic accomadations - modeled after your typical 1930's Southern Mississippi architecture, complete with poisionous snakes.
....a waterfall bath was preferred over the creepy shower
We decided to hike the 12 miles out instead of taking the tractor - just as fast as the bumpy-ass tractor and we got at least another 10 birds.
...and in Horquetas we had chicharon and cevivche bocas and a few cold beers. And that's where our troubles began..........
Grey Necked Wood Rail
Wattled Jacana
Northern Jacana
Grey-Headed Chachalaca
Black Guan
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Plumbeous Kite
American Swallow-Tailed Kite
Semiplumbeous Hawk
Roadside Hawk
White Hawk
Short Billed Pigeon
Chiriqui Quail-Dove
Red-Lored Parrot
White Fronted Parrot
Common Barn-Owl
Squirrel Cuckoo
Groove Billed Ani
Common Pauraque
Long-Tailed Hermit Hummingbird
Green Hermit Hummingbird
Green Violet-eared Hummingbird
Violet Saberwing Hummingbird
Purple-Crowned Fairy Hummingbird
Green-Crowed Brilliant Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Crowned Woodnymph
Purple-throated Mountain Gem Hummingbird
Cinnamon Hummingbird
Steely-vented Hummingbird
Green Thorntail Hummingbird
Violet Headed Hummingbird
Crowned Woodnymph
Belted Kingfisher
Keel-Billed Motmot
Collared Aracari
Emerald Toucanet
Keel-Billed Toucan
Chestnut Mandibled Toucan
White Fronted Nunbird
Acorn Woodpecker
Chestnut-backed Antbird
White Collared Manakin
Masked Tityra
Great Kiskadee
Grey-capped Flycatcher
White-ringed Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Long-Tailed Tyrant
Tufted Flycatcher
Scale-Crested Pygmy Tyrant
Wood Thrush
Sooty Robin
Clay-colored Robin
Brown Jay
Bananaquit
Black and White Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Collared Redstart
Slate-Throated Redstart
Grey-crowned Yellowthroat
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-Crowned Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Montezuma Oropendola
Chestnut Headed Oropendola
Great-tailed Grackle
Olive-Backed Euphonia
Yellow-Throated Euphonia
Blue and Gold Tanager
Tawny capped Euphonia
Common Bush Tanager
Shining Honeycreeper
Scarlet Thighed Dacnis
Emerald Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Black and Yellow Tanager
Blue-Grey Tanager
Tawny Crested Tanager
White-Throated Shrike Tanager
Scarlet-Rumped Tanager
Red-Crowned Ant Tanager
Buff-Throated Saltator
Greyish Saltator
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
Orange-Billed Sparrow
Yellow-Faced Grassquit
Thick-Billed Seed Finch
Blue Seedeater
Rufous-Collared Sparrow
Black-Striped Sparrow
Olive Sparrow
