After we left Cerro Lodge we sat in the traffic at the Tarcoles Bridge. Construction on the bridge has meant waits of 3 hours sometimes but we were lucky that with the Easter holidays they had stopped most of the construction and so our wait was not long.

I stopped at a pharmacy in the first town we came to. With google translate and a clerk that spoke a bit of English I had a doctor take a look at the infection and tell me I needed oral antibiotics, something I suspected myself. It took all of 5 minutes and $46US to be back in the car with cream and the antibiotic. I ran it quickly past Keira (the family pharmacy tech) and started taking it. Hopefully it will work fast.

We both enjoyed the air conditioning in the car and I kept my legs cool to help with healing for the 5 hour drive down the coastline with views of the ocean here and there. We saw Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds that we have seen many times in the past.

We had originally planned to stop at the very popular Manuel Antonia NP but it was another situation of having to try and reserve your time to get in and it is apparently very crowded as the beaches there are beautiful. After speaking with some birders we opted not to go there because more than likely we would be seeing birds we had already seen. I was not wanting to be on crowded trails either.

Needing a break from driving we pulled into a birding lodge that had been recommended to us and had a nice cold smoothie. They offered trails to the ocean and guided birding but it was mid-day and hot and we did not want to spend hours hiking or pay the fee they wanted. So we enjoyed the smoothie and then carried on.

We stopped at the Rincon River bridge where Yellow-billed Cotingas can be reliably seen. We had no idea where people looked from or which side of the bridge to look but we checked out the area and will have to get some intel from the lodge and stop again on our way out. We did get another lifer at the river although we would not know until later when Jerry checked pictures. A Ruddy-breasted Seedeater was tucked behind a Variable Seedeater.

We arrived at Danta Corcovado Lodge and it was fantastic . A large open air main restaurant and lobby built from bamboo is the centre piece that offered places to sit and eat. No shoes were allowed in this structure to keep the floors as gleaming as they were.

Our room was like a tree house/hobbit house. It was made to look like it was in the roots of a ficus tree. It was very cool and had another outdoor bathroom that was stunning compared to the last one.

We opted not to go for birds as it was very hot but instead relax a bit and catch up on blogs, FB shared albums and ebird lists and pictures. This is the only lodge without cell service but the wifi was very effective. Tomorrow we have the whole day at this lodge to explore on our own. I opted to not book any guided tours hoping there would be enough to find on the large property. We could have tried for the Mangrove species and booked to go to the Corcovado NP but both of us are getting tired and so we will stay and be ok with what we might miss. While we were busy on our computers one of the staff came over to call out attention to the Squirrel Monkeys that were arriving for their afternoon snack courtesy of the Lodge.

Before dinner we walked a bit of the trails and added two more hummingbirds – Charming and Blue-throated Goldentail. The hummers always seems so easy since they are always around the verbena that every lodge seems to have planted. All it involves is standing or sitting near it and eventually you are rewarded. Getting pictures, of course, is a different story as Jerry will attest to.

We also heard a Little Tinamou and hope we will get to see one, we heard Black-faced Antthrush and the Black-cheeked Ant- Tanager, an endemic with a limited range. We went into the bar where I decided on my first Gin and Tonic of the trip. Very tasty! Dinner was, of course, delicious as have all the spots been. At this lodge all dinners are the same price and include soup, bread, the main and dessert. I had shrimp and Jerry had a fish with a guacamole kind of sauce.

The downside to this lodge is no air conditioning like we had at the last place and so my skin is not going to heal in the heat that continues through the night. Usually we do not use air conditioning but I would have welcomed it. The power was off in the night and so the fan was not even working. I woke up in the middle of the night quite uncomfortable, the first time on the trip. In the morning, at 5:30 I took my third dose of antibiotic and was vomiting by the trail 10 mins later. Shoot! there is a reason they say to take them with food. I had just forgot. I went back and forth to the room for the next 30 minutes until my stomach finally settled with a granola bar. I won’t do that again! We started the morning a bit late but I was glad we had not been on a guided tour. We thought we had finally managed to find the Fasciated Tiger-Heron, a species we missed in the mountains but after asking a guide later to look at the pictures it turned out to be a juvenile Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, the species we already saw. They are a tough ID and even the guide had to look carefully so we did not feel too bad about messing up the ID.

We walked on to the Canopy tower and spent a wonderful few hours watching birds fly in and out around us. We saw our first Fiery-billed Aracari, Golden-naped Woodpecker, and Gray-headed Tanager. We saw or heard 48 species in the few hours we were there.

Remember how I said the Scarlet Macaws are soooo loud? Listen to this:

We had seen the Chestnut-backed Antbird at Carara NP where Jerry spent so much time trying to get a very bad picture and here at this lodge they were everywhere, popping up beside the path, on shrubs and on the path for great views. We had a good laugh over it as it seems like this has happened with many of the birds. The first picture takes so much effort and then after that the bird just keeps popping up.

We stayed until 8 and when the birding started to slow down we headed for breakfast and had the standard we have come to expect at all the lodges. Both of us like the Gallo pinto and I will be looking up a recipe at home to make some. Of course, I also wish I had chefs at home to make all my meals! It has been a very big perk to these 3 weeks not having to cook.

We headed back out even though it was already hot and an hour later on the trails we hit maximum humidity. Our clothes felt soaked, our glasses were steaming. We had sweat running down our backs, faces and getting in our eyes. My palms were even sweaty so it made carrying the phone to hear the calls difficult. Ugggh! and birds were singing right in front of us over and over but we were not able to see them. It was so frustrating. Would a guide have better luck finding the birds? I don’t know…

We sat down on a bench to take a break and there was an Aracari just sitting quietly in a tree. I wonder how many birds we walk by without any idea they are there. Most of our hike we had been accompanied by the resident dog who walked with us, went ahead, came back and essentially followed along with us. As we neared the cottages the dog suddenly took off and bounded into the shrubs flushing a number of birds that we quickly figured were quails or doves. The birds flew a distance but we managed to get on them to ID them as the Marbled Wood-Quails we had seen at Carara NP. There were birders at the cottages near by and they came out for a look so we managed to get a few more people on the birds. People hear these Quails but do not always see them. We ended our morning walk at the Hummingbird patch and it did not disappoint with another lifer, White-crested Coquette! A stunning Hummingbird if it slowed down enough for Jerry to take a picture.

We headed back to our house around noon drenched in sweat and took refreshing cold showers. It felt so good! We spent the afternoon again in the restaurant area catching up with pictures and lists and enjoying a tiny breeze in the 32 feeling like 39 weather. I managed to FT with my friend Marg and my kids and just enjoyed the ambience. We would not have had this luxury on a birding tour as we noted all of them were still out in the heat. It is not easy to let the birding go and just decide to sit and enjoy.

And while we sat there the Riverside Wren came to us. We had only just heard it in Carara NP and here at the lodge but finally there it was on the bank of the river beside us so Jerry could take pictures. LOL sometimes just sitting and waiting yields good birds

We headed back out onto the trails and spent some more time at the Canopy late afternoon. A Black-bellied Wren was calling and calling in a shrub at the base of the tower. We stood there and eventually I had glimpses of it deep in the shrub. Jerry was on the other side of the shrub and we talked back and forth as we watched it move through the branches. He tried to get a picture but the bird was not very co-operative. The best pic was this:

And we finally managed to see a White-browed Gnatcatcher that we have heard at a few lodges but never seen. Again, the bird was not too co-operative.

We also saw a lifer Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, almost identical to the Russet-naped Wood-Rail we saw back at the Botanical Gardens at the University. Thankfully, they have separate geographic locations so that we do not need to figure out which is which.

I know I’ve posted a few pics and videos of ants but I just really became fascinated with them on this trip. You could not ignore them. They were everywhere!

Ok, I promise no more ants!

We met up with an American birder later on the walk who gave us great information about finding antbirds and how they feed and he also told us about a lek for Orange-collared Manakins on the property, something I did not know. Normally, I would be checking ebird each night for where we were and what people were seeing but I have not managed to do this very often with all the pictures and recordings to go through so I had no idea they were at this location. The male birds keep an area “clean” for the females and when one is present they jump from stick to stick above the cleared space using their wings to make a snapping or popcorn sound. He showed us the area and we heard the birds making their funny popcorn or electric noises and I had a very brief view of some orange but that was all. We decided to try first thing in the morning. In our chat we found out that he was on his 9th trip to Costa Rica to finish seeing all the species and needed, of all things, the Marbled Wood-Quails. We all had a good laugh that we had seen them twice in the last 3 days and here he was on trip 9 never having seen them. We showed him where we had seen them and he was determined that his morning was to try and track them down. Just before dinner, back at the parking lot we saw and took a photo of a small olive bird with bright orange legs – it was an Orange-collared Manakin female!

We headed into the bar before dinner so I could have another Gin and Tonic and I chatted with a group of women that had a guide touring them around and found out some details for looking for the Yellow-billed Cotinga at the river crossing. I decided since every meal was the same cost, to order steak and Jerry ordered shrimp. The steak was very, very good and we thoroughly enjoyed another lovely meal.

I slept better the second night despite the power once again being off for some time in the night. Seems to be a usual happening as flashlights are provided by the beds. The antibiotics were doing their job and the bite infection was starting to subside.

We were awake and ready by 5:30 again, the result of falling asleep before 10. We quickly made our way in the early light to the trail and lek. There was a bench there and we sat.The calls of the birds started almost immediately but it was still dark to see anything. I tried to video the calls and pressed wrong buttons and then apparently put my phone down recording and so got a great recording but no picture. HAHA!

Then the birds appeared -and we had great looks at them. they were like a burst of sunshine, the orange was just stunning to see. Of all the Manakin species I am glad it was this one that we were getting up close and personal with.

While we were sitting there another group of birds started calling quite loudly beside us. It was the Wood-Quails! I felt so bad that I had not gotten the American’s info to text him but it might not have gone through anyway with the lack of service. The Quails moved down the path and we could here more of them closer to the lodge calling so we knew he would have at least heard them. We then continued on our way hoping to come across a group of feeding antbirds but it was not to be.

We went back and had breakfast and then packed up the car to head to our last lodge of the trip Canto del Bosque.

This lodge is very special – yes it is rustic, yes it has no cell service, but it is a beautiful place with loads of trails and birds and close to the National Park. The service again was impeccable, food delicious. We had nothing to complain about and wish we had days longer to stay and flush out all those Ant bird species.

On the way out we stopped at the Rincon River and stood out on the bridge for 45 minutes until we saw a Yellow-billed Cotinga. It was at quite a distance. At the end of our binocular strength. I was worried we were wrong and it was something else but what other completely white birds were at that bridge? I was going through possibilities in my mind and in the end just had to leave and hope that the pictures showed something.

And then we left the Osa Peninsula and headed North East to our last Lodge.

Danta Corcovado Lodge and Rincon River 19 species added to the year list with 16 of them Lifers