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Lowlands - 0 - 400 meters There are many beautiful beach areas along the Northern Pacific Lowlands and varied habitats more inland and on the Peninsula de Nicoya. Guanacaste is one of the most popular areas for tourists from Costa Rica and other countries. It is quickly being highly developed with new resorts and shopping areas. Here the beautiful half-moon beaches attract the many visitors. The airport in Liberia brings tourists to the beach much more quickly than landing in San Jose. Our birding club, however, doesn't look for the big resorts, but rather for areas that may be a bit more remote and where birding is the most abundant.
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Palo Verde
Pat led 10 members and two of Robert's guests on a 3-day trip to the Palo Verde National Park in northwestern Costa Rica. February is a great time to visit the park because the dry season is when waters subside and birds flock to the park and its river basin. Among the 105 species seen were Double-striped Thick-Knee, a Jabirufamily, and Limpkins. 12 more species were heard, for a total of 117 species identified. On their way out, the group was surrounded by about 80 Swainson's Hawks who were feasting on insects escaping from rice fields that were being burned. And on the way home, the group saw thousands of Blue-winged Teal on a lake and at least two rare Cinnamon Teal. |
105 Seen, 12 Heard for a Total of 117 Total Species |
Diria National Park
Pat led 10 members to the Diria National Park in northwestern Costa Rica. One of the newest national parks in Costa Rica, it is located 9 km south of Santa Cruz in the province of Guanacaste in the central highlands of the Nicoya Peninsula. The 1st afternoon started off slowly, hearing Long-tailed Manakins (known locally as 'el Toledo') and later getting good looks at a Pale-billed Woodpecker. After dinner they saw a Mottled Owl very well. |
Bird Count included105 seen and 8 heard, for a total of 113 species.
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