Friday, February 24, 2012

La Sevegre Costa Rica

Cloud Forest near La Sevegre © John N Murphy

On 8th February we moved on to San Geraldo de Doto and the small town of La Sevegre where we were booked into the Sevegre Hotel de Montana.  This small pastoral mountain town of less than 150 poeple, is situated on the Pacific face of the Talamanca Mountains, a three hour drive inland from the west coast. The Savegre River runs down this steep valley from cloud forests above.   The whole valley offered excellent birding with a wide range of very comfortable accommodation.  The 9km drive down this valley was a bit hairy at times on dust tracks but the rewards at the end of it were well worth the scary moments.

Bird highlights here included nesting Resplendent Quetzals, Torrent Tyrannulet, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, Black Guan, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-tailed Hawk, White-collared Swift, Vaux's Swift, Grey-rumped Swift, Acorn Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Grey-blue Tanager,  Flame-colored Tanager, Summer Tanager, Silver-throated Tanager, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black & White Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Black-checked Warbler, Collared Redstart,  Rufous-collared Sparrow, Yellow-thighed Finch, Sooty-capped Bush Tanager, Slaty Flowerpiercer, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Sulphur-winged Parakeet, Yellow-billed Siskin, Orange-billed Trogon, Elegant Euphonia, Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher, Tufted and Yellowish Flycatcher, Clay-colored and Sooty Robin, and a selection of Hummingbirds that included Green-crowned Brilliant, Purple-throated Mountain Gem, Volcano Hummingbird, White-throated Mountain Gem and Scintilliant Hummingbird.

Elegant Euphonia © John N Murphy
Black Guan © John N Murphy
Black Phoebe © John N Murphy
 Acorn Woodpecker © John N Murphy
 Rufous-collared Sparrow © John N Murphy
 Flame-colored Tanager male © John N Murphy
Flame-colored Tanager female © John N Murphy
Clay-colored Robin © John N Murphy
 Sooty-capped Bush Tanager © John N Murphy
 Slaty Flowerpiercer  © John N Murphy
  Silver-throated Tanager admiring his own reflection © John N Murphy
Yellow-thighed Finch © John N Murphy

2 comments:

  1. Some great shots Murf, the 'pecker is gorgeous. Is it me or does the Sooty-capped Tanager look very similar to a Tit? Are they a similar size? Loved the ones of the crocs - how big was that fella?

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    1. Hey Floss,

      The Sooty-capped Bush Tanager is bigger and more chunky looking to Great Tit, more on to a fat little finch in size. The largest Croc was about 4-5 metres in size with the last photo on the page being a baby about 2 feet long.

      See you when you get home.

      Murf.

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