Christian Walker: May 2011 Archives

Yesterday in the afternoon, we all went to Orlando's Forest.  It was magnificent - beautiful hilly country, heavily forested, with a waterfall echoing in each ravine.  It wasn't very birdy, but we still had a blast - checking out scorpions, army ants, and other cool bugs, swinging on vines, and simply being in the rainforest.  It wasn't until the very end of the hike, however, when things got very exciting.  The Walker Bros were bringing up the back of the group, when Christian spotted a motmot perched on a cecropia.  We maneuvered for a bit, trying to get rid of the backlight, before we realized it was a Keel-billed Motmot - one of the rarest of Central American birds.  It is not quite a myth, but it's getting there.  Here's one of the better shots we captured: 

Today was our free day, and Sebastian and We lived it up, going to El Silencio with Oscar in the morning, and chilling with Fanta and ice cream in the afternoon.  El Silencio was amazing - a legitimate rainforest chockfull of sweet birds and ants.  Seabass found a "golden ant," and we saw some spectacular birds like Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Rufous-winged Tanager, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, and Brown-hooded Parrots.  This Broad-billed Motmot gave us great looks.  

We're extremely thankful we were able to do this amazing research project, especially to Dr. Brown, Richard, our our fellow researching compadres, our parents, and Leaves and Lizards.  Pura Vida!

- The Walker Bros

Our morning point counts were a little slow, especially in the teak and vochesia monocultures. Some highlights included a pair of Gray-capped Flycatchers, a Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, and a very close Laughing Falcon - too close to get a shot of the entire bird.  

We've managed to average about 11 species of birds for each point count, the max being J where we usually see around 20, and O, where we only had 3 this afternoon.  O is in the forest, and although we may not see that many species in the interior forest, they tend to be pretty spectacular - Spectacled Owl anyone? Christian spotted this bird perched low in the vines and branches after we had flushed it.  Pretty much amazing...

Before the afternoon bird count, Christian spent some time photographing and videoing a singing Scaly-breasted Hummingbird.  Here is the coolest pic.  

A male Variable Seedeater was extremely tangled in the net, but Austin managed to disentangle it with a few extra hands - props to Christian Elise, and Turin.  

The day ended as every day in Costa Rica should - with a sunset as beautiful and splendid as the birds, plants, and people of this amazing country.  

Pura Vida!

- The Walker Bros

The morning bird counts went well, we went with the Behavior group, Alli and Turin, and managed to cover points A through H before breakfast.  We had great looks at a Green Honeycreeper, White-crowned Parrots, a Squirrel Cuckoo, and many Red-billed Pigeons.  

This Red-billed Pigeon was seen on our Laurel during the afternoon.  

After breakfast, we went through most of the rest of the bird points before going to mass.  The forest is incredibly evocative.  It is full of interesting plants, including a myriad of different epiphytes and lianas.  There are many bird calls emanating from the dense foliage, and there is so much potential for finding a special bird.  Yesterday it was the Broad-billed Motmots.  Today it was the Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher and the Black-throated Wrens - which filled the forest with their beautiful melodic, liquid whistles.  

View from just below bird point O

After we went to mass, we spent a while entering data and chilling on our porch.  Here is Austin doing just that.  

In the late afternoon, we went out again with Alli and Turin to do as many point counts as we could before it got dark.  It rained on and off, and overall bird activity was down, but we still saw a few cool birds, including Orange-chinned Parakeets and a Common Pauraque that scared some of us...

The Bird People at Bird Point N.  

Looking forward to an exciting day tomorrow.

-The Walker Bros

Hola!

A male Passerinni's Tanager poses on an almendra. I don't really know if his uppertail coverts or his bill glows more brightly.  They are very common around the property.  

This is Christian and Austin Walker reporting for the Bird Diversity Group.  We are the sole members of our group, and we're super excited to be heading to the Neotropics tomorrow.  

We're planning to study bird diversity with respect to forest type (whether it's original, natural reforested, etc.), and are hoping to be able to use mist-nets in addition to point counts to help us assess bird diversity at Leaves and Lizards.  

We've been birding for the past 7 years or so, and we've had experience birding in Central America before - we went to Belize for 10 days in December 2006.  Christian is a biology major, and Austin is a Classics major.  Christian hopes to go on to graduate school for ornithology to continue with his interest in birds, and Austin wants to get another degree in Classics.   

We'll be sure to keep you updated on our unofficial goal of finding 136 species of birds on the property - that's currently how many are on the property list.  It's definitely doable, and although we've got zero right now, that'll definitely change tomorrow evening.  

Hasta mañana, 

-The Walker Bros