JUNE MEETING:
Wednesday, June 25th.
Meet at 7:00 PM in the Bean Museum Auditorium on the BYU Campus.
Our speaker for June will be our own Alton Thygerson, speaking about Wilderness
and
emergency medicine and first aid. Alton is a First Aid author for the National
Safety Council
and has published many books and manuals about First Aid. He published a weekly
article
in the Deseret News for 25 years. His discussion will include Lyme disease
and
West Nile Virus, as well as what to do when you cannot call 911.
FIELD TRIPS:
June 21st (Sat)
Payson Canyon
We'll bird in the evening then look for owls after dark.
We will meet at 7:00pm at the Payson McDonald's overflow
parking in Payson. Target species will be Flammulated and Saw-whet
owls.
A roadrunner Called Tommy
by Reed Stone
Occasionally there comes a "moment" in our lives that sticks in our memory as
interesting and somewhat compelling. This is the first of a three part series of
such a moment in my birding experience. You may want to save this so you can
connect it to the next part.
In 1964 I moved my family to the Mojave Desert just
outside of Barstow California. We had built a house in a sparsely settled area
outside the city limits. As our trees matured, a garden growing and a decorative
pond, it really attracted wild life.
I had noticed a roadrunner from time to time and decided I would try to attract
it to me. We had a refrigerator in the garage with easy access from the back
yard. I stocked it with some marble sized balls of hamburger. One day when the
roadrunner appeared I quickly got some "burger" balls and flipped one toward the
roadrunner. It caught his attention and was far enough from me he decided to
examine it. Cocking his head curiously he pecked at it and upon finding it
"safe", picked it up and ate it. I flipped more "burger " balls and he readily
picked them up and ate them.
As time went on he became a regular visitor. Gradually I reduced the distance
that I would cast the meat balls until, at last, he would eat from my hand. Our
relationship grew over time. He acquired a mate and built a nest in one of our
trees. I taped a mirror to a long pole and while Tommy (my wife named him) was
away from the nest I was able to see five white eggs. The coarse twig nest was
about 10' above ground.
I closely observed the activity around the nest as well as the general life of
the adults. They would regularly bring in insects, worms, grasshoppers, beetles,
and other small food when the chicks were small. As they grew the size of the
food would also increase in size. I found that they are omnivorous, preferring
flesh in the form of small birds, rodents, snakes and lizards. They would eat
pomegranate fruit, insects worms and beetles.
All the food was always swallowed head first and eaten whole as they have no
means of tearing it apart. If it was a bird they would hold it either by the
primary wing feathers or the tail feathers then give it a flick and yank the
feathers out. They would start with the longer feathers then the smaller ones.
The body feathers did not seem to be a big problem. They would remove some of
them and swallow it whole, head first of course. If it was a worm or a rodent it
would be firmly held in the beak and then soundly whacked on a rock till it was
ready to swallow.
Utah State Breeding Bird Atlas?
by Robin Tuck
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Costa Rican Birding Adventure
Part 2—The Monteverde Cloud Forest
by Ned C. Hill
This is a story of a birding adventure taken by ten Utah County Birders to
Costa Rica, March 6-16, 2003, where they saw over 300 species. Bryan and Dennis
Shirley were the trip leaders.
Jacó to Monteverde
Day three of our adventure again began at 5:30 am when we
looked for birds from the motel balcony and enjoyed breakfast. Three
Bare-throated Tiger-Herons strutted on the roof of the neighboring building
puffing out their yellow throat patches and making guttural sounds. It was a
rather comical sight. We identified a White-fronted Parrot in a distant tree and
saw three noisy Mealy Parrots fly over. Dennis spotted for us a Thick-billed
Euphonia perched in the top of a tree. Determined to get a good look at the
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, I sat by the pool until one perched on a branch for
me to study it. As this was Sunday, we held a brief Church service in Dennis’s
room and then loaded up the van.
On the way out of town on this bright, sunny morning, Tuula spotted a Roadside
Hawk perched on a pole—where else—on the roadside. We did a quick U-turn and
went back to study it. At the Tarcoles River Bridge, we found a very aggressive
Cinnamon Hummingbird defending its flower patch. It is a close relative of the
Rufous-tailed so we had to study it carefully. This is the northern-most extent
of its range. No Barred Antshrike that Tom and Carol Jean had seen at this spot
before we arrived.
We stopped for gas outside Puntarenas where I met a German man who moved here 20
years ago. He told me in German that there were many of his countrymen in that
area. He is a rock mason. He also told me that many Mormons had settled
Monteverde where we are headed. “They make great cheese up there.” We think he
was talking about the Quakers.
We finally left the Pan American Highway and started up the famous—or
infamous—40 km long dirt and rock road towards Monteverde. It’s pretty rough and
demands very tough tires. We were amazed that this most famous of all Costa
Rican natural attractions does not merit a paved road. Perhaps the road is a
barrier to overuse. We later saw T-shirts boasting, “I survived the road to
Monteverde.” We stopped several times to check the birds, once finding an
Orange-fronted Parakeet when we stopped to see the Groove-billed Anis. We also
saw a Montezuma Oropendula fly over and then saw this species’ huge nests
hanging from a palm tree. They are like large tubes. The terrain is very dry and
mountainous here but in the distance we could see dense clouds blanketing the
top of the cloud forest. After seemingly endless bumps and lurches we finally
reached the spread out towns of Monteverde-Santa Elena. A soccer game was being
played in a park next to a school and the whole town was there to watch. Fans
sat on the steps of businesses to cheer on their team. We finally reached a
paved road—but like a mirage, it disappeared as soon as we found it and we went
back to bumping and lurching. At last our motel appeared: the Miramontes Swiss
Hotel with its lovely
grounds of grass, flowers and orchids. The air was cool, a welcome change from
the steamy humidity of the coastal area. Walter Faisthuber, the proprietor,
greeted us and led us to our spartan rooms. Some rooms did not have hot water
but others did. There were no TVs nor phones to distract us. We immediately
found a Yellow-faced Grassquit and Rufous-collared Sparrow in the lawn and saw
some hummingbirds we couldn’t initially identify at the flowers. We could hear
the ringing call of the Three-wattled Bellbird but we could not locate it.
Hummingbird Gallery
After a brief break to unpack and enjoy a quick lunch on Dennis’s porch, we
loaded into the van for the bumpy drive up to the entrance of the Monteverde
Cloud Forest Preserve. We did not go in this afternoon because our target was a
gift shop called for good reason the “Hummingbird Gallery.” Within a few
seconds, we saw 8 lifers! They have a dozen or so hummingbird feeders around the
outside of the shop and these are visited by zooming, bickering hummingbirds—at
least seven different species plus Bananaquit, a small warbler-like bird with a
yellow belly. There were large Violet Saberwings—beautiful purple hummingbirds
with downcurved bills and white undertails. We also saw Purple-throated Mountain
Gem, Green Violetear, Green-crowned Brilliant, Coppery-headed Hummingbird,
Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, and the tiny Magenta-throated Woodstar that hovers
with its tail up when it feeds. We could approach them to within a couple of
feet and get great photos. They zoomed by so closely we could sometimes feel
their wings brush our heads. Some of our group went into the gift shop to buy
T-shirts and postcards. LeIla is our chief shopper.
Besides hummingbirds, we found a Common Bush-Tanager, a dull, khaki-colored bird
that became THE bird for Carol Jean for some unknown reason. From
then on, we were careful to point out that bird whenever we saw it. In a branch
above the road we found a singing White-throated Robin. We drove down a
mile or so and stopped at a turn out where Carol Jean spotted high in the trees
a couple of Golden-browed Chlorophonias one of the most striking of the
tanagers: green back, yellow breast and brow, black band and blue nape. One of
our favorite birds of the trip. How did Carol Jean see them way up there?
Further down the road, next to a farm field owned by some Quakers, we found a
pair of Keel-billed Toucans and an Emerald Toucanet—another very
colorful green bird.
Back at the Swiss Hotel, we ate dinner in the small dining room where Walter
entertained us with some classical guitar pieces. Then he and Kathi sang
together (one number was the Simon and Garfunkle “The Boxer”) while he
accompanied on the guitar. Not bad at all! The only problem was that some of the
guests at dinner decided to smoke—typical European custom. I found an
interesting centipede in my shower and Dennis was disappointed I didn’t collect
it for him!
Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve
The wind blew strongly all night and it became quite cool. Some of us were up
very early to look for the Bellbird just off the property. We could hear its
metallic, echoing “PRONNNG” clearly and approached the sound but it always was
further off than we calibrated. We did see Keel-billed Toucan. Breakfast was
excellent: fruit, beans and rice, and scrambled eggs plus hot chocolate and
bread. Then off to Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. They admit only a limited
number of people into the preserve at any one time so we had to be sure to get
there early or we would have missed out for the morning. It was cool enough for
a jacket and one never knows when it might rain in a cloud forest. When we
arrived there were bus loads of students but we were able to get in.
We chose a trail not popular with the crowds. It was dark, moist and absolutely
beautiful. Large trees were completely covered with epiphytes of all varieties.
The trail consisted of cinderblocks laid so we walked on the open spaces filled
with dirt. The footing would have been treacherous in the rain without the
precautions they took. Very quiet. We soon heard the ringing, thrush-like sound
of the Black-faced Solitaire and finally saw one relatively close to us. A
loquacious singer, the Gray-breasted Wood-wren, was coaxed into view. Then Tom
found a small bird but it flitted away. Bryan decided to give in and use the
Costa Rican bird CD. He played the sound of the White-throated Spadebill and
immediately, Tom’s little bird flew near enough for all to see it. We tried that
technique with Slate-throated
Redstart and immediately had several surrounding us. We had been hearing their
calls and knew they were nearby but just couldn’t see them. That’s the problem
with forest species. We heard an Orange-bellied Trogon in the distance and tried
calling it in. It worked again and we got great looks at that beautiful species.
We hope we are not upsetting their nesting behavior. We only used the CD
sparingly and never for very long.
A Green Hermit (a hummingbird with a long tail and downcurved beak) hovered near
us and several Three Striped Warblers sang for us. Nearing the end of the looped
trail, we found a great little woodcreeper, a Spotted Barbtail, and saw another
Slate-throated Redstart on the trail where we could see its little rufous cap.
Back at the gate area, we took a break to have a snack and rest for a bit. They
have a couple of hummingbird feeders around a picnic area. Nothing new except a
Kinkajou that came down from the roof and wrangled its way to a nice drink of
hummingbird nectar. We talked to some people from Oregon who told us where to
look for Quetzals. Most people on the trails speak English—even many of the
school kids are Americans.
We set out again into the cloud forest, this time on the Camino Trail. We found
a Yellowish Flycatcher, a Ruddy Treerunner and a Red-faced Spinetail. We walked
up and down steep trails trying to locate the Quetzal area and finally located
it. It was marked by a tall stump with evidence of a fresh hole being dug by the
female Quetzal. We searched high and low until Bryan spotted the female
Resplendent Quetzal very high in a huge tree. It was not green like pictured in
the field guides but turquoise blue with a red belly—at least in that light. I
thought it was a macaw at first. Dennis soon located the male—also blue! Their
feathers are iridescent and depend on reflected light for their color. The
male’s huge tail was amazing. A Spanish-speaking couple came by and we pointed
the Quetzals out to them. They seemed thrilled to be able to get a good look
through the scope.We returned to the picnic area where they had a small
concession stand. We bought lunch: chicken, rice and vegetables. Most of us
avoided the lettuce and tomatoes but we heard that up here they are not
dangerous. Then we left for lower right-hand trail where, in the late afternoon
sun, the forest was fairly quiet. We saw another Orange-bellied Trogon and got
great looks at Emerald Toucanet that some of us missed yesterday. We heard some
very strange sounds coming from a thick patch of ferns and discovered they were
made by Gray-breasted Wood Wrens.
On the way back to our hotel, Dennis and Bryan took us to their favorite
restaurant, Johnny’s Pizza. It was excellent. Our legs ached from the four to
five miles of hiking we had done up and down steep trails. We all slept well
while the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. I called home and found
that the BYU basketball team had won its last two games and thus shared the
conference championship with Utah.
We were up in the brisk wind at 5:15 to search for the Bellbird. We immediately
heard it’s penetrating “PRANG” in the distance and headed out in that direction.
We plunged through heavy grasses and trudged over hilly pastures hoping that
chiggers would not invade our socks and shoes. Three Chestnut-headed Oropendula
flew over us. The Bellbird was very close but high in a group of trees. It would
give several equally spaced, clear whistles and then “Prang!” We surrounded the
suspect tree but it was protected by smaller trees and undergrowth. Dennis
glimpsed it fly from one perch to another and then it flew out and bounded away
towards another tree. We only caught sight of a mid-sized brown bird with a
light head. So close but not a very good look. We could hear it “Pranging” again
in the
distance. We did find a White-crowned Parrot and a Gray-crowned Yellowthroat.
Ecological Farm
After another hearty breakfast at the hotel we headed to a slightly lower
altitude below the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The place is called the Ecological
Farm—it’s an old farm that is now a great birding spot with open secondary woods
and remnants of a banana plantation. It has a completely different set of birds
than can be found in the cloud forest. We found a family of White-nosed Coati
gathered on the edge of the parking lot. They look like they are related to our
racoons. The first new bird we spotted was turning leaves in the undergrowth—a
cute little White-eared Ground Sparrow. A familiar Ovenbird walked in front of
us on the trail. Then we went to an overlook affording us a view all the way
down to the Pacific Ocean. Bryan used a tape to call in a Rufous-browed Pepper
Shrike and a Plain Wren.
A short distance from the overlook was a known lek of a Long-tailed Manakin, one
of the most desired targets of the trip. We could hear the call notes and the
wing popping similar to the Orange-collared Manakins we found in Carara. We all
fanned out along the trail to watch for the bird. Soon Dennis had the bird in
view. All rushed up to get a look. It disappeared before I could see it well.
Then a male flew in again to a tree branch just above our heads in full sun and
all of us got a great look at the long tail streamers, blue back and red head.
What a beautiful bird!
At the edge of an old banana grove some of us found a Chiriqui Quail-Dove
walking along hunting for insects. It disappeared into the thick undergrowth
before all of us got the chance. As we sat on our folding stools in front of a
large bush of flowers, a number of hummingbirds came in. One fairly large one
had a down-curved bill: a Green Hermit. Another was a female Fork-tailed
Emerald. When some of the group plunged into the underbrush to look for the
Quail-Dove, they found instead several Gray-headed Chachalacas. All of us
followed them to see these new birds. In the distance, another Bellbird teased
us without showing itself. However, a female Three-wattled Bellbird flew into a
tree in an old orchard. It looks like a different species from the male—green
with a lighter, streaked breast. A Golden Olive Woodpecker also flew into one of
the orchard trees. We identified a Steely-vented Hummingbird with light gray
“leggings” around its feet.
Selvatura Skywalk
One of the problems in birding in thickly forested area is finding and
identifying birds that prefer the canopy. To give birders better odds and to
provide a unique view of the forest, people have started building “skywalks”
through and above the trees. The newest of these in Monteverde is Selvatura. We
arrive there after a tasty lunch in town. The first thing to do at Selvatura is
to visit their new hummingbird gallery. Green Hermits came in several times but
the other hummers were the same species we had seen in Monteverde. As we watched
hummingbirds an American Swallow-tailed Kite flew over our heads displaying its
graceful forked tail.
The day was cloudy and cool—rain threatened. The trail goes over eight bridges
that take visitors above or into the canopy. The huge trees are covered with
epiphytes. From the first bridge, we found Ochraceous Wren working a trunk and a
Red-faced Spinetail in the branches. I had missed that one the other day. From
the trail we came upon a “kettle” of birds and people began calling out
“Collared Redstart, Three-striped Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Barred Becard…”
They flitted here and there so quickly, I missed most of them.
High in the trees near one of the longer bridges, we heard the strange sounds of
the Prong-billed Barbet—almost like the Laughing Kookaburra in Australia. With
some effort, we found several of them in the canopy and could not call them down
any closer. As we searched for the barbets, Carol Jean spotted a Brown-headed
Parrot also very high up. The view from this long bridge was spectacular with
the forest canopy stretching out below our feet and clouds swirling over the
horizon. At the far end of the bridge in the shrubbery, we found a black bird
with strikingly yellow “leggings,” the Yellow-thighed Finch. The strong breeze
and late afternoon combined to keep many birds out of the canopy.
Back at the parking lot—now almost socked in with mist—we found Blue-and-white Swallows perched on a wire and before we got into the van, a Black Guan sailed right over our heads.
When we returned to the Swiss Hotel, Walter told us that a male Bellbird had
sat for over an hour in a tree right across the street! Such is birding. We ate
at the hotel and then some of us went owling. It was fruitless because of the
wind and the feeble power of our CD player and tape recorder. We soon gave up
and went to bed.
Before we left this heavenly area the next morning, we birded a little down the
road from the hotel—again hearing but failing to find the male Bellbird. Again
we got a look at the female. And we added Eastern Meadowlark and Western Wood
Peewee to our list. Before we boarded our van, Walter showed us some of his
4,500 specimen butterfly collection. It’s amazing to see the variety of colors,
sizes (from ½” to large 7-8”bird butterflies from SE Asia) and shapes of
butterflies in his collections. Many Morpho butterflies are bright blue on the
upper surface but leaf-colored on the underwing. Some specimens he obtained by
trade from other collectors. He collects local species just outside the hotel.
He left a much larger collection of 20,000 or more in Switzerland. Some of his
specimens are worth $3,000 to $5,000. Reluctantly we bade farewell to this
memorable part of Costa Rica and started down the bumpy road towards new
adventures in the direction of
Lake Arenal.