Hey it's Tyler! This is going to be a short post for two reasons, the first being spotty internet. The second being that it is 10:30 which feels like 12:30 and we had to be up and ready to go at 4am. Today involved about 5 and a half long hours of flying. Upon arrival to Costa Rica, we were so excited to get birding, we had our binoculars out while walking through the customs line, where we each got our first life bird of the trip! A single Blue and White swallow was flying around the runway. While the group was waiting on the van, Ethan spotted a single squirrel cuckoo perched in a palm tree. As we began to travel towards the clinic, the rain began to pick up and made it hard for us to see much. Ethan did find a pond with 7 Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks. At the hotel, we were greeted with many rufous collared sparrows (which are amazing looking!), great kiskadees, social flycatchers, and tropical kingbirds, along with Ethan finding an inca dove, (which unfortunately I missed). I did find a Sulphur bellied flycatcher, which was a nice consolation to the inca dove, (Ethan didn't see this one). When we went downtown to see the city, my dad found that there were 2 Orange Chinned Parakeets on someones roof. This was my 500th life bird! When we got back to the clinic, we were swarmed by southern rough wing swallows. Here are a few pictures from the day:
Boeing 757 We took from Atlanta to San Jose
Ethan Taking a Selfie with a sleeping passenger (We have no clue who this guy is)
View of Latin America (Don't know exact location)
Costa Rica!!!!
San Jose!
Local Market we visited downtown
Ethan's Bird Pictures from the day:
Social Flycatcher
Inca Dove
Rufous Collared Sparrow
Tropical Kingbird
Hopefully day 2 brings many more birds!
