Words can't describe

To be honest it is really hard to try and describe what this trip is like. We are only 3 days into it and it is a complete assault on the senses. The birds, t

he sounds, the scenery the food and people are all so different it is hard to take it all in. Writing a daily post is almost impossible as so much happens in a day.

Today we've birded forest valleys, visited a feeding station and been on a canoe ride. I can barely remember what we did yesterday - a sign of a good trip. If you come to Costa Rica, Selva Verde HAS to be on your list!

A few pics to keep you going

 

 Red headed barbet 

 

 Laughing falcon

 

Long billed starthroat

 

 

Green toucanet 

 

Red eyed tree frog

Blogger is driving me round the bend trying to use it on my phone. Not really very user friendly so may not post much. Try following me on Twitter @pauleele for daily updates

 

Costa Rica

Well, after a smooth and uneventful 11hr flight from Gatwick we arrived in San Jose in the early afternoon. The usual customs stuff was smooth and it was great to see our guide waiting at the exit with our names on a board. Always a relief when that happens.

After a short transfer we were at the hotel and soon out birding  in the grounds.

Birds were all over the place and it was hard to keep up at times. Blue grey tanager, social flycatcher, chestnut sided warbler, yellow throated vireo to name a few. As we were watching a pair of rufous tailed hummingbirds Rachael spotted an owl sitting in the tree. Rather like a long tailed little owl it turned out to be a ferruginous pygmy owl!! A little cracker

After many hours travelling I was beginning to get a bit tired and the names were starting to get a bit lost. A couple of swainsons thrush and then Rachael spotted a distant blob in a tree that turned out to be a gray hawk. This highlight of the walk round was great views of Lesson's motmot. Even when it was in deep cover the blue on the head really shined out but when it got into the open it was something else. Definitely Bird of the Day

Final addition was a couple of common nighthawks hunting at dusk.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep a travelogue going every day but I will try and post photos and updates on a regular basis.

Trip list - 33

Birding at the Sharp End

This week the lovely folks at Cley Spy have been kind enough to lend me a new spotting scope for a quick field-test.

The scope is the latest offering from American company Vortex Optics - the Razor HD 27-60 x 85. At £1379 it sits about £1000 below its similarly-sized European-made rivals. I suppose you could call it the high-end of the mid-range!

Its nearest rival is the Japanese-made Zeiss Gavia (£1480), which is also available to try at Cley Spy.

The Razor is available in straight and angled varieties and a smaller 22-48 x65mm version (£989) is also available. The scope is appropriately named ‘Razor’ - because it definitely looks sharp! Clad in grey & green rubber it certainly looks the business, with more than a hint of ‘Tyrolean’ style about it.

It certainly doesn’t feel like any corners have been cut in manufacture, as this scope feels solid, robust & well-made. At 1.86 KG the Vortex is lighter than the Gavia and Swarovski ATX85.

In addition, this scope is also covered by Vortex’s lifetime VIP Warranty, which even covers accidental damage and is also fully transferable to future owners. 

Handily, the scope will fit directly into a Manfrotto tripod head, without the need of an annoying plate. It has a decent rain/sun shade for the objective lens and I am a big fan of the barrel focus wheel.

  

I gave the scope a thorough field test on a visit to Titchwell Marsh and was really impressed with the quality of the image. In the early morning light, the brightness of the image was excellent. The image stayed sharp and bright right through the zoom range on a perched female marsh harrier in the reedbed. Although it is not as sharp as a Swarovski ATX85 or Kowa TSN-883, you need to bear in mind that this scope is more than £1000 less than either of those two.

These handheld phonescoped images give you an idea of what the scope can do.

Female marsh harrier at 27x magnification (full zoom)

Female marsh harrier at 60x magnification 

If you’re in the market for a quality spotting scope and can’t quite stretch to the prices of the European brands (or would rather spend the difference on a birding holiday like me!) you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s very well made, performs excellently optically and it’s nice to know that the warranty is there to cover for any mishaps!

Titchwell

With the chance of adding the long staying little owl to my reserve list I decided to head to the reserve for a few hours this morning.

It probably wasn't much of a surprise that the carpark was already pretty busy when I arrived at 07:30 considering all the birds that have been about recently. The priority was the little owl so I headed straight for the East Trail area.

When I arrived at the screen it was pretty obvious that there were lots of birds on the move overhead. Most of the passage was of chaffinch but there were good numbers of woodpigeon, starling and siskin passing too. The light was pretty poor and the birds were moving on a broad front making it hard to get an accurate count. In the hour (08:00 - 09:00) I spent I recorded

Woodpigeon - 40
Swallow - 1
Mistle thrush - 2

Chaffinch - 137
Brambling - 2
Siskin - 69
Yellowhammer - 4
Redwing -  25
Goldfinch - 42
Reed bunting -  8
Dunnock - 2

Kestrel - 1
Coal tit - 3
Jay - 5
Song thrush - 2
Great tit - 4

With the large number of hawfinches on the move yesterday I was hoping that I might get at least one this morning but to get six was great. The first birds were a small group of 5 heading high west at 08:50 followed by a single at 09:05. The first birds were not calling and a bit of luck to pick them up but the single was 'ticking' nicely as it went over.

While trying to keep an eye of the birds passing to the north of where I was standing i jammed in on a bittern flight. I did manage to get a couple of distant records shots although only one of them is worthy (just) of publication

Three male crossbill west over the Meadow Trail was a nice distraction on the way to the fresh marsh as was the very active flocks of bearded tits calling in the reedbed.

The fresh marsh had a few waders still including a couple of little stints showing close to the path with the dunlin flock but other than that, not a great deal else so I decided to head back down the path and sit on a bench and see what else was moving overhead.

By now the bearded tits were performing well sitting in the tops of the reeds and flying about across the main path. They were not the easiest birds to photograph but I did manage to get a male in the reeds and one of a small group flying over.

As I was scanning out the east trying to pick up passerine flocks in the distance coming towards me I picked up a large bird slowing heading west along the ridge to the south of Brancaster ( a long way from where I was!) First thought was a heron and then I realised it was a crane so I called it out to a few people who were on the path. On scoping it I noticed that is was in really heavy primary moult and then I remembered that the escaped demoiselle crane that had been on the coast earlier in the week was showing heavy damage to its wings. Although I didn't see the bird any closer (it drifted over the ridge inland) I presume it was the same bird. I did have a mooch around the lanes on the way home but there was so sign on it.

Little owl still isn't on my Titchwell list but it was still a decent morning.

Back again

After managing to delete access to my blog the other week I have had to create a new one. Tried to keep the title as close to the old one so my army of fans can still find it and follow all my exciting adventures.

Will be updating the last few days of my Unst trip over the coming days and then get back into the swing of things.

Hope you haven't missed me too much

My favourite little bunting photo from Unst and my new blog heaader