Leigh was studying the first bird of the day, one of several colorfully decorated toucans in the San José airport, as we waited for our early morning flight to Golfito.

This is our twin-propeller aircraft we took for our flight from San José to Golfito.

Derek, Tom, Fran, Leigh and Mary, boarding our plane

Fran, Derek, Tom, Leigh, Mary and Ann

We don't look concerned.

I guess I would sound pretty old if I said our pilots looked like a couple of kids.

San José at sunup, as we bid our 'adios'

Jody, Ann and our guide, Gilberth "Chito" Motina, seemed in good humor as we bumped along to get about the turbulence around the mountains.

Mountains below

We had a good view of the clouds.

Fog still lay in the valleys near the coast.

Fog in the low-lying areas along our route

Clouds in the early morning light

Is that Rio Tarcoles running into the Pacific Ocean?

The view out the left side of the plane

Golfo Dulce--less saline than the Pacific to which it connects and a haven for Hammerhead sharks and Humpback whales to have their young

There were houses at the very edge of the water on the upper right.

Landing at Golfito--we had plenty of room to stop

Unloading at Aeródromo Golfito--because of the weight limits of the small plane, we carried only our backpacks and our luggage was transported by bus from San José to Golfito.

We stopped in Golfito on the way from the airport to Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, so Chito could get some bananas for feeders at the lodge. We were near Golfe Dulce and there were lots of birds along the road and around the water, like this male Scarlet-rumped Tanager.

Rock Pigeon

Black Vulture

Social Flycatcher

Female Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Another male Scarlet-rumped Tanager--they became one of the most common birds we saw on the trip, along with vultures and Tropical Kingbirds

Black Vulture

Female Variable Seedeater, pulling on a seed head

Female Variable Seedeater

Female Magnificent Frigatebird, flying over the gulf

Tropical Kingbird

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Tropical Mockingbird

Piratic Flycatcher

Pair of Piratic Flycatchers

Brown Pelican, flying low over the gulf

Orange-chinned Parakeets

Orange-chinned Parakeets

Male Variable Seedeater

On the road into the lodge, we saw a White-necked Puffbird.

White-necked Puffbird, through the window of our bus

A little farther along the road, we spotted this Little Blue Heron perched in a small tree.

We got to Esquinas Rainforest Lodge and sat down to breakfast across from a small pond. On the other side of the pond was a hanging banana feeder and this Gray-cowled Wood-Rail came in to partake.

Gray-cowled Wood-Rail

After breakfast, we were still waiting for luggage and rooms and took a bird walk down the road where we saw this White-tipped Dove.

Charming Hummingbird

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Common Tody-Flycatcher

One of many Chestnut-sided Warblers we saw

Undertail view of Chestnut-sided Warbler

Social Flycatcher with an insect

Social Flycatcher

A British woman told Mary this plant is in the ginger family and blooms only one flower at a time, so the branches won't be too weighted and droop.

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher?

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher?

A reticent Roadside Hawk

Roadside Hawk

Male Scarlet-rumped Tanager
The camera does not do justice to the red feathers.

Female Scarlet-rumped Tanager

White and magenta flower

Wood Storks circling overhead

Wood Storks

Wood Storks

Immature Summer Tanager

Black-striped Woodcreeper

Black-striped Woodcreeper

Female Orange-collared Manakin on its nest

Northern Jacana at a small marsh on the lodge property

Green Heron at the marsh

Odd red flower blooms

Red flower

Red-flowered plant

Green Heron

Short-tailed Hawk in silhouette

King Vulture

Male White-winged Becard

Male White-winged Becard

Male White-winged Becard

Rear view of the White-winged Becard

Male White-winged Becard

Social Flycatcher

Band-tailed Barbthroat, building a nest

Band-tailed Barbthroat

Band-tailed Barbthroat

Band-tailed Barbthroat, adding to its nest

Grasshopper

We rested in the opening next to the marsh at a table and benches carved from limestone.

A broader look at the little marsh where we saw the Green Heron, White-winged Becard, and the nesting Orange-collared Manakin.

One of the carved benches

A butterfly in the opening

Light lavender-colored flowers

Walking back to the lodge, we stopped at this flowering tree to look for the White-crested Coquette.

Small flowers on the tree--unfortunately, the coquette did not make an appearance

Hibiscus along the road back to the lodge

At the Caiman Pond, we found the resident caiman resting at one edge.

Sign at the entrance to the lodge

This Great Currasow had been raised on the property and they had named him, but I don't remember the name.

Close-up of the Great Currasow

We took a brief rest before going to lunch and, along the way somewhere this Gray-capped Flycatcher made an appearance.

After lunch, there was a Fiery-billed Aracari in the palms near the lodge parking lot.

Fiery-billed Aracari

We retired to our rooms to rest (some of us napped) before starting our afternoon field trip, which started about 3PM with this Yellow-throated Toucan.

Yellow-throated Touocan

You can see the red undertail of the Yellow-throated Toucan.

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Golden-naped Woodpecker

Costa Rican Swift silhouette

Spot-crowned Euphonia

Spot-crowned Euphonia

Spot-crowned Euphonia

Spot-crowned Euphonia

Spot-crowned Euphonia

Spot-crowned Euphonia

Spot-crowned Euphonia

The Fiery-billed Aracaris were looking for the ripe fruit in this palm.

You can see the green and ripe fruit on this palm where the Fiery-billed Aracari found a good one.

Fiery-billed Aracari

Female Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Male Scarlet-rumped Tanager

At some point we got on the bus that had brought our luggage from San José and we found the driver was Enrique Gomez, a good birder as well that Mary and I had met on our last trip to CR. Along the road, we spied a couple of Gray-headed Chachalacas.

Gray-headed Chachalaca

Snowy Egret

Immature Red-crowned Woodpecker

Female Ringed Kingfisher, with white stripe separating the gray breast and rufous belly

Pale-vented Pigeon

Striped Flycatcher

Immature Rusty-margined Flycatcher, with hardly any tail

Tropical Kingbird

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Smooth-billed Ani

Tennessee Warbler

Clay-colored Thrush

Striped Cuckoo

Common Tody-Flycatcher, nest-building

Lineated Woodpecker

Smooth-billed Ani, on the road with its tail in the air

Female Scarlet-rumped Tanager

Palm Tanager

Purple Gallinule, in a jumble of branches

Striped Flycatcher

Male Lineated Woodpecker (with red below white stripe on face), on a power pole

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Gray-capped Flycatcher

Lineated Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Underside of Lineated Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Four adult and one immature White Ibis

Gray-breasted Martins, in a far tree

Red-breasted Meadowlark

Northern Jacana, in flight

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Back of a Gray-capped Flycatcher

Yellow-bellied Elaenia, showing its crest

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Clouds started gathering at the end of the day.

Cattle Egrets, roosting in a distant tree in the field

It got cloudier and darker, but we were still birding.

It was after dark when we turned to go back to the lodge and the headlights of the bus caught the reflection in the eyes of this Common Pauraque.

Common Pauraque

The gaping mouth of the Common Pauraque