Colorado 2017 - Arrival adventures and BIRDS! : Day 1 - Dec. 25th, 2017

     Exciting news! I have finally been able to get out of the state of Texas and experience a new place, and new birds! This holiday season my partner and I decided that rather than exchanging presents, we would take an adventurous trip together and split the cost. Memories last a lot longer than things.

We settled on a trip to Colorado because we found cheap non-stop flights to Denver on the days we could travel, he had never experienced real snow, and I was longing for some snowy, mountainous landscapes.

     Arriving at the airport at 5am on Christmas morning proved to be the best time to fly because we were the only ones at security. For once, TSA had to wait for us to be ready for them! Although, this was the first time I have had the TSA agent ask to feel under my ponytail. What did she think I was hiding under there?!?!?! The flight went off without a hitch, and two hours later, we found ourselves in Denver trying to choose a vehicle in the rental lot. 

Goodbye Texas

Hello Colorado!

     I am an Emerald Club member through National, so I get to go straight to the lot and choose any vehicle in the Emerald aisle. This usually works out pretty well because there are often premium vehicles in the aisle including trucks and SUVs, which I get to rent for a mid-sized rate. However, this Christmas morning all that were left were a handful of sporty cars such as Mustangs and Challengers, two small sedans (I can't drive most sedans because of a knee problem and the angle of the pedals in relation to the seat), and two Kia Souls. It had been decided before booking the trip that I would do all of the driving because of my extensive experience with driving on snow and ice from living in the mountainous part of Pennsylvania for 13 years. Now I was faced with the challenge of choosing the best of the worst for whatever winter road conditions lay ahead of me. The sporty vehicles were out due to rear-wheel drive and pedal angle, as were the small sedans. The Kia Soul it was! This is when I noticed that National had failed to completely clean off the vehicles from the previous day's snow, and the side-view mirrors were frozen, rendering them impossible to move. Oh well, without a blow torch there was little I could do about that. After doing a few quick tests in the rental car lot to see how the vehicle and tires handled in snow, off we went! 

   

The commercials aren't a joke...I really did feel like a hamster in one of these.

     Our first stop was at Barr Lake State Park just minutes from the airport ($7/car fee). This wonderful oasis was full of birds, including many Bald Eagles which was a top target bird for my partner. It was fun to see multiple subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco foraging together with White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and American Tree Sparrows. This was also our first sighting of Black-billed Mapgies, Black-capped Chickadees, Canada Goose, and many other avian species we do not get in south-central Texas. In addition, we saw our first Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, which became an immediate favorite mammal of the trip! After spending about 2 hours at the park, and seeing 29 species, we were ready to dig into our snack bags and start heading to Estes Park before it started snowing.

Our first birding stop - Barr Lake SP

Song Sparrow

Western Meadowlarks keeping warm on a composting haybale

Western Meadowlark at max fluff

White-crowned Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow (foreground), White-crowned Sparrow (background)

Adorable Black-tailed Prairie Dog!!!

Some scenery from Barr Lake SP

     Our beautiful drive to Estes Park took a little under 2 hours with only a few snow flurries here and there. About halfway there the ice behind my side-view mirror finally melted so I didn't have to continue stretching in a weird way to use it. Once we got into town, our first stop was at the grocery store to get a few perishables/liquids before it closed for the day. Then we got settled into our lodging and grabbed the binoculars to go explore Estes Lake which is adjacent to the Visitor's Center in the downtown district. The wind was quite strong, and the flurries persisted, so the birds were staying pretty low and hidden, but stretching our legs after the flight and car ride felt great! 

View from our lodge

Estes Lake with snow flurries in the background

Downtown Estes Park

     As the sun went down we realized how hungry we were, but decided to make a slight detour on the way back to the car to find a micro geocache that was hanging in a thick Blue Spruce. Might as well get the Colorado badge on Geocaching.com while we are here! Little did we know, the next hour or so would be spent calling many restaurants in the area trying to find a place to have dinner on Christmas day. Of about 20 places called, 1 was serving a Christmas buffet for $36.99 per person (NOPE!) and all other places were closed or had just closed. The only place that seemed to be open in the whole town was the movie theater. We finally ended up driving around town, parked where we saw the most human activity, and walked around until we found the ONE restaurant open that night. It was a Nepalese place, and although the cuisines from this region of the world are my least favorite, at least we had nourishment.

Next up...our first full day exploring Rocky Mountain National Park!

     

Costa Rica - Day 5 (Part 1) - March 20, 2013

Our second full day at Trogon Lodge was jam packed with activities and adventures! I woke up just after dawn and since breakfast wasn't to be served for at least an hour, I wandered around the grounds looking for photo opportunities. One of my goals was to get a decent photo of a Rufous-collared Sparrow. Although they were EVERYWHERE I couldn't seem to get a good sharp photo of them because they were so active.

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Calla Lily growing like a "weed" in the grass

After a delicious breakfast served buffet style with a chef making custom omelets on-the-spot, we headed out onto the trails and road to see if we could pick up a few more species. Birding on the road was a little challenging with the occasional crazy driver barreling down the mountain and the neighborhood dogs following us around, but we managed to have a good time and see some new things!

A neighborhood dog

Mountain Elaenia

White-throated Mountain-gem

 One of the most exciting birds we found on the grounds of Trogon Lodge (other than the Quetzals) was the Spotted Wood-Quail! We were walking along the trail when one of us heard something rustling in the woods. We stopped and waited, and looked, and waited..... Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, two of these quail made their way down the hill, pecking and scratching through the leaves the whole way, and crossed the path in front of us!

One of the best birds (other than the Quetzal) that we found at Trogon Lodge: Spotted Wood-Quail

The water was so clear! 

Close-up of water

Unidentified butterfly seen on the trail. In certain lighting conditions it flashed a brilliant blue color on the topside of the wings!

Male and female Green Spiny Lizard

Male Green Spiny Lizard showing off his bright blue throat!

View up the stream along the Trogon Lodge trail. 

At some point near the end of our hike, we walked out into the middle of the stream and plopped down on some boulders to take a rest. The atmosphere was so inviting and relaxing that we ended up staying there for way too long and ended up being late for our zip-lining appointment! Luckily, the guy who runs everything for the lodge was fine with us being late and even said: "that's okay! You are learning quickly! You are on Tico time!". Costa Ricans call themselves Ticos and with the slower, more relaxed lifestyle, it seems that being late for things is the norm.
     The two guys who took us zip-lining spoke a bit of English, but not very well, so the owner of the lodge made sure we understood all the important information and instructions before we headed out on the trail to begin our adventure. The walk to the first platform wasn't easy since we had already hiked the trail once that day and it was quite steep and/or rough in spots, not to mention the elevation change we were still getting used to. Our guides do this trip a lot so they were used to the extra exertion and kept a steady, slightly brisk pace the whole way. They did slow down a bit when I tripped on a root and was inches away from going face first into the ground, but stopping to rest apparently was not an option. However, once we started actually zipping between the trees many meters above the ground, the exhaustion from the hike was quickly forgotten.
After our zip-lining adventure (yes, I would definitely do it again!), we piled in the car to go on a quest for Fiery-throated Hummingbirds and some lunch! Stay tuned for part 2 of day 5!

When we got to the car we discovered a little visitor! 

Black-capped Flycatcher

Costa Rica 2013 - Trogon Lodge Hummingbird Bonanza!

Here is a video of the hummingbirds at Trogon Lodge for you to enjoy while I work on my next post.

Costa Rica - Day 4 (Part 1) - March 19, 2013

Our first morning in high elevation rainforest was beyond exciting! So many new species to see, and we could do it without feeling like we were melting. In fact, until about 11am it was cold enough for a heavy sweatshirt. Early morning birding was limited unless you were willing to walk to the top of the river canyon since the sun hadn't reached our lodge yet to fully awaken and warm the birds. However, I wandered down to the river and was just enjoying the rushing water when a Torrent Tyrannulet popped up on the rock right next to me!

Torrent Tyrannulet

There was no buffet-style breakfast that morning, so we had to choose pre-decided combos off the menu. This was difficult due to food allergies and a less than optimal grasp of the language. However, we were all able to get something to eat and walked away from the table full and ready to start the day! My plate consisted of a pile of rice and beans, scrambled eggs, and the most delicious sausage I have ever had. It wasn't greasy or salty, and you could actually taste the pork in it. However, it was also far from bland or dry. Also served was a large plate of fresh fruit, and a delicious mystery blend of fruit juices was available to anyone who didn't want coffee or tea.

First breakfast at Trogon Lodge

As soon as we were done eating we slipped out onto the deck of the restaurant where the hummingbird feeders were just starting to be nicely illuminated by the morning sun. By this time the hummingbirds were nicely warmed up and ready to entertain! There were so many species that I don't even know if I got to write every one of them down, but just taking photos of the more cooperative ones was good enough for me. The hummers were also very friendly and it was nearly possible to get them to land on your hand if you held it close to the feeder. 

Volcano Hummingbird

Purple-throated Mountain Gem (female)

Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager

Purple-throated Mountain Gem (female)

Hummingbird sticking her tongue out

Get off my feeder!

Mmmmmm nectar!

Volcano Hummingbird

After about 30-45min with the hummers we reluctantly tore ourselves away from the feeder deck and started to explore the grounds of the lodge and the trails. We were racking up species one after another and the trails were breathtaking...not only in beauty, but also literally. The high elevation and steepness of the main trail made the simple act of breathing a little bit of a challenge and we had to stop and rest often. Luckily there were enough birds to search for that these resting stops were not an annoyance. Along the trail there were waterfalls and breaks in the vegetation so you could go down the bank into the river to look for American Dippers and other water-loving birds. Near the beginning of the trail we stopped on the large bridge that spanned the river and looked up into the sky through the break in the canopy. We were pleased to spot a few Broad-winged Hawks, and a few hundred more raptors appeared once we started scanning the sky through our binoculars. Amazing! There were also platforms (meant for the zip-line activity) that were wonderful to stand or sit on to look for birds in the canopy. We were standing on one of these platforms when we spotted our first Resplendent Quetzal flying from tree to tree. The bird was impossible to refind in the thick greenery once it landed, but that flash of bright green was spectacular!

Ruddy Treerunner (center of photo if you can't find it)

Large Waterfall

Smaller waterfall upstream from waterfall on left

Do you see the Tufted Flycatcher on the nest? Can't believe we found it!

Sooty Robin

Stay tuned for Day 4 Part 2 where we go on two little adventures and finish out our day tired, but extremely happy.