Sorry for the delay in the final vol. I took a break last weekend
and saw 5 snowy owls-equally exciting as the great currasow that we saw on
the last leg of this CR trip.

Our last week was spent between the upland and lowland NW Pacific
side of CR. These habitats are dry, both in the low and high areas, but
with numerous rivers and riparian areas originating in the mountains.
There is some wonderful geo-thermal activity in and around Rincon de la
Vieja. Birds and mammals were also outstanding. On the furred side: we saw
howler and white faced monkeys, coatis, armadillos (well almost furred)
anteaters, deer and rabbits. the rabbits had an unnerving habit of coming
out at nite and making sudden frantic motions under foot while you were
out owling. We saw several unusual birds here and I am only listing the
ones that haven't appeared on other lists. The 2 sites are Rincon de la
Vieja (R) and Santa Rosa National Park (S).


*12.03A Great Curassow R
12.06A Great Tinamou R
*27.08A Blue-crowned Motmot R
13.06 Common Black Hawk S
1.06 Magnificant frigate bird S
16.05 Barred Forest Falcon R
23.19 Plain capped Starthroat S

We did not see crested or spectacled owls in Rincon (we did look),
although they are frequently seen here.
The great Curassow is quite rare and we saw both the male and female
on our "drive" up to Rincon.
I don't want to leave the impression that there were fewer birds in this
area, many of them were already on the list... and the secretary was
getting tired. There are an abundance of hummers and raptors in Rincon and
some very uncommon birds including the three-wattled bell bird. The
butterflies were more abundant and diverse here than any of the other
regions we visited.

I'd be happy to furnish anyone who is interested with logistical
info on places to stay/camp/eat. Directions on how to get places etc.

Once again, if anyone would be interested in having Alex give a
talk on CR birds in late May-early June, or would like to contact him
about birding with him in Costa Rica let me know.

Mary Poss
Dept Microbiology
UWA