Las Minas Trail & Valle Chiquito
Sunday, July 21st: We began with a little birding at the lodge (and its feeders), adding Orange-billed Sparrow, Tropical Pewee, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, and Violet-headed Hummingbird.
We then headed for the Las Minas Trail, where we were greeted by a Gray-necked Wood-Rail. It was starting to rain, but we birded anyway, adding Silver-throated Tanager and Tawny-crested Tanager to our list. But then the rain got heavier, the birds went into hiding, and we decided to try a different area.
At first, conditions were ok at La Compania, where we found Rufous-capped Warbler and Shiny Cowbird, among others. But soon the rain caught up with us again. This time we returned to the lodge to wait out the rain.
After lunch, we headed for Valle Chiquito. After a bit of work we had our first of four Tody Motmots in our sights. We found a number of other birds including Black-tailed Flycatcher (seen earlier by Ann), White-winged Becard, Golden-collared Manakin, White-thighed Swallow, and Yellow-billed Cacique (seen earlier by many). Then we returned to the lodge for dinner.
I ended up with 51 species for the day, 14 of them new for the trip. My trip total is now 245. I also got 2 lifers today, bringing my total to 43 for the trip.
Canopy Lodge