Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

We awoke to overcast and humidity on our first morning in the Pacific jungle.  It had rained some overnight which didn't put much of a damper on the humidity.  The dawn chorus was the other clue that we had changed locations entirely, Bright-rumped Attila, Crested Guan, Black-cheeked Ant-tanager, and Riverside Wren sang prominently (though all well hidden).  The scarlet-rumped tanagers were split somewhere in the last 10 years.  Last year I didn't get much of a shot of the northern form, Passerini's.  Cherrie's Tanager replaces it, and is equally as common, on the Pacific side.  There were two pairs nesting in the trees right next to the main building at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.

Buff-rumped Warbler, the only Band-tailed Barbthroat of the trip, and Long-billed Hermits started appearing.

The Long-billeds were one of the more common hummingbirds here.  We also saw a few Stripe-throated (Little) Hermits.

We walked the grounds of the Lodge as the light grew, getting looks at the Riverside Wren, as well as some of the common ground birds, White-tipped and Gray-chested Doves, Black-striped Sparrow, and Variable Seedeater.

Also on the ground were a couple different flavors of tropical vermin, Momma and Baby Agouti,

 As well as this very special flavor of tree rat, Alvaro's Pygmy-squirrel

They probably both taste the same to a Spectacled Caymen (note the baby on the back)

More on the Caymen later in the week.

Spot-crowned Euphonia was common, the tawny forehead of the female is easier to ID than the male in this species.

She probably spent the better part of 3 minutes pulling off and then eating this flower bud, frequently hanging upside down in the process of incising it off the tree.