La la la la Gamba

We walked (and drove) the La Gamba road near the entrance to Esquinas (Cathy pointed out I've been mis-spelling it this whole time).  It's a relatively well known road on the CR birding circuit.  We hadn't gone far before we found a pair of Slaty-tailed Trogons.  I think some of the group spotted a nest hole as well.

A Cocoa Woodcreeper was nearby, a size larger than the Spot-crowned and Streak-headed's.

 I'm not sure what the definition of a tyrannulet is, other than random small flycatcher.  They don't seem all that related.  First a Mistletoe (Paltry) Tyrannulet, one of few birds with strong edgings to the wing coverts but lacking the end edgings to make an actual wingbar

 As well as a Yellow Tyrannulet.

A Yellow-bellied Elaenia was a size larger

We spent a good amount of time with some fruiting trees that had attracted both hummingbirds as well as a flock of Crimson-fronted Parakeets

We walked past a large pasture which had some distant Fork-tailed Flycatchers as well as more Red-breasted Blackbirds and various herons as it got wetter.  A caracara perched up nicely, though it was hard to find a hole in the brushy stuff along the road to get a clear view.

 There were some Jacana families as well.

We drove farther, stopping at a field where Vernon frequently found Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters.  Some of us walked over to get the sun at a more advantageous view.

 As we walked back another seedeater perched up.  I hadn't studied them very hard, assuming we'd see them in the open with the group.  I took a pic of what I assumed was a somewhat variable Variable Seedeater.  Oops.  It's a Yellow-bellied, a bird we struggled to get looks at the next day.

 

We ended the day at another stakeout, this time for a pair of Rusty-margined Flycatchers, a bird that was only relatively recently discovered to regularly cross the border from nearby Panama.



You can see how easy it would be to blow it off as a Social flycatcher.