a hidden gem

On our very first trip to Costa Rica Steven stopped at a little hummingbird garden along the road between Arenal and San Jose.  I'd never been able to find much online about the spot, but as luck would have it, there's not that many roads between the two areas (two to be exact) and we passed the site on our first evening.  It's called Bosque Nuboso El Cocora in eBird.  With a list of 10 species, I'm in the top 5 listers for the site!

I returned to it about halfway through the trip to visit the well-attended cluster of feeders for mid-elevation hummers.

Crowned Wood-nymph is one of the more common species.  I'd never really noticed the bronzy crown that this next bird shows.

 It's old name was Violet-crowned Wood-nymph so perhaps this was a young bird, or maybe it was just the lighting.

There really aren't many other small to medium sized purple hummers in Costa Rica, but there are in Panama; the forked tail this bird frequently flashes is a pretty good mark for it (here it faces down a Rufous-tailed).

Another look at the male on the left with its forked tail and the female on the right.  The female might appear somewhat nondescript and generic, but the buffy gray throat that extends far down onto the breast is fairly unique.

 Finally a Green Hermit.  There were a few around, though they typically didn't spend long at the feeder