Marian and I broke away from Washington on a 3-week, 3-stop trip getting home just a few days ago. The first stop was really not much about birding, stopping for 3 nights in Nashville, TN to explore a new city and state, see some music, and just have fun. The good thing was that the city is pretty cool. The bad thing was the weather was really cold, meaning 19 degrees F on the middle day.
We got in fairly late and got to our hotel. We discovered a really good vegan place in walking distance from the hotel that we enjoyed. It was a black family owned soul food place.
The next day we got up and headed for an eBird Hotspot, Shelby Park and Bottoms, where we enjoyed a nice warm beautiful morning of birding. We didn’t get a car in Nashville, so got around by Uber/Lyft and it worked well overall. The park is nice, right on the Cumberland River which is a large river. Birding highlights were a nice flock of Eastern Bluebirds, Carolina and Winter Wrens, Red-bellied Woodpecker and just a nice warm morning.

That evening we went to the Grand Old Opry where a “Dancing with the Stars” show was playing and saw lots of crazy dancing in the famous venue.
The next day on waking it was really cold, 19F, and I walked up to Centenial Park, right near the hotel to see what I could find. A Ross’s Goose has been there all winter, and it was the closest I’ve seen this species. Bluejays, N. Mockingbirds, Tufted Titmouse, and a few other species were also seen.
I took Lyft to one other place, near Tennessee State University to a marsh hoping for a lot of waterfowl and managed a moderate list, but was not dressed for the weather, and had trouble getting a Lyft back, so was out way too long.
We stayed in The Villages with Bill and Carol for 6 days. The Villages are amazing, a 200,000+ person >55 community with golf-cart accessible everything. We had a nice visit, outdoor live music, good food, etc. but Marian caught a cold/asthmatic bronchitis which kept her down for most of the trip. She managed and it was great to see Bill and Carol.

I managed a little birding, 52 species for Florida for the stop, really all in The Villages. Best birds were Limpkin and other waders.

From Orlando, where Bill and Carol took us back to a hotel by the airport on Saturday night we flew the next morning direct to San Jose, Costa Rica. Reminder to self, never fly Spirit Airlines again. Old planes, extra charges for everything including pop, snacks, a carry on bag, etc. that are far more expensive than on other airlines. Just a poor overall experience. Direct flight though.
At the Hampton Inn and Suites by the airport we had a huge flock of Crimson-fronted Parakeets by the pool as the sun set. Jean and Alan picked us up the next morning and we were off to La Fortuna and Lake Arenal where we stayed at a fancy resort, Hotel Los Lagos. It had natural hot water pools, well maintained rooms and grounds, and we relaxed mostly. The first morning we got up to go birding with a guide for about 2+ hours at a nearby birding spot, Muelle. It was reasonably birdy, and the guide was just OK. Still we has 43 species, including Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, Cinnamon Woodpecker, and Black-cowled Oriole, all lifers. I suspect with a really top guide we could have had another 20+ species.

The next morning we went before first light to a natural thermal hot river and waterfall. I slipped, had what was a frightening but non-injury fall, but it was really cool. The rest of the trip was mostly hanging by the pools, eating at good vegan places, and visiting a lot. Overall a nice way to ease into Pura Vida life.
After 3 nights there we headed to what all of us felt was the coolest stop of the trip, Finca Luna Nueva. It is an agroforestry farm, with a good restaurant, wonderful grounds, and great staff. Tom ___, the owner had 3 meals with us, and we visited his home on adjacent property one night for wine and to see the Scarlet Macaws come in to roost. Wow on both the house and the Macaws.
Our last stop was a 3+ hour drive to Monteverde, in the cloud forest around the other side of Lake Arenal. It is not really far as the bird flies, but a long windy, uphill drive. We stayed at Hotel Montaña Monteverde, where the place was a bit run down, and the grounds not terribly birdy, a bit disappointing. They did arrange for a guide though, Jorge Marin, who goes by George of the Cloud Forest. He was very enjoyable and a competent guide. On our full day we visited Stella’s Bakery, the Monteverde preserve, and the San Luis area where his abuelos live and have a farm and preserve. Overall good birding, a nice time, and a really cool area. Birding was generally hard, with many birds high in the canopy, and wind was a constant struggle. Top species for me were Three-wattled Bellbird, Resplendent Quetzal, Costa Rica Warbler, and all the hummingbirds at the Hummingbird Gallery just outside the preserve.
The next day we visited Sky Adventures, where several very high and long hanging bridges were the highlight, and we saw more Quetzals and a few other birds.
On the last day, in the morning before heading for San Jose, Jorge took us to Curi-Cancha Refugio de Vida Silvestre where we got better looks at the bellbird, and a few other species while Jean and Marian rode a golf cart to get around steep trails. A fun time and I drove us in their car to San Jose for a late lunch and to the hotel.
The trip home was long but uneventful except for getting around LAX which was a battle. Still home on time and rested up finally now.

Jason Miller and Ken Brown are hoping to do Mason County Big Days in each month of 2022. John Riegsecker and I joined them on the Jan day, and we all had a great day. Starting at Jason’s family Skokomish Valley Farms at 7:30 and making many stops in their side of the county, we managed 85 species, with 81 seen or heard by all. Highlights were the Glaucous Gull that remained at Eell’s Trout Hatchery, two separate Ruffed Grouse, a county lifer for John, and good fellowship and pretty good weather for the whole day. Here is the eBird Trip report link.

I know I’ll miss the Feb day as I’ll be travelling, but hope to join up for many of the remaining Big Days in 2022.

Ed

Ken Brown, Bruce LaBar, Bryan Hanson, Jacob Miller, Liam Hutchinson met at 6 AM on Saturday Jan 14 in Tacoma and headed east. We were headed for some county birding in SE WA, with a focus on Garfield, Columbia, Whitman and Asotin counties. In most years we do a winter trip to North Central WA, but in 2019 Ken, Bryan, myself and Ryan Weise came to SE WA instead and had a great trip, so we convinced Bruce to come this way this year, and Liam and Jacob, both young and very keen birders, were excited to join us. We split very comfortabluy into 2 cars, 3-to-a-car. Jacob and Liam rode with Ken, and Bruce and Bryan came in my car. We headed straigt to the Rye Grass reststop on I-90, then on east, leaving I-90 after crossing the Columbia at Vantage and heading onto Hwy-26. Liam and Jacob took on the eBirding, and we had a few lists on the way. Notable enroute birds were a flock of 60 Cackling Geese seen by all but me (driving and didn’t see) in Franklin County off Hwy 260, and several raptors from the car including Golden Eagles, Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harrier.
Our first real out-of-the-car birding was a brief stop at Washtucna, WA at the city park, for a 15 minute brief look around and leg-stretch. Lesseer Goldfinches and a 15-species list got us going. From there more driving before our first real stop at the Central Ferry HMU in Whitman County, just before crossing the Snake River. We had planned to go on Hwy 261 to Lyon’s Ferry and cross there into Garfield County, but a sink-hole had the road closed, and so we detoured north to Central Ferry, and Ken quickly adapted our schedule so we could do some of Day 2 birding on Day 1, and switch most of Day 1 to Day 2. More driving day 1, but a good on-the-ground adaptation.At Central Ferry HMU I added 8 new Whitman County birds, and everyone was happy to be out of the cars birding after a long drive. Most of the county birds were typical winter waterbirds like some ducks, Horned Grebe, but also White-crowned Sparrow and Downy Woodpecker.
From there we crossed into Garfield County, with additional stops for the day across the bridge at Central Ferry (Garfield County), Deadman Creek Road, Ilia Landing, beofre getting our hotel in Dayton at a barely passable place, Blue Mountain Motel, having dinner and then going owling at the Lewis & Clark Trail State Park. We had been there on our prior trip, and this time again got two calling Western Screech Owls, followed by two hooting Great Horned Owls to finish a strong Day 1. For me the day gave 5 new Garfield County birds, 11 new Whitman County birds, as well as 2 new Adams County birds, Golden Eagle while driving and Spotted Towhee at Washtucna.
On Day 2 we started with driving around Dayton and then walking some neighborhoods, adding 3 Columbia County first for me, Townsend’s Solitare, Mountain Chickadee and Bewick’s Wren. From here we drove some back roads adding 4 more species, Northern Shrike and Steller’s Jay on Petit Road and American Dipper and White-breasted Nuthatch at the Wooten WMA. After that we found some of the “best” birds of the day at the Little Goose Dam area. Two species rare for Columbia County were the 3rd county records of Red-breasted Merganser and Red-necked Greve, and we also added county firsts for 3 more common birds, Common Loon, Horned Grebe and Common Goldeneye. A quick stop in waning light at Texas Rapids added a pair of GHOWs as well as county first for me Gadwall. We closed the day with a spectacular flock of European Starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds, estimated at over 10,000 total birds, and at least a couple Brown-headed Cowbirds mixed in the massive flock, for the last county first of a good day.
For the last 2 nights we drove to Clarkston to stay at the Rivertree Inn, a nice and affordable hotel right on Hwy 12, Bridge Street. We had dinner at Rooster’s Landing, a nice place on the Snake River, with TVs showing the NFL football playoff games and with a good Humus Plate and fries for me (vegan) and good options for all. We had listened off and on to the Seahawks loss the day prior to the 49ers.
Day 3 was a day for Asotin County, and we had high hopes for birds both on the river and the higher plateaus. The difference between our prior trip and this time was the for this trip toere was no snow cover. On the prior trip all of the fields were snow covered, and we had nice flocks of HOLA with many GRPA, RNPH in the fields and around any cattle areas. On this trip we had almost none of these species. We saw a rare single Horned Lark, had no Gray Partridge, and only one flock of Chukar seen by the second car only huddled under a guard rail as a RTHA watched form a nearby perch. We did see good numbers of Golden Eagles, Routh-legged Hawks, RTHA including a nice dark Harlan’s, Northern Shrikes, and on the river a smattering of water birds. Really though overall not as birdy as hoped. We finished the day at the Asotin City Cemetery hoping for a Long-eared Owl seen there yesterday, but not to be. We settled for a pair of Great Horned Owls, hooting and one flew in to a tree nearby.
We had dinner again at the Rooster’s Landing and watched Dallas cruch Tampa Bay and Tom Brady. It was a wierd game, with the Dallas kicker, Brett Maher missing 4 consecutive PAT kicks. as the Cowboys won 31-14.