Curi Cancha Reserve

Day 6--Sunday, February16
Curi Cancha Reserve

We began the day with our usual 6 am breakfast. I had a delicious omelet filled with chopped veggies and mushrooms. I think Rebecca chose the waffle sandwich this morning. At 7 am  we met our tour guide Rodiber, and driver Jaco who would take us and another lodge couple, Carol and Jeff from Indianapolis, on a 3-hour tour of Curi Cancha (Golden Temple) Reserve.

Susan, Jeff, Carol, Rebecca at Curi Cancha trailhead

Curi-Cancha Reserve is relatively small, only about 205 acres. It has about four miles of trails. The reserve sits at between 4,750 and 5,300 feet. About half of the land is primary forest and the other half is secondary forest. There are also some cleared areas with flowering and fruiting plants. This diversity of habitats makes Curi Cancha an excellent place for birding.

It was cold, very windy and rainy in the morning, but warmed up as we hiked the trails, which were very up and down dirt or gravel and littered with wet leaves, so we had to watch our step. Rebecca used her cane, of course, and I used my walking stick to good advantage.

The climate on the trails also differed because sometimes we’d be hiking in dense, dark forest where it was damp and cool but at other times, we’d pass through open areas or gardens where the sun was shining, making it warmer. This diversity of habitats made for good birding because many species prefer transition zones and forest edges. This allows them to stay hidden in the dense forest at times and to gather food from open areas when it is safe.

To further enhance these habits, the staff at Curi Cancha has planted many flowering and fruiting plants and trees in the open areas. At the cross section of several trails, for instance, was a resting garden with hummingbird feeders and flowering hedges. Just below that was a long tunnel of thicket that we walked through. Here we identified White-eared Ground Sparrow and Chestnut-capped Brush-finch. At the hummingbird feeders we identified Coppery-headed Emerald, Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, and Blue-throated Hummer.

White-eared Ground Sparrow; Chestnut-Capped bush finch

Coppery-headed Emerald; Stripe-tailed hummingbird; Blue-throated hummingbird (Internet)

Once again we were barely on the trail before we found our first bird, a Slate-throated Redstart

Seems like redstarts like to start our trail hikes. We came upon wonderful trailside flora, coffee trees, avocado trees, and two very big and interesting strangler figs that had killed their original trees. We could walk into the space where the original tree had been.

Slate-throated Redstart

We had good sightings at Curi Cancha: Emerald Toucanet (left), Crested Guan (below). The guan could be heard sounding like a distant car alarm even some distance away at the hummingbird feeders.
 

Mottled Owl--this Internet pic of one awake; ours was sleeping

Luckily, we again saw both male and female Resplendent Quetzals, a Mottled Owl (above) sleeping snugged up in the vines and moss on the side of a tree, Rufus-and-white Wren, Ruddy Pigeon, Ochraceous Wren, Bright-rumped Attila, Gray-headed Yellowthroat, Mountain Thrush,  and a Keel-billed Toucan. Rodibder digiscoped pix for us of the mottled owl and keel-billed toucan. See below. The rest of the bird images are from the Internet.

Male digiscoped Quetzal

Female Quetzal

Rufous-and-white Wren; Oracheous Wren

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat; Mountain Thrush

Ruddy Pigeon; Bright-rumped Atilla

After Curi Cancha, we returned to the Lodge and engaged a taxi to take us back to Stella’s Bakery where we decided to lunch and again check out the fruit feeders.

We found a good place on the covered porch to observe the fruit feeders and ordered lunch. I was hungry but could not eat my chicken and pasta dish which turned out to be layered and topped with cheese. Darn! I am lactose intolerant and cannot eat cheese or milk products. The English description of the dish made no mention of cheese. The server was unsympathetic, so I went hungry. I did order dessert and tea, though, and enjoyed that.

Keel-billed toucan ready to pose for Kellogg's Froot Loops

Tables on the covered patio where we ate our lunch

This time at Stella’s we were sitting next to a naturalist with a huge camera lens and a camera covered with lacy camouflage material. We were also near an old guy who was a tour guide I think. We often called on their expertise to identify the birds we were seeing. We saw many of the birds of our last visit plus a Buff-throated Saltator, Black-faced Solitaire, a Clay-colored Thrush (Costa Rica’s National Bird), and an Emerald Toucanet. No “Tige” or White-faced Capuchins this time but two Agoutis and a persistent Variegated Squirrel. The naturalist sitting next to us periodically walked to the feeder and twitched the squirrel’s large, salt-and-pepper tail to get it to move on so that it wouldn’t eat all the fruit. There were also far more people at the bakery than on our previous visit. However, despite the order mix-up, this was a well-spent lunch hour.

Buff-throated Saltator; Black-faced Solitaire (Internet)

Clay-colored Thrush (Internet)

Emerald Toucanet (digiscoped)

Variegated Squirrel (Internet)

We took a taxi back to the lodge, caught up on our photos and daily notes and then donned our bathing suits, wrapped ourselves in the Lodge’s terry pool robes, and walked down to the pool where we spent a totally relaxing time in the solar heated water. Well . . ., not totally relaxing. An east Indian family was staying at the lodge and they had a son of about ten and a daughter of about seven or eight. They practiced Sikism, their religion allowing one’s hair to grow naturally "out of respect for the perfection of God’s creation," thus the father wore a turban and the son a kesh into which was gathered his hair in a little topknot. The father and children were in the pool and the boy was wildly exuberant, jumping and splashing. He had to be called to task several times. Also in the pool was a young girl of about eight who was swimming and diving with much glee, asking her moms to watch her every move. Eventually I asked one of the moms to throw me a colon and then the girl and I had a high time diving for this gold coin.

I think it was this evening when we discovered two agoutis under our balcony. Below, however, is a photo of an agouti under our balcony that Suzi and Denis took before leaving for their next adventure and the Veterinarians' Conference.

That evening we dressed for cocktails, I, as usual, in my “Costa Rican shirt,” and went to the dining room for appetizers.  I had a bowl of my favorite cauliflower-mint soup with a couple of rolls. Rebecca had a salad. We then explored the little library and game room off the lobby and returned to the room to play a game of Scrabble before bed. Turned out the Scrabble game was Spanish so we had some strange tiles and distributions: five CHs, eight LLs, eight RRs, and a full ten Z tiles. T'was fun nonetheless.

Tomorrow we are planning a rest-and-pack day with a quick hour-and-a-half trip to a nearby Butterfly Gardens, more pool, a final dinner at the Lodge and more Scrabble.