Quebrada Bonita is located a few kilometers uphill from the hamlet of Zocuano, in the canton of Acosta.  This is a spectacular mountain and forest region to the south of San José and Escazú.  The birdwatching is just superb and we identified more than 110 species in little more than a day and a half of observations (see list below).  We added 4 new species to the list Adilio has for Acosta, available in his publication, Aves de Acosta (Paula Calderón Mesén and Adilio Antonio Zeledón Meza). Though I personally missed several important sightings by the group, I still managed to add 7 species to my life list.

These were: White hawk; Barred forest-falcon; Violet-headed hummingbird; Tawny-winged woodcreeper; Black-faced antthrush; Eye-ringed flatbill; and Spot-crowned euphonia.

The following birds were seen and/or heard and identified by Adilio, Adrián or Tito, but I unfortunately managed to miss them and so they are still needed for my Life List of Costa Rican birds:

Zone-tailed hawk; Ruddy pigeon (voice only); Scale-crested pygmy-tyrant; Scaly-breasted wren; and White-throated robin

Access to this fantastic birding area is by bus through Aserrí from San José (a little more than 1 hour) to the main town of San Ignacio de Acosta, a pretty place set among hills and fairly heavily wooded.  At this time of year, the forest there is reminiscent of the dry tropical forest of Guanacaste, but the area receives heavy rainfall at other times of the year.

We took the dirt road down for a distance of some 25 km towards the Pacific coast at Parrita and turned up into beautiful scenery on a road, or rather a track, that leads to Zocuano.  Four-wheel drive here is a must unless, like Adrián, you have a motor bike.  When Adilio’s quad broke down, Adrián was able to come to the rescue by arranging for it to be returned to San Ignacio de Acosta and to transport Adilio, rather skilfully, on his motor bike.

Best bird en route was the Eye-ringed flatbill (Rhynchocyclus brevirostris), of which we saw at least three individuals in all.  This was a new bird for me, but, because of the prominent eye-ring, it was fairly easy to identify once you located it in the thick forest habitat next to a stream. We saw many interesting birds on the way in, including a large but unidentifiable forest-falcon.

We were hosted at Quebrada Bonita by don Alvaro and doña Norma at their very traditional Tico country home, where we were treated to large portions of doña Norma´s excellent cooking.  Here I am on the balcony with Adrián and don Alvaro.

Here is doña Norma in her kitchen.

Excursions on foot were made from here.  Stand-out sightings among vultures and hawks were the King vulture, White hawk (a pair), Laughing falcon, and, finally, a Barred forest-falcon.

Here’s a nice shot (courtesy of Tito Fallas) of a more common bird, a Golden-olive woodpecker.

There were three hummingbirds with which I am not very familiar.  Here are two of them, in photos taken in Costa Rica by Karel Straatman:

Canivet’s emerald (Chlorostilbon canivetti)  is very similar to the third, very common, species, the Steely-vented hummingbird (Amazilia saucerrottei), which we found en route, before arriving at Quebrada Bonita.

We actually saw both males and females of both these species, which made identification much easier.

The Tawny-winged woodcreeper (Dendrocincla anabatina) is a Pacific species that was new to me.  The woodcreepers are always difficult to identify, but this one has no spots and just a few streaks on the upper breast.  It has a straight, black bill.  The upperparts are a dull brown, while the only rufous is in wings and tail.   Does anyone have a photo?

I rarely see any of the antbird family (22 Costa Rican species) but I see even fewer of the Ground Antbirds (8 species, pp. 184-187 in Birds of Costa Rica, Garrigues & Dean).  I was therefore extremely happy to see the Black-faced antthrush (Formicarius analis), though it was not much of a look.  All antbirds seem to be highly secretive and mostly dwell in a dark, forest environment.

We saw at least 10 species of flycatcher, the highlights being the aforementioned Eye-ringed flatbill and the Scale-crested pygmy-tyrant.  However, my view of the latter was so brief that I cannot add it to my life list.  Evidently, it is a common species that I should be able to find easily in many locations on either of the slopes, Caribbean or Pacific.

My final life bird was the Spot-crowned euphonia ((Euphonia imitans), whose female is distinctive because of the rufous on the forehead and the belly.  The female Olive-backed euphonia has a similar pattern, but that species is restricted to the Caribbean, and the male Spot-crowned has the blue-and-yellow pattern of several other euphonia species.

I find I am still lacking many photos, so if you can help, please send me a note in the Comments section.  The lovely shot of the White hawk (Leucopternis albicollis) is courtesy of Adrián Fallas Corrales, motor-cyclist extraordinaire.

The full list, either seen or heard by me, now follows.  I exclude the sightings made by others in the group of the birds that would have been life birds for me.  Three of the species were seen exclusively next to Tito’s house in San Ignacio de Acosta, our starting and finishing point.

1. Little tinamou (voice)
2. Gray-headed chachalaca
3. Crested guan (voice)
4. Black vulture
5. Turkey vulture
6. King vulture
7. Swallow-tailed kite
8. White-tailed kite
9. White hawk
10. Barred hawk
11. Gray hawk
12. Roadside hawk
13. Red-tailed hawk
14. Crested caracara
15. Yellow-headed caracara
16. Laughing falcon
17. Barred forest-falcon
18. Spotted sandpiper
19. Red-billed pigeon
20. Short-billed pigeon (voice)
21. Ruddy pigeon (voice)
22. Inca dove
23. White-tipped dove
24. Crimson-fronted parakeet
25. Orange-chinned parakeet
26. White-crowned parrot
27. Squirrel cuckoo
28. Groove-billed ani
29. Common pauraque
30. White-collared swift
31. Stripe-throated hermit
32. Canivet’s emerald
33. Steely-vented hummingbird
34. Rufous-tailed hummingbird
35. Violet-headed hummingbird
36. Gartered trogon
37. Slaty-tailed trogon (voice)
38. Blue-crowned motmot (voice)
39. Keel-billed toucan
40. Hoffmann’s woodpecker
41. Golden-olive woodpecker
42. Tawny-winged woodcreeper
43. Streak-headed woodcreeper
44. Black-faced antthrush
45. Yellow-bellied elaenia
46. Piratic flycatcher
47. Common tody-flycatcher
48. Scale-crested pygmy flycatcher
49. Eye-ringed flatbill
50. Great kiskadee
51. Social flycatcher
52. Gray-capped flycatcher
53. Streaked flycatcher
54. Tropical kingbird
55. Masked tityra
56. White-ruffed manakin
57. Brown jay
58. Blue-and-white swallow
59. Rufous-naped wren (San Ignacio de Acosta)
60. Bay wren
61. House wren
62. White-breasted wood-wren
63. White-throated robin
64. Clay-colored robin
65. Mountain robin
66. Tennessee warbler
67. Chestnut-sided warbler
68. Wilson’s warbler
69. Buff-rumped warbler
70. Rufous-capped warbler (San Ignacio de Acosta)
71. Common bush-tanager
72. White-lined tanager
73. Summer tanager
74. Cherrie’s tanager
75. Golden-hooded tanager
76. Silver-throated tanager
77. Blue-gray tanager
78. Palm tanager
79. Green honeycreeper
80. Red-legged honeycreeper
81. Variable seedeater
82. White-eared ground-sparrow (San Ignacio de Acosta)
83. Black-striped sparrow (voice)
84. Rufous-collared sparrow
85. Buff-throated saltator
86. Melodious blackbird
87. Great-tailed grackle
88. Giant cowbird
89. Baltimore oriole
90. Chestnut-headed oropendola
91. Montezuma oropendola
92. Yellow-crowned euphonia
93. Spot-crowned euphonia