Don Martin’s lot overlooking Quebrada La Loca is still the best site close to home to find the beautiful Sunbittern (Eurypiga helias). The birds nest there annually, it seems, and I have already dedicated more than one post to this species.

With little chance to get out and about lately, I was fortunate to bump into Martin at the pulpería, where he told me that the nest was in close proximity to last year’s nest site and held two large fledglings that looked almost ready to fly. Such was indeed the case. We also found one adult in the bed of the Quebrada La Loca below. The birds are not particularly wary and anyone with a decent camera can get excellent photos.

Two days later, just this one juvenile Sunbittern remained on the nest; photo by kind courtesy of John Beer

The Fasciated Tiger-Herons have not been seen there for a while, but the little patch of woodland here is a quiet delight very close to home, and several species there rarely reach our garden near the San Antonio church, just five minutes’ walk away. This week the Golden-crowned Warblers were there as usual, together with White-breasted Wood-Wren, Bay Wren, Common Chlorospingus and Spotted Barbtail. The latter species, a darkly spotted funarid that lives in thick vegetation, usually fairly low down,  is not easily found in our area. Among hummingbirds, the commonest species here are hermits, and this week’s second visit brought my first view in a while of a Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy). Female pictured below is by courtesy of Richard Garrigues.

Not as green as the male – a female Green Hermit in flight