The environment at Casa Turire that I described in a previous post is replicated and even improved upon at a location just beyond the hamlet of Florencia on the very outskirts of Turrialba. In addition to the signature species Snail Kite, at least 3 Limpkins (Aramus guarauna) were present, and although our tally of 4 from Casa Turire was considered an unusual high by Cornell University’s eBird database team, friend Larry Waddell has observed at least 6 separate birds at the Florencia location.
Limpkin in flight where the Reventazón flows into the Angostura Dam
The damming of the Río Reventazón at the Angostura Dam has created a large marsh environment at the point where the river flows into the dam. Here is where Larry Waddell, Mark Magree and I found not only the aforementioned species but also several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (Nyctanassa violacea) and a solitary Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus). These are by no means uncommon species but they make great photograph subjects:
Black-necked Stilt shows off his long red legs
Most of the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons were immatures
At Casa Turire we had found, exceptionally, a Common Yellowthroat, but the watery environment here contained two other Yellowthroat species, the Gray-crowned Yellowthroat (Geothlypis poliocephala) and the Olive-crowned Yellowthroat (Geothlypis semiflava). Here’s Larry’s pic of a male of the latter species:
No white border on the black mask of the Olive-crowned Yellowthroat.
The approach to the lake is through woodland with trees of all sizes. Our highlights this time were a trio of Gartered Trogons (Trogon caligatus) (previously Violaceous Trogon) and a female Great Antshrike (Taraha major). I missed the Antshrike and so cannot include it on my eBird listing (see end of article), but Larry didn’t!
Female Great Antshrike, not often seen in our area
Many thanks to friends Larry Waddell and John Beer for hauling me around in their sturdy vehicles and for the many photos, which really are indispensable for the documentation of our excursions. The final photo (all Larry’s) for today, showing one of the male Gartered Trogons, is followed by to the final eBird species tally:
Look at me! A male Gartered Trogon; photo by Larry Waddell
Additional good news is the return of day-roosting Lesser Nighthawks (Chordeiles acutipennis) to the iron framework of the abandoned sugar mill at Florencia. They had wisely abandoned the location because of the predations of someone’s cat. Keep kitty at home please.
This day’s checklist is a particularly long one, full of excellent sightings:
Birds for Beer 
That’s an impressive list for sure, great day. I noticed you talked about the Greater Antshrike in the blog, but I didn’t notice it listed on the actual list.
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