Hummingbirds, Drag Queens and everything in between

My last update went to 22 June, when I nearly got bitten by a rather deadly snake, and the first guests of my stay arrived. Eight of them in one night, in fact. Dave, Kathy and Matt were a parents + son group,  Ellen, Nicole and Jackie were a mum, daughter and aunt and Randy and Marilyn were two friends who'd met on a birding holiday in Honduras (I believe!) and organised a trip down to Rancho together. All were keen birders, enthusiastic and very friendly, and all brightened up my days immeasurably.

23 June saw an early start, as I accompanied Dave, Kathy and Matt on a walk around the rainforest at Rancho. With us was a professional guide, Herman (pronounced "airrr-man". It's fair to say that, having tried my hand at showing people the birds, I now hold guides such as Herman, Cali and Christian (the others I've met in my stay here) in a reverence I tend to withhold for the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Stephen Fry. Their powers border on the superhuman!

On this walk with Herman and our guests, we probably saw about 60 species. I've spent days where I'd walked my absolute arse off on these trails, and would count myself lucky to find 30! But then, years of experience can make anyone an expert in whatever field they dedicate themselves to.

As well as being an extremely knowledgeable and talented guide, Herman was very good fun. Focussed and kmowledgeable he may be when it comes to wildlife, but in general he emitted the same jovial, laid-back and good-natured vibe that's one of the most endearing characteristics of many Ticos. Between us we got some pretty good results for the guests! My personal favourite was the Moss Walking Stick, an insect so brilliantly camouflaged that in photos we took mere inches away, you'll still struggle to locate him! Hairs on his back grow in exactly the same colour and consistency as moss, making him near enough invisible until you get your eye in.

this is not a Stick Insect, but it's an insect. Close enough, right?... No?... poo you, I like the photo anyway

When we arrived back at Rancho I was treated to a gorgeous lunch. One of my favourite things about guests coming is the food that the frankly miraculous chefs produce. Lisa also liked all guides to eat with the guests, to create an atmosphere of comraderie one assumes, and it's very good fun, regaling each other with stories from the day. After lunch a baby Armadillo showed very well, displaying it's primary defense against predators; it's just too damn cute for anything to attack it!

That night I slept soundly, and was up again for 5 the following morning! I once again accompanied Herman, Dave, Kathy and Matt as we went 20 miles or so off site, to a steep river valley known as La Mina, somewhere along the banks of the Rio Pacuare. It was an absolutely magical location, great for all sorts of birds which was good news for us. The Sunbittern was the one Dave, Matt and Kathy (and me!) most wanted, and excellent views were had of this intriguing, heron-like bird as two fed in the boulder-strewn shores of the river. I don't have any photos (as a guide it's best not to take a camera out, as photography can distract you from finding stuff for the customer!), so here's a video gleaned from YouTube to give some idea of it's inherent awesomeness.

There was a lot of other gorgeous wildlife to gawk at too, mostly birds like the stupendously beautiful Violaceous Trogon, plus Ringed Kingfisher and Torrent Tyrannulet. There was also a beautiful Butterfly (I think it was some kind of Hairstreak), with an incredible defense against predators. Its head looks like its tail, and its tail looks like its head! Thus, should a bird swoop down and attempt to grab it 'head first', the butterfly can escape with only a slight roughing up of its wings. Nature is pretty damn ingenious sometimes.

That afternoon was spent mostly on the balcony at Rancho, where myself and all the guests had a great time with the birds. Hummingbirds of every description imaginable were flying by mere meters from our heads, encouraged in by the torrential rain, with some even perching on the balcony for shelter. In the trees beyond some good birds were picked up; Masked Tityra, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Golden-olive Woodpecker etc. I shan't bore you all with a long list, but I shall instead say that even more enjoyable than the birding was the comraderie, the sense of teamwork among us. A day ago we were all strangers, but now in this remarkable place the nine of us were sitting together, laughing and occasionally raising our binoculars, on a Costa Rican balcony in a monsoon. Sometimes wildlife has a way of bringing strangers together that few other passions can match, from my experience perhaps only a shared love of music can be its equal. I think that afternoon will live long in the memory as one of the highlights of my trip.

Grey-headed Chachalaca, freakish looking bird seen from the balcony

I think this one gives you some idea of the rain we were having!

Brown Violet-ear; a fairly common Hummingbird to see from the Balcony

Unfortunately, all too soon la nueva disbanded. Dave, Kathy and Matt and Ellen, Nicole and Jackie all left at 9 in the morning on 25 June. This left myself, Randy and Marilyn holding up the fort. With another local guide, Christian, we went down to CATIE, a university campus with some fine wildlife. Most spectacular was a heronry that was barely 5 metres away on a small island on the University lake. Hundreds of birds packed it, mostly Cattle Egrets and Black-crowned Night Herons, with the few trees defying gravity in their ability to support so many (hundreds!) of nests.

Most beautiful was the colony of Leafcutter Ants that has taken to collecting the pink petals of Bougainvillea. From 30 yards away it looks as though tonnes of blossom is strewn in a remarkably neat, orderly line. As you get a bit closer, you see that the blossom is moving, and eventually you can sit down beside a stream of thousands of ants, all carrying their pink trophies back to the nest. I'm sure anyone who has been to a butterfly farm/most good zoos has seen Leafcutter Ants, so hopefully I don't need to explain what they do, but basically they cut fragments of leaves with their sharp pincers, and use them to build their nests. On any rainforest floor the path is typically strewn with lines of ants, all transporting foliage. These were the first ones I'd seen to use blossom though, and I think they take the mantle as the most gosh-darn fabulous things I've yet to encounter! It wouldn't surprise me if the nest rocks to the beat of some Elton John and YMCA.

Most cute at CATIE was the chicks of the Jacanas. Called 'Jesus Christ birds' in many countries for their ability to 'walk on water' (in reality they simply nimbly tread their way over Lilypads), the chicks were tiny, you could fit 10 in your hand with ease. How well they fare I don't know, as both Terrapins and Caimans (small crocodiles) inhabit this pond, and the chicks would seem to be a very easy snack.
After returning to Rancho we had another fine lunch, and I agreed I would take Marilyn and Randy out for a walk around the grounds at about 3. Unfortunately, the weather over the last few days has seen torrential rain every bloody afternoon, and today was no exception! We did a spot more balcony-birding, seeing a few nice things before dinner. It was to be my last dinner with the guests for quite a while, and I realised it would take some getting used to Rancho going quiet again!

On 26 June Randy and Marilyn left at about 9am. I did manage to get out with Marilyn early in the morning, showing her a few new birds like Golden-crowned Warbler and a stunning Violaceous Trogon. But then, after that, Rancho fell silent once more. I would love to come here in the dry season, when it is a beehive of activity, with every room often booked out. However, it can feel a bit isolated at times in the rainy season, a guest-house without many guests.

Violaceous Trogon, a splendid bird I was delighted to get for Marilyn

I managed to to a bit more walking the trails, though this time with Marcus, a 16-year old family friend of Lisa and Mario. He was staying here with his grandmother for a few days and, not being too interested in the birds, was probably a bit bored. I showed him some of the trails and we spotted a few interesting bits of wildlife, which I hope was a nice distraction for him. However, I will always remember this day more clearly as the day I saved the Hummingbird!

At about 12:30 I walked onto the balcony, to see a female Violet-crowned Woodnymph crawling around on the floor, in a small pool of blood. It didn't look in very good shape at all! I shouted out for Mario (Lisa's husband and co-manager of Rancho), who's presumably had to deal with this before, and who scooped the tiny little bird into his hands, before taking it over to the hummingbird feeder and gently encouraging it to feed. However, after five minutes or so little was happening, and Mario had other work to do, so I, feeling an intrepid sense of responsibility for this little birds life, took the reins.
It took about 20 minutes more of feeding the bird, and blowing on its underbelly to help keep it warm (as such small birds they are at grave risk of hypothermia if they become too inactive/don't eat enough), before the bird felt confident enough to stretch it's wings. For about two seconds I felt triumphant, then had a sinking feeling of horror as I realised the Hummer had vastly overestimated its own ability! It crashed down to the ground, still frantically flapping it's wings, spiralling down like a broken helicopter in one of those action movies where aliens/giant lizards/killer robots invade Manhattan.

Hummingbird in hand, gently persuading her to nectar from the feeders

I rushed downstairs and, to my relief it was still alive. Presumably it's flapping wasn't entirely in vain, as it had slowed up enough to make the landing quite safe. But it was still unable to fly at all, so I took her back up to the feeders on the balcony. Ten minutes then passed, repeating the cycle of feeding and blowing (no sniggering you dirty-minded freaks), and I was starting to lose hope. Depending on how long it had been on the balcony it may have already been in too grave a condition to be saved (they generally need to feed at least once every seven minutes, or so Mario said). I would wait until it made one more flight attempt, and if it still failed to get airborn I would, as heartbreaking as it felt, have to leave her under the cover of a bush somewhere and hope she somehow regained flight by herself. The chances of a recovery were not looking good. But then, miraculously, she took off, nonchalantly powering over to the closest small tree and settling into a perch among her kind, no doubt with an incredible story to tell them. As did I.
That night Mario took me out for some wonderful spanish karaoke in one of the local villages. Trying to sing in Spanish was a skill I think I actually achieved more masterfully than speaking the language, though being able to read it off of a screen probably also helped! We got home at about 8 and I forwent dinner, heading straight to bed.

The 27th was quite possibly the least eventful day of my trip so far. I woke up rather groggy, and after dinner put my TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) training to some good use, devising a lesson for Rebecca. Except this was in Spanish! I actually know the language considerably less well than her, but my doing my research, (involving several hours looking in my dictionary and at online verb conjugation tables), I had come up with a half-decent lesson plan, teaching the regular conjugation of verbs in the present simple, past simple and future simple tenses. It was a bit different doing the lesson on Spanish, but to be honest the techniques my TEFL course have taught me can be easily translated into teaching other languages. I still have an awful lot to learn, but the more chances I get to do this the better!

I also managed to save another Hummer, albeit in less dramatic cirumstances. This one had somehow contrived to get stuck in the lounge, and was hovering against the window, wistfully gazing outside. I opened a door, but the bird was either comfy in its new home, or too stupid to notice when a chance for escape presented itself! I went to try and find some sort of net to catch it and set it free, but by the time I came back it had already flown out of its own accord.

*postscript- as I wrote this, a male White-necked Jacobin flew into the house, headbutted a window trying to get out, then flew away! Thank god I didn't have another casualty on my hands.
** second postscript- it's a day later, I'm STILL trying to find time to finish this, and another Jacobin got caught in the house! Again, thankfully, he made his way out again, but this is happening more often than I'd like.

White-necked Jacobin, this one displaying a most unusual behaviour of not flying indoors

On the 28th, Rebecca and I went into Turrialba for the day. It's a nice little town, with a very active town centre, plenty of shops and a market selling lots of fresh food. To be honest towns aren't really my number one interest in the world right now, so I hope you'll forgive me if I don't wax lyrical for too long! It was pretty, it was a good way to experience some 'real' Costa Rican culture (we noticed we were just about the only tourists around), and a good way to kill a few hours on an otherwise quiet day.

A street Raffle, with an excellent spanish band playing on the stage in the foreground. 

We got the bus back mid-afternoonish, and almost immediately we were off to a local fiesta organised in one of the villages! When Lisa sold it to me as a "fiesta", I perhaps had something different in mind than the reality, a church fete with family entertainment, but I enjoyed myself nontheless. It was a great chance to experience Costa Rica as a Tico, and not just a Gringo tourist, who'd probably never see this side of everyday life. There were lots of comedy sketches being put on by local actors and some fabulous drag queens, who put Shakira to shame (that's who they were all dressed up as/dancing to, I'm not saying she is one!). I wish I could say I got photographs as it's a hell of an experience, but I'm afraid I was too transfixed! It was also a weight of my shoulders once I'd seen the real culture of Los Ticos. Skim-reading Lonely Planet had led me to believe they might be a bit less, shall we say, open-minded than I'm used to, growing up so close to Brighton! But I feel fairly confident in saying that that's not the case in this area at all, and whoever wrote these sections clearly didn't spend too much time in the Central Valley!

Afterwards we went to a bar in the village for a few beers and stuff. I managed to play about 10 games of Table Football, winning, I think, just one, alongside Mario and two of his/Lisa's sons, Angelo and Cisco. Cisco in particular has been good company as, having lived in America for several years, he's completely bilingual! My Spanish still needs a lot of work so this is a blessing. I actually understand stuff like verb conjugation reasonably well, but am just struggling with the more 'basic' stuff like vocabulary! I'm also absolutely hopeless at understanding it when it's spoken to me at the moment.

my camera does not like artificial light (and I forgot to use Flash like the imbecile I am), but you can just about identify that it's table football being played.

Anyway, today was another quiet day, I felt a bit under the weather for a lot of the day, so regrettably didn't make it down to town to see the World Cup match being projected on a big screen! I can only imagine how much of an atmosphere I must have missed out on, based on the absolute fanatacism for football here, and how incredibly dramatic the ending was (if you didn't know, Costa Rica conceded an equaliser in injury time, somehow held on for 30 minutes of extra time with 10 men and then beat Greece on penalties!). The others showed me plenty of galling videos and pictures showing the kind of atmosphere I was missing out on.

celebrating an incredible victory! though I think I might clean my lens tomorrow...

This evening, I finally got out on a hunt for Owls and Nightjars. Wandering around a few of the paths in the pitch black was an incredible experience, and I heard calling Crested Owls, a good species which I hope I'll actually locate before guests arrive. But it was wonderfully exciting anyhow; the din of insects and frogs is breathtaking, and occasionally you'll hear a swooshing flap of wings as a bat quickly passes low over your head. Some of the frogs are so loud that they're actually quite startling when they call from right next to you! And the sky was stunning, one of rather few cloudless nights I've had here, but still with regular flashes of lightning from the east illuminating the landscape.

It is a bit frightening wandering around at night though, especially given I'm actually starting to get a bit scared of the snakes, what with moderately cheating death at the hands of that Fer-De-Lance! But rest assured, there wasn't a second my torch wasn't scanning the ground for any signs of them, unless I was trying to pick out Owls/Frogs in the trees. Thankfully, I didn't add to the list of deadly encounters today!

As I wrote this final part, and eventualy got the blog up to date, I even found a Cockroach in my room. It's the first I've seen here and in a bizarre way I'm quite glad. It didn't really feel like a jungle without one!

Anyway you merciless bastards, I don't know how long I've slaved away writing this for you, but its about damn time I slept. Love to you all, Liam :)