Ken Cross in Costa Rica 2018: Day 14 - Ensenada Lodge and Chomes Saltworks

Friday, 30 March 2018

Day 14 - Ensenada Lodge and Chomes Saltworks

BIRD OF THE DAY - MAGPIE JAY

Today we spent Good Friday birding at Ensenada Lodge and Chomes.

An early morning walk around the lodge area yielded some excellent spp; two new Orioles, our second Puffbird, some good views of parrots, Cinnamon Hummingbirds and the real bonus of Pacific Screech Owls roosting.

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After breakfast we did a short drive to a lagoon area for many wetland species plus some good bush birding enroute.

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Today we will spend the morning birding the surroundings of our lodge. Located on the mainland coast of the Gulf of Nicoya, La Ensenada is an active cattle ranch, ecolodge and national wildlife refuge all in one. The habitat is a combination of grazing pastures with scattered trees, second growth forest and some patches of mature forest which will produce a great variety of dry forest specialties.

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Boat billed Flycatcher

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Later in the day we drove to Chomes. This location offers a combination of shrimp ponds, mangroves and mudflats hosting some of the finest coastal birding in the country. Here we got a feast of waders; a rare Long billed Curlew, Marbled Godwits, Whimbrel, Willet, Stilt Sandpiper, Short billed Dowitcher, Semi-palmated, Western, Least and Spotted Sandpipers, Grey, Wilsons and Semi Palmated Plovers. There were also good numbers of Skimmers, Royal, Sandwich, Gull billed and Elegant Terns. Stilts were also present in good numbers. The location, as we were warned, was hot however there was a reasonable shaded vantage point for those willing to have a short walk. This position allowed very good views of multiple spp in good light. We stayed at the location for an hour and a half but the site and the sight of the birds flocking and flying, in my opinion, deserved more time. An occasion , one of the very few occasions on tour that made me a little irritated....

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On the road back we stopped for excellent views of Double striped Thick-knees.

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On arriving back at the lodge many went for a short walk down to a long pier. The walk along the pier, save a single Whimbrel, yielded only distant views of Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Laughing Gulls.