Here are some things you need to watch birds in Costa Rica, presented in no particular order:

A pack or bag with a waterproof stuff sack inside (I used a Sea to Summit drysack, lightweight, relatively durable, quite waterproof).  Trust me, the waterproof part will make your camera, checklist or notebook, and cookies happy.

Waterproof binoculars.  These will come in handy because you’ll most likely encounter rain, and maybe a tippy canoe (as on an earlier trip to Belize).  Also sunscreen, because it doesn’t always rain.

Cookies: I recommend chiky (above), a tasty chocolate-covered bickie readily procured from quickie-mart type establishments.  Crunchy, chocolaty, affordable, and eminently share-able.  Everyone loves a chiky!  Also recommended, jalapeño-flavored plantain chips.

Field guides for birds, plants, arthropods, whatever your interests are.  I went with Garrigues and Dean for the birds (above), as it’s more portable than the venerable and learned Stiles and Skutch, which has more info in it.  Your call, your back.

Notebook: Rite-in-the-Rain or Moleskine (above, green), again, your choice; both are tough enough to withstand moisture, repeated opening and closing and rapid shoving into velcro-closure pockets as new birds suddenly appear.  And, again, I recommend a waterproof writing tool.  I used a Faber-castell Pitt artist’s pen, color Sanguine, also good for sketching.

Umbrella.  Good for optics, and does not produce excessive sweat like encasing yourself in a plastic poncho. Take special care while birding in groups to not poke each others’ eyes out with spokes, especially in the heat of the moment when the Silvery-fronted tapaculo is singing in the drippy undergrowth at your feet.  (If you’re going with a tour, make sure umbrellas are approved by your birding leader/company).

A comfy, easy-to-see-out-of bus to get you around (left).  Air conditioning is a plus. In the bus: a cooler full of drinking water (right).

Also in the bus: People Who Know What They’re Doing.  Our leader and driver were Borderland Tours’/Costa Rica Expeditions’ Charlie Gómez and Niño Morales (below), who can both readily find a bird by sight or sound and see to it that everyone in the group gets their eyes (or at least one eye) on it.

With the assistance of these experts and items, you’re ready to look for a bird.

Here’s one now.  And it’s a good one — Charlie and Niño are exhibiting excitement.  “Just” a Mourning dove, you say?  Why, no!  It’s a female Maroon-chested ground dove (Claravis mondetoura).  Take a close look with those waterproof binoculars, you may not see this one again (digiscoping by Charlie Gómez):

(All still photos A.Shock)

To say that pygmy owls are sparrow-like isn’t entirely true.  But it’s almost true.

To start with, there’s their size: they are Very Very Small (the technical term).  Almost sparrow-sized.  Perched in a conifer, they look like a tiny pinecone. Also, like sparrows, they’re largely diurnal, and can frequently be found glaring down from a high branch in daylight hours.

Ferruginous pygmy owl, San José CR.  (photo A.Shock) >>

Then there’s their fierce, predatory nature.

OK, that’s not like a sparrow at all, unless you’re a seed.

But then, there’s their population density: they’re almost as numerous as sparrows.  Of course this is hyperbole too, but, for a predator, whose numbers are usually limited, they are fairly numerous.  In a walled garden of our hotel in San José, Costa Rica, we encountered (heard or seen) at least three if not more Ferruginous pygmy owls, simultaneously responding to their own staccato calls, recorded and played back to them. (By contrast, in Arizona, Ferruginous pygmy owls reach their maximum northward range in the southern part of the state; they’re not terribly numerous.  In fact, the Cactus ferruginous pygmy owl is endangered in the state)

<< Here’s another pygmy owl in Costa Rica, making its repetitive “poop” call, at the rate of about 3 per second, each note accompanied by a slight lift of its tail, showing the whole-body effort that goes into making a noise that’s pretty loud coming from such a small entity. (Photo A.Shock)

Costa Rica is especially well-supplied with pygmy owl species: Ferruginous, Costa Rican (endemic to the country), and Central American pygmy owl all make their homes there, varying slightly in appearance and voice, but not overlapping much in range.

Three Star Owl blogging resumes after a hiatus of two weeks in Costa Rica…

Volcán Turrialba at dawn, from Rancho Naturalista (photo A.Shock).

In the view above only a small plume of steam and gas is visible from the most active of the three summit craters of the nearly 11,000 foot stratovolcano.  Its last major eruption was in 1866, but a recent increase in activity and a release of volcanic ash in January of this year, resulted in the evacuation of two nearby villages.

Gray-headed chachalacas (photo A.Shock) >>

Local residents may be used to living in view of this steaming giant, but for visitors it can be a little unnerving.  However there’s lots to distract, including vocal groups of Gray-headed chachalacas eating bananas at a fruit feeder, and a Crested Guan perched and silhouetted against the green valley far below.

<< Crested guan (photo A.Shock)