20 Jan Samara Costa Rica January 2024

Over the winter holidays I took a family vacation to our favourite spot, Samara Beach. It was our 4th time in Samara. It was an amazing trip with lots of time at the beach, birding and plenty of time to read and relax. I have a few favourite spots that I checked out for birds and found the birds that I was hoping to see! I also saw so many new species that I had not identified on previous trips. The best part is that I got to know the calls of many birds: the Rufous-naped Wren, the Turquoise-browed Motmot, the Black-headed Trogon, the White-winged Dove and the White-tipped dove, the Roadside Hawk and the Plain Chahalaca. I hope that I can retain these calls for the next time I am down there. Each day I saw new species. Looking at a field I noticed Southern Lapwings foraging. I’m sure they were also there last trip because they were at the fild every time I went by but I had not identified them before. Another big difference is that on this trip i had Merlin Bird ID that could listen to bird calls and narrow down the possibilities for me.

I still have trouble identifying gulls and sandpipers, but this gives me something to work on. There were a lot of raptors on this trip too which is not my strength. I want to get better at identifying the local raptors in my area.

One thing that I really enjoyed was taking my bike out to hit a few hot birding spots. I like the little trail leading up to the Barracuda hotel. Here I saw the Squirrel Cuckoo, Turquoise-browed Motmot the Black-headed Trogon and some wrens. on the trail across from Samara Pacific Lodge I also saw lots of great birds including Streak-backed Orioles, Motmots, woodpeckers, woodcreepers and trogons. And everywhere there were Great tailed Grackles, doves, Kiskadees, Social Flycatchers and Tropical Kingbirds.

Here is the list of birds that i identified throughout the 13 days: