Situated in the south west of Costa Rica, Wilson Lodge is situated at an altitude of 1000-1100 metres. It is therefore an excellent place to see many bird species of the Pacific slope. It has 25 acres of grounds and many trails. While we were there the weather was hot and dry.
For more information on Wilson Lodge visit https://costa-rica-guide.com/nature/refuges/wilson-botanical
12th Feb - We arrived at Wilson Lodge mid morning and soon started ticking off new species from the veranda where there were a number of feeding stations. Later we walked some of the trails and ended up in garden with formal gardens with many flowers. Here we saw one of the star birds of Wilson Gardens, the White-crested Coquette.
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| Wilson Lodge - Large gardens and many trails. |
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| Green Hermit - One of the first hummers to be seen from the veranda at Wilson Lodge. |
The feeders on the veranda attracted a constant flow of birds including those below.
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| Green Honeycreeper |
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
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| Spot-crowned Euphonia - Endemic to SW Costa Rica and Panama. |
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| Lesson's Motmot - Found from southern Mexico to western Panama. A split from Blue-crowned Motmot. |
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| Speckled Tanager - A stunning species.with restricted ranges in Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia and Venezuela. |
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| White-throated Thrush - Seen on three days. |
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| Tennessee Warbler - Seen on most days during the trip. |
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| Streaked Saltator - Found from Costs Rica to the more northerly countries of South America. |
Later we walked some of the trails and ended up in garden with formal gardens with many flowers. Here we saw one of the star birds of Wilson Gardens, the White-crested Coquette.
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| White-crested Coquette - Endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama |
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| In gathering gloom a mini twitch to see this scarce hummer. |
Some of the non-bird sightings were :-
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| Agouti - Widespread in Central and South America and not uncommon here. |
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| Cane Toad / Marine Toad Rinella marina |
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13th Feb - The whole day was spent on the trails at Wilson Lodge. We were fortunate to see a group of bird ringers from Washington State University who were carrying out research on the hummingbirds. This involved mist netting, so we were fortunate to see several species in the hand.
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| Wilson Lodge - Stunning gardens just after dawn. |
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| Bird Ringing (Banding) in progress. |
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| A Green Hermit being ringed, measured and weighed. |
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| Given a drink before release. This is subsequently analysed for pollen to see which flowers the bird has visited. |
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| A photo call before release. |
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| After breakfast we took in the amazing view (click on photo to see full size). |
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| The Bamboo here is pretty big!! |
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| Excellent trails in wonderful habitat |
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| Brown-hooded Parrot - Range throughout Central America and just into Columbia. We only saw this species at Wilson Lodge. |
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| Golden-hooded Tanager - Seen most days. |
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| Charming Hummingbird - Endemic to Costa Rica and Western Panama. |
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| Spot-crowned Euphonia - A female |
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| Green Honeycreeper - A female. |
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| Black and White Warbler - A North American breeding species on it's wintering grounds. |
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| Yellowish Flycatcher - A Central American Species. |
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| Dave trying to prevent neck ache! |
14th Feb - We were birding before breakfast at Wilson Lodge before making the long journey to Miriam Lodge.
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| How to photograph five species of Hummingbirds in one go! Waiting to be ringed (banded). |
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| Purple-crowned Fairy caught in a mist net in sight of it's breakfast |
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| Crested Guan - There were a few above us on our last walk along the trails. |
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| Blackburnian Warbler - Another North American breeding bird. |
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| Rufous-capped Warbler - Ranges from Mexico through Central America to Columbia |
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