Sunday, April 8, 2012

COSTA RICA: Savegre Cloud Forest Reserve (Day 4)

Spring is in the air.  Like the Queztals, many couples are working to start new families.  Early in the morning, we encountered Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers using moss, lichen, and rubbery tree sap to build a nest high in a chestnut tree.


Nearby,  the colorful Collared Redstart were digging through the underbrush gathering nesting material.  

 
Tumbling over the ground and oblivious to our presence, we later witnessed the rather violent face-to-face courtship of a pair of Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch.


Finally, we found a female Black-faced Solitaire incubating a clutch of eggs in an old tree stump.  Poachers capture these birds to be sold as pets due to their enchantingly, metallic calls.