CERRO DE LA MUERTE & LIST (Restaurant Las Georginas)
COSTA RICA
Region (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit (6th-9th February, 2005)
Birding Site Guide
We stayed on Cerro de la Muerte for 3 nights at the Restaurant Las Georginas which also had cheap cabins (about $15 for a double). The restaurant had good, cheap food and 4 species of hummingbird could be seen at the feeders from the window. Las Georginas can be reached in 2 hours by buses heading to San Isidro from the Musoc terminal in San Jose. All the bus drivers know the restaurant and many stop for food there. The staff are very friendly and a good set of trails lead from the cabins where many highland species could be found. The restaurant is just above 3000m and trails lead down as far as a set of cascades at about 2800m. The trail down is called Sendero Los Quetzales and unsurprisingly I saw Resplendent Quetzals, both at the top and the bottom of the trail. Black Guans were also seen at the bottom in the evening. Along the main road about 2km back towards San Jose, I birded a trail heading up towards the peak with paramo habitat. Along the main road about 2km towards San Isidro from Las Georginas was a right turning towards Villa Mills, where there is a school, church and football pitch. This area had a few species not found near Las Georginas. The weather was surprisingly good whilst we were there and we had blue skies everyday. I saw 41 species including 16 lifers.
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Species seen
- Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
- Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
- Black Guan Chamaepetes unicolor Near-threatened
- Band-tailed Pigeon Patagioenas fasciata
- Ruddy Pigeon Patagioenas subvinacea
- Dusky Nightjar Caprimulgus saturatus
- White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris
- Green Violet-ear Colibri thalassinus
- Fiery-throated Hummingbird Panterpe insignis
- Magnificent Hummingbird Eugenes fulgens
- Volcano Hummingbird Selasphorus flammula
- Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno Near-threatened
- Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
- Ruddy Treerunner Margarornis rubiginosus
- Buffy Tuftedcheek Pseudocolaptes lawrencii
- Spot-crowned Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes affinis
- Mountain Elaenia Elaenia frantzii
- Black-capped Flycatcher Empidonax atriceps
- Barred Becard Pachyramphus versicolor
- Blue-and-white Swallow Pygochelidon cyanoleuca
- Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher Phainoptila melanoxantha
- Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher Ptilogonys caudatus
- Gray-breasted Wood-Wren Henicorhina leucophrys
- Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush Catharus gracilirostris
- Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush Catharus frantzii
- Sooty Robin Turdus nigrescens
- Mountain Robin Turdus plebejus
- Silvery-throated Jay ? Cyanolyca argentigula
- Yellow-winged Vireo Vireo carmioli
- Flame-throated Warbler Parula gutturalis
- Black-throated Green Warbler Dendroica virens
- Wilson's Warbler Wilsonia pusilla
- Collared Redstart Myioborus torquatus
- Black-cheeked Warbler Basileuterus melanogenys
- Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager Chlorospingus pileatus
- Slaty Flowerpiercer Diglossa plumbea
- Yellow-thighed Finch Pselliophorus tibialis
- Large-footed Finch Pezopetes capitalis
- Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
- Volcano Junco Junco vulcani
- Yellow-billed Cacique Amblycercus holosericeus
Other Fauna
A total of -- species of mammals.
There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles.
Flora
Author: Charles Hesse
www.birdingsiteguide.com
