DAY 6
THURSDAY
In contrast
to the 
described
in Howell’s book).
Our first
stop was
Birding was
slow initially, but picked up when the sun hit the slopes above the parking
lot. One of our first birds was another
Collared 
Forest-Falcon
that flew over the parking lot. Chris
played the birds call, and it returned to perch briefly in a tree up the
road. I snapped a couple of pictures
that came out pretty poor and didn’t show the head. (But hey, it’s a Collared Forest-Falcon!)
Despite being pestered by a barking dog, which Chris finally drove away, the slope became busy with birds as the sun climbed higher. I didn’t see any new birds on the slope, but did see my second Black-capped Vireo, my first female of this species. Several other good birds were viewed well, including Happy Wren (Finally. We had called this bird many times already with less than optimal results), Spotted Wren, and Rufous-capped Warbler (I had seen a Rufous-capped on the way down from the volcano, but had been alone at the time).
When we returned to the parking lot a short distance away, John noticed that gas was leaking from the van. It appeared that there was a leak in the tank, so John took the van back into Comalá to have it checked while we continued birding.
We walked back down the road a short distance to where an overgrown road left the paved road and climbed the slope to the north. We slipped through barbed wire at the gate, and followed the road into a hollow where it began to climb. On the way up, Maureen saw a woodpecker in a tree where we had been watching Gray Silky-flycatchers, and it ended up being a Gray-crowned Woodpecker. It was a little odd to see a green woodpecker for the first time, but it is a good looking bird.
We climbed a little higher, hearing Green Jays as we went, but they were hidden and not responding to taped calls (Bob joked that Chris was playing the wrong call; he should have been playing the sound of a bag of potato chips being opened, based on how this species behaved in south Texas.)
Bird activity slowed, so we headed back down to the parking area at El Jacal. John was back from having the gas tank checked. The gas tank wasn’t leaking when he had them look at it, and he with a little thought he determined that it only leaked when he parked uphill. The leak was slow, and by keeping an eye on it he was able to nurse the problem through the rest of the trip without event.
We piled in and headed north to Laguna la Maria for lunch. We stopped and took a few pictures of the volcano along the way. Several times we had noticed what seemed like dust or smoke on the side of the volcano. Driving to Laguna la Maria brought closer to the volcano, and we were able to see that the dust was probably from landslides on the volcano. The volcano was more active that day, and we could see lots of dust at times.
The guides paid our entrance fee into the laguna, and we parked where the road ended at some picnic tables and a restroom. We birded this area for a bit, seeing Flame-colored Tanagers for the first time and another Gray-crowned Woodpecker. Brad found a flock of White-throated Robins, the largest I have ever seen.
Moving back up the road a bit, Brad spotted a male Elegant Trogon that responded to Chris’s tape. At this same location, Chris spotted a small group of Green Jays that we were finally able to see. For most in the group, this bird was not new. I found it to be a gorgeous bird, and appreciated the lifer.
The guides headed back to the vehicles to prepare lunch,
while the rest of us straggled back birding along the way. I was hoping to photograph the robins, but
having poor success. When I turned to
head back to lunch, I saw a Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow perched in the sun at
the top of some waist-high plants hanging over the water at the edge of the
lake. I had seen this bird well once
before, while birding the
Lunch
was curried tuna salad with golden raisins and cashews, and the usual
assortment of bread, finger food, and cookies.
As always, there was a wide assortment of canned drinks from the
coolers.
After lunch, we headed back up the road to try one more time for the Ground-Sparrow. As we were leaving the location where we had seen the trogon earlier in the day, Bob called out seeing an unusual woodpecker, and we were able to get good views of a Smoky-brown Woodpecker. Too me, it was interesting to see the increased variation in woodpecker color (Smokey-brown and Gray-crowned) compared to what I had seen in the states.
As we headed back to the vehicles, I was finally able to get good views of a Greenish Elaenia, a bird that had been heard and spotted several times before by the guides and others.
Not long after, we headed back to town and our hotel for a few extra hours of free time. I took advantage of the time to take a nap and do a little shopping at the gift shop next to the hotel.
We had dinner at the Los Guacamayas again, a little earlier than normal. After eating, I walked several blocks north to a little cyber cafe (that Jim had found). For about 50 cents, I was able to surf the net for a half hour. I wrote an e-mail to the family and caught up on current events and weather, then headed back to the hotel and bed.