Wilson’s Botanical Gardens
Our third destination was the Wilson’s Botanical Gardens where we were based for 3 nights. The gardens were beautiful, with a variety of trees, flowering shrubs, lawns, a small pond and wooded areas. This rich tapestry of vegetation led to a diversity of habitat and a good variety of birds.
Many of the hotels, cafes and gardens in Costa Rica supplemented the planting by offering feeding tables laden with fruit, which acted as a magnet for many spectacular birds, allowing brilliant views and good photo opportunities. Here, this was positioned outside the dining room at a central courtyard where we would meet for meals and walks. Tanagers were a species especially attracted to such feeders, many displaying beautiful, bold colours. These included the sunny Silver-throated Tanager, seen here eyeing up a tasty piece of banana.
The lovely, blue tinged Golden-hooded Tanager
And my personal favourite, the stunning Speckled Tanager.
There were also a variety of Euphonias which visited regularly. Here is a golden and deep blue Thick-billed Euphonia, perched in a nearby tree before approaching for some food.
Other areas of the garden were equally rich with bird life, ranging from tiny hummingbirds to large raptors, including Caracaras and this Double-toothed Kite which was sat in a tree outside our balcony when we arrived at our room. The orange-red eye and rufous colouring on the breast help distinguish this from the similar Roadside Hawk.
A few minutes later a pheasant sized Crested Guan, with ruby red throat, appeared in the same tree:
Other wildlife was also visible in the grounds, including this lovely, sleek Agouti which appeared just below our balcony.
Around the gardens there were many other bird species - too numerous to mention them all. We found Grey Chacalacas with babies tracking through a hedge, a variety of flycatchers frequenting the bushes, thrushes and saltators around the lawns, parrots in the treetops, lesson’s motmot in the wooded areas and a Golden-olive Woodpecker nesting in a rotting tree trunk. At the end of the day, the sky filled with many noisy Crimson-fronted Parakeets coming to the garden to roost.
Many of the hotels, cafes and gardens in Costa Rica supplemented the planting by offering feeding tables laden with fruit, which acted as a magnet for many spectacular birds, allowing brilliant views and good photo opportunities. Here, this was positioned outside the dining room at a central courtyard where we would meet for meals and walks. Tanagers were a species especially attracted to such feeders, many displaying beautiful, bold colours. These included the sunny Silver-throated Tanager, seen here eyeing up a tasty piece of banana.
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| Silver-throated Tanager |
And my personal favourite, the stunning Speckled Tanager.
There were also a variety of Euphonias which visited regularly. Here is a golden and deep blue Thick-billed Euphonia, perched in a nearby tree before approaching for some food.
Other areas of the garden were equally rich with bird life, ranging from tiny hummingbirds to large raptors, including Caracaras and this Double-toothed Kite which was sat in a tree outside our balcony when we arrived at our room. The orange-red eye and rufous colouring on the breast help distinguish this from the similar Roadside Hawk.
A few minutes later a pheasant sized Crested Guan, with ruby red throat, appeared in the same tree:
Other wildlife was also visible in the grounds, including this lovely, sleek Agouti which appeared just below our balcony.
Around the gardens there were many other bird species - too numerous to mention them all. We found Grey Chacalacas with babies tracking through a hedge, a variety of flycatchers frequenting the bushes, thrushes and saltators around the lawns, parrots in the treetops, lesson’s motmot in the wooded areas and a Golden-olive Woodpecker nesting in a rotting tree trunk. At the end of the day, the sky filled with many noisy Crimson-fronted Parakeets coming to the garden to roost.
Just to give a flavour of the beautiful gardens, I’ll finish with this lovely flowering shrub:
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