MORAVIA, COSTA RICA — I arrived in Costa Rica on Monday. It’s my first time here. I’ve been staying in a suburb of San José, which isn’t particularly bird-rich. Some of the city birds are common in Texas (e.g., Great-tailed Grackles and White-winged Doves), others reach the northernmost limit of their distribution in southern Texas (e.g., Red-billed Pigeon and Clay-colored Thrush (Robin)). There are Central American specialties too of course, like Rufous-collared Sparrow, and….

blue-crowned-motmot-motmotus-motmota

This is a Blue-crowned Motmot (Motmotus motmota). Wow! That blue gleams with a breathtaking brilliance. The bird’s racket-shaped central tail feathers are obscured in this photo, unfortunately.

garden

Today we visited the gardens at Hotel Bougainvillea — crammed with spectacular flowers and other plants. There were birds around too, including North American refugees like Yellow Warbler and Summer Tanager, and some Central American birds I haven’t had time to look up yet.