Fortuna Weekend

Darién Montañez spent January 9–11 at Fortuna with a group of UW Green Bay students. Weather was great, so the birding wasn't, but still there were a few highlights. A pair of Passerini's Tanagers (female seen well) near the turnoff to the Fortuna cabins on the 9th may be the first record of the species in the Pacific Slope. A rufous-phase Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl was observed for many a minute whilst perched over Continental Divide trail on the morning of the 10th, about halfway from the 800m and 1km marks. At one point it stretched out into a weird pose with beak pointed skywards, similar to the "dead wood" pose of some screech-owls, as a Broad-winged Hawk soared above. Then the morning of the 11th brought a White-fronted Tyrannulet, seen doing its characteristic one-wing stretches and heard singing at the grounds of the STRI cabin.