Great Black Hawk!

A raptor scan this morning was very profitable, with both mine and the reserve's first Great Black Hawk seen. I first clapped eyes on it as it circled up from the trees at about 11am, and immediately knew it was something exciting. On closer inspection through my scope, I could see the extensive white rump together with a thinner white tail-band. It showed for a further two minutes before being lost to the clouds.

This wasn't the only raptor excitement of the day though; earlier in the morning a my first Sharp-shinned Hawk flew over while being mobbed by a Blue-and-white Swallow. Other raptors seen included five Red-tailed Hawks, one Roadside Hawk, one Broad-winged Hawk one Short-tailed Hawk and numerous Turkey and Black Vultures. 200+ White-collared Swifts also came up the valley together with five small swift sp. that remained too high to identify. A Streaked Flycatcher just down the road from Cloudbridge was an interesting record, since the species is rare in the uplands.

What was certainly a more unusual record, seen yesterday on the way back up to Cloudbridge in the back of the truck, was a Magnificent Frigatebird, flying around in the mist.

Great Black Hawk (imm.) - this is the largest raptor ever seen at Cloudbridge (excluding vultures).

Streaked Flycatcher

Magnificent Frigatebird - it almost appeared ghostly as it soared through the mist. This is the second record for Cloudbridge, the first seen just a few months ago after Storm Nate. It's hard to believe these birds make it all the way to the central mountains of Costa Rica. Maybe there is regularly exchange between the Pacific and the Caribbean. They are very strong flyers after all. Or maybe this one got lost in the recent unseasonable cloudy and wet weather?