Trogon Lodge...

Trogon Lodge is a world away from some of the other places we had visited. It is VERY comfortable, it's situated high in the cloud forests...and it's bloody cold!  It came as a shock to the system after two weeks of 30+ temperatures and 90% humidity to step out of our van into clear mountain air about 15 degrees cooler. It so cool in fact that the beds have duvets and you are given a hot water bottle every night!  Not what most of us imagine Costa Rica to be like.

That said, it's a very welcome respite and there aren't any complaints from me. We unpack and head straight to the restaurant for the last sitting of the night. The food here is exquisite and we all savour the experience in front of a crackling log fire...surreal.

Everything is freshly made and tastes beautiful

Hmmmmmm...

Our time at Trogon was spent in the company of our bird guide Grevin (pronounced Graven), who is master at finding Resplendent Quetzals among the green foliage they like to sit in. Next morning though we are up bright and early and head up higher to the Paramo - a sub-alpine habitat covered in shrubs and home to a few unusual species.

Black-billed Nightingale Thrush before we leave the Lodge

Rufous-collared Sparrows are everywhere

and another...

It's a short 30 minute journey to our destination. One of the first birds we see is the scarce Volcano Junco followed shortly after by Volcano Hummingbird and then one of our filming targets, the Green Spiny Lizard Sceloporus malachiticus. It's frankly amazing that any reptile inhabits this cool/cold habitat but they are perfectly adapted to it.

Volcano Junco

Green Spiny Lizard, male
When the sun goes in they change colour
to almost black to conserve heat.

Some of the colourful flowers on the Paramo

The Paramo is rugged but beautiful

By lunchtime we had most of the footage we needed and moved on to a roadside cafe/restaurant another 40 minutes away where they feed the local hummingbirds and attract a large number of good birds to their garden. But not before Nigel posed for photos with some fans - he's very well known throughout the Americas.

Mountain Thrush

Slaty Flowerpiercer, male

Talamanca Hummingbird, female

Another Talamanca

Fiery-throated Hummingbird, male

We also added Large-footed Finch, Flame-coloured Tanager, Sooty Thrush and several other species to the list. After filming we headed back towards Trogon Lodge, stopping off on the way at a cafe where their garden birds regularly include Blue-throated Tucanets among others.

Blue-throated Tucanet

Blue-throated Tucanet

Blue-throated Tucanet

Acorn Woodpecker, male

Acorn Woodpecker

Flame-coloured Tanager, female

White-throated Mountain Gem, female

White-throated Mountain Gem, male

White-throated Mountain Gem, male

Volcano Hummingbird, female

Hairy Woodpecker

In the morning we would be going to look for Resplendent Quetzals, which meant getting up at 4:30 am, so it was an early night for all when we got back to the Lodge.