Dippers and Toucans, with a bonus Quetzal

In the morning, a quick walk down to the dippers.  In the afternoon, a tree filled with toucans showing off for us.  And in the middle, nothing much.  Not anything exciting, really.  Unless you mean the q-u-e-t-z-a-l!  Yea, what a day it was today!  :-)

First, some birds from our morning walk.  The stars were the dippers, of course, but before we got to them we saw a bunch of brown jays.  People have been talking about these so I was quite happy to see them!  We had to get out of there though, because there was a crazy dog out to get us.  It was on a chain so we weren't worried about ourselves at all, but the poor thing was starting to choke!

brown jay

I am not now, nor do I ever expect to become, tired of these.  

silver-throated tanager

yellow-thighed finch

Hahahahaha, these are awesome and hilarious!  This picture totally does not do this bird justice.  It's all quiet and dark and then BAM!  Yellow thighs!  

A gorgeous woodpecker.  I am a sucker for woodpeckers.  

golden-olive woodpecker

american dipper

Here they are, the stars of the morning!  There are two dippers in this picture.  Yes there are!  Okay, find the dipper.  Now look to its left, half way to the edge of the photo.  That's not a rock, it's the top half of the other dipper!  Yep, it's mid-dip.  

american dipper

This picture has just one, surveying its domain.

Wilson's warbler

Bored with dippers?  No!  But it's still nice to see a warbler across the way.

Back to home base.  Guess who was at the feeders?   

agouti, black guan

This guy's a juvie but he already knows how to strut.  Well, okay, he's perched, but he definitely looks like he ~would~ strut if that were possible!

green-crowned brilliant, juvenile

golden-browed chlorophonia

The chlorophonia is back!  OMG are you kidding me?  Look at how gorgeous...... it's ridiculous.

Yes, yes, we see you, you're gorgeous.  

golden-browed chlorophonia

 This guy looks like the more formal of hummingbirds.  Like if hummingbirds were British.

green-crowned brilliant

 Also quite well dressed!

green-crowned brilliant

 I tried and tried to make this something other than a redstart, but it insisted.

slate-throated redstart

 We saw these tufted flycatchers often, but I don't think any of the pictures are any good.  I still love these guys though!

tufted flycatcher

 We had passed some guys working on the trail, and quite a while later they came running to get us.  A quetzal!  So we hiked with gusto (I did not run but mostly because it was just too steep) back up a ways, and they showed him to us.  How gorgeous!

resplendent quetzal

resplendent quetzal

Eventually he had to go.  

resplendent quetzal

We rounded out the walk with this little guy.  Birders love thrushes and wrens.  

ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush

 On the road again!  This time there were no short cuts, but there was a good tree!

 Hahaha, this toucan is flying.

chestnut-mandibled toucan

 And these are kissing!  How adorable can you get.   :-)

chestnut-mandibled toucan

 This parrot is watching from nearby, unimpressed.

red-lored parrot

 Later we stopped for a long-tailed tyrant, there were two nesting here and it was a fantastic sighting with crappy pictures.  I loved seeing them again, they feel like old friends to me now.

long-tailed tyrant