On my way to Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge, I made a stop to meet my friend and local bird guide, “Chambita” Romero, to bird the Medio Queso wetlands by boat. Located just five minutes from the town of Los Chiles in northern Costa Rica, close to the border with Nicaragua, the Río Medio Queso spreads into a shallow wetland that is perhaps the best site in Costa Rica for viewing such species as Pinneated Bittern, Least Bittern, Yellow-breasted Crake, Snail Kite, and more.
In just over 3 hours, we saw more than 65 species, including Muscovy Duck, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, Sora, Common Gallinule, Purple Gallinule, Yellow-breasted Crake, Gray-breasted Crake, Limpkin, Pinneated Bittern, Least Bittern, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Snail Kite, Harris’s Hawk, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, and Nicaraguan Grackle!
Hotspot
http://ebird.org/hotspot/L1766624
Checklist
http://ebird.org/view/checklist/S52038961
