Home Birding Birding the Medio Queso Wetlands
Yellow-breasted Crake, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica

Birding the Medio Queso Wetlands

by Chris Fischer

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

Yellow-breasted Crake, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Yellow-breasted Crake, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Yellow-breasted Crake, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Look at the size of those feet!
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Snail Kite, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Snail Kite, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Snail Kite, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Snail Kite, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Green Kingfisher, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Green Kingfisher, Medio Queso Wetlands, Los Chiles, Costa Rica
Birding with "Chambita" Romero in the Medio Queso Wetlands
Birding with “Chambita” Romero in the Medio Queso Wetlands (and Gary the boat guy)

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