6 February 2011
While travelling through the Alajuela region of Costa Rica, our driver braked suddenly and backed up. His incredibly sharp eyes had spotted a Great Potoo Nyctibius grandis roosting in a tree.
This bird is difficult to locate when searching diligently for it, so to have located it incidentally like this is quite remarkable.
Even if the driver knew that the species had been seen in the area previously it is till quite a feat to relocate it. This bird is so cryptic, and is able to remain totally motionless, that it resembles nothing so much as a branch of the tree in which it is perched.
It was a distinct highlight for us to see this species, our first ever, and we were able to capture it photographically to relive the experience again and again. On a cold winter's day in Canada it is very pleasant to look at the pictures and remember the hot, sultry day when we found this bird.
