Introduction:

 

We spent two weeks in Costa Rica, from 3/27/09 to 4/9/09. My wife and I and our two daughters, 3 and 5 years old, enjoyed the trip immensely. The nature in general and birds in particular were fantastic. We had no glitches in our trip. All the people we encountered and dealt with were very friendly outside the San Jose area. I should add that we do speak Spanish fluently.

 

We did have to alter our original itinerary as the devastating earthquake of January 2009 wiped out the highway passing through La Paz Waterfall Gardens-Cinchona-Virgen de Socorro, in addition to obliterating a number of homes and business and claiming over 20 lives.

 

We had birded in Mexico and in Europe, but it was pretty clear that the number of birds we would see would be higher than what we were used to. We saw an eye full. In addition to the birds we saw 3 species of monkeys, 3 species of snakes, 5 species of frogs, crocodiles, caimans, peccaries, agouti, both two-toed and three-toed sloths, deer, coati, tayra and two species of bat.

Areas Visited:

Santo Domingo (suburb of San Jose)
Carara National Park and surroundings
Monteverde
Arenal Volcano
Bijagua
Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui

 

Lodging:

 

Hotel Bougainvillea (3/27-3/28 & 4/8-4/9)

Made reservations over the web. Very nice hotel and fabulous gardens. Good dining and a nice pool.

Villa Lapas (3/28-3/30)

Made reservations and prepaid over the web. Perhaps pricey but all meals are included, some nice trails and very convenient location. Rooms basic.

Trapp Family Lodge (3/30-4/1)

Made reservations and paid over the web. Convenient location, good restaurant.
Observatory Lodge (4/1-4/3)

Made reservations over the web. Fantastic views of volcanos, a number of nice trails and nice gardens.

Heliconias Lodge (4/3-4/4)

Made reservation through e-mail. Had heard about this place in a trip report. Basic accommodations, on site dining, trails which I really liked. We would have liked to stay one more day, but time doesn't stop.

La Selva OTS Research Station (4/4-4/6)

Reserved via the web and sent them a check to an office in the United States. They only wanted two persons in a room and we're going to charge us for two rooms. After some back and forth e-mail that the resulting price didn't reflect that our daughters are so young, they cut us a deal. I was pushing towards all four of us staying in one room and paying a little more than the one room price, but they actually gave us two rooms.

Hotel Gavilan (4/6-4/7)

I made reservations via e-mail for two nights and the hotel was fine, though a little basic.

Selva Verde (4/7-4/8)

My wife was under the impression we would stay at Selva Verde and not Hotel Gavilan, so after one night at the latter we checked at the Selva Verde to see if they have a room for one night and they did.

 

Car Rental: We had heard from a couple sources that Adobe rental was good and booked with them a couple months in advance via the web. We should have received a confirmation via e-mail but didn't. A couple weeks later we called and spoke in English with someone and they said they would send an e-mail and we were told a price about $15 higher, which was nothing to complain about. We didn't get an e-mail and I called again a couple of weeks later and spoke with someone else who told me a price a couple hundred dollars higher and when I said this wasn't agreeable they gave an e-mail address. I sent the e-mail, a lady from Adobe apologized and they gave me a discount of over one hundred dollars. Needless to say I ws content. We rented a Hyundai Tucson 4-wheel drive. It worked out very nice for the four of us and our luggage. Air conditioning worked well and we never put it in 4-wheel drive. The Adobe folks met us at the airport and took us to pick up the car, and when we were done they stopped by the Hotel Bougainvillea to pick it up. We checked the prices of a few other rental agencies and Adobe's price was very competitive, if not the lowest for some of the car categories.

 

Guides: We benefitted from some of the guides at Carara who were guiding others, in particular for pointing us to a manikin lek as well as a scarlet macaw nest. The guides on the Jungle Crocodile Safari, while focusing a good deal on crocodiles, were kind enough to look for birds while not facing down a croc. We did a free guided tour at Arenal Observatory Lodge, but it didn't add much to birding on our own. Donald, at Heliconias Lodge in Bijagua, and who can be contacted through the lodge, was very knowledgable, considerate and hard working. I'd definitley recommend him. The guide who conducted the free tour at La Selva, Edgardo, was surprisingly knowledgable regarding not only birds, but plants, mammals, insects and just about everything there. He used a red laser pointer to point near birds in the trees at times. At Braulio Carillo we were guided by Gerardo Vega Chavarria ( baryphthengus at gmail.com ) who met us at our hotel early and we returned at about 1pm. Gerardo was excellent, knowing both flora and fauna, very knowledgable about the bird songs and where to see the different species in the Puerto Viego de Sarapiqui area. I highly recommend him. He made use of a green laser and it was neat to see how fish congregated around it when he shined it in a small pool. We appreciated the young guide at Selva Verde who lead a nice trip and pointed out two nests. The operator/guide on the Sarapiqui River Boat Tour was very good, pointing out birds and getting some excellent looks at some roosting bats; all with no binoculars!

 

References:As far as bird books, I found The Birds of Costa Rica by Garrigues and Dean to be quite nice and just brought this one along. We found Moon Handbooks Costa Rica by Christopher Baker very informative. The waterproof map of Costa Rica from mapcr.com was very good both for the country and the detailed city maps, though it's not easy to write on with pens as it is waterproof. I also relied on a number of trip reports, the generation and posting of which I appreciate very much; it was the first five which I benefited most from, though all were of interest: Mark Gurney's report from 2007; Birdfinders' tour to Costa Rica 2007; Birdfinders' tour to Costa Rica 2008; John Keep's Birding Costa Rica 2006 report; Cotinga tours tour to Costa Rica 2006, by Paco Madrigal; Anna Galles' report from 2008; Martyn Anderson and Liz Naughton's report from 2005; VENT advertisement for Best of Costa Rica II 2009; Nick Kontonicolas's Birds of Costa Rica.

 

Birding/Counting Approach: We were not attempting to see/count every species we came across. There were some species we didn't really look at: we passed some gulls and never lifted our binoculars, and some swallows were clearly ones we knew already so we passed on them. Perhaps a dozen species went uncounted. We also make it a point to only count as seen those that we got proof-positive looks at. We did hear the crested owl, ferruginous pygmy-owl and nightingale wren for extended periods of time and are certain they were nearby. The other heards were perhaps deemed definitive by a guide near us, but we couldn't be sure.

 

 

 

Detailed account:

 

March 27, Friday

 

We arrived in San Jose and were met by an AdobeCar representative who took us to the AdobeCar rental facility nearby and we made our way to the Hotel Bougainvillea. We found the hotel to be quite nice and the gardens fabulous. We birded the gardens in the late afternoon and saw: blue-gray tanager, rufous-collared sparrow, clay-colored robin, great-tailed grackle, grayish saltator, rufous-tailed hummingbird and inca dove. Also some great kiskadee/boat-billed flycatcher types were around. We were serenaded at night by a ferruginous pygmy-owl.

 

March 28, Saturday

 

We birded the grounds of Hotel Bougainvillea in the morning and also spent a little time in the pool. We saw: inca dove, squirrel cuckoo, rufous-tailed hummingbird, blue-crowned motmot, rufous-naped wren, plain wren, clay-colored robin, blue-gray tanager, rufous-colored sparrow, grayish saltator, melodius blackbird, baltimore oriole, tennessee warbler, yellow warbler, blue-and-white swallow, and turkey vulture. Also had a fly over of some parrots and saw a thrush looking quite like a veery, but was uncertain. The swallows were cruising the pool area. Hoped to see at least one more sparrow species but was unable to locate any other than the rufous-collared.

 

Before lunch we headed out towards Orotina. We missed the turn off to Hwy 3 and were on Hwy 1 instead. We took the paved road 131 over to Orotina from Hwy 3, after stopping at a large lunch/snack operation on Hwy 3. It was warming up nicely and there was a parade with vigorous bands in full swing around the central square in Orotina. Having read of the black-and-white owl pair in the central square in front of the main church I set out to 'find' them. It turns out the central square is full of many very large, leafy trees. I asked three people if they knew of the whereabouts but only had one man point out the sloth(s) sleeping up in one tree. I then asked a shaved-iced proprietor and he knew exactly where they were and precisely where I had to stand to see them. I then went back to the car while my wife went to the owls and I waited in the car. We gave the proprietor a tip. The noise of the bands was overwhelming and the square and streets were full of onlookers, so I was not very optimistic we would succeed. Some other birders were present, apparently with a guide, and also benefited from the information gleaned from the shaved ice proprietor.

 

We then headed to the Villa Lapas hotel, near the mouth of the Rio Tarcoles and Carara National Park, where we would stay for two nights. We saw a very birdy pond on our left hand side before we approached the coast; before crossing the Rio Tarcoles. Here, and in the adjacent fields, we saw a number of nice birds: black vulture, turkey vulture, smooth-billed ani, black-bellied whistling duck, stork, roseate spoonbill, scarlet macaws, black-necked stilt, northern jacana, cattle egret, great egret, snowy egret, yellow-headed caracara, rufous-naped wren and stripe-headed sparrow. During our stay in this area the macaws were seen a number of times.

 

We went to the mouth of the Rio Tarcoles to enquire about a boat trip with Jungle Crocodile Safari the next day; you make a right off the highway instead of the left which would bring you to Villa Lapas. On the dirt road we saw gray hawk, while a quick stop at the beach yielded magnificent frigatebird, brown pelican, some terns and blue-gray tanager.

 

We got to Villa Lapas a little before dark and birded briefly, seeing rose-breasted grosbeak, summer tanager, kiskadee and social flycatcher. We also glimpsed a creeper and were serenaded by pauraque. We thought we heard vermiculated screech owl, but it was probably frogs which we later heard in Saripique.

 

March 29, Sunday

 

We birded the grounds of Villa Lapas in the morning before breakfast. We stayed in room 150 near the end of the road. There was a guided group of birders outside our room as we started to bird around the grounds. We saw: red-legged honeycreeper, buff-rumped warbler, white ibis, spotted sandpiper, green honeycreeper, golden hooded tanager, louisiana waterthrush, masked tityra, chestnut mandibled toucan, gray capped flycatcher, cinnamon becard, house wren, black headed trogon and blue-gray tanager. The chestnut mandibled toucans had a nest near the outdoor tables in the dining area, just across the river in a hole in a large tree. For us this was simply great and we went to breakfast.

 

From 8am to 11:30am we birded Carara National Park. It opened at 7am but we birded the Villa Lapas grounds longer than anticipated. Carara was great. In addition to our first look at Jesus Christ lizards, we saw spider monkeys, deer and iguana. We came across a few guides leading small groups and tagged along for perhaps a total of 1/2 hour. We saw: crested guan, green kingfisher, louisiana waterthrush, white-shouldered tanager, white ibis, chestnut-mandibled toucan, dot-winged antwren (both sexes), golden hooded tanager, painted bunting, black-faced antthrush, long-billed gnatwren, blue-gray tanager, spotted sandpiper, great-tailed grackle, red-crowned woodpecker, riverside wren, orange-collared manakin, scarlet macaw, clay colored robin, ruddy ground dove, cocoa woodcreeper, orange-billed sparrow, red-legged honeycreeper, brown jay and yellow warbler.

 

Back at Villa Lapas we had lunch, utilized the pool and then headed over to the mouth of the Rio Tarcoles for the Jungle Crocodile Safari boat trip which started at 3:30. There were about four parties on the boat and most seemed interested in seeing birds but we were the only people really focused on birding. One of the boat operators got out on two occasions to feed chicken to a couple of huge crocodiles and also some smaller ones. The operator doing the narrating we had earlier seen as a guide at Carara and he was very knowledgable of the birdlife. We headed upriver a little, then out to the salt water of the ocean and then inwards into some mangroves. A very good relaxing trip in the roofed boat. We saw: black-bellied whistling duck, anhinga, neotropic cormorant, brown pelican, frigatebird, great egret, snowy egret, cattle egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, green heron, tricolored heron, boat-billed heron, barn swallow, mangrove swallow, amazon kingfisher, great-tailed grackle, mangrove hawk, turkey vulture, osprey, yellow-headed caracara, northern jacana, southern lapwing, black-necked stilt, spotted sandpiper, yellow-naped parrot. The barn swallow and southern lapwing were considered 'bonus' birds by the operator as they are not so commonly seen.

Yellow-Headed Caracara

 

March 30, Monday

 

We birded the grounds, including the river, of Villa Lapas in the morning before breakfast, had breakfast and then birded the trails at Villa Lapas. It was a couple hours in total. In the trails, which start after crossing the hanging bridge at the end of the road we had great looks at a red-eyed tree frog and a black and blue frog as well as our first blue morpho butterfly. During our romp around the grounds we saw: red-crowned woodpecker, bare-throated tiger heron, streaked flycatcher, buff-rumped warbler, long-billed hermit, green kingfisher. On the trails we saw: white-tipped dove, fiery billed aracari, blue-crowned motmot, black-faced antthrush, orange-billed sparrow, yellow-throated euphonia, brown jay, blue-black grosbeak, rufous-naped wren, common tody flycatcher, blue-gray tanager, golden-crowned spadebill and some type of creeper. We then took a trip up the hill to the Pura Vida Gardens, which are for sale. These are fantastic gardens with many of the paths paved. We saw: rufous-tailed hummingbird, yellow-bellied flycatcher, yellow-faced grassquit, rufous-naped wren, king vulture, orange-chinned parakeet, scarlet macaw and ruddy ground-dove.

Rufous-Naped Wren

 

After lunch we drove to MonteVerde where we checked in and had a nice meal at the Trapp Family Lodge. We didn't find the dirt roads to MonteVerde to be too rough to result in any stress, but the prospect of encountering a head on car in a tight spot was a little stressful. On the drive we saw: brown jay, groove-billed ani, white-throated magpie jay and white-fronted parrot.

 

March 31, Tuesday

 

We had breakfast and headed over to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. They suggested a route and indicated which trails were closed and we headed out. We got some great looks at howler monkeys and while the birding was not fast paced, saw some real beauties. We saw: slate-throated redstart, purple-throated mountain gem hummingbird, black-faced solitaire, streak-breasted treehunter, three-striped warbler, yellow-bellied flycatcher, common bush-tanager, spangle-cheeked tanager, collared redstart, stripe-tailed hummingbird, gray-breasted woodwren, white-throated robin, silver-throated tanager. The treehunter gave us great views for several minutes.

Black Guan

 

We went to the hummingbird garden/cafe just outside the entrance and watched in amazement the hummers, and had a nice coffee and piece of cake. We saw: violet sabrewing, green-crowned brilliant, green violet-ear, purple-throated mountain-gem and magenta-throated woodstar. We then went to stella's bakery for lunch and did the cheese factory tour, which was very interesting. In driving around to these locations and walking around the hotel grounds we saw: emerald toucanet, great-tailed grackle, hoffman's woodpecker, house wren, blue-gray tanager, rufous-collared sparrow, brown jay, turquoise-browed motmot and black guan.

 

April 1, Wednesday

 

We skipped breakfast and headed to the parking area of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, arriving at about 6am. We had heard that quetzals are often seen here before the 7am opening time. Sure enough, at 6:30am a pair of quetzals flew in and perched in a tree in the parking lot. When we left at about 7am they were still in the area. We also saw: black guan, plain wren, white-throated robin, mountain robin, clay-colored robin, grackle, slate-throated redstart and yellow-faced grassquit.

Resplendant Quetzal

 

We made a stop at the Monteverde Butterfly Garden which was wonderful. The insects on display are spectacular and some white-headed capuchin monkeys were hanging around the facility.

 

We headed out to Arenal via Tilaran and found the drive gorgeous. En route to Tilaran we saw: Baltimore oriole, yellow-faced grassquit, white-winged dove and eastern meadowlark. From Tilaran to Arenal, going around the lake, and including a stop at the delicious Macademia Cafe which had a nice big deck to bird off of, we saw: collared aracari, passerini's tanager, grey-crowned yellowthroat, yellow-crowned euphonia, montezuma's oropendula, house wren, bronzed cowbird, yellow-bellied elaenia, great egret, cattle egret, grey-headed chachalaca, brown jay, white-throated magpie jay and in the evening we were serenaded by common pauraque. Up to this point we've seen 53 new species.

 

April 2, Thursday

 

White-Throated Magpie-Jay

We woke up in room 15 of the Smithsonian part of the Arenal Observatory Lodge with fantastic views of the Arenal Volcano, and also had heard our first howler monkeys of the trip. We took a walk down the nearby waterfall trail, but bypassed the steep stairs to the waterfall and instead went to the footbridge across the river and crossed over it and returned. We then had breakfast and spent some time by the pool. Before taking a late lunch we took the 'easy' trail behind the restaurant down to another river. This was very steep and we saw no birds. The birds were seen on the waterfall trail, eating the fruit put out around the restaurant and in the surrounding area, as well as in the gardens between the pool and the Smithsonian section of rooms. In particular, the Jamaican vervain generously growing in the gardens attracted a number of hummingbirds which were active throughout the day. We saw: crested guan, semiplumbeous hawk, red-billed pigeon, collared aracari, black-cheeked woodpecker, spotted antbird, blue-and-white swallow, house wren, stripe-breasted wren, golden-crowned warbler, passerini's tanager, blue-gray tanager, green honeycreeper, red-legged honeycreeper, variable seedeater, black-striped sparrow, rufous-collared sparrow, bronzed cowbird, montezuma's oropendola, bananaquit, white-necked Jacobin, violet-crowned woodnymph, rufous-tailed hummingbird, black-crested coquette, fiery-throated hummingbird, crimson-collared tanager, keel-billed toucan, bay-headed tanager, tropical parula, palm tanager. We heard nightingale wren and a tinamou. We had now been in Costa Rica for our 7th day and had seen many beautiful wonders, including of course all the birds thus far, including 68 new species for us.

Crested Guan

 

April 3, Friday

 

We decided today was going to be the least intensive day of birding. We birded just outside the room, went to breakfast and set out with the free guided birding at 8am. We didn't complete the walk as the second part went down the waterfall trail where we had been the day before. We went to the pool and then went to lunch, where there was a loud report from the volcano followed by a rather large puff of smoke: great stuff but humbling. We then set out to go through La Fortuna to get on Highway 4, go up to Upala and then down to Bijagua and then to Heliconias Lodge for only one night. The drive was much less stressful than anticipated and the scenery once again delightful. At Arenal we saw: blue-throated goldentail, purple crowned fairy, chestnut-sided warbler and southern rough-winged swallow. En route to Bijagua we saw: white-throated magpie jay, great egret, stork, red-billed pigeon, white-winged dove and variable seedeater. We did part of a loop trail at Heliconias Lodge at the end of the day and saw: red throated ant tanager, house wren, black-throated trogan, blue-crowned motmot, one of the toucans and almost certainly a mountain thrush though the light was quite poor when viewing the latter. The red throated ant tanagers were a nesting pair.

 

April 4, Saturday

 

Scale-Crested Pygmy-Tyrant

We had indicated in our e-mails that we would like a birding guide and on Friday night confirmed that we still wanted one and the lodge made arrangements for a local guide. In the morning we met our guide, Donald, from Bijagua and birded the hanging bridges trail at Heliconias Lodge. Donald is an excellent birder and I highly recommend him. He uses his hearing a lot and the trails were full of screaming cicadas. Donald indicated he didn't recall hearing it so loud ever before; apparently conditions were ideal for the cicadas. We birded from 6:30am for over three hours, with the cicadas quieting down after the first hour. The bridges were bigger than any others we had been on and the height was impressive. Whereas we typically bird by sight, we now entered a situation where some of the birds we heard could be positively id'd by Donald but we would not see them. After the trail we had a big breakfast, slowly packed up and left the lodge to drive to La Selva. At Heliconias we heard a crested owl near our cabin the night before and before Donald arrived we saw: rufous-tailed hummingbird, swallow-tailed kite, green honeycreeper and a saltator. With Donald we saw: brown-hooded parrot, blue-throated goldentail, violet-crowned woodnymph, black-throated trogon, olive-backed euphonia, blue-black grosbeak, olive tanager, three-striped warbler, white-breasted woodwren, collared aracari, scale crested pygmy tyrant, white-ruffed manakin, lesser greenlet, stripe-breasted wren and a toucan. We also heard with Donald: great currasow, spotted antbird, broad-billed motmot, black-headed nightingale thrush and song wren. The pygmy tyrant gave wonderful views.

Passerini's Tanager

 

On the drive to La Selva we saw: yellow-faced grassquit, white-collared seedeater and crested caracara. Arriving at La Selva one had the sense this was a special place. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary. Outside our rooms, which were Arriera 3 and 4, as night was coming on we saw: masked tityra, chestnut-mandibled toucan, palm tanager and house wren. We were serenaded by pauraque and what appeared to be an owl was heard in the distance.

 

April 5, Sunday

 

We had breakfast in the cafeteria at La Selva and went over by the reception area and met Edgardo, our guide for the free 8am guided walk. Also present were a couple from New Hampshire. Edgardo was knowledgeable regarding a number of areas, and was very good with the birds. As with Donald, we had some heard-but-not-seen birds. We birded the trail that goes from the reception to the Arriera complex and then crossed the bridge and birded an area of primary forest. The first trail was quite birdy, but when it was quiet Edgardo lectured on various topics as we walked. It was around 3 hours of walking. We saw: collared aracari, boat-billed flycatcher, rufous mourner, passerini's tanager, plain brown creeper, black-crowned tityra, olive-backed euphonia, summer tanager, blue dacnis, chestnut-mandibled toucan, cinnamon woodpecker, bright-rumped attila, broad-billed motmot, gray-chested dove, great currasow, green macaw, turkey vulture, black vulture, gray-capped flycatcher, rufous motmot. We heard: white-ringed flycatcher, streak headed creeper, white-winged becard, rufous piha, slaty-tailed trogon, black-throated wren, rufous-tailed jacamar, white-collared manakin, scarlet-rumped cacique, black-headed saltator, red-throated ant-tanager, stripe-breasted wren, paltry tyrannulet, blue-black grosbeak, olive-throated parrot, squirrel cuckoo, black-capped pygmy-tyrant. 87 new species seen so far; not counting heard ones.

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After the walk we saw groove-billed anni and long-tailed tyrannulet at the Arriera building.

 

We then went to the Pali supermarket in Sarapiqui and relaxed for a while. We then took a walk on nearby trails before dinner, seeing: green honeycreeper, black-cheeked woodpecker, white-collared manakin, scarlet tanager, blue dacnis, long-tailed tyrannulet, band-backed wren, bananaquit, cinnamon becard, smoky woodpecker, cinnamon woodpecker, red-throated ant-tananger, rufous-tailed jacamar, crimson-fronted parakeet, barred hawk. The jacamar was taking a dust bath in the road, providing excellent views, and the barred hawk was soaring in circles.

 

April 6, Monday

 

We had breakfast in the cafeteria at La Selva and went then headed out to Sendero Tres Rios for a walk, having read an account that this is a birdy trail. The river trail itself was quite quiet, and the area around the buildings before and after the walk on the trail provided most of the birds. We saw: common tody flycatcher, golden hooded tanager, neotropic cormorant, collared aracari, montezuma's oropendula, keel-billed toucan, green ibis, broad-billed motmot, rufous-tailed hummer, long-billed hermit, orange-chinned parakeet, white-crowned parrot baby in nest a guide pointed out to us, cinnamon becard at nest, great currasow, chestnut-sided warbler, hooded warbler, black-cowled oriole. We also saw a rather small coiled up snake with a diamond shaped head and a large 7+ foot snake which crossed the path right in front of us.

 

We had lunch and checked out of La Selva and headed over to Hotel Gavilan a few kilometers away in Sarapiqui for the night. They were very kind and filled up a small pool for us and we birded the grounds for a couple of hours. The area by the river was scraped away quite a bit by the river after the earthquake in January. We saw on the grounds: white-crowned parrot, common tody flycatcher, palm tanager, passerini's tanager, blue and gray tanager, dusky-faced tanager, yellow-bellied eleania, clay-colored robin, bananaquit, yellow warbler, house wren, social flycatcher, black-cheeked woodpecker, pale-vented pigeon, black-cowled oriole and shiny honeycreeper. A number of the birds were seen while soaking our legs in the pool and we saw a few nests being attended to.

 

April 7, Tuesday

 

We had made arrangements with Gerardo to bird 1/2 day at Braulio Carillo National Park and he met us at Hotel Gavilan at 6:00 in the morning. Before heading out we saw a number of eastern kingbirds on the grounds, apparently gearing up for migration, and heard piratic flycatcher and mealy parrot. The drive to Braulio Carillo was about 50 minutes. The park is gorgeous. We first birded the trail across the road from the ranger station and then spent a little time on the trail heading up from the ranger station. We saw: chestnut-sided warbler, buff-rumped warbler, orange-billed sparrow, black-cheeked woodpecker, wedge-billed creeper, dull-mantled antbird, white-tipped sicklebill (amazing bird at the helicona flowers), scarlet-rumped cacique, bat falcon, white-crowned parrot, dusky-faced tanager, passerini's tanager, chestnut oropendola, bananaquit, olive tanager, tawny-crested tanager, tawny-faced gnatwren. We heard buff-throated foliage gleaner, chestnut-backed antbird, blue-and-gold tanager and green shrike-vireo. Gerardo called in the dull-mantled antbird with a recording. During the trip, this was the only bird we called in with a recording.

 

Green Thorntail

After about three hours we headed to the no-longer-running butterly farm at El Tapir, just before Braulio Carillo. There is a considerable amount of Jamaican vervain there and this attracts a number of hummingbirds. We saw: white-shouldered tanager, chestnut-sided warbler, black-and-white warbler, black-and-yellow tanager, blue-gray tanager, house wren, violet-crowned woodnymph, rufous-tailed hummer, long-billed hermit, violet-header hummer, green thorntail.

 

We returned to the Hotel Gavilan where Gerardo's truck was parked at about 12:45.

 

The night before we had checked with Selva Verde about availability and booked a room for one night. We headed over for lunch. During the earthquake of January the river had knocked out the foot bridge across the river and heavily modified the borders of the river. I asked a young man about the possibility of sunbittern, and he turned out to be one of the guides who did the free guided walks two times a day: Alejandro. He and I took a walk along the river and made a quick visit to the botanical garden across the street. Later I spent some time by the pool with my family. We saw: great kiskadee, social flycatcher, montezuma's oropendola, chestnut oropendola, buff-rumped warbler, summer tanager, spotted sandpiper, northern barred creeper, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, chestnut-mandibled toucan, bright-rumped attila, and stripe-throated hermit. The attila was nesting in the area where the rooms are and the hermit was nesting in the botanical garden.

 

April 8, Wednesday

 

We decided to do the free 6am birdwalk at Selva Verda and headed out with Alejandro and about eight other guests at the lodge. On the grounds we saw: bare-throated tiger-heron, clay-colored robin, buff-rumped warbler, passerini's tanager, bright-rumped attila, rufous-tailed hummer, social flycatcher, white-crowned parrot, blue-gray tanager, orange-billed sparrow, toucan, crimson-fronted parakeet, stripe-throated hermit, kiskadee, red-legged honeycreeper, violet-crowned woodnymph, olive-throated parakeet and just before leaving the hotel at the end of the day we got great looks at a female white-collared manakin.

 

We had breakfast and afterwards, based on the fact that we'd be heading back to San Jose tomorrow, decided to do the Sarapiqui River Boat Tour with Oasis Tours out of downtown Sarapiqui. The hotel contacted them and we made the trip downtown in about 15 minutes, arriving at 9am. Great two hour trip. Operator had no binoculars, but he could see as if he had. Super looks at three different sunbitterns. We saw: anhinga, mangrove swallow, spotted sandpiper, rufous mourner, green kingfisher, ringed kingfisher, bare-throated tiger-heron, cormorant, boat-billed heron, buff-rumped warbler, osprey, green ibis, sunbittern, sun grebe and black-throated wren. The wren was spotted jumping around after insects while looking at one of the other birds. The marks on the tiger-heron were very suggestive of fasciated tiger-heron. And of course we saw a number of caiman. We also saw several iguana, ans some roosting long-nosed bats.

Sun Bittern

 

After the boat trip we packed up an made our way to San Jose. The highway from the Caribbean to San Jose was interesting. This is the deadliest highway in Costa Rica and it's clear that the driving habits of the drivers on it are what makes it so.

 

Arrived at the Hotel Bougainvillea and just before sunset birded the gardens a little, seeing: melodius blackbird, gray saltator, clay-colored robin, rufous-naped wren and rufous-collared sparrow.

 

Adobe car came by to pick up the rented car.

 

April 9, Thursday

 

Left Hotel Bougainvillea at about 3:45 am, arriving by taxi to the airport at about 4:30. We paid $26 per person visitor fee and departed back to Houston and then Boston at 6:45 am.

 

 

The list:

 

We saw + heard 229 species; 210 were seen; 116 of the seen were new for us; 132 of the seen + heard were new for us.

 

black-bellied whistling duck

great-currasow

gray-headed chachalaca

black guan

crested guan

brown pelican

neotropic cormorant

anhinga

magnificent frigatebird

wood stork

bare-throated tiger-heron

little blue heron

great egret

great blue heron

cattle egret

snowy egret

green heron

tricolored heron

boat-billed heron

roseate spoonbill

white ibis

green ibis

sunbittern

black vulture

turkey vulture

king vulture

osprey

swallow-tailed kite

semiplumbeous hawk

barred hawk

gray hawk

mangrove black-hawk

bat falcon

crested caracara

yellow-headed caracara

northern jacana

sungrebe

southern lapwing

black-necked stilt

spotted sandpiper

white-winged dove

inca dove

pale-vented pigeon

red-billed pigeon

ruddy ground-dove

white-tipped dove

gray-chested dove

crimson-fronted parakeet

olive-throated parrot

orange-chinned parakeet

brown-hooded parrot

white-crowned parrot

great green macaw

scarlet macaw

white-fronted parrot

mealy parrot h

yellow-naped parrot

squirrel cuckoo

smooth-billed ani

groove-billed ani

crested owl h

black-and-white owl

ferruginous pygmy-owl h

common pauraque

stripe-throated hermit

long-billed hermit

white-tipped sicklebill

violet sabrewing

fiery-throated hummingbird

green-crowned brilliant

purple-crowned fairy

white-necked jacobin

violet-crowned woodnymph

blue-throated goldentail

rufous-tailed hummingbird

green violet-ear

stripe-tailed hummingbird

purple-throated mountain-gem

black-crested coquette

green thorntail

violet-headed hummingbird

magenta-throated woodstar

black-headed trogon

black-throated trogon

resplendent quetzal

slaty-tailed trogon h

blue-crowned motmot

rufous motmot

broad-billed motmot

turquoise-browed motmot

ringed kingfisher

green kingfisher

amazon kingfisher

rufous-tailed jacamar

emerald toucanet

chestnut-mandibled toucan

keel-billed toucan

collared aracari

firey-billed aracari

black-cheeked woodpecker

hoffman's woodpecker

red-crowned woodpecker

smoky-brown woodpecker

cinnamon woodpecker

buff-throated foliage-gleaner h

streak-breasted treehunter

northern barred-creeper

wedge-billed creeper

plain brown woodcreeper

streak-headed creeper h

cocoa creeper

chestnut-backed antbird h

dull-mantled antbird

spotted antbird

dot-winged antwren

black-faced antthrush

golden-crowned spadebill

paltry tyrannulet h

yellow-bellied elaenia

piratic flycatcher h

common tody flycatcher

black-capped pygmy-tyrant h

scale-crested pygmy tyrant

bright-rumped attila

rufous mourner

long-tailed tyrant

yellow-bellied flycatcher

boat-billed flycatcher

great kiskadee

white-ringed flycatcher h

social flycatcher

gray-capped flycatcher

streaked flycatcher

sulphur-bellied flycatcher

eastern kingbird

rufous piha h

cinnamon becard

white-winged becard h

masked tityra

black-crowned tityra

white-collared manakin

orange-collared manakin

white-ruffed manakin

lesser greenlet

green shrike-vireo h

white-throated magpie-jay

brown jay

blue-and-white swallow

mangrove swallow

southern rough-winged swallow

barn swallow

tawny-faced gnatwren

long-billed gnatwren

rufous-naped wren

band-backed wren

stripe-breasted wren

riverside wren

plain wren

black-throated wren

house wren

song wren h

white-breasted woodwren

gray-breasted woodwren

nightingale wren h

black-headed nightingale-thrush h

black-faced solitaire

white-throated robin

clay-colored robin

mountain robin

tennessee warbler

tropical parula

yellow warbler

chestnut-sided warbler

black-and-white warbler

louisiana waterthrush

hooded warbler

buff-rumped warbler

gray-crowned yellowthroat

collared redstart

slate-throated redstart

three-striped warbler

golden-crowned warbler

bananaquit

red-throated ant-tanager

common bush-tanager

olive-tanager

dusky-faced tanager

white-shouldered tanager

tawny-crested tanager

blue-and-gold tanager h

black-and-yellow tanager

summer tanager

scarlet tanager

passerini's tanager

crimson-collared tanager

golden-hooded tanager

bay-headed tanager

spangle-cheeked tanager

silver-throated tanager

blue-gray tanager

palm tanager

blue dacnis

green honeycreeper

shining honeycreeper

red-legged honeycreeper

white-collared seedeater

variable seedeater

yellow-faced grassquit

orange-billed sparrow

black-striped sparrow

stripe-headed sparrow

rufous-collared sparrow

grayish saltator

black-headed saltator h

blue-black grosbeak

rose-breasted grosbeak

painted bunting

eastern meadowlark

melodius blackbird

great-tailed grackle

bronzed cowbird

black-cowled oriole

baltimore oriole

scarlet-rumped cacique

montezuma oropendola

chestnut-headed oropendola

olive-backed euphonia

yellow-throated euphonia

yellow-crowned euphonia