Costa Rica March 2014 (1 Viewer)

This March I had the pleasure of taking my parents on a do-it-yourself Costa Rica birding trip. We would take advantage of local knowledge and use local guides, but I was in charge of arranging all transportation, lodging, and meals. In the last ten years my parents had been to Ecuador seven times and Panama twice, so needless to say I felt a little pressure to get good birds and to have things run smoothly!

After countless hours of scouring BirdForum trip reports and forums and Barrett Lawson's A Bird Finding Guide to Costa Rica, I decided on an itinerary of a couple of days in the Monteverde area, a couple of Pacific Coast days in the Carara area, and then a couple of days in the highlands in the Copey/Dota area. My thought was that we would have a good general overview of Costa Rica birding without an excessive amount of time spent sitting in a car. With a travel day on each end, the ten day trip would give us eight days of birding, although some of those days would have the afternoon be spent traveling. Birds mentioned in the report are some of the highlight species, and are by no means a complete inventory of what was seen.

Some final statistics:
Total bird species seen: 282
Total bird species heard only: 39
Mammal species seen (non-domesticants): 9
Times woken up by porcupine chewing on cabin steps: 3
Miles driven: 575 (925 km)
Rivers driven through: 1
Scary homemade bridges driven over: 1
Times driver muttered "Estoy un poco perdido": no comment
Crocodiles at the Tarcoles Bridge: 37
Frogs in toilets: 1



Day 1 13 March 2014

After arriving into the San Jose airport (actually in Alajuela) late the night before, we allowed ourselves a relatively late breakfast of 6:30 am at the hotel before hitting the road. I had rented a Daihatsu Bego from Wild-Rider for the week. While certainly not a luxury SUV, it proved more than up to the task and would end up being a great choice for the week, although a little more horsepower would have been nice. We headed out onto the Pan American Highway (Hwy 1) towards the Pacific coast and our morning destination of Chomes and the shrimp ponds. It was just about 2 hours before we turned onto the Chomes road. On various maps the road shows up as either 603 or Calle San Agustin, but there is a sign off of 1 towards Chomes. Even with the sign, it is easy to take the road to Punta Morales by mistake (found out the hard way).

We were hoping to find Double-Striped Thick-Knees in the grassy fields right off of the highway, but the prolonged dry season had those fields dry as could be and seemingly devoid of life, or at least of birds. After a few short unsuccessful stops we headed for the coast . With a short drive after a couple of turns in Chomes, we came to the ponds. The ponds had varying degrees of water in them, and most of the birds were concentrated in one mostly drained pond. Highlight species included Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, and a myriad of heron species. There were shorebirds as well, including Marbled Godwits, Ruddy Turnstones, Black-Necked Stilts, Short-billed Dowitchers, and numerous Sandpipers. There may have been more, but in the interest of full disclosure, after living in Florida for 20 years, we were less than excited by shorebirds.

We then turned back north and headed towards Monteverde. Having been there before in the first week of June, I was amazed at how dry things were on the MV road. The dust was terrible, but the road was in pretty good condition. Despite all of the stories to the contrary, the road is only dirt for about 20km. We checked into our room at Casa Batsu, dropped off our bags, and headed out for lunch. We had a great late lunch in Santa Elena at La Salvadita, a small local lunch spot. We then went to check out the Hummingbird Gallery near the entrance to the Monteverde Reserve. We had 7 species of hummingbirds there including Purple-throated Mountaingems, Coppery-headed Emeralds, Stripe-taileds, and Magenta-throated Woodstars, as well as the always fun to see Bananaquit. We had 3 Resplendent Quetzals fly over us as we left the gallery, which I took as a good sign of things to come. Still recovering from the previous day's traveling, we turned in early.

Day 2 14 March 2014

After a breakfast of fresh fruit, toast, and a quesadilla with local Gouda cheese, we met our guide at the entrance to the Curi-Cancha Reserve at just after 6:00 am. The reserve is a relatively new birding location but has become quite popular because of its mixed habitat. It is just down the road from the more famous Monteverde Reserve. While it has some similar old growth, it also has areas of secondary growth and open pastures which allow for some great open views. It also has the great benefit of having a lot fewer people there. No tour buses in the parking lot. Our guide was a Costa Rican named Rafael Elizondo Vargas, who had been guiding full time for 15 years. Aside from being an excellent guide and a very nice man, he had the most amazing ability to mimic the bird calls. No recordings needed here!

The wind was blowing very hard, and my hopes were pretty low for a good day of birding. I was happy to be proven wrong. We started with Yellow-faced Grassquits and White-tipped Doves right in the parking area. A short walk brought us to an open area where we found Chestnut-headed Oropendola, and a Giant Cowbird patiently watching their nests. We would later see a pair of Quetzals and a Central American Red Brocket Deer in the same clearing. With the wind as it was, we headed to the interior forest where a Bicolored Hawk was scoping out the trail, perhaps looking for the Black-breasted Wood-Quail we had been hearing and that we saw shortly thereafter. A quick check of their hummingbird feeders gave us most of the usual suspects, including a Green Violetear with what appeared to be an insect thorax stuck on its bill. Our guide had seen it like that for the last couple of days and was worried it wouldn't last much longer. It was fine on the feeders, but we watched it try in vain to catch insects since it couldn't open its bill. Some other highlight birds included White-throated Spadebills, Masked Tityra, Brown-capped Vireo, Golden-winged Warblers, Three-striped Warblers, White-naped Brush Finches, Buff-throated Saltators, Black-faced Solitaires, a Prong-billed Barbet regurgitating seeds, Blue-crowned Motmots, and perhaps the best looking bird of the day, Golden-browed Chlorophonia. What a spectacular bird! In addition to the deer, we also had great looks at an agouti, a coatamundi, and several types of squirrels.

We ended the day with 61 species, which was a lot more than I thought we were going to have considering the continuous gale force winds (maybe not gale force, but strong and consistent nonetheless). We had a nice dinner of comida tipica at Sabor Tico before retiring for the evening.

A couple more pictures from the first few days. The beach is at Chomes, and the other pictures are from Curi-Cancha.

Day 3 15 March 2014

We picked Rafael up at 6:00 am just down the road from our lodging, and headed to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, where we were going to bird for just the morning. We were the first ones in the parking lot at about 6:20, and even though the reserve doesn't officially open until 7:00, you can generally get in early with a guide (same as for Curi-cancha). Rafa started to whistle at the start of the first trail and was immediately answered by a Highland Tinamou. After much looking and stalking, we were only afforded a fleeting glimpse through the understory. The same for the Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, though I did see that one fly across the trail. We started out on the Sendero Youth Challenge, and despite another windy morning, soon had pretty good bird action. We once again had Black-breasted Wood Quail, and then Red-faced Spinetail, Ruddy Treerunners, Spotted Barbtails, and a great look at a Tawny-throated Leaftosser.

As the sun started to climb, we found ourselves on the Sendero Encantado, and the flycatchers started to wake up. We had Olive-striped, Yellowish, and Northern Tufted Flycatchers. In the wren department, we had House, Ochraceous, and Grey-breasted Wood Wrens. We were afraid we were too early in the season but then heard the unmistakable call of the Three-wattled Bellbird. It was only the second one the guide had heard for the season, but after some mad scrambling, we were able to get a scope on it. Now that's a weird looking bird. While looking for the Bellbird, we had quick looks at a Quetzal, and good looks at an Orange-bellied Trogon. Other fun birds included a Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Black Guan, lots of Common Bush-Tanagers, and a Sooty-Faced Finch.

Around 12:15, we called it a morning and headed back into town. We thanked our guide, picked up our baggage, and headed down the road towards Carara National Park. With a nice stop for lunch at Tica Linda and a quick stop for gas, we were dropping back into the heat of the Pacific Lowlands. We had two nights reserved at Cerro Lodge, and as we got out of the car, my only thought was that I hoped our cabina's AC was working. After getting checked in, the AC was the first order of business because it was 97° F ( 36° C) in the room. If you aren't prepared for it, the layout of the cabins at Cerro Lodge can be a bit of an eye-opener. The bathrooms are essentially outside, with privacy provided by a screen of vegetation and some canvas. I'm not sure how the wife (or the neighbors) would like it, but I could get used to having the shower and toilet out in the garden, at least for the summer months.

I walked the grounds for a little late afternoon birding. I soon had Scarlet Macaws flying over, Turquoise-browed Motmots, Hoffman's Woodpeckers, and as it got closer to dark, Lesser Nighthawks came out and a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl started to call, right on the lodge grounds. It took a while but I found the owl, but there was no sign of a Black-and-white Owl that has been known to frequent the lodge grounds. We were in bed once again by 8:00, as we were meeting our guide at 6:00 am the following morning for a full day at Carara National Park and some locations nearby.

Day 4 16 March 2014

After spending the first few minutes of the morning fishing a Common Rain Frog out of the toilet (hint: don't leave the seat up at night on an outdoor toilet), we headed down to breakfast at 5:30 am. Since a good percentage of guests at Cerro Lodge are birders, they are used to early breakfast requests. Normal times for the buffet is 6:00 to 8:30, but if asked, they will serve you as early as 5:30.

Our guide for the day was Patrick O'Donnell, a frequent BirdForum contributor (Birdingcraft). Having read both his contributions and his blog over the last few years, I was looking forward to both meeting him and having him as our guide. He didn't disappoint. In addition to being a very nice man, he is an excellent birder with a great knowledge of all things Costa Rica.

We started out just doing some birding around the lodge. Out in the distance we were able to pick out a Yellow-billed Cotinga perched in a tree and a flying Muscovy Duck. We had numerous flyovers by Scarlet Macaws and various parakeets, and the Cinnamon Hummingbirds were zipping around like crazy. The Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl was still in his tree, much to the annoyance of the other birds. We then hopped in the Bego and took the few minute drive to Carara National Park.

We were one of the first cars in the lot, and after paying our entrance fees, we headed down one of the cement trails. It was already pretty hot and humid, but there were no bugs. I actually went the entire trip without using any bug spray, although I did end up with a few bites here and there. Numerous birds were calling, and in short order we had superb looks at both male and female Black-hooded Antshrikes, Chestnut-backed Antbirds, Buff-throated Foliage-Gleaner, five different Woodcreepers plus Plain Xenops, a Rufous-tailed Jacamar, and an especially good look at a White-whiskered Puffbird. The bird of the morning, at least in terms of showing itself well, had to be the pair of Great Tinamou that wandered along the path, oblivious to our presence. I had to keep to keep backing up to keep them in my camera frame they were so close. If only other tinamous were this easy!

We stopped at the Quebrada Bonita bridge, where a small ant swarm had Dot-winged Antwrens, Russet Antshrikes, and the Basilisk Lizards enjoying a meal. A Crested Guan was perched high overhead, and a Northern Waterthrush and Buff-rumped Warbler were hopping along the rocks of the creek. Common Tody-Flycatchers were actually fairly common, as were Wilson's, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, and Tennessee Warblers. Vireos included Yellow-throated Vireo and Yellow-green Vireo, along with Tawny-crowned and Lesser Greenlets.

As lunch time was approaching, we left the park and headed towards Tarcoles, stopping for lunch at Fiesta del Mariscos, a nice outdoor restaurant right on the water. A shrimp boat was moored fairly close to shore and had a few Brown Boobies sitting on it. The air was thick with Magnificent Frigate Birds, and Brown Pelicans were flying by, as were a few Laughing Gulls. After lunch we checked out a few places in Tarcoles and got great looks at a Common Black-Hawk, and a very cooperative Southern (I think) Beardless Tyrannulet.

We finished a productive day along the Guacimo Road. We looked again for Thick-Knees in the pastures but found none, and ended up at a little riparian area. There was a family of Howler Monkeys overhead, but the lower vegetation gave us a singing Riverside Wren, Blue-black Grassquits, Tropical Gnatcatchers, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Turquoise-browed Motmots, and numerous flycatchers. On our way back out, we stopped for a White-throated Magpie Jay, Baltimore Oriole, and Orange-fronted Parakeets.

We finally got back to Cerro Lodge after 4:00 pm. A long day for us, but even longer for Patrick who still had to drive back to San Jose. We had seen more than 110 species, and heard almost 30 more. Quite a day!

And a few more pics from Day 4! The creek is Quebrada Bonita in Carara National Park.

Day 5 17 March 2014

We had debated taking the mangrove boat tour in the morning, but in the end decided against it in favor of birding the end of the Cerro Lodge road, visiting the famous Tarcoles Bridge, and getting an earlier start on our longest drive of the trip. Before breakfast, we again birded around Cerro Lodge and had the usual Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Hoffman's Woodpeckers, Rufous-naped Wrens, Blue-Crowned Motmots, and flyovers by Scarlet Macaws and Orange-chinned Parakeets. An unexpected treat was a beautiful Gray-headed Kite that showed very well. After a luxuriously late breakfast of 6:30, we drove down to the end of the road to look some more for Thick-Knees, but again to no avail. I thought I had one, but it turned out to be a Southern Lapwing. We ended up finding more than a dozen scattered across the pastures, along with a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks. At the end of the road, some good habitat produced a Golden-naped Woodpecker, Streaked Flycatcher, White-collared Seedeaters, and Blue-black Grassquits. On the way out we watched a Yellow-headed Caracara eating a piece of fruit in a tree near the road.

We then headed to the Tarcoles Bridge to check out the crocodiles and hopefully get some good birds. The crocs of course didn't disappoint, and we counted 37 from the bridge. The birding wasn't bad either, as we added Northern Jacana, Purple Gallinule, Solitary Sandpiper, and lo and behold, a pair of Double-striped Thick-knees. They were relaxing in the shade of a small shrub down on the gravel bar. The Thick-knee was one of my target birds, if for no other reason than its name. Some people pick target birds because of their rarity, plumage, or family. We like fun names. A few years ago on a trip, our target bird was a Rufous-browed Peppershrike. What a great name!

We had to get to Copey that afternoon, so after picking up our gear and checking out, we headed south on the Costanera Sur (34) towards Quepos. The more conventional route would have been to head back to San Jose and then take the Carretera Interamericana (Rte. 2) south. Looking for a little more interesting route, I decided to try the dirt road between Naranjito and San Marcos. Driving along the coast we passed lots of Cattle Egrets, Great Egrets, a few Crested Caracaras and Roseate Spoonbills, and an endless supply of Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, and Magnificent Frigatebirds overhead. Turning off of 34 towards Naranjito, we soon left the utility of the GPS and road map behind. After a few miscues and a couple of stops for directions, a drive through the Rio Cotos and over a dubious looking bridge, we were on the way. The road was in fair condition, but the bumps and ruts were more than made up for by the beauty and solitude. Once we got more than a few miles in, it was well over an hour before we saw another person. I think a little time spent on the road would yield some great birding, but as I really had no idea how long the drive was going to take, we made only a few stops along the way. We had good looks at Broad-winged Hawks, Flame-colored Tanagers, and a Rufous-capped Warbler. Of course there were no road signs in either San Marcos or Santa Maria, so a few more quick stops for directions (I found myself using un poquito perdido more than I might have liked), and we were pulling into El Toucanet Lodge, just outside of Copey.

El Toucanet is a small but very nice lodge that caters to a lot of birders. It is set in the heart of Los Santos Forest Reserve and is owned and run by Gary Roberts and his wife Edna. Gary is an excellent birder and was to be our guide the following day. They offer a daily Quetzal walk for all guests from 6:30 to 8:30 am, and I think this is a primary draw for a lot of their clients. We certainly wanted good looks at Quetzals as well, but the area has many other good birds to offer. A quick walk around the grounds yielded Flame-colored Tanagers, Scintillant Hummingbirds, Acorn and Hairy Woodpeckers, and a Black Phoebe. In the trees right off the elevated porch of our cabin we had Wilson's Warblers and Black-throated Green Warblers. We had a very nice dinner of baked local trout, and after sitting by the small fire in the lodge fireplace and enjoying a beer, we headed off to bed.

A few more from Day 5. The road is between Naranjito and Copey, at one of its smoothest stretches. All in all a decent road with a few bad stretches.

Day 6 18 March 2014

Coffee was on at 6:00 am, and we birded around the lodge for a little bit before walking up the road to look for Quetzals. In the trees right at the parking area were Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, and Rufous-Capped Warblers. There was a Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher high in the trees, and Blue-and-white Swallows in the air. As we walked up the road, we had a Torrent Tyrannulet in the little stream and Silver-throated Tanagers and Mountain Elenias flitting about in the lower canopy. It didn't take long for Gary to find the stars of the morning, a trio of Resplendent Quetzals. Two males were vying for the attention of one female and they were proudly displaying their beautiful plumage. After staying long enough to get good looks and pictures, but not too long as to disturb their courting, we headed back down to the lodge for a breakfast of fresh fruit, gallo pinto, and fried eggs. After eating, we hopped back in the car, along with Gary, and drove a few miles further up the road for some birding.

Most of the day was spent moving up and down the road (the Camino de Providencia). We would have some stretches with almost no birds, but then would have a mixed flock come through so all in all the birding was pretty good. We had most of the birds from the morning, plus Emerald Toucanet, Collared Trogon, Black Guans, Ruddy Pigeons, Indigo Bunting, Dark Pewees, Black-capped Flycatchers, and Yellow-thighed Finches. Some of the smaller birds included Philadelphia and Brown-capped Vireos, Black-cheeked Warblers, Red-faced Spinetail, and Ochraceous Wrens. The award for most spectacular bird was a toss-up between the Golden-browed Chlorophonias, Flame-throated Warblers, and Spangle-cheeked Tanagers. Our most photo and binocular friendly bird may have been a Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush who just sat up on a stump and watched us. We ended our day with another great meal, a couple of beers, and an early bedtime.

...and a few more non-quetzal photos from Day 6.

Day 7 19 March 2014

12:30 am. 1:30 am. 3:00 am. What do these times have in common? They are when the Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine decided to come and chew on the steps to our cabin. It was really a treat to see this unusual creature. I am quite familiar with the North American Porcupine, but since I'd never seen its little cousin to the south, I was pretty excited to hear it munching away. It let me watch it for a few minutes before it climbed into the trees and disappeared. I was still pretty excited to see it an hour later when I heard it munching again and went out to watch it. By the time 3:00 am rolled around, I was less than excited and was really just thinking of sleep. I don't think he was too excited to see me either as he was fairly quick to turn tail and waddle off.

We were up and ready to go by shortly after 6:00 and birded again around the lodge for a bit before a 6:30 breakfast. Gary headed down the road on the Quetzal walk with a very nice German couple, as we dug into our eggs and gallo pinto. We left the lodge shortly after 7:00 and headed into Copey. We had brought with us a pretty good assortment of school supplies and donated the bulk of it to the local elementary school. It was quite happily received and I'm sure will be put to good use. We then headed towards the town of Cima, on our way to the Carretera Interamericana (Rte. 2) and some high elevation birding before returning to Alajuela that afternoon.

Having missed the Fiery-throated Hummingbird so far, our first stop was at the Paraiso Quetzal Lodge to check out their feeders. It looked to be a nice place to stay, but if you stay elsewhere you can give them $2 apiece to walk the grounds. There are numerous trails and a very active hummingbird garden. The feeders didn't disappoint, and amongst the many Magnificent and Scintillant Hummingbirds, were the Fiery-throated. A quick look down the trails turned up a Black-cheeked Warbler and a Yellow-thighed Finch, but we really didn't bird the trails.

Our next stop was the Antennas at Cerro de la Muerte. The antennas (or Communication Towers in Lawson's book), are at one of the highest easily accessible locations in the country. We had a few target birds here, and got a couple of them but not all. My GPS gave an elevation of 11400 ft (3475 m) at our highest point, and even coming from the mountains of Colorado, I could feel the elevation when hiking around. It didn't take too long to find the Volcano Junco, but even though they were flying around, it was harder to get good looks at the Volcano Hummingbirds. We found a Large-footed Finch scratching around in the leaf litter and a Slaty Flowerpiercer in some of the shrubs. I was hoping for a Timberline Wren but was unsuccessful. On our way back to the highway we had good looks at a Sooty Robin.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Restaurante la Georgina. The hummingbird feeders were in full swing, mostly with Magnificent and Scintillant Hummingbirds, but also a few Fiery-throated and Green Violetear mixed in. I didn't see any Volcano, but they certainly may have been there. I walked around a little bit and found Large-footed Finches in the rose garden. After several large non-birder tour groups invaded the restaurant, we decided to get on the road and try to beat the worst of the traffic in San Jose. It was a couple hour drive before we pulled into Wild-Rider's office in downtown San Jose. We picked up one of their employees who drove us back to our hotel in Alajuela and dropped us off once again at the Trapp Family Inn. After resting a bit, we walked down to a little local chicken restaurant and had dinner. After some ice cream from the market, we headed back to the hotel.

Before bed I checked my e-mail and had one from Wild-Rider stating that I had left an envelope of paperwork in the car and asking if I would be going back that way so I could pick it up. My heart sank. That "paperwork" included all of my notes and maps for the trip and, most importantly, my bird list! We were going birding the next morning at 5:00 am, but in the other direction. I didn't really want to take a $50 each way cab ride, and it was too late that night anyway. I sent a reply saying to hang on to the folder, and I would try to figure something out the next day, but I wasn't sure what.

A few more pics from Day 7.

Day 8 20 March 2014

I lay awake much of the night thinking about my bird list, so 5:00 am came pretty quickly. We were going to spend the day again with Patrick O'Donnell birding the grounds and trails of Lands in Love Lodge (Tierras Enamoradas). We made a quick stop in San Ramon at a panaderia for some sweet rolls and juice for breakfast, but still made it there before the sun was very high. Lands in Love is an interesting place. It is quite large - over 280 acres with 20 km of trails. It is owned and operated by a group of Israeli friends who are all vegetarians and animal lovers. They moved to Costa Rica with 30 dogs and 50 cats, and proceeds fund one of Costa Rica's few animal shelters. The grounds are impeccably cared for and the place looks to be very well run. Before we even parked we had Montezuma Oropendola, Linneated Woodpecker, and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans. As non-guests, we paid a few dollars to wander around. Patrick knows the place very well, and we headed off down the trails. We could hear a Great Currasow in the distance, and a Chestnut-backed Antbird and Western-slaty Antshrike. We saw a White-breasted Wood-Wren, Lesser Greenlet and Slaty Antwren. While birding was consistent on the trails, the birding really picked up once we got back to the paved roads by the main lodge buildings. The flowering bushes produced Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers, Blue-throated Goldentails, White-necked Jacobins and Stripe-throated Hermits. Both Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers were putting on a show, as were the Passerini's Tanagers, Blue-grey Tanagers, and Golden-hooded Tanagers. It was going to be quite the day for tanagers. Warblers were well represented as well, with us seeing Tennessee, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Black-and-white, Golden-winged, and Wilson's Warblers and Tropical Parula. We could have spent all day walking the roads but headed out for a little lunch. While waiting for our food, Patrick was scanning across the valley and spotted a King Vulture circling amongst the Turkey and Black Vultures.

After lunch we headed back to Lands in Love, and were greeted by a Black-headed Saltator upon our return. We walked the roads a little more, this time turning up Summer Tanagers, Gartered Trogon, a pair of Grey-necked Wood Rails, and numerous Flycatchers. Patrick had a couple of stops he wanted to make on the way home, so we headed back towards Alajuela. Our first stop was at a small lake (Los Lagos) to scan for shorebirds, There was one Solitary Sandpiper (appropriately), one Northern Jacana, one Great Egret, and a single American Coot. In the long grass across the road a White-throated Crake was calling, but even though he was close, we never got a look at him. We then drove a little ways up a small side road to stop and walk for a bit. We immediately had a Squirrel Cuckoo overhead and Patrick started hearing some birds a little farther up the road. We had a good little flock, including a Stripe-breasted Wren and a Bay-headed Tanager.

We then got back in the car and made one last stop at a very unlikely looking place. It was a small restaurant and zip-line combo right alongside the main road. Patrick knows his locations, and this one was a good one to end on. We were looking for tanagers, and soon had Blue-gray, Palm, Silver-throated, Golden-hooded, and Passerini's. While these are certainly good birds, we then had the amazing Emerald Tanager, Crimson-collared Tanager, and Black-and-yellow Tanager. All from a roadside parking lot with cars whizzing by! We ended the day with some 90 species seen, including 10 different Tanagers.

Patrick dropped us off back at the hotel, and I went to the front desk to inquire about getting into San Jose to try and get my forgotten folder, and there it was sitting on the desk! I know this really isn't the place to make blatant advertising pitches, but Wild-Rider had delivered the folder out to me on their own time and money, which I think is exceptional customer service. We again walked down the street to our little chicken restaurant for our final meal in Costa Rica. It was early to bed once again, as the cab was coming at 4:00 am to take us to the airport for our flights home. All in all, a fantastic trip!

The last few pics from Day 8.

Thanks for sharing your interesting report on your Costa Rica trip! You must have had a wonderful time and your story brings back fond memories for me. Great country, which I' d love to go back to some day. Your photos are really beautiful!
Peter

Thanks for the report, probably one of the top birding destinations in the world. I'm trying to convince my partner that we should move out there... Excellent photos of Queztal, an unforgettable bird.

Very nice report, ptickner. Someone had a good camera! Cerro Lodge, El Toucanet, La Georgina, even Providencia, are familiar places from our own trips to Costa Rica. And birding with Patrick is always an enjoyable experience. Thanks for bringing back those memories.
It seems you handled the pressure well!

Steve