Costa Rica birds and more, field trip style! - Dec. 28 to Jan. 12 (1 Viewer)

andyadcock said:

Who did you go with Jon, we only got about 350 in month and we thought we did ok!

Self guided in the main but did pick up guides here and there.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay: been to Spain for the weekend! (500 Cranes).

We went with Limosa, and Jason was our guide. It was actually 12 days - well 11.5 really as the La Paz waterfall trip on the last morning was added when everyone realised our flight home was late afternoon.

Day 10, 6 January - Arenal National Park area

As anyone might imagine, we all enjoyed a terrific night's sleep at the luxurious Arenal Observatory Lodge. On this morning, some students elected to sleep in a bit (I don't blame them!). However, I couldn't keep myself inside when I remembered I was in the tropics.

Since I wasn't supposed to go on the trails alone, I relaxed a bit at the deck feeders watching the usual suspects before enjoying a sumptuous breakfast. We all got a tremendous treat when the clouds lifted from the volcano and its full grandeur showed for a while. It was even better when viewed from "The Nest", the observatory's 90m canopy tower! I enjoyed several new species on the walk to and from the tower, including White-collared Swift, Cinnamon Becard, Olive-backed Euphonia, Variable Seedeater, and a brief but exciting look at my only White-ruffed Manakin of the trip. We also had great views of a mixed flock of tanagers and two Yellow-throated Toucans in the fruit trees.

It was soon time to get in the bus for a day trip to the Arenal Misticopark hanging bridges. This is a spectacular location, with swaying bridges as high as 45m and as long as 90m! Of course, our guide was not a fantastic birder by ear, but she was quite talented at guiding and knew a good number of birds. Within minutes of starting our tour, I saw my lifer Black-headed Saltator, White-throated Thrush, and a pair of lively Buff-rumped Warblers. Farther along, the first of several Rufous Motmots reinforced my glowing impressions of the motmot family. Our guide pointed out a Giant Banded Anole, which sat surprisingly still on a large tree trunk. A new mammal was added when Marjana (our guide) found some Greater White-lined Bats roosting on another tree. I got yet another motmot, this one a Broad-billed Motmot. A persistent call led me to a small subject, but one that I couldn't pin down. By "eavesdropping" a bit on the next group's tour leader, I discovered it was a Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant! I did eventually get a better look, even glimpsing its little crest. We all got views of a sloth, but one that chose not to show its head. We were to have great sloth experiences later on at La Selva. Our expert "tarantulista" classmate found several fine specimens, including a white tarantula that I didn't see. Later, we saw a Tarantula Hawk Wasp Pepsis sp. dragging a tarantula along the railing! The guide said she had never seen one in action before.

Upon beginning the trek back, a pair of very quiet birds revealed themselves as the rather scarce Streak-crowned Antvireo. We headed down a hill and saw a gorgeous Blue Morpho sitting with its upper wings exposed. Immediately afterwards, the forest exploded with bird calls and all kinds of species flooded through the forest. I had hit a classic tropical mixed flock! Of course I was totally overwhelmed. I made the executive decision NOT to stress over assorted woodcreepers, which paid off in the end. One of the highlights was a Rufous-winged Tanager that I found, apparently uncommon and desired by tour groups. Other fine species included Carmiol's Tanager, White-shouldered Tanager, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Russet Antshrike, Bay Wren, Long-billed Hermit, White-throated Shrike-Tanager, and a few other common inhabitants. A major non-bird highlight occurred when the guide showed us not one, but two Eyelash Vipers below eye level. These were another hoped-for reptile, and they sure didn't disappoint!

One last surprise awaited us before a quiet end to the hike. As we went along at a steady pace, the guide stopped me and asked, "Sir, you're the one who likes birds, right? I'd like to show you something." A quick scope setup revealed a striking and beautiful pair of Crested Owls at a known roost! This came as a wonderful surprise to me. While I was enthralled with the owls, other classmates photographed a Rufous-tailed Jacamar (seen at La Selva) and a mystery passerine that will probably feature soon in the ID forum.

We had one final night at the Arenal Observatory Lodge before our final location, the Organization for Tropical Studies at La Selva.


PHOTOS: Yellow-throated Toucan, Rufous Motmot, yos tree (spectacular from a distance!), Blue Morpho butterfly, and Eyelash Viper.

More photos: Rufous Motmot, Broad-billed Motmot, second Eyelash Viper, another Golden-hooded Tanager (couldn't help it!), and distant Green Honeycreeper.

Day 11, 7 January - Arenal Observatory Lodge and OTS La Selva station


On the final morning at Arenal, I will admit I was disappointed to leave so soon. I knew there were so many other species to discover at this incredible location.

I began at the feeders again, where a beautiful Crowned Woodnymph was at the flowers. Then I took a solo walk on a few short trails (maybe I bent the rules a bit here). The first new birds were a pair of Orange-billed Sparrows scratching in the leaf litter. One thing I noticed here was that open areas with plantings often had a lot of action. Here a Black-cheeked Woodpecker roamed the treetops and a Black-cowled Oriole sat in a low bush. Things got even better in the forest. Two monkeys were quietly feeding in the canopy, but they turned out to be our only Spider Monkeys of the trip! One even had a youngster with it. All of a sudden, the hummingbirds let out a screech and a Tiny Hawk whizzed right over! This was one of the bird highlights of the trip for me, after reading that they're often difficult to find. The final avian lifer here was a White-necked Jacobin, surprisingly the only I ever saw.

By this time, a steady rain was building and we were getting ready to leave. A few of us rushed back so that others could see the Spider Monkeys, which were still there. As we loaded the van, people began gathering near the kitchen area and our driver waved us over with excitement. An Ocelot was eating and drinking behind a trellis hardly 5 meters away! We later learned that this individual was probably fed regularly, since that struck us as extremely odd Ocelot behavior. This only slightly diminished our excitement at seeing two cat species on the trip.

Our drive to La Selva was uneventful, mostly passing through crops of coconut, pineapple, papaya, taro, and others. I saw a Laughing Falcon perched on a tall pole. Ruddy Ground Doves were a common fixture, and two fluttering forms at a gas station could only have been House Sparrows.

La Selva was exceedingly humid and warm, though not unbearable. A large pedestrian suspension bridge spans a river that separates the reception area from the research cabins. This added to the overall feeling that we were in unfamiliar and exotic lands.

We unpacked and headed over the bridge for a stroll. We had great views of a Howler Monkey that came down to the ground before switching trees. Flowering fig trees (Ficus sp.) attracted multiple tanagers and warblers. Among these I found two true beauties, Purple-crowned Fairy and a male Shining Honeycreeper. Here we also saw the first of many Collared Peccaries, quite tame creatures. Before lunch, I added a Dusky-faced Tanager to the list.

After lunch, we all wanted to see poison dart frogs. First, though, a small basilisk that I think was a Common Basilisk showed up. Thanks to our "critter hunter" classmate, we found multiple Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs, more commonly referred to as "Blue Jeans frogs" down here. Any poison dart frogs were my top non-bird target of the trip, so I was relieved and happy to get them upon arrival here.

No day could really be complete, though, without another hike. So hike we did! I soon learned that the handsome Black-faced Grosbeak was quite common and tame outside our rooms. Farther in the woods, we came upon the old arboretum. This contained multiple tall trees and a cleared forest floor. Here I added Green Ibis, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Masked Tityra, and a high soaring raptor that looked very unfamiliar. The biggest highlight came towards the end of our hike, coming back from the River Station. I was in the back of the group, but one of my classmates in the front commented, "That looks like a chicken." I rushed to the front and let out a gasp. "That's no chicken", I said, "It's a tinamou!" Besides the fact that nobody knew a tinamou from a turkey, everyone was excited. A quick look in the field guide proved it to be a fine Great Tinamou, a species I thought I might hear but certainly not see!

The next day loomed as interesting as this one, with a guided bird walk on tap for the early morning.


PHOTOS: Emerald Tanager, Tennessee Warbler, Montezuma Oropendola, Scarlet-rumped Tanager, and Spider Monkey.

More photos: second Spider Monkey, White-necked Jacobin, Ocelot, Black Howler Monkey, and Common (?) Basilisk.

Yet more photos!

Green Ibis, Collared Peccary, Black-faced Grosbeak x2, and Olive-backed Euphonia.

Day 12, 8 January - OTS La Selva

Well, my apologies for letting this report lie dormant for so long! Just a few more days, but very important ones.

This was our first full day at La Selva, starting with a bird walk before breakfast led by Kenneth Alfaro. This surprisingly short walk delivered some great birds and other critters. Kenneth pointed out the calls of both Short-billed Pigeon and Little Tinamou. The walk continued, with Kenneth calling in (with some tape... hmm...) a fine Cinnamon Woodpecker. Several unfamiliar parrots were called by Kenneth as Red-lored Parrots. Surprisingly, two flocks of high Neotropic Cormorants furnished the only cormorants of the trip. Both species of toucans were common here, as well as several now familiar tropical birds. We turned around in the light rain, having enjoyed no less than nine Slaty-tailed Trogons(!) in one tree. Then we found a pair of Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloths in a tree. Unusually, both were moving and interacting with each other on a mid-level branch! As the rest of the group marveled at the sloths, I saw several nice birds. These were Golden-winged Warbler, Gartered Trogon, and the delightful Long-tailed Tyrant.

After breakfast, we took a long and rainy slog through the forest. It was pretty quiet bird-wise, save for a few major exceptions. Two new woodpeckers were added in short order, Chestnut-colored Woodpecker and Rufous-winged Woodpecker. A White-breasted Wood-Wren called from the understory, and a Rufous-tailed Jacamar sat on a trailside perch. The first major highlight was when Kenneth and the rest of us heard a Great Green Macaw. Unfortunately, only Kenneth got a glimpse as it flew by through the canopy! I was still glad to hear this species. Further along the trail, we passed Daniel Garrigues (the son of the famed author of the Costa Rica field guide, Richard Garrigues), who knew where a pair of Middle American Screech-Owls was roosting. We got brief but excellent views of these cryptic sleepers. Another set of sleepers was a group of Greater Sac-winged Bats under a gazebo. While we did see a fresh "tent" of the Honduran White Bats, we sadly never saw these desired fluffballs.

As we reached the bridge again, I saw a Green Kingfisher resting above the rising river waters.

That afternoon, I went on an even rainier and even longer hike with a classmate. This was even slower for birds and other creatures! I did enjoy the exercise and just being in the rainforest, though. We saw a tiny brown frog that was probably just a centimeter long or so. Of course we went by the famed bridge once more on our way back, but this time the sun was peeking out and so were the birds! Several swifts wheeled overhead, a mix of Gray-rumped Swifts and the underrated Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts. Several large and noisy parrots were green save for pale facial skin, indicating Mealy Parrots. Back at the dining hall, we passed a tree that hours earlier had contained a wet but colorful White-collared Manakin.

By the end of the day, we were so wet and tired that a night hike was completely out of the question. By the beginning of the next day, about 3 inches (7-8 cm) of rain fell in 24 hours!

I have a quick addendum to the previous entry. All the basilisks we saw here were later identified as Brown Basilisks, not Common.


PHOTOS: Rufous-tailed Jacamar and a Collared Aracari in mid food-flip!