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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 1595383" data-attributes="member: 12449">Vast rainforests on the Osa Peninsula, haunting cloud forests in the heights of the Cordilleras, steamy lowland forests in the Caribbean slope, this excellent trip notched up an amazing variety of species, including most of the regional endemics, along with 26 species of hummingbird, eight species of trogon and no less than 27 tanagers. With all four monkeys, plus Northern Tamandua, Tayra and Two-toed Sloth, nineteen species of mammal were also recorded, plus a healthy dose of amphibians and reptiles!  With an itinerary including the superb Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula, along with the legendary La Selva, Monteverde and Carara National Parks, this trip utilized just about every transport means imaginable to squeeze all the sites into the three weeks. From hitch-hiking and bus to light aircraft and ferry, plus ever so many kilometres on foot, the first leg of the trip took me to the southern Pacific lowlands to tackle Corcovado, the most extensive rainforest left on the Pacific coast. Totally amazing, totally knackering. Next came a stop in the Central Highlands, enjoying the endemic-rich cloud forests of the Cerro de la Muerte region, before dropping back to San Jose.With the luxury of a rented car, the next segment of the trip was a loop from La Selva in the Carribean lowlands, past Arenal Volcano, across to Palo Verde in the hot, relatively arid north-west and thereafter up to the highland forests at Monteverde. With a change-over in car, it was then back to the Pacific coastlline for a couple of superb days at the Carara National Park, before looping back through the Central Valley for a few final days at Braullio Carrillo, then the Carribean coast and finally to the delightful San Geraldo to mop up on remaining highland specialities. Timing of Trip & Weather.Most birders visit Costa Rica during the northern winter, i.e. from December through to March. There is good reason for this - not only is it the 'dry' season, a very relative term, but also the country is jam-packed with North American migrants, thereby guaranteeing even more species - and umpteen headaches with Empidonax flycatchers and their allies!On this trip, however, I chose to visit from late August to September, a slight gamble as there was a real possibility to loose days to torrential rain. As it turned out, I was exceptionally fortunate with the weather - basically three weeks of near constant sun, the only rain limited to occasional late afternoons or during the night. Additionally, though numbers were never high, an impressive range of North American migrants were also noted, including a smatter of waders on the Pacific coast, a good variety of warblers, including the Blackburnian Warbler, American Redstarts and several Black-and-white Warblers, plus early Common Nighthawk (and Lesser) and Chuck-will's-widow. The Birding.As I had previously visited Costa Rica - on a similarly-timed trip way back in 1991 - my goal here was simply to enjoy three-weeks of Neotropic birding. Naturally, however,  there were a few targets, primarily amongst them, to see Snowcap and Black-and-white Owl, both species I had missed on my previous trip. Additionally, that previous trip, four weeks in total, had amassed a total of 403 species, a good total for a summer trip. Logically, I planned to match that total in the three weeks of this trip!As for the birding, it's a hard! Rainforests being rainforests, birds take great pleasure in inhabiting either the canopy way up in the heavens or, conversely, the depths of impenetratible undergrowth, either way they also have great fondness to travel in fast-moving flocks that give fleeting glimpses at best! In high humidity, in low light, with neck cranked at unnatural angles most of the time, this is the birding ...and then you need to identify them - the dreaded flycatchers, umpteen woodcreepers all similar in plumage, hummingbirds that zip past at supersonic speeds!However, soon all begins to fall into place, the species tally rises, amazing mammals emerge from the undergrowth and the experience is second to none. Fantastic birding in a fantastic country.The Daily Log24 August. Airborne.Getting to Costa Rica from Eastern Europe involves a lot of flying! From home to final destination, including an internal hop, a spectacular seven fights!!! So it was the journey began, take off in Vilnius at 06.30, a few hours lying under a tree in Warsaw enjoying a Great Spotted Woodpecker and assorted crows and then another flight to London. Totally birdless, I think I forgot to look at any windows, it was then onto American Airlines for a seven hour hop to New York, unfortuately arriving after dark, so also totally birdless. With the time already 8 p.m. local, and my next flight at dawn, I decided I couldn't be bothered to hack it into downtown New York, so kipped at the airport. 25 August. Alajuela.05.30, take off, out over Jamaica Bay, down the American East Coast. Two hours later, touchdown in Miami, three hours to wait, plenty of time to tackle the dreaded immigration and customs queues that this airport is famed for ...so I thought. However, it went far smoother than I expected - disembarking, I happened to notice American Airlines had another flight to San Jose, leaving from the same gate in just 60 minutes. 'Hmm', enquired I, 'Might I be able to take this earlier flight?'.  Very friendly they are on American Airlines, discovering I was travelling with just hand baggage, they swopped my ticket and I merely had a coffee at the nearby cafe and returned to the gate - no immigration, no customs and no airport queues, super! And I would arrive in San Jose late morning, thereby allowing the birding to begin.So at last I arrived - 11.10 local time, bumping down into San Jose, towering volcano to the south, a few clouds overhead and the first birds - Great-tailed Grackles around the airport. No big plans for the first day, so headed off into the nearby Alajuela. Dumped my one bag at a hotel and had a quick look around their garden - Buff-throated Saltators, Blue-grey Tanagers, Clay-coloured Robins, Inca Doves and Common Ground-Doves, the birding had begun. Nice garden though it was, there was not enough to get me occupied for long, so off I went, seeking out an area of mixed farmland and scrub nearby. A good introduction to Costa Rican birds, this was splendid stuff - swarms of grackles and Bronzed Cowbirds, flocks of Black Vultures overhead. Soon I was bumping into species by the dozen - Eastern Meadowlarks in rough pasture, Northern Jacanas and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in a damp patch, a mass of Blue-and-white Swallows on wires and then three White-tailed Kites hovering over meadows. Also, noisy Orange-chinned Parakeets and, along an excellent wooded avenue, two Squirrel Cuckoos, both Hoffmann's and Lineated Woodpeckers and a migrant Yellow Warbler, all splendid birds. However, star of the day, and the only one recorded during the trip, one male Crested Bobwhite pottering across a field, an excellent bird for day one.With three dozen speces recorded, it was then back to the hotel - early to sleep, another flight planned for early next morning. Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl called in the hotel grounds. 26 August. Corcovado.Off to the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park, a vast tract of Pacific lowland rainforest - one of the most remote and most important wildlife localities in all Central America. Day started at 6 a.m. in San Jose, all aboard for the one-hour flight in a Twin-Otter sixteen-seater plane, courtesy of Nature Air, the world's only carbon-neutral airline. Over the high Cordilleras, over deep ravines, first stop was a hairy plummet onto a small airstrip at Golfito, a mere slither of land surrounded by pristine rainforest - Plumbeous Kite alongside, Grey-capped Flycatchers zipping about. Dumped off a couple of passengers, then airborne again for the ten-minute hop over the sparkling waters of Golfe Dulce and to the final touchdown in Puerto Jimenez. What a superb little town - abundant Cherrie's Tanagers and Bananaquits around its leafy lanes, squadrons of Scarlet Macaws overhead and hurtling White-collared Swifts too. I, however, had little intention of staying long - 30 km down the road was La Palma, the starting point for my trek of many kilometres. Missed the local bus, so strolled on out of the town and stuck my thumb out - minutes later, in a dilapidated jalopy, and in the company of one jovial lady and rather a lot of shopping, I was trundling north. A Bare-throated Tiger-Heron beside a river, flocks of Black Vultures rising on the early morning thermals, in we rolled to La Palma and I thanked my lady.Now began the hard slog - hiking with all supplies into the heart of Corcovado. Stocked up in the local shop - tortillas, fruit and peanut butter - then began the walk, destination Los Patos. For seven kilometres, though it felt far more, steep stony roads took me upward through scenic hills, a patchwork of local agriculture and woodland remnants. Red-crowned Woodpeckers, two Southern Lapwings, Eastern Meadowlarks,  Smooth-billed Anis and yet more Scarlet Macaws, the delights deserved more time, but ahead lay the true treasures. At the seven kilometre mark, the road came to an abrupt end - ahead lay a river and hints of a path edging towards the looming slopes beyond, forests carpeting the hills horizon to horizon. The true hike was now to start. Following an exquisite valley, for three hours more I trudged - wading through rivers no less than 23 times, gazing into pristine forests and through grasses over my head, classic stuff ...not to mention a tad hard going - the sun was now high and temperatures sat at a pleasant 30 C. Both Green and Amazon Kingfishers decorated riverside snags, flocks of White Ibis paddled the shallows, surrounded by Spotted Sandpipers, a lone Greater Yellowlegs, plus Neotropic Cormorants, another Plumbeous Kite, six superb Swallow-tailed Kites in a flock, not to mention passerines weird and wonderful. Finally, as my feet began to moan the frequent river crossings, the path veered to the side and up a steep slope into the darkness of deep forest. Another kilometre and I staggered into Los Patos, a small ranger station hacked out from virgin forest, dripping in birds and home for the next days. Three Blue-crowned Motmots, most impressive beasties welcomed me in, a couple of Buff-rumped Warblers flitted in a damp patch. This was near paradise, a cacophony of sound - frog, bird and insect echoing from trees all around. Said a quick 'hola' to the two rangers, both basking in hammocks aside their wooden cabin, pitched my little tent on a strangely flat patch beneath a towering tree, then set off to explore, all routes naturally involving another stream crossing. Jeepers, the slopes beyond were steep! Narrow, slippery tracks on red clays, a dampness hanging in the air and vegetation just sublime - a canopy rich in epiphyte and creeper, the undergrowth a dense tangle of greenery obliterating everything. Into this the birding began - a major challenge merely to see a bird, let alone identify anything. Slowly slowly, separating frog croak from bird, the first species began to reveal themselves - a Long-tailed Woodcreeper edging up a trunk, a Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher deep in a patch of gloom, a Plain Xenops in a flock. It was now, however, approaching 2.30 p.m., time for the afternoon rains - thunder was rumbling around the hillsides, an ominous darkness replacing the sun and lightening beginning to lick the skies yonder. I began to scurry back, a pause to watch some Spider Monkeys, but I had no wish to get totally drenched. I cut it fine, darted back across the stream just as the first drops began to fall. The heavens opened, absolutely torrential rain bucketing it down. I soon discovered the reason for the 'unnatural' flat patch that I had chosen to pitch my tent - it rapidly filled with water and was about to see my tent becoming submerged by an emerging lake! Quickly decamped, moved up the slope and, before I drowned, dived into the tent. Day over, rained till dusk, I snoozed quite content.</blockquote>

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