Good morning birders, twitchers, twitchy birders, bitchy twirlers, and anyone who took a wrong turn while looking for news about the spy balloon over Central America. My wife and I recently took our second trip to Costa Rica, and this is part 1 of a 2-part series documenting the avian highlights.
Our first trip in 2018 focused on sites north of San Jose, including obvious first-time-visitor destinations like Arenal Volcano and Monteverde cloud forest. I had been inspired by nookular’s Costa Rica diaries to plan our trip, although we took a completely different route. This time, I took the inspiration a step further, pilfering large portions of nookular’s itinerary. So, thanks! Everything was as great as advertised.
Our goal was to cut an efficient lateral path eastward from the southern Pacific coast to the Caribbean slope, visiting as many different elevations and habitats as possible – thus, more bird variety – while minimizing the hours spent driving on the often-challenging roads. We settled on five different bases across the nine nights, meaning we were moving rather quickly.
NIGHT 1: Tarcoles
The Tarcoles River empties into the Pacific where Costa Rica’s northwestern dry forest meets its southern rain forest, making that spot – which includes Carara National Park – a fantastic crossroads of bird habitats. Its relative proximity to San Jose also makes it a good first-night base.
We arrived after dark, so our first birding was the next morning over breakfast at the lovely Rancho Capulin lodge.
As the lodge was perched atop a hill, the breakfast terrace had a fantastic view extending across the forest to the river and the ocean — so I was able to see many species I would have otherwise missed. In fact, one of my favorites from our first trip — the rufous-naped wren — joined us for coffee.
Other breakfast sightings included two types of trogons:
Blue-gray tanager and tropical kingbird, the latter being a reliable companion throughout the trip:
And gray-capped flycatcher (lifer):
Our morning activity was a boat tour on the Tarcoles. Despite being the most polluted river in Central America – carrying trash and sewage from San Jose and its surrounding cities – it is a haven for crocodiles. The guides at the more reputable croc-tour companies are also birders, so we saw lots of avian activity in addition to the giant reptiles.
Lifers included some magnificent frigatebirds:
Common black hawk:
Bare-throated tiger-heron:
And wood stork:
The river was swarming with kingfishers. In addition to a belted, we saw a green and a ringed:
And one of my top targets, the tiny and adorable American pigmy kingfisher (lifer):
There were also plenty of birds you can see in the U.S., although the whimbrel was a lifer:
After the tour, we walked the forested trails surrounding the dock and saw a ferruginous pigmy-owl high up in the canopy, thanks to one of the guides who was hanging around after the tour:
We also got a decent glance at one of my favorites from our first trip, a turquoise-browed motmot:
NIGHTS 2-4: Uvita
After the tour, we drove south along the Pacific coast for a three-night stay in the pretty beach community of Uvita. Our lodge — La Uvita Perdida — is a family-run guest house with only three bookable rooms. It sits on a forested hill above town, with this view from its deck and pool:
We didn’t do much birding during our coastal stay, opting for waterfall hikes, paddle boarding, ocean swimming, and other activities that aren’t ideal for lugging a big camera. Thus, most of the birds I saw were on the lodge’s grounds. These included a roadside hawk and gray-headed chachalaca:
Fiery-billed aracari:
And blue dacnis:
On our first trip, I got only a quick glimpse (and terrible pic) of a yellow-throated toucan. Fortunately, at least two of them hung out near our Uvita lodge, so we did much better this time:
Take a moment to appreciate the setting for that one:
Million-dollar view? Yes, but not literally. While Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Central America, that isn’t saying much. If you avoid resorts, the fanciest bird lodges, and anywhere the words “Kardashian” or “influencer” appear in the reviews, you can have views like this for about half the price-per-night of, say, a Holiday Inn Express in suburban Los Angeles.
Anyhow, I also saw a wedge-billed creeper and a black-crowned tityra:
Lots of red-lored parrots:
And some scarlet macaw flyovers:
NIGHT 5: Talamanca Range
The next day we began our eastward trek, up the Pacific slope to the Talamanca mountain range south of San Jose. We stopped at Cerro de la Muerte — which, at more than 11,000 feet above sea level, is the highest point along the Pan-American Highway. It is known for being the northernmost section of the Andean alpine-tundra ecosystem known as páramo, which features grasses and short shrubs that grow above the timberline. We looked for its unique avian species such as the volcano junco and timberline wren, but completely whiffed.
We stopped for lunch at La Georgina, a restaurant off the highway known for its fantastic views and hummingbird feeders. This was our first introduction to high-elevation hummers such as the Talamanca hummingbird and white-throated mountain gem:
Volcano hummingbird and fiery-throated hummingbird:
We spent one night at Paraiso Quetzal, a birding lodge situated between two national parks and the bird-heavy San Gerardo de Dota area. We splurged and got a “superior” cabin, which gave us this view for about half the price of a Comfort Inn in downtown Denver:
We birded on their expansive grounds that afternoon and early the next morning, racking up a good number of lifers in a short time, such as a collared redstart:
Yellow-thighed brushfinch, black-capped flycatcher:
Ruddy treerunner, slaty flowerpiercer:
Black-billed nightingale-thrush, large-footed finch:
Mountain thrush and black-and-yellow silky-flycatcher:
They also had a “hummingbird garden” with flowers rigged to produce calendar-worthy photos. I don’t have the skills nor equipment for that — but I thought these came out well:
After breakfast, we did a “quetzal tour” to see the big gun of Costa Rica’s avian arsenal: the resplendent quetzal. They play a starring role in Mesoamerican mythology, and are the national bird of Guatemala. Also, from a birder’s perspective, they’re just amazing to watch. We hired a guide to take us to a private farm near the lodge that had the avocado trees they frequent, and we ended up seeing about a half-dozen of them.
First, let’s take a moment to appreciate the plight of the female quetzal. If you came upon this bird in the forest, and it was — I don’t know, let’s call it a “sawtooth-winged green trogon” — it would be a highlight of your trip. I mean, look at this beauty:
But you won’t find her likeness on any shirts, mugs, lodge logos, or national currency. Instead, her husband gets all the glory. In fairness, though, this is pretty glorious:
We also got a few lifers while waiting for the quetzals, including the spotted wood-quail and yellow-winged vireo:
The guides heard the wood-quail singing and managed to find it hidden deep in a thicket. That’s why you pay local experts to find your birds, even if you think you’re good at it! (I was the one who found the vireo, though — which was quite exciting, as I love vireos.) We blonked on some big targets in the mountains, such as the golden-browed chlorophonia and most of the warblers — but we might have had better luck had we stayed longer than one night.
We drove straight from the tour to our next destination — but you’ll need to wait until part 2 on March 5 to find out where that was. Thanks for reading!