Trip
Information
Date: March
12 - 26, 2010
Duration: 15 days
Leaders: Richard
Knapton
Limit: 12 people
Cost: $3975
USD, $4395 CDN
Single supplement $350 USD, $390 CDN
From:
San Jose, Costa Rica
Featured birds:
• Snowcap
• Resplendent Quetzal
• Scarlet Macaw
• Coppery-headed Emerald
• Spectacled Owl
• Snowy-bellied Hummingbird
• Fiery-billed Aracari
• Volcano Junco
• Black-crested Coquette
• Three-wattled Bellbird
• Black-hooded Antshrike
Trip Summary:
• Diverse
birding habitats
• Easy to moderate
walking, some hill climbing
• Tropical and temperate climates
• Good to very
good accommodation
• 400 + bird species
• 4 to 8 participants with one leader
• 9 to 12 participants with two leaders
• Air-conditioned bus with driver
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Costa
Rica – the
Rich Coast! Over 870 species of birds have been recorded from this
small country, renowned for its relatively easy birding, good accommodation,
comfortable and pleasurable infrastructure and peaceful policies.
Costa Rica with neighbouring western Panama is a major centre of
avian endemism, with nearly 70 species found nowhere else! This
small country hosts tremendous diversity and we visit all major
habitats to sample its amazing variety of birds. We spend two great
days birding the lush Caribbean foothill forests around Rancho Naturalista,
a very special place with an impressive list of birds and other
forms of wildlife - our stay here will be one of the highlights
of the trip. We bird the amazing Carara and Rio Tarcoles, and the
incredibly bird-rich foothills of Braulio Carillo and lowlands of
La Selva which has some of t he best Caribbean lowland forest remaining
in Costa Rica with many unique birds. We visit cloud forests at
the Tapanti Reserve and the high elevation forests and paramo of
Cerro de la Muerte in search of Resplendent Quetzal, Silver-throated
Jay and many others. Finally, we explore the dry forest regions
of the Pacific Northwest, which hold a whole new suite of birds.
As many participants comment, each day just keeps getting better
and better!
See detailed itinerary
below
Past checklists from
our Costa Rica tour:
2009
Costa Rica tour (199 k pdf)
2007
Costa Rica tour (pdf)
2006
Costa Rica tour (148k pdf)
2004
Costa Rica tour (pdf)
2002
Costa Rica tour (pdf)
Click here to download
a registration form
Photos by
Cam Gillies |
Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrival
in San José
The tour begins in the evening after dinner with an orientation
at our hotel, possibly finding Prevost’s Ground-sparrow in the hotel
grounds. Night in San José.
Day 2 - Dry Forest Birding
After birding the hotel grounds, we head for the dry tropical forest
biome of Guanacaste where we have our first introduction to several
neotropical families – trogons, toucans, motmots, puffbirds and
antbirds. We visit several different habitats in this area: evergreen
forest, tropical dry forest, savanna pasture, mangroves, saline ponds
and lakes, and freshwater marsh. Species typical of dry forests include
Thicket Tinamou, Collared Forest-Falcon, Yellow-naped Parrot, Banded
Wren, Cinnamon Hummingbird, Scrub Euphonia, White-lored Gnatcatcher,
Olive Sparrow, Streak-backed and Spot-breasted Orioles, and Lesser Ground-Cuckoo.
Night near Canas.
Day 3 – Wetland Birding
We spend the morning birding various habitats; salt pans support a rich
assortment of shorebirds, terns and skimmers, savannah pastures have
Double-striped Thick-knee and Spot-bellied Bobwhite, freshwater marshes
are home to nesting Jabirus as well as Wood Stork, Limpkin, many herons,
Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling-ducks, Muscovy Duck, and Snail Kite.
Pacific Screech-owls occur in gardens. After lunch, we depart for Villa
Lapas and the marvelous park at Carara. Night at Carara.
Days 4 - 5 Carara
Carara preserves a large tract of beautiful and bird-rich tropical semi-
evergreen forest. It is an amazing place and birding can be marvelous.
The site offers a wonderful array of woodcreepers, trogons, and manakins
including the stunning Orange-collared, likely displaying when we are
there. We could see several species of woodpeckers, flycatchers, antbirds,
antwrens and antpittas— the possibilities seem endless! We may
find American Pygmy Kingfisher by a woodland pool, or a Boat-billed
Heron perched in a tree along the lagoon, or a Long-billed Gnatwren
busily hunting insects—or a troop of coatimundis seemingly oblivious
to our presence. We look for Baird’s Trogon, Black-hooded, Giant
and Barred Antshrikes, Yellow-billed Cotinga, Golden-crowned Spadebill,
and many more. We also visit mangroves along the Rio Tárcoles
to look for the endemic Mangrove Hummingbird, Panama and Northern Scrub
Flycatchers, Mangrove Black Hawk, and shorebirds and waders such as
Roseate Spoonbill. We stay at a hotel only a few minutes from the preserve.
Trails close to the hotel lead to leks of Long-tailed and Orange-collared
Manakins, as well as Rufous-and-white Wren, Black-faced Antthrush and
much more. In the evening we travel to a spot where Scarlet Macaws and
other birds fly over on their way to their roosts and American Crocodiles
loaf along the river bank. Nights at Carara.
Day 6 - San Isidro
Leaving Carara we drive south along the Pacific Coasts where we should
encounter species such as Red-crowned Woodpecker, Pearl Kite and American
Swallow-tailed Kite. We stop at Hacienda Baru for lunch, and birding
the trails and ocean shore could produce specialties such as Snowy-bellied
Hummingbird and Fiery-billed Aracari, whilst offshore Brown Boobies
should be fishing. We then head to our lodge near San Isidro del General.
Here we encounter yet another suite of birds, such as Smooth-billed
Ani, Turquoise Cotinga, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Lesser Elaenia,
Cherrie’s Tanager and Streaked Saltator. Night near San Isidro
del General.
Days 7 and 8 - Cordillera de Talamanca
In the morning we head to the cloud forest and páramo of the
Cordillera de Talamanca. Along the way we stop at a location for White-tailed
Emerald and Red-headed Barbet, and visit the high paramo for Volcano
Junco and Timberline Wren. Then it is off to our lodge in the Valley
of the Quetzals. Here, along dirt roads and forest trails passing among
trees draped in epiphytes, we find a new suite of birds such as Fiery-throated
Hummingbird, Ruddy Treerunner, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Black-capped Flycatcher,
Long-tailed and Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatchers, Collared Redstart,
Large-footed Finch, Silvery-throated Jay, and the magnificent Resplendent
Quetzal. Nights at Savegre Lodge.
Day 9 - Tapantí
We leave in the morning and head for the Tapantí Reserve, where
we spend most of the day. The Reserve is a great example of middle to
high elevation Caribbean forest. Here we look for Black Guan, Brown-billed
Scythebill, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Black-bellied Hummingbird, Green-fronted
Lancebill and Chestnut-headed Oropendola. Night in Orosi.
Day 10 - Rancho Naturalista
We may revisit Tapanti early in the morning, then we drop into an organic
coffee farm, before driving to Rancho Naturalista, a 125-acre ranch
and preserve located in premontane rain forest at 300 feet. Rancho has
a rich diversity of mid-elevation species and is a location for some
exceptionally scarce birds. We spend the rest of the day first on the
balcony of the lodge, enjoying an astonishing parade of exceptional
birds from hummingbirds to tanagers and oropendolas, and then explore
the nearby rich forests, searching for such local species as Tawny-chested
Flycatcher, Snowcap, Black-crested Coquette, Dull-mantled Antbird, Tawny-throated
Leaftosser, Whistling Wren (an amazing singer!) and many other goodies.
Night at Rancho Naturalista.
Day 11 – Rancho Naturalista and transfer to Selva Verde
We spend the morning at Rancho, taking in trails not visited the day
before. After lunch, we head towards our lodge along the Río
Sarapiquí. Night at Selva Verde.
Days 12 & 13 - Caribbean Lowlands
We make the lodge our central point for birding several diverse locations
in some of the richest areas in Costa Rica. During our stay, we visit
La Selva, a wonderful tract of wet lowland rainforest where some 400
species of birds have been reported. We’ll see a fine array of
neotropical fauna—tinamous, motmots, puffbirds, cotingas, trogons,
toucans, chachalacas, maybe ant-followers at an ant swarm or a Great
Curassow walking stealthily on the forest floor, lots of tanagers, as
well as monkeys and who knows what else. A boat ride along the Sarapiqui
could turn up Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Sungrebe, Sunbittern and American
Pygmy Kingfisher! We spend time at mid-elevation forest at Virgen del
Socorro, where birding can be fabulous! We will likely encounter mixed-species
flocks here, sometimes containing over 15 species, especially tanagers.
White Hawks soar over the valley, Violet-headed Hummingbirds sing endlessly
from open perches - the list seems endless. Nights at Selva Verde.
Day 14 – Braulio Carrillo and back to San Jose
We leave the Caribbean Lowlands and head through the magnificent Braulio
Carrillo National Park. Here we will walk trails looking for specialties
such as Lattice-tailed Trogon, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, and several antbirds
and antwrens. Night in San Jose.
Day 15 - Departure
Our tour concludes in San José after breakfast.
What
to Expect
Our daily travel
schedule will vary to account for weather, bird species and habitat.
Expect some early morning, before-breakfast walks, as well
as late evening viewing. Almost without exception it is best to begin
birding at daybreak in the tropics, when bird activity and song are
at their peak. In forest regions, we concentrate on “edge” birding
until the light is sufficient to enter forest trails. Often bird activity
will slacken off by noon, when we may return to our hotel for lunch
and a short siesta. On occasion, we will have picnic lunches prepared
for us so that we can eat in the field, maximizing our time in the field
and allowing us a more flexible schedule.
We bird again in the coolness of the late afternoon, occasionally staying
out after dusk to search for nightbirds. Weather conditions on the trip
will range from hot to cool; mostly, it will be warm with a mixture
of sun and cloud. Walking conditions range from easy to moderate; if
there has been rain, then trails could be muddy. Strong, waterproof
footwear is advised and a light rain-jacket and waterproof hat are often
essential. There will be opportunities for photography, as many birds
and other wildlife allow close approach. Bring mosquito repellant -
mosquitoes are not usually a problem but can be active after rain In
the evening we eat at a favored restaurant or at the hotel or lodge
where we are staying. At this time we discuss the day’s activities,
review the list of birds and other wildlife that we have seen and heard,
and prepare for the next day.
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