Hello everyone! A quick catch-up in case you missed my Costa Rica blog #1, I am turning 60 this year so I am doing my own “Big Year”. I am hoping to see over 500 species this year! My first birding excursion EVER was to Costa Rica with Birding Ecotours out of Ohio. This trip was on my bucket list because the birds in Costa Rica are so amazing! You can read my first blog to see and hear the birds and other creatures I encountered during the first 3 days of this fantastic adventure.
We started Day 4 birding the Sarapiqui Lodge at 0 dark thirty! It is hard to shoot pics in the dark but when the sun came up, I photographed 2 Gray-headed Chacalacas. Then, we birded a field in Sarapiqui and added a Morelet’s Seedeater to our lists. We arrived at The Nest Nature Center in Alajuela by 8am. It is a family-owned sanctuary that supports so many birds. We saw at least 35 species here, including 2 rare birds. It was quite rainy but LOTS of birds visited the feeders which were very close to us. Many of the Tanagers and Honeycreepers I showed you in Part 1 were here too. I loved seeing a Tennessee Warbler up close! I can only catch glimpses of them in Massachusetts. Seeing the Toucans and Collared-acaris up close was captivating. I shared some videos of them on my sites. We also saw a Yellow-crowned Euphonia, some Orange-chinned Parakeets, 2 Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, and an Orange-billed Sparrow. The owner carefully led us to a pair of nesting Striped Owls that we viewed from a safe distance. We saw a rare, White-tipped Sicklebill that was very camera shy. It is the only hummingbird with a beak long and curved enough to get the nectar from a Heliconia flower! The highlight bird of the day was a Yellow-eared Toucanet. Kisa had been chasing this bird for years. I enjoyed her happiness as much as I enjoyed seeing the bird. I got it. I cried when I finally saw a Painted Bunting last year!
After lunch, we checked the field from yesterday to see if we could view the Scarlet Macaws better. They were SO beautiful! We also got to stop and watch some relaxing Sloths! They move SO slowly! Cope’s Farm in Limon was the next stop and it did NOT disappoint! He set up feeding stations that allowed hummingbirds and other birds to come SO close that I heard their wings. Many beautiful White-necked Jacobins visited the feeders with a mix of other hummingbird species. A Blue Dacnis was begging me to take a picture! I collected more lifers here! We saw 2 Russet-naped Wood Rails, a Giant Cowbird, and a Chestnut-headed Oropendola. He shared his pair of Spectacled Owls and a nearby tiny Stripe-tailed Hummingbird too. We also saw a Helmeted Basilisk and Scorpion Mud Turtles here. On the way to our next spot, we saw a Neotropic Cormorant from the bus. It was drying its wings on a huge rock immersed in a large river. I snapped a VERY quick picture. We stopped at another field and added some Groove-billed Anais, Pale-vented Pigeons, Great-tailed Grackles, and a Thick-billed Seed-Finch. We headed back to La Selva to look for Nightjars as evening approached. We HEARD a Little and a Great Tinamou (audio below) but couldn’t see them. There was a Middle American Screech Owl talking to us and we saw (barely) a Common Pauraque in the dusk.
Day 5 started early again with our last viewing of the birds at La Quinta Lodge. I chased a Blue-black Grobsbeak but could not get a picture. I did capture some audio for you (below)! A Chestnut-sided Warbler was feeling photogenic. Next, we birded a field on our way out of Sarapiqui and added some more birds to our life lists. We saw Blue-black Grassquits and Groove-billed Anais. I saw 2 birds go by in a blur and snapped a (blurry) photo. They turned out to be Red-lored Parrots (Amazons)! Next, we headed for our hotel located in the cloud forest. We stopped at Casa Dowi along the way. This restaurant had large viewing windows with feeders outside. You could even bird from the bathroom here! We logged some Chestnut-capped, White-naped and Yellow-thighed Brushfinches, Mountain Thrushes and a Buff-fronted Quail-Dove. The further we drove up the mountain, the colder it got. Our driver Oscar had to navigate some tricky turns in the clouds! We arrived at Gema de Busca Lodge at dusk. We added the White-throated Mountain-gem and the very cute Volcano Hummingbirds to our bird lists. We also saw a Large-footed Finch and I saw some Spotted Wood Quails before calling it quits for the day.
We were early birders again on Day 6! I woke up to spiders in my bed, and on me. I was not a fan! I do not camp for a reason LOL. We birded the grounds before and after breakfast and at lunchtime. We added a Collared Trogan (scope view), Mountain Elaenias, and gorgeous Flame-colored Tanagers to our trip lists. We visited Quetzal National Park, with a couple of stops along the way. At the park, we saw Ruddy Pigeons, a Sooty Thrush, and both Wilson’s and Flame-throated Warblers! We also saw a Red-faced Spinetail, some Black-capped Flycatchers, Sooty-capped Chlorospingus and Yellow-bellied Siskins! We could only hear a Gray-breasted Wood-Wren and 2 Timberline Wrens. They sing loud and beautiful songs, just like our local wrens do! On our way back to the lodge, we stopped at another off the beaten path in San Jose. We logged a few Collared Redstarts and Wilson’s Warblers and a Bare-shanked Screech-owl.
You can check out my social media sites to see and hear many of the birds I shared with you here. I am also working on posting them all to eBird. Follow me here so you don’t miss when I post part 3 of this amazing experience! I am forever grateful to anyone who LIKES or shares this post (below) or any posts and videos on my sites. I also LOVE to read your comments! Costa Rica has so many different habitats that it is worth the trip to see the amazing birds and scenery. I highly recommend Birding Ecotours. Jacob, our driver Oscar, and our local guide Herman worked very hard to make this adventure so memorable! Until part 3, keep birding and take care, Robin. 😊
Robin's Birds 