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Sunday 8 March to Sunday 22 March 2009
Cost: £2570 plus about £860 for flights Single room supplement: £270 Click here for explanation of price breakdown Maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader; 14 with 2 leaders. |
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| With an area somewhat less than 20,000 square miles Costa Rica is the third smallest nation in Central America, yet in proportion to the country’s size its avifauna of nearly 800 species is among the richest in the world. It is a modern country, politically stable and generally considered the most democratic in Central America, and it is proud to be a nation without an army. For the visiting birdwatcher it presents the obvious advantage of compactness combined with excellent hotels and lodges, delicious food, stunning scenery, friendly people and fantastic birding. Our tour concentrates on the best birding areas, from the oak-laden forests of the Talamanca Highlands with its many endemics and Resplendent Quetzals, to the rich transitional forest at Carara in the Pacific lowlands, to the stunning cloud-forest at Monteverde, and finally to the Caribbean lowlands, where we’ll stay at a new, comfortable resort near La Selva Biological Station and Braulio Carrillo National Park. Gary Rosenberg has run around 45 birdwatching tours to Costa Rica and is confident that this new, revised itinerary offers a superb birdwatching trip and expects that we’ll see more than 450 species. Day 1: The tour starts in London with a flight to San José. Night in San José. Day 2: The Central Plateau is bounded to the east by the Cordillera de Talamanca, much of which is protected as either national park or biological preserve. One national park, Tapantí, is only a short distance from San José, and we’ll spend much of the day exploring its lush cloud forest. Here we’ll have our first chance at many montane forest species such as Black Guan, White-bellied Mountain-gem, Collared Trogon, Prong-billed and Red-headed Barbets, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Torrent Tyrannulet and Spangle-cheeked and Bay-headed Tanagers. In recent years several species rare in Central America have been found at Tapantí, including Green-fronted Lancebill, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and Wrenthrush, all of which we’ll look for. Night at Savegre Lodge on Cerro de la Muerte. Day 3: Our hotel is situated in a lovely valley in the Cordillera de Talamanca, and we’ll have easy access to most of the montane species endemic to the “Chiriqui” highlands of southern Central America. We’ll birdwatch along dirt roads that traverse middle-elevation montane forest, where we’ll encounter many new species including Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher, Sooty and Mountain Robins, Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager and Yellow-thighed and Large-footed Finches. Within walking distance from our hotel we’ll have our first chance to see the magnificent Resplendent Quetzal while at hummingbird feeders at our hotel we can expect White-throated Mountain-gem, Green Violet-ear and Volcano and Scintillant Hummingbirds. In the afternoon we’ll continue further up the cordillera where, above treeline, we’ll look for high elevation specialists such as Timberline Wren, Peg-billed Finch and Volcano Junco. Night on Cerro de la Muerte. Day 4: After a final look for any specialities we may have missed, we’ll drop out of the highlands, back through San José, and down to the Pacific lowland near Carara National Park. In the afternoon we’ll visit the mouth of the Tarcoles River where, depending on the tide, we are likely to see good numbers of waders and waterbirds. In the mangroves nearby we’ll look for Mangrove Black-Hawk, American Pygmy Kingfisher and “Mangrove” Yellow Warbler and, as the sun sets, we’ll watch Scarlet Macaws flying to their night roosts. Night near Carara. Days 5-6: Carara National Park is a relatively undisturbed tract of primary rainforest that appears to be the northwestern limit for many Pacific lowland forest species. The extraordinary richness of this transition between dry and wet tropical forests is exemplified by the very large number of bird groups: five trogons, seven woodcreepers, five manakins and five large Thryothorus wrens, most of which are fairly easy to see. Along the forest trails we’ll look for these species as well as Golden-naped Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Great Tinamou, Black-hooded Antshrike, Black-faced Antthrush, Streak-chested Antpitta, Spot-crowned Euphonia, Golden-crowned Spadebill, and Long-billed Gnatwren. In the past, we’ve seen as many as 100 species in the park before lunch! On one afternoon, we’ll take a short boat trip to the mouth of the Tarcoles River for close-up views of huge numbers of Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds, along with the opportunity for a few “mangrove” specialities, such as Mangrove Hummingbird and Rufous-necked Wood-Rail. At least one evening we’ll go out looking for Pacific Screech-Owl and Striped Owl. Nights at the Hotel Villa Lapas near Carara. Day 7: After a final morning at Carara National Park we’ll drive to Monteverde. Along the way we’ll pass through open pastureland and patches of tropical dry forest where we should see many new species such as Cinnamon Hummingbird, Plain-capped Starthroat, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Rufous-naped and Banded Wrens, White-lored and Tropical Gnatcatchers, Olive Sparrow, and possibly the elusive Lesser Ground-Cuckoo. In the late afternoon, after checking into our very comfortable hotel, we’ll visit the Hummingbird Gallery at the entrance to the cloud-forest reserve where we are likely to see as many as eight species of hummingbird including numerous Violet Sabrewings and the Costa Rican endemic, Coppery-headed Emerald. Night in Monteverde.
Day 8: We’ll spend most of today in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a 7400-acre tract of middle-elevation forest traversed by the Continental Divide and one of the best-known birding localities in Central America. In spring the reserve is famous for its nesting Resplendent Quetzals and Three-wattled Bellbirds (whose piercing call can be heard a mile away). We’ll search for these, of course, as well as for many other species found here including Orange-bellied Trogon, Prong-billed Barbet, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Streak-breasted Treehunter, both Tawny-throated and Gray-throated Leaftossers, Azure-hooded Jay, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, Three-striped Warbler, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, and Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch. If we’re lucky we may encounter one of the area’s difficult-to-see species such as Black-breasted Wood-Quail or Buff-fronted Quail-Dove. In the late afternoon we’ll revisit the Hummingbird Gallery. Night in Monteverde. Day 9: We’ll begin our final morning at Monteverde by visiting deciduous forest along one of the area’s private reserves, the Ecological Farm. The bird species found in this type of forest are quite different from those found only a few kilometres away in the wetter preserve, and we’ll have a chance of seeing Long-tailed Manakin, Golden-crowned Warbler, White-eared Ground-Sparrow, and possibly a Chiriqui Quail-Dove. Before lunch we’ll depart for the Caribbean lowlands. Along the way we’ll pass by Volcán Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in Central America and if it is not enshrouded in clouds we may even see it erupt! In the forest nearby we have seen lowland species such as Slaty-tailed Trogon, White-fronted Nunbird, Scaly-throated Leaftosser and Spotted Antbird. We’ll have most of the afternoon to explore the foothill habitats around the volcano. If it is clear, the view of the volcano at night is breathtaking. Night near Arenal Volcano. Days 10-12: We’ll spend the morning birding a very lovely area called the Arenal Hanging Bridges. The trail here takes us through an excellent patch of foothill forest, where we hope to find certain specialities. After lunch near the Arenal Volcano we'll continue further onto the Caribbean slope for three full days to explore the many great birding areas on the Caribbean slope. One full day we’ll visit Finca La Selva, a biological station operated by the Organisation for Tropical Studies. This roughly 1400-acre reserve is adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park and is managed as a natural research laboratory. Some 400 species of birds have been recorded at La Selva, and although we won’t see that many in a one-day visit, we’ll certainly experience the avian richness of the region. La Selva is an excellent place to see Great and Slaty-breasted Tinamous, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Pied and White-necked Puffbirds, Chestnut-colored, Cinnamon, and Rufous-winged Woodpeckers, Great and Fasciated Antshrikes, Black- throated and Violaceous Trogons, Snowy Cotinga, White-ringed Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Wren, Plain-colored Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, among many others! A visit to La Selva will be a very memorable part of the trip. On one day we’ll visit the tract of foothill forest at La Virgen del Socorro, where we hope to see such species as Red-headed Barbet, White Hawk, Barred Hawk, Immaculate Antbird, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet and Sooty-faced Finch, and at a bridge over the Río Sarapiqui, perhaps American Dipper and Torrent Tyrannulet. We’ll visit the Mirador Restaurant overlooking El Angel Falls, where at hummingbird feeders we’ll see a number of new species, including Green Thorntail and, possibly, Brown Violetear. We’ll have lunch at the lush La Paz Waterfall Gardens, where a look at more hummingbird feeders may reveal the spectacular Black-bellied Hummingbird. Our lodge, situated on a river that supports Fasciated Tiger-Heron, is a new resort (complete with swimming pool) with excellent birdwatching within the grounds. Nights at Sueño Azul Resort. Day 13: We’ll depart early and drive the short distance to Braulio Carrillo National Park. This park, which protects one of the last untouched expanses of Caribbean foothill forest in Central America, is only a 25-minute drive from our hotel. We’ll have all day to explore two main trails within the park, where we hope to find such specialities as Lattice-tailed Trogon, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Dull-mantled Antbird, Streak-crowned Antvireo, White-ruffed Manakin, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush and Blue-and-gold, Black-and-yellow, Emerald, Olive, White-throated Shrike, and Tawny-crested Tanagers. With luck we may also see one of the truly rare species found within the park such as Sharpbill or Lanceolated Monklet. We’ll stop at a patch of roadside flowers where, in past years, we have successfully found both Snowcap and Black-crested Coquette before arriving back at our hotel in San José in time to search for Prevost’s Ground-Sparrow, and finish the tour with our farewell dinner. Night in San José. Day 14: After a morning of optional sightseeing or local birdwatching, we’ll catch an afternoon flight via Madrid to London where the tour concludes on Day 15. The ground arrangements for this tour are organized by our American associates WINGS.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
Last updated June 2008 |
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Bird List
Our first lodge has Resplendent Quetzals in the grounds. 
In the Carara National Park, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron can be found along the edge of the river. 
Birding on the Caribbean slope if full of delights, including this beautiful White Hawk,...
or Black-cheeked Woodpecker.
This Chestnut-coloured Woodpecker can be found close to the La Selva Biological Station. 
