|
Saturday 10 March to Sunday 25 March 2012 with Rich Hoyer as leader Trogon Lodge in the Talamanca Highlands where we start the tour Cost: £2970 plus about £960 with flights (2012) Please click here for explanation of price breakdown Note that cheaper air fares are available if departing London on Friday 9 March. Please contact the Sunbird office for further information. Maximum group size: 10 with 1 leader |
|
|
With an area of less than 20,000 square miles, Costa Rica is the third-smallest nation in Central America. But in proportion to the country’s size, its avifauna, comprising nearly 800 species, is among the richest in the world. For the visiting birder, this modern and politically stable country 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 forests of the Talamanca Highlands with its many endemics and Resplendent Quetzals, to the rich transitional forest at Carara in the Pacific lowlands, the stunning cloud forest at Monteverde, and the Caribbean lowlands, where we’ll stay at a comfortable new resort near La Selva Biological Station and Braulio Carrillo National Park. Day 1: The tour starts in London with a flight to San José, arriving in time for the introductory meeting and dinner. 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 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. Several species otherwise rare in Central America are seen regularly at Tapantí, including Green-fronted Lancebill, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, and Wrenthrush. In the afternoon we’ll continue to our hotel, where the garden drips with blooming fuchsias and begonias in a high mountain valley below Cerro de la Muerte. Night in San Gerardo de Dota. Day 3: Our hotel is in a lovely valley in the Cordillera de Talamanca, where we’ll have easy access to most of the montane species endemic to the area, also known as the Chiriqui Highlands which extends into westernmost Panama. We’ll birdwatch along dirt roads through mid-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. The gardens of our hotel may give us our first views of the magnificent Resplendent Quetzal, and there’s sure to be a fruiting aguacatillo tree within a very short drive. At the hotel’s hummingbird feeders we can expect White-throated Mountain-gem, Green Violetear, and Volcano and Scintillant Hummingbirds. In the afternoon we’ll continue up the cordillera, where above treeline we’ll look for such high-elevation specialties as Timberline Wren, Peg-billed Finch, and Volcano Junco. Night in San Gerardo de Dota. Day 4: After a final look for any specialties we may have missed, we’ll drop out of the highlands and bird mid-elevation hummingbird feeders where we’ve seen the scarce White-tailed Emerald and Snowy-bellied Hummingbird; Sulphur-throated Parakeets are often in the roadside alders nearby. A stop later in the morning outside San Isidro could result in sightings of the local Pale-breasted Spinetail, Pearl Kite, and Streaked Saltator, among others, after which we’ll continue down to the Pacific lowlands near Golfito and on to the southern tip of the Osa Peninsula. Night at Bosque de Rio Tigre. Day 5: The Osa Peninsula is in the heart of the South Central American Pacific Slope endemic bird area. Not only does it host all of the region’s endemics, such as the blue and red Baird’s Trogon, the well-named Fiery-billed Aracari, the lovely Turquoise Cotinga, Black-hooded Antshrike, and Spot-crowned Euphonia, it’s also home to the very localized Costa Rican endemic Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. Most of the birding is right at our lodge, where we stand a good chance of seeing all of those specialties. In the afternoon we may also drive a bit farther in search of other regional specialities, including the old-growth mangrove specialist Yellow-billed Cotinga and perhaps the endemic Mangrove Hummingbird, which requires the piñuela tree found only in this country’s Pacific coast mangrove forests. Night at Bosque de Rio Tigre. Day 6: The first stop on our way north today will be among fields with chances of Red-breasted Blackbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, and Yellow-bellied Seedeater. The roadside birding as we pass north though a mosaic of forest and agricultural land could result in sightings of Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Brown Capuchins, or even a Three-toed Sloth in roadside cecropia trees. Stops at bridges may result in eye-popping views of Red-legged Honeycreeper below eye-level - all deep purple with a shiny sky-blue crown, several species of kingfisher, and Mangrove Swallow, while wet ditches are a good bet for Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and Northern Jacana. We’ll arrive at our next hotel in the late afternoon, leaving us time to enjoy the grounds, and after dinner we’ll take a walk around the pools to look for frogs. Night near Carara. Day 7: The relatively undisturbed primary rainforest of Carara National Park appears to be the northwestern limit for many Pacific lowland forest species. The extraordinary richness of the transition between dry and wet tropical forests is exemplified by the area’s five trogons, seven woodcreepers, five manakins, and seven wrens, most of which are fairly easy to see. Along the forest trails we’ll also look for Golden-naped and Pale-billed Woodpeckers, Great Tinamou, Black-faced Antthrush, Streak-chested Antpitta, Golden-crowned Spadebill, and Long-billed Gnatwren. We’ve seen as many as 100 species in the park before lunch. In the evening we’ll go out owling, looking for Pacific Screech-Owl and Striped Owl. Night near Carara. Day 8: After a final morning at Carara National Park we’ll drive to the famous reserve at Monteverde. Along the way we’ll pass through pastureland and patches of tropical dry forest where we should see such new species 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 in to our very comfortable hotel, we’ll visit the Hummingbird Gallery at the entrance to the cloud forest reserve, where we’re likely to see up to eight species of hummingbirds including numerous Violet Sabrewings and the Costa Rican endemic Coppery-headed Emerald. Night in Monteverde. Day 9: We’ll spend most of today in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a 7,400-acre tract of mid-elevation forest traversed by the Continental Divide and one of the best-known birding localities in Central America. In spring the preserve is famous for its nesting Resplendent Quetzals and calling Three-wattled Bellbirds—audible a mile away. We’ll search for these, of course, and for many other species including Orange-bellied Trogon, Prong-billed Barbet, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Streak-breasted Treehunter, 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 specialties, such as Black-breasted Wood-Quail or Buff-fronted Quail-Dove. In the late afternoon we’ll visit the Hummingbird Gallery again. Night in Monteverde. Day 10: We’ll begin our final morning at Monteverde with a visit to the deciduous forest of the private Ecological Farm. The birds found in this type of forest are quite different from those found only a few miles 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. In recent years, this has been the best area for bellbirds when they are calling. Before lunch we’ll depart for the Caribbean lowlands, passing by Volcán Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in all of Central America. If it isn’t enshrouded in clouds, we may even see it erupt. In the forest near the volcano we’ve 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’s clear, the view of the volcano at night is breathtaking. Night near Arenal Volcano. Days 11-13: We’ll spend the morning of Day 11 birding the very lovely Arenal Hanging Bridges. The trail here takes us through an excellent patch of foothill forest, where we hope to find Dull-mantled and Spotted Antbirds, Olive and White-throated Shrike-Tanagers, Streak-crowned Antvireo, and Lattice-tailed Trogon. Even Great Curassow is still possible here. After lunch near Arenal Volcano, we’ll continue to the Caribbean slope for three full days. On one full day we’ll visit Finca La Selva, a biological station operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies. This roughly 1,400-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, Great and Fasciated Antshrikes, Black- throated and Gartered Trogons, Snowy Cotinga, White-ringed Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Wren, Plain-colored Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, and Chestnut-colored, Cinnamon, and Rufous-winged Woodpeckers, among many, many others. Our visit to La Selva will be an especially memorable part of the trip. On another day we’ll 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 where we hope to find such specialties 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 see one of the truly rare species found in the park, such as Sharpbill or Lanceolated Monklet. We’ll be sure to stop at a patch of roadside flowers where in past years we have found Snowcap and Black-crested Coquette.
Arenal Volcano at sunrise Day 14: There will be time to leisurely bird the often very birdy grounds of our lodge. Snowy Cotinga might be feeding in the fruiting cecropia trees near the reception, while a check of the gravel bars on the river might reveal a Sunbittern or a Fasciated Tiger-Heron. We’ll depart after lunch and arrive at our hotel in San José in time to search for Prevost’s Ground-Sparrow before we finish the tour with a farewell dinner. Night in San José. Day 15: There are no birdwatching activities today. We will transfer to the airport for a flight back to London, where the tour ends on Day 16.
The ground arrangements for this tour are organized by our American associates WINGS.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
|
Turquoise-browed Motmot
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, the worlds smallest passerine
All photos by Gary Rosenberg |
Map
