Costa Rican Birding

Our summer series this year takes us to beautiful Costa Rica. It starts with a thought.  Then a rough draft follows with many hours of research to back up our proposed plan.  Areas are targeted for specific birds.  Transportation needs connect the dots and maximize our bird surveys so that we don't lose any valuable time.  Lodging is equally important as it needs to be centrally located to nearby birdy hotspots.  No guide is needed if you sketch it all out and research. And Costa Rica is one of the easiest countries to explore!

Yellow-green Vireo

In the very begininng, we had to choose a route that made sense.  Obviously, we couldn't cover the entire country in two weeks but we could maximize our birding efforts in many spots along a tightly planned cirquit.  Over the next several weeks, we'll go from the underbirded Liberia to the often birded areas of Playa Tamarindo, Arenal, Caño Negro, Monteverde, the Talamanca Highlands, Rancho Naturalista and the general San Jose area.  

Gordon carefully searches along the river for the Amazon Kingfisher

We began our trek in Liberia.  There are 2 airports in Costa Rica.  The cheapest option for us was Liberia.  Having never been there, I thought it would be fun to add data to the area since it was underbirded.  I gave Micheal the "lodging" task.  His mission?  Seek out places located in wide and varied habitat.  He'd present me 3 or 4 options for each place and then I'd contact Gordon to confirm if the price was right.   

Rufous-naped Wren

Coming from the desert right now, which is 110+ degrees, I needed something cooler.  While Liberia is NOT hot, it is very HUMID.  Situated near the Pacific Ocean and during rainy season made birding a challenge.  BUT.  There were birds:)

We explore the secret confines of a plantain grove.  The mosquitoes explore my legs. 

Our home for 3 nights would take place a little ways outside of Liberia.  There we'd have a wide variety of habitat to explore including farmland for Southern Lapwings, sugar cane fields for grassquits, seedeaters, rails and a certain Crested Bobwhite.  Little ponds around our place gave us a lot of observation of ducks, jacanas and kingfishers.  And only several feet away, we had a river flow nearby for caiman and other birds.  The property also contained pieces of untouched rain forest that is home to the forest birds.  

Micheal found a place on Airbnb that fit all of our criteria at Casita Del Lago.  Like it means in Spanish, this little home was situated near a pond. It had a kitchen and nice bedroom.  Unfortunately, for our friend Gordon, the pull out was not big enough and I worried about his sleep.  He doesn't sleep much anyway but when he did, I worried he wouldn't be able to recharge his batteries properly. We made it through the experience and the property was truly amazing.  Our hosts, Carmen and Steve were wonderful people and super helpful!  I really liked both of them.  Carmen took us to the supermarket where we bought all of our goodies.  And it was the only time on the trip that we had control of making our own food.  

Crested Bobwhite

We chose Liberia first because it would allow us to settle a little before the bigger treks.  It was also the roughest in terms of weather and bugs.  I have spoken with bird guides about how they set up their clients and we agree that the first part of the trek should be the roughest and by the end, it should be pure comfort:)  And that is how we did it. 

While bridges are not Gordon's thing, we often had to cross them during our treks

Because we were dealing with the humid conditions along farmland roads, the bugs were terrible. So was the mud.  BUT, we wouldn't have added a few specialty birds like Southern Lapwing and Crested Bobwhite to our lists.  It's funny how a Wood Stork will still make me go crazy.  I ran with Gordon through the swampy grasses and felt a...bite.  OH %$^#!  It felt like I had sprained my ankle but I have had this happen once before to know it was a bite.  My right foot had become quite swollen and looked terrible!  Micheal told me to elevate my foot at night and compress it during the day with tight socks and shoes.  So I did and it went away.  There is a bug that lives in that area that likes to lay eggs in human flesh.  We were in the right habitat when it happened so I worried that I'd be raising some unwanted aliens in my body.  

Southern Lapwing

If you've never done tropical birding before, and you are a photographer, you will probably find this one of the most challenging places to do your work.  Most people have told me it's nearly impossible to get good photos of these birds.  But I'll show you that it isn't impossible to capture these beautiful birds at all.  After several runs to Central and South America, I've learned a thing or two about lighting....and um....bumping up my ISO:)  No flash is used.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Each day in Liberia, we'd head out and add new(and old) birds to the property list.  

Orange-fronted Parakeets

After our massive sweat session, we'd come home and freshen up for some good reads.....or for a chance to wind down. 

I found this book in the casita and discovered that there must be some science fiction fans out there. This superhero apparently possesses the power of lightning like my favorite superhero of all time, Storm!  Magical!  As for the revelation?  Well, I didn't have time to read the book.  However, I did find time to read my 2 pound novel, A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica.  I'm still digesting all the info!  Powerful stuff!

Stripe-headed Sparrow

I quickly fell in love with the simplicity of Costa Rican cuisine.  It's not Mexican.  Nothing can ever be Mexican.  Mexican food is uniquely Mexican.  It's delicious and amazing.  Guatemala is a close 2nd to Mexican food.  But hey!  If you like rice, beans, plantains and chicken (and I do), you're going to love Costa Rican food. And you can add as much tabasco sauce or my fav, Lizano Sauce as you want.  Try their Casona(Cah-so-nah) for lunch or dinner. But whatever you do, always start your day with Gallo Pinto(Guy-oh Peen-toe).  And let's not forget Costa Rican coffee....

This is the adult(above) and juvenile(below) Bare-throated Tiger-Heron 

As a Spanish teacher and world traveler, I highly recommend Costa Rica to ANY birder thinking of leaving their country's comfort zones.  There are a lot of birds in this country.  There's also a lot of beautiful scenery. It's geared towards birders.  And for the most part, it's super safe.  However, common sense is always required anywhere you go.  

Rufous-browed Motmot

Costa Rica, to my surprise, accepts the US dollar EVERYWHERE you go!  A Costa Rican colon can be confusing at first. I think 1000 colones is like 2 dollars.  And the coins are the heaviest thing you've ever put in your pockets.  So during our trek, my mission was to get rid of the coins as quickly as I could.  My shorts almost fell off a couple times because of their heavy weight!  Thankfully, I had a belt. 

Streak-backed Oriole in nest

Generally speaking, the Costa Rican people are wonderful.  I forget the slower pace of life that happens outside of the US.  I forget that people have manners.  Where have ours gone?  I remember a time when people were polite to one another.  Oh sure, the cell phone issue is the same.  Everyone is addicted to them but overall, the people allowed for conversation to happen.  At dinner, it wasn't the waiter giving us our bill after we gulped down our food; it was me signalling to the waiter that it was time for us to leave.  I like that sense of, "Take your time. Enjoy. Digest." thinking.  However some days were exhausting and I almost fell asleep at dinner.  I'm pretty sure that is not appropriate:)

Roadside Hawk

I look forward to sharing with you all the places we visited.  Sometimes I'll expand on stories I heard from others in a creative manner while for my other writes, I'll give you the play by play.  But at the end of each of these posts, I'll put up our ebird checklists for the locations we visited so that if you do decide to explore Costa Rica, you have an idea about the birds you'll find in each of the areas. 

White-lored Gnatcatcher above and below. 

Each day I added lifebirds.  By the end of my trip, I added over 80 new birds bringing up my total life list to 842.  I began with 760. This blog is about finding 10000 lifebirds.  I hope to hit a thousand by next year. So yes, the trips have already been planned and I'm looking forward to the journalism that will follow these very special treks.  They will be quite unique, from a birder's point of view.  And I can't wait to see how the experiences will all play out surrounding the lifebird journey. 

Tropical Mockingbird

So for now, we'll look up into the canopy of the dark forest...... 

Malachite Butterfly

We'll listen for certain calls......

And let our eyes adjust to the green.  Because when we do, we'll find that there are creatures looking back at us:)

Iguana

Liberia was a blast.  So what are these two birds waiting for at the bus station?  Stay tuned for my next report.  Our ebird reports are below.  Until next time!

For the Casita Del Lago report, click here. 

For the Hilton/Airport report, click here. 

GIANT Expectations

White-nose Coati at Zoomat

After a long stressful week of intense birding, we ended it all with the Wonder Team, Matt Hale and Francesca Albini.  They worked so well together that I had thought they were married! Their amazing teamwork made the last day very special.  

Matt sets up the scope to begin the search for buntings

Out of the 10 participants scheduled, 4 of us remained.  It was by far the easiest and best day for birding and photography.  I had been looking forward to this day since we arrived.  Why?  Well, I have never birded the Pacific Lowlands before.  And even though there were birds I had already observed, I wanted to see them again!  It was a magical day out for our group.  The heat was oppressive but the birding and crew were some of the finest!

We spot our first White-nosed Coati in the wild.  There are several in the background. 

We headed into the protected Sepultura Reserve which is southwest of Tuxtla Gutierrez.  And then, the show began. White-nosed Coati walked out on the limbs of trees.

White-throated Magpie Jay

At sunrise, we stopped at a great overlook area with a beautiful view of protected rain forest that went as far as the eyes could see.  A gentle breeze blew through the canyon. I also saw dinosaurs, but I'm keeping their gps location secret.  However, I will report some very special bird sightings.....:)

La Sepultura at dawn

Even in the darkness, I could make out something blue and pink flitting around the leafy canopy. Francesca silently moved towards the bird and pointed.  Matt directed the scope towards her aim.  And then.....

The majestic male Rose-bellied Bunting(formerly named Rosita's bunting) made an appearance!  People just dropped their jaws and uttered things like "WHOA!", "That is one beautiful bird.", "#%^!", or "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like..." Just kidding on that last part. It was a real make out session with this bunting. 

Rose-bellied Bunting(formerly called the Rosita's Bunting)

I wished this moment would last forever.  Gorgeous weather.  Beautiful views.  Fascinating wildlife. And wonderful people. Yeah, I'd like to write, "Perfect moment."  There.  I just did it:)

But it wasn't just enough to find one group of gorgeous buntings.  We had to find ANOTHER!  Both were in the same area.  As a birder, I can tell you that I've never had a "Bunting Day" like this one.  We went down the slope further and there, from within the forest, a gorgeous Orange-breasted Bunting appeared. 

Orange-breasted Bunting

As a child growing up, these bunting's colors were my personal favorites.  And if I had to choose between the two, I think I like the color scheme better on this one.  But it's a hard call.  Both were very beautiful birds. 

Great Egret

I knew water was near when the group had an unexpected flyover by a Great Egret. It just came out of nowhere.  But it was hanging out somewhere, I imagine, near a hidden stream. 

Bare-throated tiger heron

As we moved further down into the lowlands, I could feel the steamy oppressive heat that made many locals shed their clothes.  My skin had a beautiful shine to it from all the sweat.  I engaged my "water pack". As an Arizonan, I am familiar with this nasty type of heat.  Me and the Gordon filled up our packs with ice in the morning and were refreshed the entire trip.  I'm glad we brought our camel packs with us on this trek.  It felt good observing awesome birds without feeling heat exhaustion. Ice and a water pack. They are the answer to all of your hot travel woes my friends. 

We stopped at a local pond and had the most amazing show of birds and reptiles. 

Ruddy-breasted Seedeater

There were so many awesome birds in one spot that it made it difficult to focus. It was a bird bonanza and we stayed here for a long time soaking up all the incredible that was this pond.  Rose-throated Becards, Ruddy-breasted seedeaters, Groove-billed Ani's, Crested Caracaras, and Northern Jaçanas.  Finally, I got my answer to how one pronounces this last bird's name.  I always pronounced the word in Spanish as Ha-Ka-Na.  But Mr. Matt said it was a Portuguese word and that would mean it was pronounced Ja-Sa-Nah. 

Of course, life would not be complete without a gnatcatcher sighting.  They are another favorite of mine. 

White-lored Gnatcatcher

No such thing as Mallards down there.  I put one into ebird just for fun to see if the bird was rare.  And indeed it was!  So who was the duck-of-the-day?  Well, the Black-bellied whistling duck took their place:) Not a bad duck to see over and over again:)

Black-bellied whistling ducks with Bare-throated tiger heron

We had a couple of friendly local people warn us not to get into the water because there was a family of caiman swimming around the pond.  I would never enter any water near mangrove areas because I learned the hard way in Panama, thanks to Tito, a Saltwater Croc, who decided to interrupt my birding session on the beach.  That's when I learned that there were bigger reptiles out there who wouldn't mind the taste of "gringo". 

Gordon could've taken this caiman on:) 

In time, I knew I would eventually see the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.  They barely make it into Southern Arizona and the ones that do are kept secret.  This owl is considered rare in our state and is protected by law.  I know a couple sites but they are located in several sketchy areas that are several hours away from Tucson.  For now, our sightings of this bird in Chiapas will suffice. 

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Finally today, I'd like to introduce the bird that brought us here on this trek, the Giant Wren.  It is a large and spectacular wren that is endemic(there's that word again) to this region. 

Giant Wrens

Eventually it was time to turn around and go back home.  I didn't want to return.  I wanted to stay in Puerto Arista and see the estuary that had Roseate Spoonbills, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Tricolored Herons, Wood Storks, etc flying over the waterways.  It. Was. Incredible. 

Wood Stork

While not the greatest collage I've put together, here's a Magnificent Frigatebird going after a Great Egret for dinner.  The bird is trying to get the Egret to spit out or vomit whatever it has in its' gullet. They are known as the pirates of the sea. Sorry about writing the word "vomit".  It sounds vile, but the Magnificent Frigatebird loves it:)

Unfortunately, this day had to come to a close, but there were still many adventures ahead for us that we would take on our own.  As the group tours ended, we took to the trails ourselves and came up with some great birds on our last two days.  Stay tuned for more.