January 23-February 1, 2025 with Megan Edwards Crewe & Sam Wilson & local guide Vernon Campos
Costa Rica is a small country – smaller than most American states. But thanks to a wealth of habitats, elevations ranging from sea level to more than 11,000 feet, and a strong conservation ethos, it punches well above its weight in the biodiversity department. Its totals include nearly 950 species of birds, a number of which are found only in Costa Rica, or only in Costa Rica and the western edge of neighboring Panama (the so-called Chiriqui endemics). Our two-part "Edges" tour focuses on some of the species restricted to the border areas of the country; this part heads south, spending much of its time near the Panamanian border. And what fun we had exploring this less-visited part of the country!
We started our adventure with some late afternoon birding on the lovely grounds of the Hotel Bougainvillea, where the highlight was a pair of Mottled Owls snuggled together in a big stand of bamboo. Another outing before breakfast added a perched Blue-vented Hummingbird, multiple screeching flocks of Crimson-fronted Parakeets, and a confiding White-eared Ground-Sparrow scrabbling around under a hedge. Then we were off south, climbing up the twisty spine of the Talamanca Mountains along the famous Pan American Highway. Our first stop, in the tiny farming community of Esperanza, yielded several handsome pairs of Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers, a couple of tree-climbing Spot-crowned Woodcreepers, a tiny Ochraceous Wren, two Yellow-thighed Brushfinches displaying their namesake puffy yellow thighs, a surprise Ochraceous Pewee, and (after some huffing and puffing on our part) the stars of the show – a pair of Resplendent Quetzals, which glittered like jewels among the greenery. Satisfied, we headed to Paraiso Quetzal for lunch and some time at their hummingbird feeders. While fog swirled below us (rendering much of the landscape invisible), we enjoyed a veritable blizzard of hummingbirds: a constant buzzy mix of Fiery-throated, Talamanca, and Volcano hummingbirds, White-throated Mountain-gems and Lesser Violetears, plus several Slaty Flowerpiercers and an arm’s length Mountain Thrush. Unfortunately, the chilly fog rendered our stop at Cerro de la Muerte a complete washout, with nary a sniff of any of the high-elevation species we’d hoped for. As we wound our way back down to the middle elevations, we stopped in San Isidro de El General to search for another specialty bird: the spectacular Turquoise Cotinga. Vernon's careful scanning turned up a somewhat distant male that we all enjoyed in the scopes, and a constant parade of more widespread species kept us entertained while we waited our turns.
Our home for the next two nights was the lovely Talamanca Reserve, a collection of cabins scattered through a private nature reserve in the middle-elevation foothills. Our primary reason for staying in this part of Costa Rica is to make a pilgrimage to Los Cusingos, long the home to legendary tropical ornithologist Alexander Skutch, who co-wrote the first field guide to Costa Rica, as well as scores of papers about the natural history of bird various species. His former farm is now a reserve, and we spent a morning poking through his modest cabin (now a museum) and exploring some of the trails there. Just outside the house, a Scaly-breasted Hummingbird returned again and again to the same rolled-up leaf while a Southern House Wren chortled from a corner of the roof. Along the trail, a couple of Chestnut-backed Antbirds shouted challenges as they flicked across the leafy forest floor. A Northern Plain-Xenops clung upside down to twigs and leaf clusters as it searched for food while a skulking Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner crept through the vegetation below. We spotted a Rufous Piha calling from several high perches and tracked several Riverside Wrens as they skulked through the undergrowth. A Long-billed Gnatwren crawled through a vine tangle, its bill like a toothpick. A trio of jet-black Velvety Manakins, with their sky-blue caps, outshone a drabber female Red-capped Manakin.
We soon discovered that the grounds of our lodge were a wonderful place to bird as well. While we waited for breakfast each morning, a Northern Emerald-Toucanet and tanagers of every hue swarmed over bananas laid out for them, while Tennessee Warblers and Brown Violetears flitted among the flowery vines, and side-by-side Lesson's Motmots swung their pendulum tails from a branch over the wall. Red-faced Spinetails crept along mossy branches, and Spot-crowned and Thick-billed euphonias allowed easy comparisons as they munched on fruit together. One afternoon, we got a lift up to the lodge's upper gardens and found new species waiting for us. An aptly named Snowy-bellied Hummingbird returned again and again to the same perch, while a male White-crested Coquette patiently worked his way through virtually every little flower in a sizable vervain hedge. Swallow-tailed Kites banked gracefully overhead and a pair of Elegant Euphonias rested among the twigs at the top of a leafless tree. Two Rufous-breasted Wrens twitched through a big bamboo stand, and Sam and Suzi, who tackled the steep climb back up the hill the next morning, were rewarded with a pair of Blue Seedeaters – a nomadic species that isn't really reliable anywhere – nibbling bamboo seeds in that same stand. The surrounding road system also proved productive, with a trio of Gray-headed Tanagers, a fluting Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush and a snoozing Mexican Hairy Porcupine among our finds there.
From the foothills, we moved down to the steamy Pacific lowlands, staying three nights at the remote Esquinas Rainforest Lodge. En route, we detoured on a successful hunt for Fork-tailed Flycatchers, finding two posed on fence wires right beside the road. Unfortunately, our search for Rosy Thrush-Tanager was less successful; though we tramped around a likely forest patch for nearly an hour, we left with nary a sighting. After a restaurant lunch that took FAR too long (but hey, we got to watch the first half of the Eagles-Commanders game), we continued our journey southwest, spotting a couple of Short-tailed Hawks and a cadre of Yellow-throated Toucans on our way.
We birded along the lodge's entrance road on our first morning there. Before breakfast, we wandered as far as the security checkpoint, getting to grips with some of the locals. A trio of habituated Great Curassows rummaged in the lodge's main clearing and we had our first encounters with the diminutive Charming Hummingbird and a foraging Band-tailed Barbthroat. Black-striped Sparrows bounced along the roadside and a pair of wild-eyed Bright-rumped Attilas chortled from the canopy. A half dozen trogons – four Baird's and two Slaty-tailed – called and chased each other around. After a hearty breakfast, we ventured further along the same road, finding a host of new species in our half mile walk to the date palm plantation. Top of the list was a gratifyingly showy Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, a Costa Rican endemic found only on the Osa Peninsula and the nearby eastern shore of Golfo Dulce. A fruiting fig tree along the roadside attracted a busy gang of visitors, including White-throated Thrush, Rufous-winged Woodpecker, Red-capped Manakin, and Cocoa Woodcreeper. A bit further on, an inquisitve mob – including Tropical Royal Flycatcher, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, White-shouldered Tanager, Crowned Woodnymph, and Shining Honeycreeper – investigated Vernon's effective scold tape. Fruiting mistletoe near the palm plantation brought in Rusty-margined Flycatcher and Yellow Tyrannulet, and Gray-capped and Piratic flycatchers flitted among the palm fronds. Among the raptors we spotted were our first King Vulture, a circling Gray-headed Kite, several Swallow-tailed Kites, and a White Hawk.
A late afternoon stroll along a dusty dirt track through rice fields near Ciudad Neily netted us a number of new species. Chief among these were a pair of hummingbirds: the Veraguan Mango and the Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, two species which just barely edge into southern Costa Rica. It took a bit of patience, but we eventually had good looks at both – the mango high in a tree over the road, the Sapphire-throated lower along a nearby field edge. But they weren't the only things we found. Two Plain-breasted Ground Doves rummaged for seeds (or maybe grit) in a dusty open patch. A couple of male Red-breasted Meadowlarks flashed their eponymous scarlet chests in a scruffy overgrown field. A Savanna Hawk dropped into a shrubby treetop. And a surprise Willow Flycatcher – a rare overwintering species in this part of the country – flicked through bushes on the roadside. Plus, another Fork-tailed Flycatcher settled in the same tree as our Vereguan Mango, a double handful of Southern Lapwings patrolled nearby fields, a half-dozen Smooth-billed Anis swarmed along a fence line and scores of Western Cattle-Egrets mingled with a scattered cow herd. As we made our way back to the lodge, some of us spotted a Short-tailed Nighthawk when it crossed the road, its distinctive short-tailed silhouette black against the colorful sky. Closer to the lodge, we flushed a Common Pauraque off the road several times, giving us repeated chances to see its flashy white wing and tail markings.
The next morning, after a VERY early departure, some of the group spent a few hours at the Rincon Bridge, near where the Rio Rincon empties into the Golpho Dulce on the Osa Peninsula. This is a justly famous spot in Costa Rican birding circles and is perhaps the best location in the country for seeing the scarce and declining Yellow-billed Cotinga. It was a lovely early morning there, with flyovers from a number of different parrot species, including seven impressively large – and impressively hued – Scarlet Macaws. We saw several new raptors, including a Doubled-toothed Kite and a Common Black Hawk surveying the riparian area. And the Yellow-billed Cotingas did not disappoint, with both exciting flyovers and satisfying scope views of feeding birds. Vernon found another perched Turquoise Cotinga as well, a bit closer than the one we'd had in San Isidro. We finished the morning at Playa Colibri: appropriately named, as we saw our second target for the morning there – a cooperative Mangrove Hummingbird, which is another Costa Rican endemic. Those who stayed behind at Esquinas (and got a little more sleep) spent the morning birding the grounds and venturing down the entrance road again. Top sightings included a Double-toothed Kite at its sizable stick nest and a soaring White Hawk. A nest-building pair of Riverside Wrens entertained us along the little stream near the dining room, a Yellow-olive Flatbill showed nicely as it foraged in low branches over the road, and a twitchy Olivaceous Piculet did the same further along. An afternoon outing on the lodge grounds yielded a surprisingly tame Great Tinamou, a very showy Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher sallying from a pile of downed branches along a little stream and a female Orange-collared Manakin, distinguished by her bright orange legs and feet. A vocal pair of White-throated Crakes were more frustrating – heard by all (repeatedly!!) but seen only by one, and then only fleetingly. And a Ruddy Quail-Dove was equally elusive: seen well by a few, briefly in flight by a few more and not at all by most of us!
We gathered early the next morning for our final pre-breakfast outing at Esquinas. Just beyond the pool, a handsome pair of Black-striped Woodcreepers hitched their way up tree trunks and a trio of Riverside Wrens twitched through the undergrowth. Further along the entrance road, a pair of Buff-rumped Warblers scurried around on a patch of open ground, their bright rumps flashing in the morning gloom. As we headed back for breakfast, we found a singing Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet (typically a canopy species) uncharacteristically low along the entrance road, which gave us the chance to really study it. Once we'd eaten, we loaded up the bus and headed for our next hotel – with a number of stops along the way, of course! Along a quiet back road near Esquinas, we found a pair of White-browed Gnatcatchers carrying nesting material and several Scarlet-rumped Tanagers doing the same. An Eye-ringed Flatbill hunted from mid-story branches while Lesser Greenlets flitted nearby. After MUCH searching, we finally located a Graceful Black-throated Trogon that called (and called and called) from a perch right near the road. We moved on to Coto 47, where the marshy fields had attracted thousands of waterbirds. The vast majority – some 2000 or so – were Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, with at least 500 Blue-winged Teal, dozens of herons and egrets, and 40 or so Glossy Ibis sprinkled through the ever-shifting mass. Along the near edge of the group, two Roseate Spoonbills, a handful of Northern Jacanas, and a couple American Coots (rare here) searched for tidbits. We retreated to Ciudad Niely for lunch, then drove on to the Wilson Botanical Garden, with a brief stop along the way for a Least Grebe floating in a roadside pond. Once we'd checked in, we met on the deck outside the lodge's dining room (with some contraband bananas in hand) and spent an enjoyable hour and a half watching a parade of hungry species, including our first Streaked Saltator.
We woke the next morning to thick fog. Our day started on the dining room deck again, with Gray-headed Chachalacas, Crested Oropendolas and a mix of tanagers munching on bananas, and euphonias checking out the mistletoe clumps in nearby trees. The fog gradually cleared as the sun rose, revealing a passing handful of Vaux's Swifts and chattering flocks of Crimson-fronted Parakeets flying over. Once we'd finished breakfast, we headed out for the morning. First, we prowled a couple of scruffy dirt roads near San Vito, where we found several cooperative Costa Rican Brushfinches in the densely tangled bushes, a White-crowned Parrot munching bright orange flower petals in a treetop, a couple of Olivaceous Piculets, and a snoozing Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth, which looked like a bit of old carpet tossed up into the tree. We moved higher for our next stop, where a cooperative little Bran-colored Flycatcher (a pre-tour scouting prize provided by Sam) took top billing. After a longer drive into the foggy highlands, we piled out to find Common Chlorospingus and a confiding Black-chested Jay. We returned to our lodge for lunch and a break, then made our way to the Finca Aviva Organica, where a snoozing pair of Tropical Screech-Owls, the tour's only Garden Emerald, and a FINALLY-seen-rather-than-just-heard Mourning Warbler were among our finds. A late afternoon visit to San Vito's airstrip yielded our first Yellow-bellied Seedeaters, a drab female Ruddy-breasted Seedeater, and our best looks at Bronzed Cowbird.
We started again on the deck on our last day, again watching a steady stream of visitors -- a fine way to end to our stay. A quartet of aptly-named Fiery-billed Aracaris were the undisputed stars of the morning, giving us the chance for great views (and photographs!) as they nibbled bananas. A Streak-headed Woodcreeper dispatched a tiny anole, and spent long minutes sitting stockstill on a nearby trunk with the lizard's tail still protuding from its beak. A bold White-nosed Coati kept a wary eye on us as it hauled successive bananas off into a tree beside the deck. Two Golden-olive Woodpeckers chased each other noisily around the clearing. And the sudden appearance of a very unexpected young male Three-wattled Bellbird capped a nice outing. After breakfast, we loaded up and headed back to the San Vito airstrip, where we found male Yellow-bellied and Rudy-breasted seedeaters perched side by side on the fence along the road. Sam had been doing some investigative digging on eBird and had found a hotspot where Slate-colored Seedeaters (another rare species associated with flowering bamboo) were regularly being seen, so we made a stop at that roadside patch of bamboo. It took nearly an hour of patient work, but we eventually all got looks at one or more of the three singing males and their shadowy females. A pointblank Black-hooded Antshrike and a couple of Rufous-breasted Wrens kept us entertained while we searched. With our fifth seedeater species in the bag, we headed for lunch at the Mirador Valle del General, enjoying some 30 species, including a pair of Elegant Euphonias, multiple Violet Sabrewings and the tour's only Green-crowned Brilliants, while we waited for our food to be served. Then it was a long, slow slog back through multiple construction zones to San Jose and the Hotel Bougainvillea, where some new participants for Part 2 joined us for our final checklist and farewell dinner.
Thanks so much for coming along for the adventure! We sure had some fun searching out the special birds of southern Costa Rica. Thanks too for your patience in waiting for this very late triplist. I apologize for the delay!
OTHER CRITTERS OF INTEREST:
Mammals:
LESSER SAC-WINGED BAT (Saccopteryx leptura) A group of these little bats hung on the walls behind the bar fridge at the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, treating the alcove like a cave.
COMMON TENT-MAKING BAT (Uroderma bilobatum) Vernon found us dozen or so females dangling from a carefully chewed palm frond, most with young clinging tightly to their bellies.
HOFFMANN'S TWO-TOED SLOTH (Choloepus hoffmanni) We found one, looking rather like a tatty bit of old carpet tossed up into the treetops, along the Calle Pinos, near San Vito.
VARIEGATED SQUIRREL (Sciurus variegatoides) Common throughout, seen on all but a couple of days. As their name suggests, they come in a variety of color morphs.
RED-TAILED SQUIRREL (Sciurus granatensis) Smaller and more uniformly colored than the previous species, and generally present in smaller numbers.
MEXICAN HAIRY PORCUPINE (Coendou mexicanus) Vernon spotted one snoozing in a treetop along a back road near Talamanca Nature Reserve, and we all got scope looks at the prickly little ball.
CENTRAL AMERICAN AGOUTI (Dasyprocta punctata) Regular throughout (except in San Jose), often nosing around under the feeders at various lodges.
WHITE-NOSED COATI (Nasua narica) Particularly good looks at the lone male making off with bananas at the Wilson Botanical Gardens, with a fast-moving gaggle of females and youngsters scampering across the driveway at the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.
Reptiles and Amphibians:
GREEN IGUANA (Iguana iguana) We spotted a big male sprawled on an open tree branch near the rice fields outside Ciudad Neily.
COMMON BASILISK (Basiliscus basiliscus) Quite common around the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge -- some big, crested males and some much smaller youngsters and females.
TROPICAL HOUSE GECKO (Hemidactylus mabouia) Small numbers at the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, typically hunting around the lights in the main building in the evenings.
FER-DE-LANCE (Bothrops asper) A small one on the tiled floor of the main building led to much consternation among the staff, particularly when it vanished down a tiny hole near one of the posts. We never saw it again.
SPECTACLED CAIMAN (Caiman crocodilus) One snoozed along the edge of a small pond near the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, almost always in the same place -- except for the time it was right beside the road.
ROSENBERG'S TREE FROG (Hypsiboas rosenbergi) One of these sizable tree frogs hung on a Heliconia leaf just outside of the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge's dining room.
CANE TOAD (Rhinella marina) Seen from the Rincon bridge by those who made the early morning pilgrimage to that fabled site.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/330478
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cr125TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Megan