I positively identified 195 species in two weeks, 114 underlined were lifetime firsts. More than 90% were photographed & checked carefully with the Field Guide and/or by asking local experts. A few were seen and identified by guides but not photographed. Many more birds were seen but not identified so go unlisted..
| Great Curassow Gray-headed Chachalaca Crested Guan Black Guan Black-bellied Whistling Duck Muscovy Duck Neotropic Cormorant Anhinga Brown Pelican Magnificent Frigatebird Franklins Gull Royal Tern Rufescent Tiger Heron Bare-throated Tiger Heron Green Heron Tricolored Heron Little Blue Heron Great Egret Cattle Egret Great Blue Heron Snowy Egret Black-crowned Night Heron Yellow-crowned Night Heron Boat-billed Heron White Ibis Green Ibis Roseate Spoonbill Limpkin Jabiru Wood Stork Double-striped Thicknee Southern Lapwing Black-bellied Plover Black-necked Stilt Whimbrel Willet Spotted Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Ruddy Turnstone Surfbird Northern Jacana Common Gallinule Americn Coot Purple Gallinule Black Vulture Turkey Vulture King Vulture Osprey White Hawk Roadside Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Gray Hawk Common Black Hawk Crested Caracara Common Pauraque Short-tailed Nighthawk Costa Rican Swift Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift White-collared Swift Mangrove Swallow Blue & White Swallow Gray-breasted Martin Purple Martin Barn Swallow Violet Sabrewing | Long-billed Hermit Green-fronted Lancebill White-necked Jacobin Green-crowned Brilliant Scaly-breasted Hummingbird Steely-vented Hummingbird Stripe-tailed Hummingbird Blue-throated Goldentail Mangrove Hummingbird Brown Violetear Green Violetear Ruby-throated Hummingbird White-bellied Mountaingem Purple-throated Mountain-gem Magenta-throated Woodstar Rock Pigeon Short-billed Pigeon Pale-vented Pigeon White-winged Dove Inca Dove Common Ground Dove Ruddy Ground Dove Ruddy Quail Dove White-tipped Dove Orange-fronted Parakeet Orange-chinned Parakeet Crimson-fronted Parakeet Scarlet Macaw Red-lored Parrot Mealy Parrot Blue-headed Parrot White-Fronted Parrot Mangrove Cuckoo Groove-billed Ani Smooth-billed Ani Lesser Ground Cuckoo Squirrel Cuckoo Gartered Trogon Lattice-tailed Trogon Slaty-tailed Trogon Black-headed Trogon Blue-crowned Motmot Rufous Motmot Turquoise-browed Motmot Ringed Kingfisher Green Kingfisher White-necked Puffbird Pied Puffbird White-whiskered Puffbird Rufous-tailed Jacamar Emerald Toucanet Collared Aracari Fiery-billed Aracari Keel-billed Toucan Black Mandibled Toucan Black-cheeked Woodpecker Hoffman's Woodpecker Pale-billed Woodpecker Golden-olive Woodpecker Lineated Woodpecker Chestnut-coloured Woodpecker Northern Barred Woodcreeper Fasciated Antshrike Barred Antshrike | Black-hooded Antshrike Chestnut-backed Antbird Northern Beardless Tyrannulet Yellow-bellied Elaenia Mountain Elaenia Common Tody Flycatcher Bright-rumped Attila Dusky-capped Flycatcher Tropical Pewee Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Boat-billed Flycatcher Panama Flycatcher Great Kiskadee Social Flycatcher Tropical Kingbird Masked Tityra Rose-throated Becard White collared Manakin Red-capped Manakin White-throated Magpie Jay Brown Jay Clay-coloured Thrush Mountain Thrush Rufous-naped Wren House Wren Mangrove Vireo Buff-rumped Warbler Black & White Warbler Black-throated Green warbler Tennessee Warbler Prothontary Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Wilson's Warbler Rufous/capped Warbler Passerini's Tanager Cherrie's Tanager Blue-grey Tanager Golden-hooded Tanager Green Honeycreeper Blue Dacnis Scarlet-thighed Dacnis Shining Honeycreeper Red-legged Honeycreeper Bananaquit Thick-billed Seedfinch Variable Seedeater Buff-throated Saltator Orange-billed Sparrow White-eared Ground Sparrow Rufous-collared Sparrow Rose-breasted Grossbeak Summer Tanager Red-winged Blackbird Melodious Blackbird Bronzed Cowbird Great-tailed Grackle Streak-backed Oriole Baltimore Oriole Scarlet-rumped Cacique Yellow-billed Cacique Montezuma's Oropendola Olive-backed Euphonia Yellow-crowned Euphonia Spot-crowned Euphonia |
Summary & Final Notes
I enjoyed my sojourn in Costa Rica. I am lucky to have a son who can get me cheap stand-by travel. I might have seen more birds on an organised tour but I prefer the freedom and adventure of doing it myself. I don't like minibuses and group dynamics, and frankly it cost me less than half of the price of a tour with a birding company even with the freedom of my hired car. Accomodation was never a problem, I never booked ahead and thank goodness I didn't as I would have lost a lot of money when the weather cut off many of my intended destinations. Also I would have been restricted by prior bookings to places where it never stopped raining.
My advice to anyone thinking of doing something similar is don't hesitate, do it. Download your destination eg Costa Rica, into Google Maps on your phone so you can use it offline & don't need to hire a satnav. Take rubber boots not hiking boots. Travel light, just carry a rain poncho. lightweight, quick-drying clothing is ideal such as Rohan Travel-bags (Trousers with deep zipped pockets) etc. Do some research online before you go and have a plan, but be prepared to change it to suit circumstances. You will always find somewhere to sleep, don't worry thinking you need to book in advance, you don't. If you hire a car check it carefully before accepting it, does it actually have 4-wheel drive for example? some don't even though they are described as a 4x4. Don't accept any quote, get there & shop around. U-save near San Jose Airport were brilliant, my car was excellent, I got a great deal with fully comprehensive insurance so no worries about damage etc. Hire local guides at National Parks or from eco-lodges, cheaper and better than being herded around like cattle with an organised group. Above all, have fun. Enjoy being where great birds live, seeing the Country, meeting the people, experiencing places that are off the beaten track. It's so much better than mass tourism traps, yuk!
By the way if you like tropical birding my advice is visit Ecuador first. More and better birds, easier to see in a great Country where you can be in the high Andes one day and deep rain forest the next, with all the cloud forests in between. If you can afford it go to the Amazon Basin from Coca, just a short flight from Quito. Sani Lodge or similar will provide the experience of a lifetime. You only live once.
My advice to anyone thinking of doing something similar is don't hesitate, do it. Download your destination eg Costa Rica, into Google Maps on your phone so you can use it offline & don't need to hire a satnav. Take rubber boots not hiking boots. Travel light, just carry a rain poncho. lightweight, quick-drying clothing is ideal such as Rohan Travel-bags (Trousers with deep zipped pockets) etc. Do some research online before you go and have a plan, but be prepared to change it to suit circumstances. You will always find somewhere to sleep, don't worry thinking you need to book in advance, you don't. If you hire a car check it carefully before accepting it, does it actually have 4-wheel drive for example? some don't even though they are described as a 4x4. Don't accept any quote, get there & shop around. U-save near San Jose Airport were brilliant, my car was excellent, I got a great deal with fully comprehensive insurance so no worries about damage etc. Hire local guides at National Parks or from eco-lodges, cheaper and better than being herded around like cattle with an organised group. Above all, have fun. Enjoy being where great birds live, seeing the Country, meeting the people, experiencing places that are off the beaten track. It's so much better than mass tourism traps, yuk!
By the way if you like tropical birding my advice is visit Ecuador first. More and better birds, easier to see in a great Country where you can be in the high Andes one day and deep rain forest the next, with all the cloud forests in between. If you can afford it go to the Amazon Basin from Coca, just a short flight from Quito. Sani Lodge or similar will provide the experience of a lifetime. You only live once.
Animals
I am a birder but it is worth mentioning the mammals and other interesting wildlife that I recall seeing during this trip. It included all four species of Costa Rican monkeys:-
I am a birder but it is worth mentioning the mammals and other interesting wildlife that I recall seeing during this trip. It included all four species of Costa Rican monkeys:-
- Central American squirrel monkey (Saimiri oerstedii)
- Geoffroy's spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)
- Mantled howler (Alouatta palliata)
- White-headed capuchin (Cebus capucinus)
 Mantled Howler |  White-headed Capuchin |
Tamandua/Lesser Anteater
Other mammals included Coati, Agouti, Racoon, Variagated Squirrel, Tamandua (Lesser Anteater) and Three-toed Sloths.
 3-Toed Sloths  Variagated Squirrel  Coati |  Racoon  Agouti The Collared Peccary is related to the Pig family. It is a forest dweller and there are reports of large herds of peccaries attacking and seriously injuring and even killing humans in NW Bolivia. However they generally tend to ignore humans, which was my experience of them in the forests here. |
Collared Peccary
I have never seen so many Iguanas. There are 38 Iguanid species in Costa Rica, the most conspicuous being the Green Iguana but there are also many large Ctenosaurs and Basilisks. Iguanas can be seen anywhere including urban environments. Green Iguanas are common in trees along riverbanks.
Ctenosaur
Green Iguana
There were quite a few snakes. I did not identify many of them but the deadly Fer-de-lance was pointed out, as was another highly venomous species called the Eyelash Viper.
There were lots of Bats flying around at night. The only one I saw during the day was the white "Ghost" Bat. The only other creature of note that I photographed was the tiny "Blue Jeans" Frog, named for obvious reasons.
There were lots of Bats flying around at night. The only one I saw during the day was the white "Ghost" Bat. The only other creature of note that I photographed was the tiny "Blue Jeans" Frog, named for obvious reasons.
 Ghost Bat Oh, I nearly forgot the Crocodiles, hundreds of them. Not a pretty animal but impressive because of their sheer size. |  Blue Jeans Frog  American Crocodile |
