I took a ten day birding trip to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving in search of a few Caribbean and Pacific Lowland rainforest specialties. This was my first trip to Costa Rica and I decided to stay at two remote lodges away from most of the tourist areas. I booked the stay directly through the lodges (or their agents), including the guiding. All meals and transportation were taken care of, including round trip travel from San Jose International Airport to Laguna del Lagarto Lodge. Bosque del Rio Tigre managed the internal flight ticketing for me on Sansa Airlines to Puerto Jimenez and return flight to San Jose on NatureAir Airlines, along with the taxi service from Puerto Jimenez to the lodge.
I arrived at San Jose International Airport Costa Rica via Delta Airlines on November 20th, about 2 hours late due to a departure delay in Atlanta. I was hoping my ride would still be there waiting for me after I cleared customs and immigration and of course he was. The drive to Laguna del Lagarto Lodge took about 3 ½ to 4 hours and it was dark by the time I arrived at the lodge, which is located in the San Carlos River Plain about 5 km from the Nicaraguan border. The lodge manager was very gracious and friendly upon my arrival and I was soon settled into my room/home for the next three days. The rooms at this lodge are very spartan, and the bathroom was separate from the sleeping quarters, although I did have my own private bath.
In the morning I met my guide (Didiar) for the next three days, a local person who works for the lodge as well as performing guiding duties. Didiar was very amiable and knew the area around the lodge well, but was still learning to identify some of the more difficult bird species of the area such as the Woodcreepers and Flycatchers. He did not have a scope and only an old pair of binoculars but managed to do quite well with them. On one of our walks near the lodge he was able to call in a Black-faced Antthrush to within about 15 feet for some excellent looks. When I left this lodge I ended up giving Didiar the copy of The Birds of Costa Rica by R Garrigues and R Dean (which I had brought along) since the lodge only had an old copy of the G Stiles & A Skutch field guide.
The target birds for me at Laguna del Lagarto lodge were Great Green Macaw and Great Currassow, My timing was just about right for the Great Green Macaw as they were beginning to arrive in the area (December might be a little more optimal), and managed to get close up views of two birds and saw three others at a distance. I also ended up obtaining very good looks of the Great Currassow as one afternoon we watched a bird walking out of the forest onto the edges of the manicured lawn near the lodge. My guide more than made up for his lack of experience in some areas of bird identification by knowing the layout of the area well, and where to search for specific types of birds.
The weather was variable while I was at Laguna del Lagarto, the first day being quite warm, sunny and very humid, the second day producing heavy rains until late in the afternoon, and the third day was a mix of rain showers and sun.
All in all a very satisfying trip to this lodge, which had friendly staff and served traditional Costa Rican food at their meals. One afternoon the manager of the lodge invited me to go to his house in Santa Rita (about 1 km from the lodge), to check out the birds at the feeders he had set up. Didiar, the manager, and I took a short canoe ride in a lagoon near the manager’s house observing Boat-billed Herons, etc. then spent an hour or so looking at the feeders; a memorable experience.
Tuesday November 24th I was transported back to San Jose to catch my flight on Sansa Airlines to Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula in the very southwest of Costa Rica. Unfortunately the flight was canceled due to severe storms in the Puerto Jimenez area, so I had to overnight in San Jose and take a flight out at about noon the next day. When I arrived in Puerto Jimenez a taxi was waiting for me and drove me to Dos Brazos, a small village near Bosque del Rio Tigre. We stopped at a point were the road went down into the river (which was raging at this time). I looked across the river and saw a lady (Elizabeth) and two gentlemen approaching carrying a inflated canoe. They brought the canoe over to our side of the river, I hopped in and we headed off to the lodge.
This lodge was quite different from the first one, in that there were only four bedrooms (upstairs) and a shared bathroom, and the lodge being open to the outside (with mosquito netting over the beds). Since this was pre-high season birding, I was the only one at the lodge and had the run of the place, including unlimited bird guiding provided by Abraham. He was quite an exceptional bird guide not using any tapes but relying on his knowledge of the bird sounds and habits (quite awesome for sure).
Soon after I arrived and got settled in I came downstairs to the kitchen/bar area and sat down, then my lower jaw almost dropped to the floor as I watched a Gray-necked Wood-Rail come out of the forest and almost walk right into the kitchen. Though not a particularly rare bird, it just seemed so odd to see a rail act in this manner, not being afraid in the least. One day, also while sitting on this bar stool in the kitchen a Little Tinamou came to the same location offering excellent looks. After a while when I was at the back of the lodge viewing Black-cheeked Ant-tanagers at the feeders I heard this racket coming from the kitchen area and went to see what was going on. Elizabeth and a lodge helper informed me that two Little Tinamous were fighting just a few feet from the kitchen - amazing.
This place seemed more like a house than a lodge and I was the guest of Elizabeth and Abraham. The food was excellent, Abraham being the chef and able to set quite a table, and yes the fresh seared tuna was to die for. Elizabeth was quite talkative and filled me in on all the local news along with updates on the bird surveys they are currently performing on the Yellow-billed Cotingas and other lodge information. I enjoyed the company of these two very much, and enjoyed the talks while taking an afternoon or evening siesta in one of the hammocks. A word of note that this lodge is not for everyone (no big fancy swimming pool, etc), but is great for an individual or small group wanting to bird, or observe fauna and flora of the region, and enjoy pure rainforest. Sure I would go back to this lodge – no question.
The target birds for me at Bosque del Rio Tigre were Black-cheeked Ant-tanager, Yellow-billed & Turquoise Cotingas, Mangrove Hummingbird, and Three-wattled Bellbird. I managed to get excellent looks at all these birds except for the bellbird, which is quite a remarkable feat, and in reality only because of Abraham's remarkable birding skills! The stay at this lodge also included a day trip to the Rincon area in search of local endemics and whatever else we could find.
Little Tinamou
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck
Gray-headed Chachalaca
Great Curassow
Magnificent Frigatebird
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron - (excellent close up looks on the Rincon trip)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Boat-billed Heron
White Ibis
Wood Stork - (flock of 30 birds at Laguna del Lagarto)
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
King Vulture
Gray-headed Kite
Pearl Kite
Double-toothed Kite
Roadside Hawk
Gray Hawk
Black Hawk-Eagle - (one individual at Bosque del Rio Tigre)
Crested Caracara
Yellow-headed Caracara
Laughing Falcon
Bat Falcon
Gray-necked Wood-Rail
Purple Gallinule
Northern Jacana
Spotted Sandpiper
Pale-vented Pigeon
Short-billed Pigeon
Ruddy Ground-Dove
Blue Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Great Green Macaw - (Five birds seen at Laguna del Lagarto - several others heard at different times)
Scarlet Macaw
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Brown-hooded Parrot
White-crowned Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
Mealy Parrot
Squirrel Cuckoo
Striped Cuckoo
Smooth-billed Ani
Groove-billed Ani
Short-tailed Nighthawk
White-collared Swift
Costa Rican Swift
Band-tailed Barbthroat
Long-billed Hermit
Stripe-throated Hermit
White-tipped Sicklebill - (one bird found on a perch at Bosque del Rio Tigre after slogging our way up a dark and dank streambed on a hillside)
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Violet-crowned Woodnymph
Charming Hummingbird - (seen at Bosque del Rio Tigre feeders)
Mangrove Hummingbird - (seen on the Rincon trip)
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Baird’s Trogon
Violaceous Trogon
Black-throated Trogon
Slaty-tailed Trogon
Blue-crowned Motmot
Ringed Kingfisher
Amazon Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
American Pygmy Kingfisher
White-necked Puffbird
White-fronted Puffbird
Collared Aracari
Fiery-billed Aracari
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
Keel-billed Toucan
Olivaceous Piculet
Golden-naped Woodpecker
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Red-rumped Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Slaty Spinetail
Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner
Plain Xenops
Long-tailed Woodcreeper
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Black-striped Woodcreeper
Great Antshrike
Black-hooded Antshrike
Dot-winged Antwren
Chestnut-backed Antbird
Bicolored Antbird
Black-faced Antthrush
Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet
Southern-beardless Tyrannulet
Yellow Tyrannulet
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
Ochre-bellied Flycatcher
Paltry Tyrannulet
Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher
Common Tody-Flycatcher
Eye-ringed Flatbill
Yellow-olive Flycatcher
Tropical Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tyrant
Bright-rumped Attila
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Gray-capped Flycatcher
Streaked Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Turquoise Cotinga - (one adult and one juvenile at Bosque del Rio Tigre)
Rufous Piha
Yellow-billed Cotinga - (one at Bosque del Rio Tigre and 2 on the Rincon trip)
Orange-collared Manakin
Red-capped Manakin
Black-crowned Tityra
Masked Tityra
Rose-throated Becard
Yellow-throated Vireo
Scrub Greenlet
Lesser Greenlet
Southern Rough-winged Swallow
Gray-breasted Martin
Mangrove Swallow
Black-bellied Wren
Riverside Wren
Plain Wren
House Wren
Scaly-breasted Wren - (Whistling Wren)
Tropical Gnatcatcher
Wood Thrush
Clay-colored Thrush
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow Warbler - (Mangrove Warbler - these resident birds have an all red head - seen on the Rincon trip)
Chestnut-sided Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Buff-rumped Warbler
Bananaquit
Gray-headed Tanager
White-shouldered Tanager
Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Passerini’s Tanager
Cherrie’s Tanager
Blue-gray Tanager
Palm Tanager
Speckled Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Blue Dacnis
Green Honeycreeper
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Blue-black Grassquit
Variable Seedeater
White-collared Seedeater
Thick-billed Seed-Finch
Orange-billed Sparrow
Black-striped Sparrow
Buff-throated Saltator
Slate-colored Grosbeak
Blue-black Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-breasted Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Black-cowled Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Yellow-billed Cacique
Scarlet-rumped Cacique
Montezuma Oropendola
Thick-billed Euphonia
Spot-crowned Euphonia
Olive-backed Euphonia
White-vented Euphonia
I ended up with a total of 185 species seen on this trip of which 82 were new birds for me. We also has Streak-chested Antpitta calling on the Rincon trip, but never saw the bird.
Some of the non-bird wildlife seen included:
Coati
Red-tailed Squirrel
Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth
White-headed Capuchin
Mantled Howler Monkey
Golgodulcean Poison Frog
Common Iguana
Helmeted Iguana
Spectacled Caiman
A few unknown bat species
Basilisk Lizard
Whip Scorpion