Follow The Sykes Birds: Costa Rica 2019: Tour 2

Following tour one’s farewell dinner on the evening of March 16 (with a very heady tour total of 394 species seen/heard), we began looking forward to the beginning of our second tour.

By noon on the 17th, Betty, Connie and Russell, Marge, Jo Anne, and Cici had departed for the airport leaving the Risé, John and and ourselves the entire afternoon to relax. Richard, our guide and Didier our driver had gone home to catch up with their families.

Newly arriving guests, Peggy Franklin (AZ), Steve and Patty Sielaff (AZ), and Bridget and Tim Hill (WI) would be joining us that evening. Peggy had been to Costa Rica before but for the Seilaffs and Hills, this would be their first neotropical birding experience.

The next morning was the group’s free day. We gradually sauntered in for coffee at the rear of the hotel overlooking the city where introductions were performed. And of course some birding. Patty had taken Carol aside to inform her that she, Patty, had forgotten to pack a few things and wondered where she might buy replacements. While Carol, Patty and Bridget went in search of a K Mart, the rest of the group stayed to explore the Hotel Buena Vista grounds.

Save for the name, the K Mart turned out to be nothing at all like any K Mart we were used to in the states. When Richard joined us in the afternoon, he said not to worry. There was a newer Walmart conveniently located next to an eBird hotspot where we would be headed the next morning.

That evening as we dined, Richard outlined our tour itinerary and what would be our daily routine - eat sleep and bird but not necessarily in that order. We also learned that our driver, Didier, from our first tour, would be with us once again. Yay!

Early the next morning we walked the hotel trails, a good intro to familiarize us with the more common birds we’d be seeing on most days of the tour: tropical kingbird, white-winged dove, rufous-tailed hummingbird, black vulture, turkey vulture, Lesson’s motmot, crimson-fronted parakeet, great kiskadee, social flycatcher, house wren, Tennessee warbler, orange-crowned warbler, great-tailed grackle, blue-gray tanager, palm tanager and Costa Rica’s national bird, the amazingly colorless clay-colored thrush.

Following breakfast, with our luggage loaded onto our coaster and with Deidier at the helm, we headed toward our first overnight, Rancho Naturalista. Of course we rarely travel in a straight line as there are always several birding opportunities along our routes.

One such stop was in front of a favorite coffee shop/plantation. While we did enjoy the shop the real reason was to find a plain-capped star throat nest we'd missed seeing on our pass through the same area on tour one. Success this time! Easy to see why we had missed it the first time - it was hiding in plain sight. Just had to know where to look.

nest looked like it was part of the support

got it!

Our next stop, as promised, was an urban eBird hot spot known as Alajuela Walmart Woods a short drive from the hotel. In short order we collected almost 30 species of birds including: ringed kingfisher, Hoffman’s woodpecker, orange-chinned parakeet, common tody-flycatcher, northern beardless-tyrannulet, yellow-breasted elaenia, blue-and-white swallow, Cabanis wren, rufous-capped warbler, Morelet’s seedeater and both buff-throated and grayish saltator.

A short shopping adventure for Patty to restock plus a chance for everyone else to stock up on snacks. Can’t have enough snacks. Especially on days where we had longer drives. Driving east through the traffic of San Jose, our drive to Rancho Naturalista was just over 60 miles.

We first fell in love with Rancho during our 2013 tour. Itching to get back we were excited that Richard had included it on our itinerary.

Probably one of the finest birding lodges in Costa Rica. It provides brilliant birding opportunities with its over 450 species of birds. Add to that gourmet food served family style overlooking the gardens and feeding stations. We arrived in time to briefly bird the road leading to the lodge then got called to lunch.

even with his back to the feeders, John didn't miss any of the action

Meals tend to take a bit longer. Not due to slow service but mainly by interruptions whenever a new bird species was spotted. From our dining vantage point we added gray-headed chachalaca, white-tipped dove, white-necked jacobin, green hermit, stripe-throated hermit, purple-crowned fairy, green-breasted mango, violet sabrewing, crowned woodnymph, snowcap, tawny-throated foliage-gleaner, masked tityra, striped=breasted wren, white-breasted wood-wren, ornage-billed sparrow, and green honeycreeper. See why meals can take so long?

As luck would have it, we were placed in the same second story room we had in 2013, with a private porch overlooking the gardens and a hummingbird feeder right outside our door. Directly across was a large second story deck overlooking the gardens (and where we found coffee first thing in the morning). Across the valley when the clouds cleared, we could see Turrialba, a smoldering active volcano.

keel-billed toucan was an everyday visitor

The next morning we birded a bit around the lodge then boarded our coaster for a short jaunt to bird along the Rio Mina. The weather wasn’t quite so cooperative with intermittent rain but it didn’t quell the birding. A highlight was a sunbittern which made frequent forays up and down the river, often flying directing beneath us displaying daziling wing patterns as we stood on a low bridge across the river. Other birds added: streak-headed woodcreeper, black-crowned tityra, torrent tyrannulet, mistletoe tyrannulet, black phoebe, gray-breasted martin, crimson-collared tanager, golden-hooded tanager, and variable seedeater.

sunbittern (John Bruder photo)

white-necked jacobin

Given the time of year we always encounter a number of neotropical migrants which we will ultimately see a few months later during migration in the states: summer tanager, chestnut-sided warbler, MacGillivary’s warbler, Tennessee warbler, Louisiana waterthrush, Baltimore oriole, Swainson’s thrush, and Philadelphia vireo.

a seasonal plant in the states, poinsettia grows wild in Costa Rica

Back at Rancho for lunch and a bit more birding netted us: red-billed pigeon, roadside hawk, keel-billed toucan, black-cheeked woodpecker, lineated woodpecker, golden-olive woodpecker, white-crowned parrot, white-collared manakin, yellow-olive flycatcher, sulphur-bellied flycatcher, brown jay, bay wren, Montezuma oropendola, and bananaquit.

orange-billed sparrow

You'd be surprised how many times we bump into people we either know, or know other acquaintainces we have in common. Such was the case on the deck at Rancho when Carol was chatting with a gentleman who had worked at WI-DNR and who knew many of the same people did when she, Carol, worked for Madison Audubon.

Mid afternoon we boarded the coaster again for a very brief drive to Rancho Bajo, the home of the parents of Lisa, Rancho’s owner and manager. The big attraction here were gardens that offered a much more satisfying look at snowcapped hummingbird. But we also added crested guan, chestnut-headed oropendola, golden-winged warbler, mourning warbler, American redtstart, blackburnian warbler, white-lined tanager, and yellow-faced grassquit.

The grounds of Rancho also have a “hummingbird pool” area reached by a narrow trail about a 15 minute walk away. Late in the afternoon, hummingbirds use these pools to bath which can be viewed from a small fenced overlook. Be sure to bring binoculars!

One other bird that made after dark appearances sitting on the railing of the second story deck - a mottled owl. Not everyone got to see it but certainly everyone heard it!

Didier cleaning his coaster, a much preferred mode of transportation

March 21 we collected our luggage and had it ready for the coaster before breakfast and table-side birding. Bidding Lisa and the staff farewell, our first stop not too far away was at Casa Turire, an upscale hotel. No, this wasn’t our next overnight but we did scan the grounds and vast surrounding wetlands where we picked up: black-bellied whistling-duck, groove-billed ani, squirrel cuckoo, purple gallinule, white-throated crake, limpkin, anhinga, southern lapwing, northern jacana, neotropic cormorant, and least bittern. Wading birds added to the list were: great egret, snowy egret, little blue heron, and green heron.

can you see the pumpkin? No?

As we were leaving we added green kingfisher, snail kite, tropical gnatcatcher, red-breasted meadowlark, melodious blackbird, and olive-crowned yellowthroat.

raptors on the move; barn owl

green ibis

As always we stopped whenever Richard had ideas for roadside birding or came across unexpected sightings like a small river with green ibis, a park in the town of Paraiso with a roosting barn owl, massive northward migrating kettles of raptor’s with broad-winged, a perched laughing falcon, and lesser scaup and osprey near a dam.

When we finally arrived at our overnight destination: Paraisio Quetzal Lodge, we had gained quite a bit of elevation which we felt when we disembarked. At about 8,700 feet, in cloud forest habitat, time to break out extra layers of clothing. Here the average high is 77 degrees F with an overnight low into the the low 40’s.

In the past we’ve stayed further down the valley at Savegre Lodge but given the rise in popularity of Savegre, it’s more and more difficult to make reservations far enough in advance. But we’re also up for trying new lodges so this was our first stay at Paraiso.

rustic with a view

Lodging was in individual rustic cabins offering spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Once we were assigned a cabin and our luggage moved in, we met back at the lodge’s restaurant, Los Colibrís for drinks and our evening meal.

The restaurant boasts a wall of windows and balcony with closeup views. Hummingbird feeders attracted local hummers although by this time, night had fallen and so too bird activity along with the temperature - we were more interested in the log fires warming the restaurant.

a man and his fries

having gotten his nemesis bird, John was not at all intimidated

After dinner and our daily checklist, we were given the next day’s itinerary and retired to our cabin. Did I mention the word “rustic”? There was a small space heater but truthfully, it couldn’t keep up with the cold. Piles of blankets helped. Our morning shower was heated but one didn’t linger in the cold morning air.

Coffee and a light breakfast in the restaurant. Birds from the restaurant’s vantage point included: lesser violetear, Talamanca hummingbird, stunning looks at fiery throated hummingbird, our first looks at volcano hummingbird, long-tailed silky-flycatcher, golden-browed chlorophonia, and slaty flowerpiercer before we hiked out on a local track.

Talamanca hummingbird

violetared hummingbird

fiery-throated hummingbird

In the surrounding cloud forest habitat we added: silvery-fronted tapaculo (noisy secretive birds), ruddy treerunner, mountain elaenia, black-capped flycatcher, yellow-winged vireo, timberline wren, black-faced solitaire, black-billed nightingale-thruash, mountain thrush, sooty thrush, black-and-yellow silky-flycatcher, and flame-throated tanager. Returning ot the lodge, just outside our cabin, we added yellow-thighed brush finch.

Time for lunch at Los Colibrís, a short break to observe feeders, then we boarded our coaster for a bit more roadside birding along Provedeencia Road with a stop to view feeders (and have some hot drinks) at Copey de Dota - El Toucanet Lodge: scintallant hummingbird, blue-vented hummingbird, silver-throated tanager, grayish saltator, northern emerald toucanet, spot-crowned woodcreeper, ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush, black-throated green warbler, and Wilson’s warbler.

long-tailed silky-flycatcher

On the return trip we stopped along forested dirt road for what was supposed to be, according to a reliable tip, an active resplendent quetzal nest. In the hour and a half we waited, we observed several passing vehicles, but alas, no quetzal. For whatever reason quetzals were hard to come by on both tours. Arriving back at the lodge after dark, we had our evening meal and completed our daily checklist. We later learned that another brid tour group had spent over two hours at the same site with the same results.

Richard always had time for autographs

A group of four birders sitting at another table, two with British accents, attracted our curiosity. It turned out to that one couple was part owner/manager of a lodge in Brazil with another couple from Great Britain, had just recently visited the lodge. They were delighted to discover the author of the field guide they had just purchased days earlier, was our guide. Autographs followed.

The next morning we set our packed bags at the lodge’s reception entrance and stepped in for hot coffee and place our breakfast orders. During breakfast another couple at a nearby table jumped up and yelled “quetzal!”. We quickly pressed our faces to the windows in time for some of us to catch sight of a male quetzal soar across the valley into the forest canopy. Scoped looks gave most everyone a look at the partly obscured bird before it flew deeper into the cover. Good thing - it was our only sighting of a quetzal during the tour. We heard them calling on a number of occasions but seeing a quetzal is always a must.

We rejoined the paved highway on our way to yet a higher point - the Cerro Buenavista communication towers, the highest point on the Inter-American Highway in Costa Rica, on Cerro de la Muerte (close to 11,000 feet) in the Talamanca Mountains range. It’s name translates to “Mountain of Death or “Summit Death” due to past crossings from the Central Valle on what used to be a three or four day journey on foot or horseback. Many ill-prepared travelers used to much warmer lower elevation weather, succumbed to the cold and rain. Now, with a paved highway and public and private transportation, these weather related deaths have plummeted.

John, Risé, Richard, Tim, Peggy, Bridget, Didier, Steve, Tom, Patty

We’ve stopped at the towers many times in the past as this páramo habitat with stunted shrubs, dwarf bamboo and tree ferns, is one of the best places to find volcano junco and timberline wren. Having already found both species earlier, the pressure was off - but it was still fun to get better looks at the juncos.

Visits to the towers can be quite an ordeal owing to weather patterns. Cold, clouds, rain, and winds - we’ve experienced them all and honestly, more often than not. But today the weather was calm and sunny, offering excellent views of smoking Turrialba Volcano.

We had just re-boarded our coaster and were headed back down to the paved highway when we met another coaster on its way up. Judging from the passengers it appeared to be another birding group. But what really caught our eye and caused us to stop was the coaster’s driver - “Memo”.

dynamic duos, past and present

During our first CR tour in 2004, Memo had been our driver so it was with a great deal of excitement to say hi to Memo and pose for photos. Once the birding group learned who our guide was, well, they all cued up for autographs. Interesting to also note that during our first visit in 2004 with Memo, that the weather at that time had also been excellent.

"author, author"

Back on the road we made a brief potty stop at a roadside restaurant with feeders (and a chance to stock up on more snacks) before stopping at Trapiche de Nayo Restaurant near San Isidro for lunch. More bird action around the restaurant: boat-billed Flycatcher, yellow-throated toucan, and scarlet-thighed dacnis.

lunch birding at Trapiche

Lunch out of the way, we took a detour into the town of San Isidro where in the past, while cruising its streets, we’d had good luck finding turquoise cotinga. We drove and walked around looking before sighting an iridescent electric blue dot in surrounding trees. Scoped looks course gave us much better views. The area also netted us crimson-fronted parakeet, yellow-bellied elaenia, scarlet-rumped tanager, and piratic flycatcher.

By late afternoon we had arrived at Talari Mountain Lodge, our second never been to before lodge. The lodge’s layout was such that our rooms were separately clustered below the main building housing the restaurant. Nestled in a mixture of landscaped gardens and secondary rain forest and nearby the Chirripo River we dropped off our luggage eager to see what new birds awaited - oh, and what the bar had to offer.

During our walk and while sitting on the deck overlooking some feeders enjoying some beverages, we added new for the trip: rufous-breasted wren, scarlet tanager, bay-headed tanager, and the smallest of woodpeckers, an ovlivaceous piculet. During our walk back to our rooms after nightfall, we added a roosting tropical screech-owl and common pauraque.

scarlet-rumped tanager

In the morning we spent a bit more time birding around the lodge before breakfast then set out for a day of roadside birding, first stopping to bird the grounds of at Bosque Del Tolomuco. The grounds of the lodge proved to be most productive: green-crowned brilliant, brown violetear, white-throated mountain-gem, stripe-tailed hummingbird, white-tailed emerald, red-headed barbet, red-crowned woodpecker, western wood-pewee, and elegant euphonia.

Back at the lodge we encountered a young family with a two young girls, one of which was becoming an ardent birdwatcher. Imagine her thrill when she got to meet the actual author of her field guide and have him sign it!

The next morning a bit more birding at the lodge and along the banks of the river we added: long-billed starthroat, great and cattle egret, green kingfisher, fiery-billed aracari, crested caracara, streaked flycatcher, fork-tailed flycatcher, yellow-throated vireo, southern rough-winged swallow, orange-billed nightingale-thrush, black-striped sparrow, summer tanager, and buff-rumped warbler.

With box lunches in hand, we set out on another day trip, this time headed to Los Cusingos, home of Alexander Skutch, botanist, naturalist and author. It was more than just a little emotion that we found ourselves again at Los Cusingos. It was during our first tour in 2004 that we stopped at then Skutch’s home where we got to meet the 99-year old author and where he signed our Stiles-Skutch field guide, Over his lifetime he wrote numerous scientific papers and books including books on philosophy. But it’s his co-authored Stile-Skutch Filed Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, that, at least in birding circles, for which he is most remembered. Sadly, a month after we met Dr. Skutch, he passed away, eight days shy of his 100th birthday.

Richard had become good friends with Dr. Skutch while he, Richard, was researching his first edition field guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Not at all meant to replace Skutch’s work which to this day still provides a formidable collection of bird descriptions and field notes on behavior.

Los Cusingos is now a bird sanctuary. Located in a significant biological corridor, one of 47 such corridors in Costa Rica, it is situated in the El General Valley between the Talamanca Mountain range and the Coastal Mountain range. Technically a tropical pre-montane wet life zone. It’s home to a variety of residential bird species as well as long-range migrants (many of the neotropical migrants we see in the United States).

common potoo

Didier trying his hand at handheld digisscoping

owl butterfly (Caligo eurilochus)

We spent a good portion of the day exploring some of the trails with the on-site manager who happened to know a day roost for a common potoo. Other bird species to be ticked that evening on our checklist back at the lodge: black-hooded ant-shrike, dot-winged antwren, bicolored antbird, chestnut-backed antbird, tawny-winged woodcreeper, Chiriqui foliage-gleaner, blue-crowned manakin, orange-collared manakin, red-capped manakin, rufous piha, sulphur-rumped flycatcher, ochre-bellied flycatcher, yellow-olive flycatcher, green-shrike vireo, and riverside wren.

tawny-winged woodcreeper

bicolored antbird

Eating our box lunch in a small sheltered area adjacent to the office we reflected on Skutch’s life. He, as a recently graduated botanist from John Hopkins University, first found employment with the United Fruit Company, studying banana diseases in Jamaica. His work took him to Guatemala, Panama, and Honduras, all the while falling in love with the tropics.

Skitch and his wife Pamela

A lifetime vegetarian he believed in treading lightly on the earth so when he met and married his wife Pamela, daughter of English naturalist and botanist, Charles Lankester (founder of the Lankester Botanical garden in San Jose), they spent the rest of their lives at Los Cusingos (from the Spanish name for Fiery-billed Aracari) without benefit of electricity, and only adding running water in the 1990’s. Dr. Skutch is buried on the property, within eyesight of his former study.

On our return to the lodge along the road to Las Nubes Biological Reserve, we fit in some roadside birding: garden emerald, white-tailed emerald, white-ruffed manakin, tropical pewee, tropical mockingbird, orange-billed nightingale-thrush, white-throated thrush, spot-crowned euphonia, and scarlet-thighed dacnis.

Richard asked us to have our bags packed and sitting outside our cabins so that the next morning we would have an early start for a longer drive needed to get to our next overnight. A little more birding around the grounds netted us gray-cowled wood-rail which we had been hearing but to date hadn’t gotten good looks until now.

Back on the road there were opportunities for potty breaks, birding and lunch. Birds along the way included: smooth-billed ani, southern lapwing, mangrove swallow. We also added some unexpected roadside birding when our coaster suffered a blow out of one of the rear tires. Nonplused, Didier had the rear tires broken down and a spare put in place in no time.

We finally reached another OTS property, Las Cruces, otherwise known as Wilson Botanical Garden. OTS - the Organization for Tropical Studies - acquired the property from Robert and Catherine Wilson who founded the site in 1962 as a botanical garden and farm. The other OTS property we’re familiar with (visited on tour 1) is also a research station. But we have to say, the facilitates and accommodations at Los Cruces, are, well, a bit more upscale.

The property boasts one of the most important plant collections in Central America, many of the specimens with “endangered” status. The habitat is one of the largest remaining fragments of pre-montane wet forest in southern Costa Rica.

This habitat and nearby surrounding topography provides sanctuary for over 2,000 plant species (20 are endemic), 113 mammal species (including 60 species of bats) more than 400 species of birds and an estimated 70 species of reptiles. More than 1,000 species of insects including 800 species of butterfly. It’s no wonder then, that Las Cruces brings together scientists, artists, and nature lovers from all over the world.

Once we were checked in we had time for a mid-afternoon walk to admire and bird some of the nearby gardens: Ruddy-ground dove, scaly-breasted hummingbird, charming hummingbird, swallow-tailed kite, blue-headed parrot, red-faced spinetail, rose-throated becard, gray-capped flycatcher, thick-billed euphonia, and streaked saltator. After BYO adult beverages on our room balconies, we gathered in the dining hall for a buffet meal and to do our daily checklist.

yellow-throated toucan (formerly chestnut-mandiblesd)

speckled tanager

Up early the next morning, the feeding station on a balcony behind the dining area while we sipped coffee proved to be a very popular before we set off for a walk further into the grounds. Gartered trogon, brown-hooded parrot, blue-headed parrot, crested oropendola, speckled tanager, and yellow-bellied seedeater.

After breakfast we again boarded our coaster along with a local Los Cruces guide, and set out for a wooded track near Bosque Rio Negro for one species in particular: lance-tailed manakin. Hunting high and low a few finally caught a glimpse of this nemesis bird while the rest had to settle for “heard only”. We returned to Wilson for lunch and for a little down time after checking a nearby private property for a reported white-crested coquette which unfortunately didn’t appear. Tough day of birding to say the least.

waiting for a hummer that never appeared - but very pleasant place to wait, yes?

The next day more lowland roadside birding: scaled pigeon, broad-winged hawk, slaty spinetail, boat-billed flycatcher, rufous-browed peppershrike, black-bellied wren, rufous-breasted wren, Isthmian wren, black-striped sparrow, yellow-billed cacique, and rufous-capped warbler. A much bigger catch than the day before. Returning to the lodge, and because we’re now in a more humid climate, we took some time off to rest a bit. Some of the group couldn’t sit still - more time to walk the gardens as a light intermittent rain fell.

While leaving the dining area in the evening, the garden lighting had attracted a spectacularly large moth, a Orizaba silk moth (Rothschildia orizaba) also know as Rothchild's giant silk moth.

During our stay at Wilson we bumped into a couple of birders, Larry and Judy Geiger, we’d met in Texas during our RV'ng days. They were from Montana but served as the seasonal “bird hosts” at Goose Island State Park. “Bird hosts” meant that instead of assisting campers, they opened their site up to any and all birders, providing seating to observe feathered visitors to several well-stocked feeders and water drips scattered around their site.

Larry and Judy Geiger (left) with some birding friends they were traveling with

With breakfast out of the way, Didier drove us closer to the Osa Peninsula and our last lodge on the tour, Esquinas Rainforest Lodge. But of course Richard took time for some birding along the route. This included a variety of lowland habitats: rice fields near Ciudad Neily and the Puente Negro in the Colorado River area. Pale-vented pigeon, plain-breasted ground-dove, blue ground-dove, mangrove cuckoo, Veraguan mango, black-necked stilt, wood stork, bare-throated tiger-heron, spotted sandpiper, short-tailed hawk, Savanna hawk, Amazon kingfisher, scrub greenlet, yellow-crowned euphonia, bronzed cowbird, giant cowbird, gray-capped flycatcher, and eastern meadowlark.

Our route was to drive through the town of Golfito along the north shore of Golfo Duce, a body of water separating the Osa Peninsula from mainland Costa Rica, arriving at the lodge in time for our evening meal. But sometimes the best laid plans do go sideways. After passing through Golfito and turning onto the a wet and winding dirt road (it was raining on and off) we encountered an oncoming vehicle that stopped us to inform Didier that the road ahead was blocked by a fallen tree.

Continuing forward to see for ourselves, there was indeed a large tree that had fallen, taking power lines with it. Just before a bridge crossing, there was no way to go around, especially with possibly live electrical wires. Our only choice was to turn around and drive back through Golfito where we’d probably stop for dinner.

Richard phoned the lodge to tell them we would be late and stopping to eat elsewhere but the lodge insisted they would hold our evening meal. Foregoing eating in Golfito we forged ahead. An hour and a half later we arrived at Esquinas, tired and hungry! We immediately marched into the bar/restaurant area (emphasis on bar) deciding to forego the daily checklist until the next night. We were glad to be settled again, off the road, and well watered and fed. And fortunately, the power that the fallen tree had knocked out had not affected the lodge - or if it had, it had been repaired by the time we arrived.

Esquinas Rainforest Lodge is a jungle villa tucked into the remote Piedras Blancas National Park in southern Costa Rica. This was our last birding lodge stop and as close as we will come to the Osa Peninsula.

The main building, all under a large thatched roof, housed reception, a lobby, kitchen, bar and restaurant,. The menu consisted of typical Tico fare using organically grown vegetables and fruits from its own gardens. Women from nearby La Gamba prepared fresh dishes daily. The bar offered a myriad of drinks with the unusual sight of bats roosting on an interior wall. Very tropical indeed.

The tropical weather was definitely a lot more humid as we’re now close to sea level. The lodge offers an inviting swimming pool but usually on our bird tours we don’t have much time to this kind of goofing off. However, we reminisced about an earlier tour when we first visited Esquinas in 2007. During an afternoon lull as most of the tour swam in the pool, Richard arrived and using his iPod and attached speaker, played and danced to “My Girl”. Richard has a way of livening up tours with music.

The rooms are rustic cabins with private baths. Sorry - no air conditioning. But there was a large ceiling fan. And honestly, the nighttime temps were not all that bad - just humid.

Hibiscus

white witch moth (Thysania Agrippina)

Middle American ameiva (Holcosus festivus)

First thing in the morning, the best time for birding before the daytime temps get too warm, we gathered for our caffeine fix and fresh fruit drinks and light breakfast in the spacious dining area which offered views of surrounding vegetation. Fortified, we set out on a short walk on some of the trails.

During our morning walk we encountered the young man who, while we were eating at Paraiso Quetzal Lodge had been the one to draw our attention to a flyby resplendent quetzal. He informed us that the day before, while walking through some leaf clutter near where we were standing, he had been bitten by a coral snake! Or at least he thought he’d been bitten. To be on the safe side he was taken into a clinic in Golfito to be checked out. It was determined the snake had not broken the skin and therefore not a problem. The lesson learned was not to walk about wearing open-toed sandals! We noticed some of our tour was also a but more observant while walking through leaf litter.

Back in time for lunch then time off during the heat of the day before another walk that preceded our evening meal. That night we finally got caught up on our checklist from the previous day. Adult beverages were indeed refreshing. Birds on the day included: long-billed hermit (easily seen around the main building) northern jacana, slaty-tailed trogon, Baird’s trogon, gartered trogon, mealy parrot, dusky antbird, white-winged becard, red-eyed vireo, yellow-green vireo, Baltimore oriole, and blue-black grosbeak.

white-lined sac winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata)

Our next and last day of birding at Esquinas began with another walk about the property before boarding our coaster for some roadside birding on the La Gambia road. This was the same dirt road we would have arrived on were it not for the downed tree. Now coming from the opposite direction, we found the site where the downed tree had been removed. We were also surprised to discover just how close we’d been to getting to the lodge before we had to turn back and detour - about a ten minute drive!

very cooperative green heron

The birding was good today (as it has been on most days) adding: gray-chested dove, Costa Rican swift, lesser swallow-tailed swift, violet-headed hummingbird, white-crested coquette (for a few), purple gallinule, magnificent frigatebird, white ibis, ringed kingfisher, cocoa woodcreeper, pale-breasted spinetail (we’ve now seen all three possible spinetails!), band-tailed barbthroat, crowned woodnymph, a very cooperative poser green heron in front of the lodge’s main building, double-toothed kite, golden-naped woodpecker, great crested flycatcher, rusty-margined flycatcher, plain xenops, Chiriqui foliage-gleaner, eye-ringed flatbill, dusky-capped flycatcher, tawny-crowned greenlet, cliff swallow, red-breasted meadowlark, long-billed gnatwren, thick-billed seedfinch, and northern waterthrush.

Our last night at Esquinas was extra special in that this second tour was Richard’s last tour before retiring from guiding. That morning before we left the lodge, Carol had secretly requested a special celebration cake which the kitchen staff prepared for desert following our evening meal. She had requested that the wording on the cake read “Happy Trails”. This greatly confused the staff who sadly were not familiar with Roy Rogers.

a grainy still frame from the video

At the appropriate moment the cake was delivered to the table, complete with candles and applause. And of course, because this is Richard who always seems to be able to pull out the appropriate song on his iPod, he played Roy Rogers singing “Happy Trails” as we all joined in. There was enough cake leftover to share with the staff who were delighted and who while not understanding “Happy Trails” did appreciate the cake.

Our next day, our last full day of birding, was spent on a very long drive back to San Jose, but again, broken up with potty stops, lunch and naturally some roadside birding. Our route took us along the Pacific Coast where we enjoyed the opportunity to flesh out our bird list with coastal bird species: black-bellied plover, whimbrel, least sandpiper, willet, laughing gull, royal tern, brown pelican, tricolored heron, roseate spoonbill, plumbeous kite, zone-tailed hawk, and finally scarlet macaw!

As planned, Richard had us back at the Hotel Buena Vista by mid afternoon. Time to relax, spend some time packing, a quick dip in the pool for some, and time at the bar enjoying more spicy margaritas.

Tim explaining his top favorites of the tour

a moment of serious reflection

As we gathered for dinner and our final checklist tally, we shared our top five favorite birds of the tour amid much mirth and laughter. Then it was time to settle our accounts with the hotel and turn in as we all were facing early morning transport to the airport for our respective flights home.

L-R standing: Tom, Tim, John, Risé, Richard, Steve, Patty
seated: Carol, Bridget, Peggy

next to us, Risé and John have been on the most tours with Richard

we're going to miss him

It was a bitter sweet farewell as this was Richard’s last guided tour. We’d become good friends over the years since our first meeting in 2004. Many fun stories and shared adventures with so many of our birding friends. How fortunate we’ve been to have shared so much with so many.

Over the course of the month we had birded our way from the dry forests to the north near the Nicaraguan border to the south and the Panama border plus the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Aside from our start and finish destination for each tour at the Hotel Buena Vista, we visited eleven other lodges, two of which were new to us. Our final tally for both tours topped 500 species (504 of which 5 were heard only). And although our country list was already high, we still managed to add an amazing 22 new country birds with 7 of these being life birds.

We wondered…will there be a reunion tour…?