Little Costa Rica Birding Trip Report Part 1

Last year Arthur and I visited Costa Rica for 11 days in May. We flew into San Jose on May 6th and rented a car for our trip. We stayed in three different locations for casual birding and exploring on our own: Arenal Oasis Eco Lodge in the shadow of the Arenal Volcano in Fortuna; Hotel El Bosque in Monteverde; and Savegre Hotel Natural Reserve & Spa inside the Los Quetzales National Park. Here I’ll post some highlights from our time around Fortuna.

May 7 2016
In the morning of our first full day we had a guided birding walk arranged by the lodge. We hiked around the lodge’s property and picked up a modest list of 25 species, 22 (!!) of which were lifers. That afternoon we went to a local park, Ecocentro Danaus, where we had a guided walk and explored on our own. Here we picked up 24 species, 15 of which were lifers. Besides birds we saw a 2-toed Sloth with baby, Spectacled Caimans, and an Agouti with a baby. Later in the afternoon we walked to La Fortuna Waterfall and had a dip in the cool fresh water. That evening we took a night hike on the lodge’s grounds and saw lots of interesting snakes, frogs, and insects. I recorded highlights on an eBird list with no birds, including Fer-de-lance, Loquacious Tree Frog, and a baby Hognose Pit Viper.

Collared Aracari at Ecocentro Danaus

May 8 2016
Sunday morning we birded a bit at our lodge and then headed to a famous local birding site, Arenal Observatory Lodge. I tried to book this hotel for our trip but they were full. Luckily day visitors can explore the grounds for birding. Here we walked the trails and picked up 14 lifers over several hours and checklists: 16+1 species total; 10 species; 17 species; 3 species; 4 species.

View of Arenal volcano from the Observatory Lodge

Passerini’s Tanager at Arenal Observatory Lodge

Blue-throated Goldentail at Arenal Observatory Lodge

May 9 2016
We started the morning with a little bit of birding around the lodge before packing up and heading to Monteverde. On the way we stopped at a big cat wildlife rescue center, Centro de Rescate Las Pumas, where we saw 5 species, including 3 lifers. On the drive we picked up several other lifers, including our first Keel-billed Toucan. We arrived at our hotel late in the afternoon and signed up for that evening’s night hike. This time we did manage to find a few birds.

On the road to Monteverde

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron at Las Pumas

Costa Rica Lifers May 7-9 2016

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