Costa Rica Birding Adventure
By Jo Anne Lafferty, Golden Eagle Audubon Board Member
Costa Rica is known for many things: sloths, shade-grown coffee, volcanos, beaches, cloud forests, and blue morphos. It attracts zipliners, canoeists, hikers, beach lovers, and sight seers. But we were birders, and our visit to one of the world’s most biodiverse countries was to see our share of its nine hundred species of birds.
I was thrilled to be part of Golden Eagle Audubon Society’s first International Travel Adventure in January. I was one of twelve excited birders who flew to the capitol of San Jose and met at the bird-friendly Hotel Bougainvillea. The hotel’s garden is overflowing with native plants. We were lucky to spot a pair of Mottled Owls in a eucalyptus grove, Lesson’s Motmots, Montezuma Oropendolas (one of my favorites), Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet-rumped and Blue-gray Tanagers. I promised myself I would not list all my favorite birds for obvious reasons, but I just want you to know that you would love this place.
I recorded almost two hundred bird species during our nine-day Naturalist Journeys tour, thanks to our knowledgeable and tenacious guide, Armando, and our amazing crew of Idaho birders. I am not the most dedicated counter, so we may have seen more. Dean Jones will share photos and stories of this incredible trip at the monthly Golden Eagle Audubon Society program on June 17. It’s at the Boise Library at Ustick and Cole at 6:30. Mark your calendars!
A Journey Through Rainforest and River Valley
On January 3 we traveled by bus to Pierella and Sarapiqui, stopping along the way at a soda (little cafe) to have a traditional snack. Armando spent time trying to spot an American Dipper at the roadside waterfall, but most of us were too mesmerized by the hummingbirds at the soda’s feeders to pay much attention. We saw twenty different species of hummers by the end of this trip! The rainy season overextended itself, so after visiting Pierella Ecological Gardens, a family-owned butterfly farm, we bused to Selva Verde Lodge for the night. My favorite sighting of the day was the nest of Honduran White Bats at Pierella.
We spent the next rainy day visiting one of the world’s premier tropical research stations, La Selva Biological Station, in a lowland rainforest ecosystem comprising 3900 undisturbed acres. We hiked to their lookout tower, planting native trees along the muddy way. On a clear day we could have seen Nicaragua from the tower, but visibility was limited. We spent the night at Selva Verde, and ate meals on the covered deck watching hummers, tanagers, honeycreepers, oropendola and chachalaca antics.
January 5, Sunday, we woke to a sunny day in the Central Valley. We took a half day river trip on the Sarapiqui River where we spotted Anhingas, swallows, egrets, herons–Great Blues, Little
White bats by Jo Anne Lafferty
Blues, Greens, and Bare Throated Tigers, Amazon and Green Kingfishers, and a mother sloth caring for her baby. By this point we were all experiencing Pura Vida, although some in the group weren’t ready to relax until we spotted some of the more elusive and impressive species.
We birded before breakfast (tipico) on Monday and then left for Turrialba and Rancho Naturalista. Rancho Naturalista, at 3,000 feet, sits above the little town of Suisse. Temperatures are cooler. We saw dozens of birds at the feeders, and we also saw agoutis, coatis, and a tyra, which resembled a big black river otter. (Did I mention that we’d already seen a peccary, howler monkeys, and variegated squirrels?) We hiked around this mid-montane ecosystem until Wednesday.
Armando started mentioning the cooler temperatures as we bussed by the 11,000 foot Mountain of Death. We walked along a local road and spotted beautiful Great Green and Scarlet Macaws, then finally, before sunrise on January 9, we saw the Resplendent Quetzal, which appeared in its favorite avocado tree after we’d waited about an hour without coffee with a group of students and birders. What a tail! Very early the next morning we were awakened by an announcement that a pair of quetzals was in the parking lot of our lodge. We raced out in our slippers, awestruck, and chased the pair around, binoculars in hand, until we loaded the bus.
We named our favorite sightings at our last get together. The list included the Sun Bittern, various hummingbirds, motmots, kingfishers, woodpeckers, honeycreepers, seedeaters, and the quetzals, and we also named the Great Potoo and a Ruddy Quail Dove. So many choices. So many birds.
Golden Eagle Audubon October Trip to Costa Rica
Registration is open for this unforgettable private birding experience to visit an amazing, ecologically rich area while supporting the birds in your own backyard! Danae Fails, our Stewardship Coordinator, will host the small group of twelve. See this link for all the details. When you are ready to register and/or if you have questions, email Cynthia Wallesz, at cwallesz@goldeneagleaudubon.org. Hasta luego!