Costa Rica Toucans and Hummingbirds 2020
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Rick Bowers leads
February 8-21, 2020
The name Costa Rica conjures up visions of miles of sun-drenched beaches , exotic plant and animal life and steamy rainforests. Lush jungles, teak and coffee plantations, cattle ranches, banana and cacao plantations, and active volcanoes exemplify the diversity of this Central American country. From cloud forest sub-alpine dwarf vegetation to tropical beach, you’ll experience a dizzying array of climatic conditions during the course of our tour. Costa Rica is an exceptional place to study plant, butterfly and bird life (with approximately 12,000, 1,000, and 850 species known respectively). The climate is gentle, ranging from warm and humid (80º – 90º) in the coastal low lands to cool early morning temperatures (40º) near 10,000 feet. Our itinerary provides us visits to many of the country’s best birding areas. Exceptional natural beauty, combined with tropical birdlife famous the world over, make our Costa Rican adventure a birding and photographer’s dream.
We start our trip with three nights at the beautiful Savegre Lodge at 7000 feet. The warm tropics give way to very cool mornings and very pleasant days searching the moss draped woodlands for Black Guan, Talamanca Hummingbird, Volcano Hummingbird, White-throated Mountain-Gem, Resplendent Quetzal, Collared Trogon, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Mountain Elaenia, Yellowish Flycatcher, a slew of thrushes, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Yellow-thighed Finch and Collared Redstart.
From Savegre we travel to the Arenal Observatory Lodge for two nights. The feeders at the lodge offer some great photo opportunities. Expected species include Crested Guan, Great Curassow, White-necked Jacobin, Violet-headed and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Gartered (Violaceous) Trogon, Broad-billed Motmot, Yellow-throated (Chestnut-mandibled) and Keel-billed Toucans, Red-lored Parrot, Dusky Antbird, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Stripe-breasted Wren, Costa Rica’s National bird the Clay-colored Thrush, Black-striped Sparrow and Montezuma Oropendola.
Next we move to the Atlantic Lowland Rainforest and the Laguna del Lagartos Lodge. This lodge offers opportunities to photograph Keel-billed Toucans, Yellow-throated Toucans, and Brown-hooded Parrots like no other location! Of course the feeders and adjacent trails attract many other species including Pale-vented Pigeon, Groove-billed Ani, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Russet-naped (Rufous-necked) Wood-Rail, Black-headed Trogon, Ringed and Amazon Kingfishers, Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Red-lored Parrot, and Spot-breasted Wren. Another very special opportunity here is the dedicated King Vulture blind. Rather than seeing King Vultures soaring hundreds of feet up or perched a half mile away, you get to watch them feed just 20 feet away! An astounding experience and the photo ops are fabulous!
From Laguna del Lagartos we travel east to Sarapiqui. La Quinta de Sarapiqui Lodge offers wonderful feeders as well as access to a huge variety of subtly different habitats that harbor a wealth of birds, mammals, and plants! Near the lodge we will look for Gray-headed Chachalaca, Bronzy and Long-billed Hermit, Purple-crowned Fairy, Spectacled Owl, Gartered (Violaceous) Trogon, Collared Aracari, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Crimson-collared Tanager, and Orange-billed Sparrow.
Nearby we visit a feeders with a many different birds. Crowned Woodnymph, White-necked Jacobin, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Yellow-throated Toucan, Bananaquit, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, and Buff-throated Saltator.
Our last stop will be the world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest searching for Black Guan, Green Hermit, Lesser (Green) Violetear, Lesson’s (Blue-crowned) Motmot, Blue-throated (Emerald) Toucanet, Yellowish Flycatcher, Three-wattled Bellbird, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, and Slate-throated Redstart.
We return to San Jose for a last night in fabulous Costa Rica and the end of a memorable trip.
Day 1: Arrival in San Jose. Arrive San Jose, Costa Rica, at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and transfer to nearby hotel Those arriving in San Jose today will be met at the airport by our driver. You will be met at the nearest point of public entry. The airport is small, and our meeting location is obvious. Those arriving in Costa Rica earlier can check in at the hotel at your convenience. NatureScape Tours will assist you with your travel arrangements in any way we can. Overnight San Jose.
Day 2: San Jose to Savegre Lodge. After an early breakfast we start our drive to Savegre Lodge. We leave the middle elevations of San Jose and climb Cerro de la Muerte (Summit of the Dead!). Along the way we will start to add birds and mammals to our list.
At lunch we will visit hummingbird feeders right outside the door of our restaurant that host the spectacular Fiery-throated Hummintgbird as well as Talamanca (Magnificent) Hummingbird and Scintillant Hummingbird. Other birds around the restaurant include Gray Silky Flycatcher, Collared Redstart, Sooty Thrush, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and Large-footed Finch.
Arriving at Savegre Lodge we get settled in our rooms and then visit another set of feeders on the grounds of the hotel. Mountain Elaenia, Lesser (Green) Violet-ears, White-throated Mountain-gem, Talamanca Hummingbird, the diminutive Scintillant and Volcano Hummingbirds, Flame-colored Tanager, and Rufous-collared Sparrow are a few of our targets here.
Day 3 & 4: Savegre Lodge. In the cool mornings we’ll shoot Slaty Flowerpiercers by our cabins, and the feeders will be busy with Lesser (Green) Violet-ears, Gray-tailed and White-bellied Mountain-gems, Talamanca (Magnificent), Fiery-throated Hummingbird and Scintillant Hummingbirds. We’ll have a search for the mystical Resplendent Quetzal. More possibilities are Black Guan, Ruddy Pigeon, Collared Trogon, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Spotted Barbtail, Ruddy Treerunner, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Dark Pewee; Boat-billed, Golden-bellied, Yellowish and Tufted Flycatchers. We’ll find Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Black-capped Flycatcher, Sooty Thrush, Flame-throated Warbler. Our nightjar and pygmy-owl search will be conducted after supper. Overnight: Savegre Lodge.
Day 5: Savegre to Arenal Volcano Observatory. On the Tower Road at over 11,000 feet we will walk slowly in the thin mountain air. Fiery-throated and Volcano Hummingbirds, Timberline Wren and Peg-billed Finch are our targets in this bleak and often foggy paramo habitat.
La Georgina Restaurante on the highway will be a welcome stop for a hot drink and a bird or two.Leaving the higher elevations we will drop toward middle elevation forest at Arenal Observatory Lodge. Sitting at the base of the Arenal Volcano our lodge boasts a wonderful set of feeders and fabulous grounds with beautiful plantings that attract legions of hummingbirds. If we can stay awake we will search for owls and nightjars nearby. Overnight: Arenal Observatory Lodge.
Day 6: Arenal Observatory Lodge. — We’ll add to our list of photographed species on the grounds of Arenal Observatory Lodge. Some of our target birds are Gray-headed Chachalaca, Crested Guan, Great Curassow, Red-billed Pigeon, Green-breasted Mango, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Fasciated Antshrike; Dusky, Spotted and Bicolored Antbirds, Thicket Antpitta, Yellow Tyrannulet, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Cinnamon Becard, White-throated Magpie-Jay. Overnight: Arenal Observatory Lodge.
Day 7: Arenal to Laguna del Lagarto. After a bit of shooting around Arenal, we will make our way to Laguna del Largotos near the Nicaragua border. This lodge offer some of the best photo opportunities for Keel-billed and Yellow-throated (Chestnut-mandibled) Toucans, Brown-hooded Parrots, and Montezuma Oropendola. One blind is specifically built to photograph vultures and the king of the show is, of course, the King Vulture. Most views of King Vultures are of birds soaring at great heights or perch on trees a quarter of a mile away. Not here, the birds are just three to thirty feet away feeding on carrion and oblivious to our presence! In addition there are many smaller birds to photograph at various feeders and even macro opportunities of frogs and snakes for those who wish.
Day 8 & 9: Laguna del Lagarto. We will have most of two days to enjoy numerous photo ops at this wonderful lodge! One afternoon we will visit the manager’s home that is set up to photograph small birds as well as hummers.
Here is a short video about some of the animals and activities at Laguna del Lagarto Lodge.
Day 10: Laguna del Lagartos to La Quinta de Sarapiqui. After a last morning photographing toucans and parrots we will head to the Caribbean lowlands near the town of Sarapiqui. This is one of the most biodiverse areas of Costa Rica and we will sample many different habitats and their many inhabitants.
Day 11: Sarapiqui area. This morning we will make a short drive to a farm where the owner has acclimated Great Green and Scarlet Macaws that nest on the farm to come in to natural perches. In addition to perched shots we should have opportunities at flight shots of these wonderful birds. What a morning it will be!
Day 12: La Quinta de Sarapiqui. Much of today will be spent at a nearby ranch setup for photography. We will shoot numerous thrushes, tanagers, honeycreepers, oropendolas, hummingbirds, motmots, and toucans and aracaris as well as more work with our high speed hummer setups. The question here is – where do I point my camera?
Day 13: La Quinta de Sarapiqui to San Jose. After an some final shooting around the hotel and breakfast we start our drive to San Jose. We will make a couple stops along the way including a hummingbird garden where we will have opportunities to photograph a couple new species such as Black-crested Coquette and Snowcap.
Day 14: Flights home. Please plan your flight home anytime this morning out of Juan Santamaría International Airport. Rick will drive everyone to the airport for your flights home. In addition to your luggage, you should have loads of great memories and tons of images to enjoy!
TOUR PRICING AND INFORMATION