Pura Vida!
With two teenage kids, who only want WiFi and swimming pools and a wife who is terrified of snakes, surely spending two weeks in the tropical rainforest would be the perfect choice for a family holiday?
I co-led a nature tour to Costa Rica 18 years ago, which was a fantastic introduction to this Central American wildlife paradise. Despite some tricky clients, I have fab memories of hatching baby turtles, chilled sloths, a dazzling rainbow of hummingbirds and mesmerising Resplendent Quetzals and had always been keen to return and particularly to take the family to some of the places I had visited. On my previous visit, we had spent a fair bit of time in the Highlands where we had seen most of the special birds characteristic of the area. We had also spent time on the Caribbean slope and on the coast, along with visiting the wetlands of Cano Negro on the Nicaraguan border. This time, I wanted to revisit some of these sites, but spend less time in the highlands and skip Cano Negro in order to free up time to head over to the Pacific coast, which I missed previously. This meant I would be unlikely to see some of the awesome birds I saw last time like the Quetzal, Flame-throated Warbler and Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher, but it meant I might see a few new ones over on the Pacific side. Also, it meant my daughter would get to experience beaches on both sides of the country, which she was very pleased about! Costa Rica is totally modern so the kids demand for WiFi wouldn't present a problem either.
Our plan was to fly via Toronto, Canada, (to avoid going through the USA and putting money into the dreadful Mr Trump's pocket) to San Jose, pick up a car and head north to Braulio Carillo, principally to look for Snowcap (a gorgeous little hummer), then east to Tortuguero, before returning back west into the hills around Arenal. We would then head up to the Monte Verde cloud forest seeking by dream bird - the Three-wattled Bellbird - before descending southwest to Carara and Tarcoles on the Pacific Coast, then further south to finish at Manuel Antonio. This was a reasonably ambitious itinerary, but roads are generally good, even in the wet season (fallen trees and landslides aside), and it meant we would get to check out a lot of different habitats in the just over two weeks we had available. I would fit my birding in around the family activities, but would indulge myself a couple of times with a morning out birding proper. There is so much wildlife around, with over 25% of the land protected for nature, that you can't help to see stuff even just doing family stuff, so I was excited to see what the fortnight would bring.
We headed out from Heathrow with Air Canada on 20th July, and after a brief stop in Toronto, headed south to San Jose, arriving after dark. Our first hotel was in the suburbs of San Jose and took quite a while to get to and we were greeted by a security guard with a pistol tucked in the back of his trousers. Yikes! How dodgy was this neighbourhood? We got through the night unscathed, welcoming the rest after a long journey. I woke to the sound of a Great Kiskadee shouting about dawn far too loudly, and a few other things that I guessed were Great-tailed Grackles and Clay-coloured Thrushes.
First morning
An hour round the hotel grounds reacquainted me with tropical sun and humidity, and some of the common Costa Rican species: the ubiquitous and vocal Great Kiskadees and Tropical Kingbirds, the visually-underwhelming national bird, Clay-coloured Thrush (think slightly paler female Blackbird), along with our first hummer of the trip, a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. Hoffmann's Woodpeckers were feeding in some of the taller trees and my first new bird of the trip came in the shape of several very handsome Rufous-backed Wrens; not sure how I missed this species last time!
Braulio Carillo National Park
A rainy journey up into the hills north of the capital, was made slightly worse by a long traffic jam on the road north from San Jose, as a crew cleared up an early landslide. Despite the frustration of being stationary, it was cool to watch Silver-throated Tanagers buzzing through the roadside trees and seeing big White-collared Swifts cruising overhead. After a bit, we turned off the road along the 2km hilly track to El Tapirus Lodge, nestled in the forest. We were greeted immediately by a male Coati, rootling around in the vegetation on the verge, followed by a whole heap of diminutive Collared Peccaries crossing the road.
Grey-headed Chachalacas bustled across the track in front of us and a Buff-rumped Warbler, seemingly always near a stream edge, zipped across the road, with a shining beacon rump, like some kind of Pallas's x Dusky Warbler hybrid. Arriving at the lodge, we parked up and piled out. Noticing my bins round my neck, one of the staff beckoned us over, saying 'Danta!'. To our astonishment, two Baird's Tapirs, known locally as Danta, had emerged from the forest to munch on some of the garden plants by the lodge! This mother and calf were not in the slightest bit bothered by us and didn't seem at all phased by their endangered status. Hunted to dangerously low levels, they are making a comeback through concerted conservation efforts, but we never expected to see them. Their mobile mini-trunks made me think of some kind of ancient Elephant ancestor, whilst their delicate white-edged ears gave them quite a dapper appearance. What a privilege and great start to our trip!
Checking in, we chucked bags into our cabin and headed straight down to the hummingbird garden, a patch of land the staff have planted with nectar-rich plants to attract hummers and insects. The patch was dominated by Violet-headed Hummingbirds (pic below), with a couple of Talamanca Hummingbirds and Long-billed Hermits zipping around too. I searched for a Snowcap, and just before giving up, I noticed a tiny hummer sitting quietly in a bush. A Snowcap! Not the stonking adult male I'd hoped for, but what was presumably a young male. Sol had the camera and by the time he got round to me, the Snowcap had shot off, so I didn't manage a pic. Nevertheless, I was delighted as this was the hummer I had hoped to see on this trip.
Toucans were very conspicuous as we approached dusk, with both Yellow-throated and Keel-billed sitting prominently and shouting their heads off. A Bat Falcon was a nice surprise, sitting on a high snag above the hummingbird garden, like a dinky Hobby, watching for emerging bats. It was time to head for dinner as the Pauraques called around us in the gloom.
Bat Falcon
The next day we took the aerial tram - a kind of cable car through the canopy of the rainforest. I felt this would be a bit naff, but it turned out to be brilliant, with a Tanager's eye view of the rainforest. Immersed in green, we nailed an adult male Snowcap for a start, and had incredible views of Swallow-tailed Kites catching insects low over the canopy. Being the wet season, it was quiet in the forest too, with few visitors, so we were pretty much the only people on the line.
Swallow-tailed Kite. Large numbers of this stunning raptor migrate to and through Costa Rica, but there is a small breeding population too. Definitely one of the world's best raptors!
Despite all this, the real highlight came over lunch, when Vicky spotted a movement in a nearby tree. Checking this out, I could see golden fur - surely not? A Tamandua! Sure enough, this gorgeous arboreal anteater was checking out some tree-nesting termites a few metres from where we were scoffing lunch! Nuts. This was an animal I had dreamt of seeing, but never thought we actually would. I had seen a road casualty last time, but felt the prospect of seeing a live one was remote. The Tamandua crept about in the tree, poking its long nose into various tangles, sniffing out ants and termites. It disappeared into a tangle presumably for a snooze. We high-fived, beaming like buffoons, and had a milky coffee to celebrate.
Bit of phone video of the Tamandua
Back at the hummingbird garden, a few extra species had shown up, including Purple-throated Mountain-gem, Blue-chested Hummingbird and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer - cool names- but no sign of yesterday's Snowcap.
Female Purple-throated Mountain Gem above, Blue-chested Hummingbird and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, bottom
Collared Aracari, a small, but smart toucan seen frequently during our trip -above, and Yellow-throated Toucan, one of the two large toucans seen.
Following a colossal downpour, we donned our welly boots and scampered out for a walk through the forest in the dark. Before we'd left the grounds, the sound of munching revealed a large male Baird's Tapir, mooching about on the edge of the forest. He was massive and again, unphased by our presence. After several minutes, he melted into the undergrowth. Class. We were guided round one of the trails, looking out for frogs and snakes. We did pretty well for both, seeing a fearsome Fer-de-Lance, one of the most dangerous of Neotropical snakes, lying next to the trail, and later a small Hognosed Pit Viper which you also don't want to get bitten by! Fer-de-Lances have a lethal bite and cause the most fatalities in this part of the world, due to their abundance in palm oil plantations, where they hang out to munch rats and mice, which thrive on the palm fruits.
Fer-de-Lance
Amphibians were much in evidence too, with some stunning Red-eyed Tree Frogs, probably the world's most iconic frog, along with diminutive but loud Tink Frogs, a see-through Glass Frog and a slightly odd and mewing Cat Frog.
The rain came in hard during the early hours and didn't let up by dawn. The noise on the cabin roof sounded like an avalanche of frozen peas, and woke me up far earlier than I had hoped. I had arranged for a local bird guide (Marvin) to take me out birding, but feared the worst given the weather. The rain eased briefly and we headed down the entrance track, through the dripping rainforest. My only Emerald Toucanet (pic below) of the trip was the highlight of a soggy walk, and together with White-shouldered Tanager and Russet Antshrike, were the only new birds seen before the rain poured down again.
The track from the main road crossed a river via a ford; the mere trickle we'd driven through a couple of days before had become a brown, swirling torrent! Marvin asked if we planned to leave today - we did - so he advised us to urgently get our car across, before we were marooned. We shot back up the trail and picked the car up. By the time we returned I was seriously worried about driving through the flooding river, but Marvin and one of the other staff said I should be ok, so I gave it a go. I had visions of getting washed sideways and away downriver, but it was fine in reality. This turned out to be a good move as when it was time to check out, the river was raging about a metre over the ford and there is no way we'd have got out. Thankfully, there was a footbridge, so we carried our gear over the churning maelstrom to our car on the other side. On the way out, we saw our first poison dart frog of the trip, a Strawberry (formerly known as Blue Jeans), a nice end to a lovely, if wet, few days.
Tortuguero National Park
With a yellow alert for coastal flooding on the eastern seaboard of Costa Rica, what better place to go than Tortuguero, on the east coast! The car park at La Pavona dock was flooded when we arrrived, so I did wonder if we would return to find a drowned vehicle...We caught the boat into the national park, which was speedier than I remembered, not giving much time for birding on route. We did see a few giant Ringed Kingfishers, sedate Green Ibis, and several dinky Green Herons, but otherwise not much. I had opted to stay away from the village proper, on an island nearby, where I hoped I could find a bit more wildlife around the lodge. The river down to the village was swollen and in spate, with large, dangerous looking trees floating downstream, giving our captain plenty of concern for his outboard motor. We arrived unscathed though immediately had to paddle through floodwater as most of the lodge grounds were flooded! We were smugly wearing our wellies, so were fine, but were quite surprised we'd not been warned about this. Other visitors rocked up in normal shoes and received a rather damp welcome!
There are two things Tortuguero is famous for, turtles nesting on the beach, and seeing wildlife in the network of canals. These activities are rigidly controlled by the park authority, which was good to see. Disturbance is kept to a minimum, all visitors are checked in and out and have to follow precise rules.
Our turtle experience was amazing, but rather surreal. After dark, we took a boat to the visitor centre, before being led silently on to the beach in a downpour, with a guide using a red light to avoid disturbance. As we arrived, we were greeted by the hulking form of a female Atlantic Green Turtle hauling herself back down to the beach and into the ocean. The beach here is a couple of miles long and hosts over 1000 breeding female Green Turtles, with a handful of a couple of other species thrown in. Remarkably, a large proportion of Costa Rica's Jaguar population comes here to feed on turtles and with a thermal imager you might stand a chance of seeing one hunting along the beach. Maybe next time! Shortly, we were taken to watch another female turtle laying her eggs, a real privilege for us to witness. Last time I came here, we watched open-mouthed as baby turtles clambered out of the sand and scuttled down to the waves, so this encounter completed the circle, albeit in reverse. To see this was pretty emotional and I was pleased at how respectful the guide was and how well behaved the folk in our group were. Once she had laid all her eggs, she began using her immense flippers to fill in the nest hole, protecting her precious clutch. After a lot of effort, she decided she'd done enough and it was time to head back seaward. We stepped away and left her to the privacy of darkness and her journey back into the ocean.
From top, Anhinga, juv Bare-throated Tiger Heron, juv Northern Jacana.
After our canoe trip, we got great views of Great Green Macaws feeding in almond trees in the village. This was a species I had seen at La Selva on my previous trip, but the numbers seemed to have increased and we saw a number of small flocks at Tortuguero, including one of c14 birds.
Birding the grounds of the lodge was quality, but difficult, with many birds remaining hidden high in the canopy - I'd forgotten how frustrating birding in the rainforest can be! With sweat running down into your eyes, you are squinting up into the lush foliage of the canopy, looking for the slightest movement - think searching in high Sycamores for Pallas's Warblers, but ten times worse!. Bird sound is all around, but most remain hidden. You have to keep one eye on the ground for snakes and avoid putting your hand on anything to avoid being stung by Bullet Ants! Having broken my phone, I couldn't use Merlin to help me ID the calls...back to old skool birding of actually having to see birds to ID them. Despite the neck breaking conditions I managed some great birds, including a trio of corking Chestnut-coloured Woodpeckers (pic below), Bright-rumped Attila and Collared Manakin. Both Spider Monkeys and White-faced Capuchins were common around the lodge, as were endearing Agoutis, large rodents - like a small Capybara - which presumably had been pushed into the grounds of the lodge by the floodwater. Loads of little Red Poison Dart Frogs were around the lodge too, flooded out of the leaflitter by the high water levels.
Too soon our time here was over and we boarded a boat back to La Pavona. A King Vulture was the highlight of the ride back as was the state of the car park, which had dried out completely, which was a massive relief.
Arenal
We headed back up the lush Caribbean slope to check out the mighty Arenal volcano. When I last visited, lava was spewing out of the top like a classic kids drawing, lighting up the night sky, but apparently two years later, in 2010, the volcano calmed down and it has been dormant ever since. The volcano is still a spectacular sight, but the fire show is over, at least for now. Most of time, as is standard, the cloud covers the summit, but every so often, we got a peek at the peak.
Weird Crested Guans appeared each evening before dusk sitting up in the Cecropia trees calling weirdly.
Early morning birding was exciting here, with Thicket Antpittas calling from the undergrowth, whilst spectacular Long-tailed Tyrants hunted from the wires and Yellow-throated Euphonias zipped around the canopy, occasionally coming a little lower.
A highlight of the Arenal area was a visit to the hanging bridges, a long forest trail with suspension bridges over the various gulleys and streams. The kids loved this and it meant I got to check out a few birds too, but being early afternoon and hot, bird activity was limited. A smart Grey Hawk circled over the entrance when we arrived, and shortly after entering the trail, we picked up two gorgeous Rufous Motmots sitting close by. Motmots and Trogons are large colourful forest birds, but are very easy to overlook as they sit motionless for long periods, so it is easy to walk past them without noticing.
Just round the corner, a family were watching something intently on the forest floor. We wondered whatt, perhaps a snake? So we quietly walked up and to our amazement, another Tamandua was creeping about on the floor literally a couple of metres away! This was totally unexpected - I didn't think we'd see one, let alone two! We stood silently and it was completely unbothered by our presence, checking out various tree stumps and tangles for food. At one point it walked along a log straight towards me. I could scarcely breathe! After watching for a few minutes, it headed into a thick tangle of undergrowth and disappeared.
Monte Verde and Curi Cancha
Leaving Arenal to consider when it might wake up, we headed up the winding road to spectacular Monte Verde, a well-known area of protected cloud forest. Being the wet season I expected it to be raining, so was pleased when it wasn't, so after checking in to our hotel, we headed straight into the national park for an afternoon walk. The forest here is stunning, with giant tree ferns among the trees and a carpet of mosses, ferns, orchids and bromeliads growing on every surface, and great beards of lichen hanging down from the branches. The area is cooler here due to the altitude (c1500m) and a whole new set of birds can be found. One of the first birds we saw was a classy Azure-hooded Jay, followed by a pair of unusually showy Slaty-backed Nightingale Thrushes, bouncing around on the path like oversized Robins. I could hear the ethereal sliding whistles of a Black-faced Solitaire in the canopy and the trills of Ochraceous Wrens, which unlike many of their cousins, seem to hang out high up and out of sight. Back at the hotel, a Coppery-headed Emerald was visiting the porterweed in the garden.
The next morning I was up with the lark to meet local bird guide Justin Alvarado. Justin picked me up and we drove the short distance to Curi Cancha reserve. Waiting for the site to open, we birded the car park, starting things off with Blue-vented Hummingbird, White-throated Thrush and Ruddy Pigeon. Heading into the park, a Collared Trogon showed well, sitting quietly in the understorey, and a little further on, a confiding troop of gangly Spider Monkeys moved past.
Collared Trogon
After good views of Chestnut-capped Brushfinches feeding on the trail, a few moments later we arrived at a spot on the trail, where Justin pointed to a rather unobtrusive dead twig above the trail. He explained that this was one of the bellbird's favourite songperches, so we should wait to see if he would show up. To my astonishment and delight, a few minutes later, the large white-headed, ginger cotinga flew in and alighted exactly where Justin said it would. Flippin' 'eck, what a cracking and mad looking bird!
He proceeded to excitedly hop sideways along the branch, before inflating his throat, opening his beak incredibly wise and producing a piercingly-loud whistle, followed by an open-mouthed pause then the loud bell-like 'eenk', with a few creaks thrown in for good measure. His totally bizarre three wattles dangled around randomly, with one either side of his beak and one over the top. His eye seemed disproportionately large, setting off his white head with a cute expression. Clearly pumped up with hormones, he changed position frequently, calling repeatedly, putting on a great show. Absolutely class and exceeding all expectations.
Further birds showed well, including Eye-ringed Flatbill and White-throated Spadebill, two small interestingly-named flycatchers. A Black-faced Solitaire gave itself up having frustrated me at Monte Verde yesterday, and I added a Black-headed Nightingale Thrush to the growing list. We headed up to the 'hummingbird garden' which had been planted with nectar-rich flowers and had a few hummingbird feeders up too. We chilled out among the frenzied activity, keeping an eye open for Fiery-throated Hummingbird which had been reported recently and which would be a new bird for Justin's Monte Verde list. Shortly, this wee cracker showed up, and gave great views around the garden.
Fiery-throated Hummingbird. A cracker!
Other hummers present included the majestic Violet Sabrewing, Lesser Violet-ear, Green Hermit, Green-crowned Brilliant and Stripe-tailed Hummingbird and the tiny and endearing Coppery-headed Emerald.
From top, Coppery-headed Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, Stripe-tailed Hummingbird and Violet Sabrewing.
Cat Dip
Back on to the trail, Justin received a call, but sadly the network broke up. Shortly, we bumped into a friend of his, who asked him if he had heard about the Puma. The Puma? The penny dropped: this is what the other guy had called Justin about. We shot down to where it had been seen, and met the lucky guide, but the bad news that the cat had gone. They had spotted it up a large tree, where it sat glaring down at them for ten (!) minutes, before suddenly dashing down the trunk and sprinting off into the forest. His video and pics were absolutely jaw-dropping. Justin was gutted - he's birded this place for years and never seen a Puma. I was thrilled we'd come that close to an apex predator, but of course gutted we'd missed it. However, I had still had the most incredible morning, so was fairly chill about the whole thing. It was great to know it was out there somewhere, probably not too far away!
With our tails between our legs, we made out way back down the hill to the car park, notching up an impressive Tropical King Snake, which after slithering around for a bit, fell out of the tree on to the forest floor with a large crump. It disappeared off seemingly unharmed. A few more birds fell at the death, including Ruddy Pigeon, Lesson's Motmot and Ruddy Woodcreeper. What a morning! Thanks Justin!
The Pacific Slope: Tarcoles/Carara NP
It was sad to leave the beautiful cloud forest of Monte Verde, but the second half of the hol would see us descend the Pacific slope. Our plan was to pause near Tarcoles so we could check out some dry forest and also have a brief look at Carara NP, which has a massive reputation for birding. I had hired a guide, Jeison Hernandez for a morning here, so had high hopes for a few extra birds. We checked into a very hot and humid Cerro Lodge, not far from the Tarcoles river crossing, and was delighted to find it had a pool, so we could cool off from the afternoon heat. One species high on my target list, was the very familiar, but incredibly spectacular Scarlet Macaw, and to our delight, whilst relaxing in the pool a pair of these stunning birds flew in and landed in a nearby almond tree and began feeding. What utter stunners!
Justin had given me the name of a friend, Santiago Adaniz, who could potentially take us out to look for owls. This sounded great, so I dropped him a line and despite the short notice, he agreed to take us out that evening. We met Santiago down at Tarcoles and he immediately showed us a Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, perched in a tree in the car park - superb! The little guy was pretty chilled and just sat for ages, scanning around. This was a great start.
We followed Santiago down the road to a plantation where he soon located the next species, a Black-and-White Owl, perched high in the canopy. This was another cracking species and one I would have struggled to find on my own. We watched it watching us for several minutes, before deciding to move on.
Dusk descended and we went to one of Santiago's friend's houses, as he had a pair of Pacific Screech Owls in his garden. Sure enough as darkness fell, the owls started to call from the nearby trees and after a short wait, one flew closer and began calling. With the help of a torch, we spotted the little Scops-like owl, perched in a low tree. Three owls in 45 minutes, fantastic!
Santiago wasn't finished and took us back to the road to our lodge to look for the last species he hoped to find for us, Spectacled Owl. This is a big owl and to his surprise did not seem to be around the usual stake-out. We gave it 30 minutes but didn't hear a peep out of it. The family were getting restless and ready for dinner, so we dropped them back at the lodge and headed to a second site. Pauraques were all over the dusty track and I had to be careful not to hit any as I bumped along. One refused to move, so I pulled up and took a pic, before it zipped off into the gloom.
As soon as we got out of the car, we could hear Spectacled Owls calling nearby and shortly, a pair flew in to a large tree over the track and began calling. They gave superb views and were entirely unbothered by our presence and didn't seem to mind being lit up with a torch for a few pics.
The evening's entertainment wasn't entirely over, as this massive Tarantula had taken up residence in our bathroom. The bathroom had no exterior wall - very funky of course being open to the forest, but it did mean beasties like this could wander in! I gently encouraged it to go and hunt somewhere else, so we could use the toilet without freaking out.
After a great evening, I met Jeison at 6am and we headed straight into the dry forest close to our lodge. First up, a pair of Double-striped Thick-knees hanging out with Southern Lapwings in a nearby pasture. Typical thick-knees, they stood motionless, like a couple of weird reptiles, eyeing me suspiciously. We birded up the road through the dry forest in the increasing heat, picking up loads of good birds, including the parrot-hunting Grey-headed Kite, an unusually showy Striped Cuckoo and some dry forest specials such as White-lored Gnatcatcher, Olivaceous Piculet, Nutting's Flycatcher and Yellow-olive Flatbill. A stonking Turquoise-browed Motmot completed the set of this family, and was easily the best looking of the lot!
From top, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Grey-headed Kite, Striped Cuckoo
It approached 8am, so we headed up the road to Carara NP. We only had a couple of hours, so we barely scratched the surface of this legendary birding site, but still managed to catch up with some cracking birds, including Blue-crowned Manakin, Riverside Wren, Northern Black-throated Trogon, Great Curassow and White-whiskered Puffbird. There were quite a few species I'd hoped to see but had missed, but it was very ambitious to think we'd see everything in such a short spell. I thanked Jeison for an excellent morning and I headed back to the lodge to pick up the family, before our drive down to Manuel Antonio, the last stop in our tour.
Manuel Antonio
