Introduction. I visited Costa Rica with Nick Preston and Colin Winyard in 1985 (see https://birdingneversleeps.blogspot.com/1985/08/). It was a good trip but with new sites (and some old one's we'd not been to) a return was worth serious consideration. Paul Noakes was in a similar situation and looked into the logistics of a private trip. It didn't take much to convince Nick and I that we'd like to go too. Paul devised a fairly flexible itinerary based on recent trip reports and ebird sightings but finding a three week slot when we were all available almost proved insurmountable. It was only possible if fitted in to finish a week before departing on an already twice delayed Amazonian Brazil trip. This was not ideal on several levels and didn't go down too well at home. We booked flights to San Jose (via Bogota with Avianca). Paul tweaked the itinerary to match the availability of a couple of guides, booked a vehicle and most of our accommodation. Photos are mine or Paul's (larger and obviously better quality).
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| Nick, Colin and me at Monteverde in August 1985 - day 4 and two of us had just caught up with Wrenthrush, the other having already seen two |
Monday 18 April. I left home at 12:40, bus to
Brighton where I had an hour to wait for the Heathrow bus which arrived on
time. The traffic was OK until Heathrow where it took 30 minutes to travel from
T5 to T2. Nick was already there and Paul arrived soon after, his train having
been cancelled at Ipswich. Only 5.5 hours to departure. Check-in proceeded with
no issues. Our Avianca flight was on time but the most uncomfortable I can
remember (Boeing 787) with snack food and disappointingly limited entertainment.
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| a new bag for my first foreign trip in over 2 years |
Tuesday 19 April. We arrived in a wet Bogota at 09:30
with 5 hours to wait in transit. Our San Jose flight was on time, we picked
up an Amigo rental car, a sturdy Toyota Rush, and were birding in the nearby Walmart car park by
11:00 with Cabanisi’s Ground Sparrow the first notable species seen by the Rio Porrosati. We drove north out of San Jose heading on a rather circuitous route to Horquetas River Lodge, our accommodation for the night. We
birded on the western slopes of Volcan Poas at La Paz Waterfall and along the higher road overlooking it. Here it
took some effort to find Sooty-faced Finch but perseverance paid off. We continued north, stopping at Cinchona (Emerald Toucanet) and Virgin del Sirocco (Crested Guan) while there was still reasonable light. We were staying on the opposite side of Braulio Carillo National Park, less than 25km in a straight line but 70km by road. Continuing north we dropped rapidly into the lowlands (expectedly hot and humid) and joined Highway 4 which took us east past La Selva before turning south towards San Jose. By now it was quite dark and we weren't sure how much further along the road the lodge was or how obvious it would be. In the event we passed the lodge twice without seeing the turn-off although a major traffic holdup on Highway 4 nearby didn't help. An attempt to bypass
the stationary traffic by taking a dirt road failed as there was a ditch about 50m
short of our rejoining the road beyond the accident – not the first time MapsMe
was to let us down by suggesting roads that proved impassible (unless on a motorcycle with a conveniently placed plank). We finally reached
the lodge after seeking the assistance of a passing traffic cop who phoned the lodge for directions and then kindly escorted us to its turning (not the only time we'd be helped by traffic police). Without his help we might have driven past another two or three times as the signpost was not particularly large and hard to spot against the lights of traffic moving slowly the other way due to the accident. Horquetas River Lodge was basic but comfortable and a convenient
place to stay pretty equidistant between Braulio Carillo and La Selva. It was run
by a friendly lady who was happy to make us breakfast at 05:00 and we made it our
base for two days. An abortive look for what we thought was a calling owl but was probably a frog
was worsened by my losing my torch in the process. Not a great start as it was brand new.
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| unexpected 'passenger' on the flight to San Jose |
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| female Baltimore Oriole at La Cinchona |
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| adult male Baltimore Oriole at La Cinchona (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Crimson-collared Tanager at Virgin del Sirocco |
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| Crested Guan at Virgin del Sirocco |
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| Crested Guan at Virgin del Sirocco (photo: Paul Noakes) |
Wednesday 20 April. After 05:00 breakfast we drove to
Braulio Carillo’s Quebrada Gonzales Sector arriving about 05:30. The reserve
was closed until 07:00 so we parked outside (notorious for brake-ins but we had no gear in the car) and walked
Sendero Ceibo opposite the headquarters building without seeing much. We
entered the main part of the reserve soon after it opened and spent until 11:15
on Sendero Las Palmas, the main trail, which was also disappointingly quiet. Yellow-eared
Toucanet was about the best bird I saw although Nick saw Nightingale Wren which I missed.
After lunch we headed back to the lodge, being delayed again on Highway 4, this
time by 15 minutes for grass cutting. We had a quick look around the lodge but it
was very hot with few birds, and no sign of my lost torch, and then drove to
the La Selva. We walked the entrance road and nearby forest edge. White-ringed
Flycatcher was the day’s first new bird but while watching it through my
telescope Nick saw a male Snowy Cotinga fly directly overhead. Paul was nearby and saw it in silhouette. Very frustrating for me as it was one of my key
target birds. The day was later saved by two pairs of Great Green Macaws in a more open area although they were not approachable.
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| Northern Tamandua at Braulio Carillo |
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| White Hawk at Braulio Carilo |
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| Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher at Braulio Carillo (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Ochre-bellied Flycatcher at Braulio Carillo (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Yellow-eared Toucanet at Braulio Carillo |
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| Shining Honeycreeper at Horquetas River Lodge |
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| Rufous Mourner along La Selva entrance road (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Black-faced Grosbeak along La Selva entrance road (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Black-throated Trogon along La Selva entrance road |
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| Gartered Trogon along La Selva entrance road |
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| White-ringed Flycatcher at La Selva (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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Great Green Macaw outside La Selva (photo: Paul Noakes). Much more colourful than its name suggests
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Thursday 21 April. A calling Spectacled Owl
gave brief flight views at dawn with an even earlier breakfast before we left
at 05:00. We returned to the La Selva entrance road and adjacent track from 06:00-08:00 seeing a pair of Rufous-winged Woodpeckers but no repeat of the cotinga
action and little else. An American couple staying there asked if we were going
to Rancho Naturalista as they’d forgotten to hand in their key. We would be passing
and said we’d return it, hoping doing so would allow us to look around. We
returned to Horquetas River Lodge and left at 08:45. We called in at Cope’s
Place from 09:15-09:45. It was very tranquil considering its location but the
semi-resident White-tipped Sicklebill wasn’t around and after seeing Green-breasted
Mango, Bronze-tailed Plumleteer and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
we soon moved on. We drove to Rancho Naturalista, arriving early afternoon
after stopping briefly at Las Quelitales where no hoped for Black-bellied
Hummingbirds had been seen recently. By way of thanks for returning their room
key we were taken up to one of the meadows above Rancho Naturalista where a
Lovely Cotinga had been seen coming into a fairly distant tree. It was mainly
seen in the mornings but we thought it was worth a couple of hours looking. No
luck and we continued the short distance on to Cabanas Colibri where we were
spending the night. A pleasant lodge with an owner with ambitions we felt might be hard to realize.
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| Tiny Hawk at La Selva (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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male Fasciated Antshrike at La Selva (photo: Paul Noakes)
 | female Fasciated Antshrike at La Selva (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Rufous-winged Woodpecker at La Selva |
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron at Cope's Place |
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| Clay-coloured Thrush at Cope's Place |
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| Pale-vented Pigeon at Cope's Place |
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| White-necked Jacobin at Cope's Place |
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| Lesson's Motmot at Rancho Naturalsta |
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| Brown Jay at Rancho Naturalista (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Crested Guan at Rancho Naturalista |
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| Common Basilisk at Rancho Naturalista |
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| Keel-billed Toucans at Rancho Naturalista |
Friday 22 April. We met Cali, our guide for the
morning, at 05:30 and drove for nearly an hour into the tribal lands to Tsiripi, an area where a Lovely Cotinga had been seen regularly. After a tense 15 minutes of scanning Cali picked up a very
distant Lovely Cotinga sat out on the top of a tree on the far side of the valley. Fortunately a new, tarmacked road
went that way, although it was exceptionally steep and not somewhere I would have been comfortable driving. After securing tickable scope views, in case the cotinga flew, we jumped
in the car and were soon enjoying closer views. Brilliant through a telescope but still a bit distant for photography. We left the cotinga about 08:00 for an hour’s drive along more very rough dirt
roads towards a piprites site a Turrialba. The last part involved crossing a ford and continuing along what was soon little more than a footpath along the side of a meadow where we left the car by a farm building. It was a steep climb up into the forest and we reached the area
at 09:20. Finding Grey-headed Piprites took longer than anticipated but
we eventually did so after about an hour although it took me another 30 minutes
to obtain decent views and even then it could have stayed still for longer! We
were back at the car at 12:00, returned to Cabanas Colibri at 13:50 and left soon
after 14:00. We arrived at El Copal at 15:00 to be greeted by Snowcaps
on their Verbena. We dumped our stuff and walked the trail for 3 hours but saw very
little, a Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush being the highlight.
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| male Lovely Cotinga at Tsiripi |
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| male Lovely Cotinga at Tsiripi (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| forest at Turrialba |
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| looking back down to where we'd left the car |
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Stripe-breasted Wren at Turrialba (photos: Paul Noakes)
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| Bicoloured Antbird at Turrialba |
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| Bicoloured Antbird at Turrialba (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Spotted Antbird at Turrialba |
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| Spotted Antbird at Turrialba (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Northern Royal Flycatcher at Turrialba |
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| Northern Royal Flycatcher at Turrialba (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Eastern Kingbird at Turrialba (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| White-throated Flycatcher near Cabinas Colibri Tayutic (photo: Paul Noakes) |
Snowcap at El Copal (photos: Paul Noakes)
Saturday 23 April. We were out at 05:00 walking the
El Copal trails. We started on the anti-clockwise section of the main forest trail
hoping for an early Quail-Dove but without success. A Tawny-chested
Flycatcher was heard but views were brief as it failed to perform. We retraced
our steps to the lodge and birded the trail clock-wise. After a short distance
a Purplish-backed Quail-Dove responded to tape and Nick picked it up
walking below us. It crossed the trail ahead of us giving good but brief views as it did
so. It was then a long gradual climb up a ridge to the hill’s summit. We
continued down a steeper ridge and a second try for Tawny-chested Flycatcher
gave me another, still not great, view. We returned for breakfast at 09:50 and
were out on the anti-clockwise section of the trail again from 10:00-12.30 when
we returned for lunch. We left soon after 13:00 for the cross-county drive to Hotel
Las Brumas, in Cartago at the base of Volcan Irazu. After dumping our bags we
drove to the Nochebuena Museo Volcanes & Sendero where a quick walk on the trail
produced a Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge for Paul and Nick, I was behind
them and missed it. We continued up to our rendezvous at the entrance of Irazu
National Park, seeing a Volcano Junco while waiting. Pablo and Diego
were involved in an Unspotted Saw-whet Owl project on some of the private farms
in the area and had agreed to help us see one on a finca nearby, for a not inconsiderable fee!. We were told
it wasn’t be best time of year but they were hopeful as one had been seen on
their previous visit. We spent 5 hours with them visiting 3-4 territories without
seeing any owls, not even the commoner Bare-shanked Screech Owl. We heard both
species erratically and rarely close. The one time a Saw-whet was close some
rather injudicious torch waving before it could be pinned down didn’t, in our
view, appear to help the cause. Silhouette views of Dusky Nightjar were
hardly any compensation. Pablo and Diego tried hard for us but it was a very
disappointing outcome.
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| Grey-headed Kite at El Copal (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Northern Schiffornis at El Copal (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Nick and Paul on the trail at El Copal |
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird at Hotel Quelitalis (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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