This is the final blog covering a trip to Costa Rica with Nick Preston and Paul Noakes. Paul was the instigator and to all intents and purposes Nick and I went long for the ride. A very good ride it was too, far exceeding expectations. We had arrived at Arenal the previous afternoon and were looking forward to a day on the Arenal Observatory Lodge trails. Photos are mine and Paul's (credited, although being included in a larger format due to their higher quality makes them easy to spot).
Sunday 08 May. We birded the trails at Arenal Observatory
Lodge but found them rather quiet. Highlights for me were 2 male Great Curassows,
3 Rufous and 2 Broad-billed Motmots, 2 Rufous-tailed Jacamars,
2 Red-lored Parrots, Russet Antshrike, male Dull-mantled
Antbird, Stripe-breasted Wren, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush
and 2 White-throated Shrike-Tanagers. The antbird was my only new bird,
its name hardly doing it justice. We called in at Sky Adventures on the way
back, having been told it was a good site for Blue & Gold Tanager which
Paul was particularly keen to see (Nick and I had in 1985, not that I have any
recollection of so doing). We arranged, and paid, for access from 05:45 the
following morning and met a local guide who implied the tanagers were
widespread, without being specific as to where was best to look. I asked about Tody Motmot and was told he’d
heard one a few days before at the far end of the second bridge, increasing my
interest in the place significantly! We called in at Bogarin Trail again,
having been told we could use yesterday’s tickets as we’d not all seen Uniform
Crake. Paul tried a trail and found a couple with his thermal imager while
Nick and I glimpsed one run across the main track while watching a Rufous-naped
Wood-Rail at the entrance pool. I did a quick circuit of the main trail
failing to find Keel-billed Motmot or the Black & White Owls but had left
it rather late as the light was fading fast.
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| Volcan Arenal from the Observation Tower |
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| Lake Arenal from the Observation Tower |
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| Arenal Observatory Observation tower |
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| Keel-billed Toucan at Arenal Observatory |
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| Red-lored Amazon at Arenal Observatory |
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Red-lored Amazon at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Collared Aracari at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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Rufous Motmot at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes)
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Green Honeycreeper at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Mantled Howler Monkey at Arenal Observatory |
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| Volcan Arenal |
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| White-nosed Coati at Arenal Observatory (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Rufous-tailed Jacamar at Arenal Observatory |
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| Broad-billed Motomot at Arenal Observatory |
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| looking down on Great Curassow from Observation Tower |
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| Grey-headed Chachalaca at Arenal Observatory |
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| Variegated Squirrel at Arenal Observatory |
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| Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Dull-mantled Antbird at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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Blue-vented Hummingbird at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes)
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Violet-headed Hummingbird at Arenal Observatory (photo: Paul Noakes)
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Scarlet-rumped Tanager at Arenal Observatory
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| Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth by the road near La Fortuna |
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| Grey-headed Chachalaca at Bogarin |
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| Russet-naped Wood-Rail at Bogarin |
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| Muscovy Duck at Bogarin |
Monday 09 May. We arrived at Arenal Sky
Adventures Park at 05:45 and spent all day on the trails. During the day we
walked to bridges 1 &2, back to 1 in the hope of seeing some canopy flocks,
then the long loop back to reception – bridge 2, waterfalls and bridges 3 &
4. Blue & Gold Tanagers did not appear to be at all common as we did not
encountered any. We had more success with Tody Motmot with two birds
responding to tape at the far end of Bridge 2, something I’d wanted to see for
years. The whole place was somewhat futuristic with people on a couple of different
zipwires shooting over the canopy and a three coach cable car taking others up
to the start of one of them. Back at reception mid-afternoon we met the bird
guide who had told us about the tanager and motmot. He was a bit more specific
about the tanagers suggesting they were best seen on the one trail we’d not
done. It wasn’t actually marked on my map but was a turning off the main trail
after bridge 2. We quickly headed back over bridges 1 & 2 and followed the
new trail but our only encounter was about halfway round when Nick saw one in
an almost invisible canopy bird flock that neither Paul or I managed to get
onto. As the light was fading I managed to miss several wrens and 3
Dull-mantled Antbirds in the gloomy undergrowth which was frustrating, not
helped by Nick’s directions for one of the latter – ‘it’s by the dead leaf’, me
‘there are a lot of dead leaves’, Nick ‘by the brown one’, virtually all were
brown! Returning to bridge 1 for a final scan we were turfed out (nicely) at
17:30 and back at the entrance ours was the only car remaining. Other birds I
saw during the day were Purple-crowned Fairy, 2 White-crowned Parrots,
Russet Antshrike, Spot-crowned Antvireo, an Ocellated and
3 Spotted Antbirds, Bay Wren, 2 Black-headed
Nightingale-Thrushes, Canada Warbler and Black & Yellow
and White-throated Shrike-Tanagers.
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| Nick on one of the Sky Bridges at Arenal Sky Adventures |
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| unidentified red-eyed bug on the second Sky Bridge |
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| me on the second Sky Bridge |
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Sky Tram at Arenal Sky Adventures
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view from the Sky Walkway at Arenal Sky Adventures
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Bay-headed Tanager at Arenal Sky Adventures
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| White-crowned Parrot at Arenal Sky Adventures |
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Lesser Greenlet at Arenal Sky Adventures (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Emerald Tanager at Arenal Sky Adventures (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Tody Motmot at Arenal Sky Adventures |
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| one of my most wanted bird in Costa Rica |
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Buff-rumped Warbler at Arenal Sky Adventures
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Buff-rumped Warbler at Arenal Sky Adventures (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Ocellated Antbird at Arenal Sky Adventures |
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| Ocellated Antbird at Arenal Sky Adventures (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Spotted Antbird at Arenal Sky Adventures |
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Spotted Antbird at Arenal Sky Adventures (photos: Paul Noakes)
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Tuesday 10 May. Paul had decided to return to Arenal Sky Adventure Park for a final look for Blue & Gold Tanager while I was keener on trying the Arenal Peninsular Road to look for Bare-headed Antbird. Nick fancied a change of scenery too so Paul drove to the Sky Adventure Park for 05:30 where Nick took over and we went to the Peninsular Road. The start of it was very rough so we ended up parking and walking 1-2km. The track was wide and banked in thick vegetation making it hard to see into the forest and other than a Dull-mantled Antbird we saw little, although heard several Thicket Antpittas. We reached the Sector Peninsular reception where a decent trail took us into the forest. There in short succession we saw a Great Tinamou and several Great Curassows. We continued to an observation tower before returning. Half-way back to reception Nick decided to try a more direct route but I thought the original trail would be more enclosed and so better. I increased the regularity of playing Bare-crowned Antbird recordings and after five minutes a small black bird with a flash of blue flew across in front of me. A male Bare-crowned Antbird! Nick chose that moment to appear behind me having been put off his route by an approaching group. We had nice views of the antbird, although it didn't stay still long enough for photos, and returned to the car to
collect Paul. We hoped he’d been successful but him not waiting for us in the
Sky Adventure car park, even though we were a bit early (10:30), didn’t bode
well. He appeared 10 minutes later having seen very little. We returned to
Sleeping Mountain, loaded the car and left at 11:15 for Cano Negro. We
approached from the north to look for Nicaraguan Seedfinch in an area of
damp fields. It was very hot and we failed at the specific site we had but the
habitat nearby all looked pretty similar. We walked sections of the road
checking the grassy ditches until Nick found a male in a roadside tree. A shyer
female joined it. We continued to Cano Negro and Poponojche Lodge, somewhat
basic but we were given a large room with three fans. We drove to the village park
looking unsuccessfully for Grey-headed Dove although we heard one, and
flushed a White-tipped Dove which are also present. We continued to a nearby
riverbank pontoon to watch herons and grackles fly in to roost in some
riverside trees. Nicaraguan Grackles, our main target, were easy to pick
out being significantly smaller and seemingly more numerous than Great-tailed
Grackles. We then drove the roads until 19:45 looking for owls,
particularly Striped which would be new for me, but only managed 5 Pauraques
although an adult and 2 juvenile Tropical Screech-Owls seen in Poponojche
Lodge gardens were excellent. Walking to our room my camera strap came loose.
Fortunately I was holding the camera at the time, rethreaded the strap and tied
a knot in it to prevent it happening again. Never thought to do the same with
the other end.
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| Lake Arenal Peninsular Section trail map with Thicket Antpitta illustration. We only heard them at this site, in impenetrable vegetation |
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| Great Tinamou on the Peninsular Section trail |
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| male Great Curassow from the Peninsular trail |
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Great Curassows on an open section of the Peninsular trail
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| female Great Curassow |
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| Volcan Arenal |
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panorama from the observation tower
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Green Iguana at Arenal Peninsular
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Keel-billed Toucan at Arenal Peninsular
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| Olivaceous Piculet at Cano Negro (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| male Nicaraguan Seedfinch near Cano Negro |
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| male Nicaraguan Seedfinch at Cano Negro (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| female Nicaraguan Seedfinch at Cano Negro (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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Nicaraguan Grackles at Cano Negro (photo: Paul Noakes)
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| Tropical Screech-Owls in Poponojche Lodge's garden at Cano Negro (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Pauraque at Cano Negro (photo: Paul Noakes). The highlight of a disappointing night drive |
Wednesday 11 May. We had booked a Cano Negro
Expeditions boat trip from 06:00 and on the way spent another hour
unsuccessfully looking for Grey-headed Doves. We were on the boat with our
guide Renate for three hours seeing our target Yellow-breasted Crake and
a good selection of wetland birds including Boat-billed Heron, Bare-throated
Tiger-Heron, Jabiru, Rufous-naped Wood-Rail, Greater
Yellowlegs and Black-collared Hawk. Shortly after returning to the
dock my camera strap came undone on the other side, why-oh-why hadn’t I paid
attention to it when fixing the other end? Before I could catch my camera it fell
onto the hard ground and the impact fractured the lens mount. Not the first
time this has happened although I doubt m any lens would survive a similar
impact. After the boat trip Renate tried to entice a calling White-throated
Crake into view in damp grassland by the riverside. He did a bit of
gardening and it appeared briefly although I only saw its head and upper-back,
hardly a countable view. Renate left for another tour and we had another try
for the crake. Paul put a bit more thought into the gardening creating
something a bowerbird might have been proud of and we tried again. This time we
had several longer views. Later efforts for Grey-headed Dove were not so
successful and we soon gave up although we did see a pair of Barred
Antshrikes and a Northern Waterthrush. We packed and left Poponojche
Lodge and drove back south to Horquetas River Lodge where we’d spent our first
two nights. On the way it was nice to drive past Sarapiqui without having to
worry about Snowy Cotinga. We dropped our stuff and continued on to Cope’s
place. He wasn’t home but his wife summoned him and he arrived 15 minutes
later. He agreed to take us to see roosting Crested and Spectacled Owls and
Great Potoo in the nearby forests and we set off immediately. We drove across
the main road and down a dirt track for a few minutes and as we parked the car
a noisy flock of 8 Great Green Macaws flew over, quickly followed by
another pair. We could still hear a macaw calling and located one feeding in a
nearby palm then another with two more joining it as it flew out making an
impressive total of 14 seen. A short distance into the forest Cope showed us 2
roosting Crested Owls and a little further on Nick found a juvenile Agami
Heron along a narrow stream. We were also shown a roost of cute Honduran
White or White Tent Bats before crossing to the other side of the track and along
the forest edge to a more open line of trees where a Spectacled Owl
glared at us. Dark clouds were approaching and all hopes of seeing the roosting
Great Potoos (adult and juvenile) a few km away were abandoned as the rain beat
us to the car. We dropped Cope back at his place, had a meal in a roadside
restaurant and returned to Horquetas River Lodge.
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| Nicaraguan Grackle at Cano Negro (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Yellow-breasted Crake at Cano Negro (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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Bare-throated Tiger-Heron at Cano Negro
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron at Cano Negro (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Roseate Spoonbill at Cano Negro |
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| Boat-billed Heron at Cano Negro |
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| Boat-billed Heron at Cano Negro (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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Green Heron at Cano Negro
 | Green Iguana at Cano Negro
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| Russet-naped Wood-Rail at Cano Negro |
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Black-necked Stilt, Greater Yellowlegs and Northern Jacana at Cano Negro. The last photo I took before dropping my camera
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| White-throated Crake at Cano Negro (photos & construction: Paul Noakes) |
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| Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer at Cope's Place (photo: Paul Noakes) |
| White-necked Jacobin at Cope's Place (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Great Green Macaw near Cope's Place (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth near Cope's Place (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Honduran White Bat near Cope's Place |
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| Crested Owl near Cope's Place taken with my iPhone |
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| Crested Owl near Copes Place (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Spectacled Owl near Copes Place (photo: Paul Noakes) |
Thursday 12 May. Our last full day. Breakfast was
prepared for us at 05:00, we packed and a final search for my lost torch was
expectedly unsuccessful. We drove to the Quebrada Gonzales sector of Braulio
Carillo, arriving at 06:00. In May it didn’t open until 08:00 so we birded
along Sendero Ceibo opposite, climbing through the fence to do so. It was dull
and drizzly and we didn’t see very much. We were clocked coming out so when we
bought our permits at headquarters I was given a Spanish lecture about the
reserve not being open until 08:00. My pointing at my watch which now showed it
to be 08:05 wasn’t appreciated but the tirade soon ended. Once over and I was
given our tickets I was told in English to watch out for dangerous snakes (this
time we didn’t see a single snake while in Costa Rica). While heading for the
trail Nick heard a trogon calling adjacent to the car park. Playing the tape it
sounded just like Lattice-tailed but it then appeared to call from the other
side of the main road and went quiet when we approached. We feared we’d blown
our opportunity to ee this tricky species and were uncertain what to do next.
While deliberating it called again on our side of the road and came a bit
closer in response to playback. We looked from the start of Sendero Las Palmas
as the trees were a bit more open there and with the help of my thermal imager
I spotted the Lattice-tailed Trogon, a male, in the distant canopy. It
was the first decent bird I’d found with the imager although as it flew even
closer it was ultimately unnecessary to have done so. It was a bird neither
Nick nor I had seen and judging by trip reports one that most struggled with.
It was one of the more impressive trogons and a real bonus. Also by the car
park was a Yellow-eared Toucanet and 2 Collared Aracaris. We
spent until 11:30 on Sendero Las Palmas climbing clockwise to the top and
returning the same way to concentrate on the area by a big fallen tree trunk
where we believed a Black-crowned Pittasoma had been seen a week or so earlier.
No luck with the pittasoma and not a lot else – Streak-crowned Antvireo
and White-throated Shrike-Tanager were the best I saw. We returned to
Horquetas River lodge to collect our bags and check-out, a very convenient
location as it saved us having to leave luggage in the car unattended, Braulio
Carillo being a notorious area for car break-ins. We drove back past Braulio
and through some atrocious weather (rain and low cloud) and heavy traffic to San
Jose and out past Cartagao. We missed a turning on our way to revisit Las
Quelitalis and MapsMe took us on an increasingly narrow dirt track down a
mountainside before ending in a field!
Retracing our steps we returned to the right road and arrived at Las Quelitalis
at 15:45. We had called in briefly earlier in the trip hoping to see
Black-bellied Hummingbird but our target this time was a Scaled Antpitta that
was being fed. We saw White-eared Ground-Sparrow along the entrance road
and a superb Scintillant Hummingbird on Verbena near the lodge before birding mainly around the waterfall from a sheltered viewing area as it was
still raining. We waited until dusk for the Scaled Antpitta and had
given up on it and were thinking of leaving when it came hoping down the track
towards us. Unfortunately the light had pretty much gone by then and it
disappeared into cover while still over 50m away making the views very disappointing,
verging on uncountable. I only saw its warm underparts and couldn’t rule out Plain-backed
Antpitta, other than on range. We had a decent meal at Las Quelitalis, the deal
for access, left about 20:00 and were at Las Brumas in Cartagao half an hour later.
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| White-throated Shrike-Tanager at Quebrada Gonzales, Braulio Carillo (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Scintillant Hummingbird at Las Quelitalis (photos: Paul Noakes) |
Friday 13 May. We left Las Brumas soon after
05:00 and arrived at Las Quelitalis at 05:30 fairly confident of improving on
last evening’s Scaled Antpitta views but we were to be very disappointed as it
failed to show at all, at least by 09:15 when we had to leave. During our wait
we saw 2 White-bellied Mountaingems, a pair of Sooty-faced Finches
feeding a juvenile, a White-faced Ground-Sparrow and 2 Chestnut-naped
Brush-Finches. Birding in Costa Rica didn’t finish on the high we’d hoped
for but we’d had a very enjoyable trip and I’d seen 60 new birds which was more
than I was expecting. We returned to Las Brumas, had breakfast and checked out.
Paul drove us to San Jose airport with few traffic holdups, we dropped off the
car with no issues and there were no queues at airport check in. At Immigration
Nick and I were bumped to the front of the queue on account of our age, one of
the few benefits of being a pensioner. Flights were on time, if not
particularly comfortable and the airline food was no better than usual.
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| White-eared Ground-Sparrow at Las Quelitalis (photo: Paul Noakes) |
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| Stripe-tailed Hummingbird at Las Quelitalis (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird at Las Quelitalis (photos: Paul Noakes) |
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| Sooty-faced Finch at Las Quelitalis (photos: Paul Noakes) |
Saturday 14 May. We landed at Heathrow a few
minutes late due to our first attempt being aborted as another plane hadn’t
cleared the runway. Immigration was painfully slow, not helped by many of the
automatic passport readers not appearing to work. Despite that I caught an
earlier bus to Brighton than I’d anticipated and was home about 20:30. Very
nice to be back but not sure I’ll be ready to go off again in a week. Many
thanks to Nick and particularly Paul who did virtually all the organization
and driving.
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