Life Birds Tour

Costa Rica 12 – 27^th February 2004

Tour Organizers: Cotinga Tours & Speyside Wildlife

Leaders: Paco Madrigal & Roy Atkins

Guests: Elizabeth & David Maddocks, Louise & Jeremy Collier, Daphne & David Knight, Angela & David Mace, Patricia Northcroft, Alan Willison, Janey McEwan.

Day 1 It is 12^th February and here we are in Costa Rica! The flights went absolutely fine but we arrived at San Jose in the dark so obviously no birding at all this evening. It certainly has been a long journey and after the evenings meal and a quick introduction to the week from Paco we all head to bed full of anticipation about tomorrows birding!

Day 2 With breakfast at 06:30am we have half an hour or so of daylight to go and have a look around the hotel gardens which are just beautiful, with Orchids, Bromeliads and Bougainvilleas all in flower. Its very windy as we step outside but we soon find our first bird of the trip, a Great-tailed Grackle, quite a common species round here, but seconds later a Sharp-shinned Hawk flies over our heads... a good bird! We head through to the garden at the back of the hotel and where there is a Clay-coloured Robin quickly followed by Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Grayish Saltator, Tennessee Warbler and a superb Blue-crowned Motmot. White-eared Ground Sparrow is a very good find, but the best of all in terms of rarity is a Provost’s Ground-Sparrow, we are unlikely to see this bird anywhere else on the trip. We also see Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Rufous-capped Warbler and Rufous-collared Sparrow. And all before breakfast!!!

After an excellent breakfast we set off in the direction of Cerro de la Muerte. The weather is quite pleasant with a little bit of sunshine and the wind has dropped a little bit from this morning, but as we get higher and higher into the mountains the weather starts to deteriorate a bit with drizzle and low cloud. However every now and again we come out from this onto beautiful views of forested mountains. We see the occasional birds as we drive along including hovering White-tailed Kites and several Black and Turkey Vultures. After about a couple of hours we arrive at a turn off to the Mirador de Quetzales. We get out of the van and very quickly start to pick up good birds. First comes a Wilson’s Warbler, a nice male on top of some bushes and there are Red-collared Sparrow’s everywhere. A few Band-tailed Pigeons fly past and we get fantastic views of a beautiful male magnificent Hummingbird. A Slaty Flower-piercer is working the flowers on a low bush and several Sooty Robins are in the trees. The view from here is stunning with forested mountains right off into the distance. We are in Cloud Forest, a fantastic habitat where Orchids, Bromeliads and ferns grow all over the trees, some trees being heavily laden with Bromeliads along all the branches. Spanish Moss hangs in long threads even from the telegraph wires and fence posts.

A Red-tailed Hawk soars above us as we walk into the forest. Then suddenly a Resplendent Quetzal flies into one of the trees right in front of us! This is one the main targets of the trip and here we are seeing one almost before we’ve got started!!! It seems too easy but nobody is complaining! Surely you are meant to work for birds of this quality?! We soon realise that there are in fact three birds, two males and a female and they really deserve the name Resplendent – they are fantastic! Brilliant iridescent greens and blues on the back with bright red bellies and the most incredible elongated tail feathers. As the wind blows these feathers get lifted and blown around by the breeze.

We spend a long time appreciating these beautiful birds until we get distracted by other species appearing nearby. Black-capped Flycatcher, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Large-footed Finch, Ruddy Treerunner, Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager, Spotted-crowned Woodcreeper, Yellow-thighed Finch and some tiny, tiny Volcano Hummingbirds. What a collection!

Every time we decide to walk on a little bit, somebody spots something new, so we make very, very slow progress up the hill! A Collared Redstart comes next, absolutely fantastic bright yellow bird, with a little dark cap. Black-cheeked Warbler, Ochraceous Wren. We also notice that some of the flowers are in fact quite familiar to us, for example Tradescantia, a common houseplant, and Philodendrons. We walk up as far as an enormous Cyprus tree. It is huge and seems to be completely hollowed out underneath so that you can actually walk right underneath the tree and out the other side. There are more Quetzals here though harder to see in dense foliage.

After this we head back down for a coffee at a lovely little place near the van. Coffee is excellent – being in Costa Rica of course! After this we head back to the main road and on to the Albergue de Montana Savegre, a delightful little spot where we have our lunch. Just outside the restaurant where we eat is a veranda with Hummingbird feeders hanging outside and there are stacks of Hummingbirds coming in to feed including several Green Violet-ears, a few Volcano Hummingbirds, but even smaller than them, Scintillant Hummingbird, which must be the tiniest bird any of us have ever seen! There is also a Grey-tailed Mountain Gem - a bit of a speciality here. A Flame Tanager appears and there are quite a few Black Vultures perched up in the trees.

We decide to go for a walk, but before we even get going an Osprey flies over and we spot two Acorn Woodpeckers not far from the van. Blue-and-white Swallows are zipping around overhead and White-collared Swifts fly over higher up. Shortly after setting off, we find a Tennessee Warbler and two Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrushes. We cross a bridge over a river which is full of boulders - perfect habitat for Torrent Tyrannulet, which we quickly find. Other good birds seen on this walk include Tufted Flycatcher, which seems to be nesting, and Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher, an absolutely delightful bird.

The river we have been walking beside is the River Savegre and as we drive up and out the valley it is interesting to look back at the scenery. It appears to be rain forest for as far as the eye can see, all somehow managing to cling onto the extremely steep sides to this valley. It is really very beautiful. As we drive out we make one or two stops just to see what else we can find and we see Hairy Woodpecker, get lovely views of four more Collared Redstarts and find a nice male Flame-coloured Tanager. There is also another pair or Quetzals and as we pull up beside the road and they give us superb views. We make a stop to look for Volcano Junco, but unfortunately we are not lucky though we do see a few lots of Sooty Robins and a beautiful Flame-throated Warbler. An Osprey flies over returning seconds later carrying a fish! We are rapidly running out of time now and head back to the main road then through San José and on to Hotel Bougainvillaea at the end of what has been a superb day.

Day 3 A fantastic start to today as immediately outside the Hotel Bougainvillaea are at least six Baltimore Orioles in a large flowering tree in front of the hotel. Absolutely beautiful birds with bright orange and black plumage. Also in the same tree are three or four Social Flycatchers, Clay-colored Robins and Blue-gray Tanagers and a small flock of Crimson-fronted Parakeets fly over.

A short walk around the grounds at the back of the hotel produces Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Brown Jay, Prevost’s and White-eared Ground-Sparrow and Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, and also a couple of us spot a Long-tailed Weasel running along the top of a wall.

After breakfast, all the bags are packed onto the van, and we set off in beautiful weather towards Bosque de Paz. On the way, there is great excitement when a House Sparrow is spotted! White-winged Doves perch on the wires and then as we get nearer Bosque de Paz we stop to look at a Yellow-faced Grassquit and both Broad-winged and Red-tailed Hawks fly over. The scenery is beautiful, with forest-covered mountains stretching up Volcano Poaz in the background. Looking down a steep drop beside the road, there are tall, narrow waterfalls dropping through the forest. There is a real buzz of excitement as we arrive at the hotel at Bosque de Paz. The whole place just has a fantastic air about it, the hotel itself is lovely, but in front of the hotel are Hummingbird feeders, which are just alive with Hummingbirds! Feeding on the ground right beside them is a White-nosed Coati, a sort of racoon-like animal with a very long tail and a very pointed nose. The feeders are fantastic, there are stacks of Violet Sabrewings buzzing around them, there are Green-crowned Brilliants and our first Majenta-throated Woodstar, Purple-throated Mountain-gem and also Scintillant Hummingbird. On the ground underneath Common Bush-Tanagers and a single Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch pick up bread crumbs. Apparently the latter is a speciality at this spot, and hard to find anywhere else in Costa Rica.

We put our bags in our rooms, then meet back at reception to go for a short walk. The forest is beautiful with the trees covered in epiphytes, which are all the way up the trunk and along the branches, including Bromeliads, different kinds of ferns and Orchids one or two of which are in flower. Along the sides of the path, there are sheets of Busy Lizy’s all in full flower, looking exactly the same as the pot plants we have at home, but somehow better and healthier! There are also Begonias, another typical house plant. There are White-collared Swifts wheeling around above us as we set of on our walk and also one or two Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers. Wilson’s Warbler seems to be the commonest of the North American migrants but we also get two or three Slate-throated Redstarts. Another feature of this forest is the Army Ants and at one point there are so many of them on the track we give up and turn back again, arriving back just in time for lunch.

Lunch is in a big dining room which looks out onto the river and one of the feeding stations so perhaps it is not surprising that we are interrupted mid-meal when a Louisiana Waterthrush appears then again when two Black Guans fly in to feed…they are impressive birds! Also a White-tipped Dove and a fantastic male Summer Tanager.

After lunch we have an hour and a half of free time. Some people sit and watch the Hummingbird feeders, whilst others go and relax in their rooms, and then we all meet back again to go for another walk in the afternoon.

As well as the White-nosed Coati, there is now an Agouti feeding on the lawn, and a couple of Brown Jays are calling noisily from a distant tree. The walk in the forest is stunningly beautiful, there are vines hanging down from the trees and again a huge variety of Ferns and Palms, the whole atmosphere is just superb. It is quite quiet on the bird front, but we gradually start finding birds such as Three-striped, Rufous-capped and Tropical Parula Warblers. The only other new bird we get during the walk is Gray-breasted Wood-wren. After walking through the wood for a while, we come back out and walk down onto the road. We get excellent views of Blue-and-white Swallows on the wires, see some more Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers and also Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Yellow-faced Grassquit and Silver-throated Tanager. We are pleased to find a Black Phoebe flycatching from a rock in the river when we return, a nice way to finish the walk.

After a lovely evening meal, we head down to a separate room where we go through the list for the day and then the owner of the centre gives us a little chat about the history of the place. It has not been open very long and effectively the hotel is used to raise funds to run the reserve, making us feel even better about staying here.

Day 4 We all meet at the reception area at about 5:45 and have a coffee before setting off on our early morning walk before breakfast. There are Black Guans coming onto the feeders already as well as Common Bush-Tanagers, and loads of Hummingbirds are at the feeders already. We set off over the stream and quickly pick up Torrent Tyrannulet, two of them, flitting along from rock to rock in the middle of the river. Then walking up the far side of the river we eventually arrive at a Fig Tree which is in ripe fruit. There is a Black-faced Solitaire which keeps fluttering up to pick off a berry and then go back to its perch. Also a superb Emerald Toucanet and a Mountain Robin perched high up in a dead tree. There are plenty of the Common Bush-Tanagers around and Slate-throated Redstart, Collared Redstart and Spangle-cheeked Tanagers. Then high over our heads in the Fig Tree, a pair of Prong-billed Barbets fly in to feed.

Heading on towards the main area of forest we come across a superb Orange-bellied Trogon which we get the scopes onto, then a nice Golden-bellied Flycatcher. We don’t go very far into the forest before it is time to turn round and head back for breakfast, but at the furthest point we reach there is a Streak-headed Treehunter working its way through the Bromeliads and the Ferns on the thicker branches of a high tree. On our way back for breakfast a Red-headed Barbet has appeared in the Fig Tree– a fantastic bird with a bright red head and a green body and a white stripe on the side of its neck. There is also Silver-throated Tanager here, Yellow-thighed Finch and a couple of us get views of a Barred Becard. Janey is most frustrated as she just misses it as it disappears!

After an excellent breakfast we set off again, adding Olive-streaked Flycatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, Broad-winged Hawk and Dark Pewee to the days list. The weather is absolutely glorious and the forest looks superb with the light shafting down through the trees, highlighting Ferns and Palms on the forest floor. In some areas the forest is really thick and it is difficult to peer into the low vegetation looking for birds, in other areas you get wider open patches with tall Palms and Tree Ferns and large trees covered in Epiphytes.

We spend a while trying to get views of a Foliage-gleaner but don’t manage to get it down to species, and there is a very brief view of a Golden-winged Warbler, but further on a Flame-throated Warbler is seen again and also Red-faced Spine-tail. We also see a Red-tailed Squirrel sat very peacefully on a large branch. As the day is beginning to warm up the first of the butterflies are out, some are absolutely beautiful. Big orange ones with white spots on their wings, little black and white ones with stripes and little blue and red ones. Also a large yellow species reminiscent of the Brimstones we see at home.

As we are walking back towards the lodge we get good views of Tufted-Flycatchers and a Hairy-woodpecker beside the path. Back at base some people head back to their rooms to freshen up, others stand around watching the Hummingbirds Agoutis and White-nosed Coatis chasing around. A couple of Brown Jays fly in to the bird table and a Montezuma Oropendola – a magnificent, big, pointy billed bird with a bright yellow tail. Then it is time for lunch which is excellent… we have certainly built up an appetite!

After lunch and a little free time, we gather back at the reception area at about half past two to go for an afternoon walk. We watch a Variegated Squirrel which eventually plucks up the courage to leap from a piece of Bamboo across onto the bird table, only to turn up it’s nose at all the food that is there! As soon as it has gone, two Black Guans appear plus two Brown Jays and again there is a whole mass of birds feeding there.

As tends to happen at these heights the weather has closed in with a lot of cloud building up over the tops of the hills and a hint of drizzle in the air. Undaunted we decide to drive up the road just half a mile or so to gain just a little bit of height and to give us a look down into the trees beside the road. We have hardly left the gates of the hotel when we see a superb male Collared Trogon right beside the road and we all get excellent views. We drive on and start looking for birds making a stop when we see a mixed flock in the bushes beside the road. Again there are a lot of Slate-throated Redstarts, Collared Redstarts, Common Bush-Tanagers, Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers, another two Prong-billed Barbets, incredibly brief views of another Barred Becard – the second time Janey fails to see one! There are Black-throated Green Warbler, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Black-cheeked Warbler and also Golden-winged Warbler, which everybody gets onto this time. There are two or three Ochraceous Wrens, a Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Black-faced Solitaire, Red-faced Spinetail, and finally a couple of people manage to see a Lineated Foliage-gleaner.

By now the low cloud has become almost like fog around us and we decide it is too difficult to bird watch in these conditions and decide to walk back down to the hotel. We don’t see a lot more birds but it is extremely pleasant. As it gets dark Pauraques start to call outside the hotel, and the first Fireflies light up their lanterns.

Day 5 It’s quarter to six and we meet at reception ready to go for another walk along the same sort of route that we did yesterday morning. Many of the birds seen on the walk are the same species as those seen yesterday such as Black Guan, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Prong-billed Barbet, Slate-throated Redstart, Collared Redstart. And Janey manages to catch up with Barred Becard! Black-faced Solitaire was seen well again and Emerald Toucanet show well but the only new species is a Brown-capped Vireo.

At 9:15am we are all packed and say our fond farewells then set off in direction of Carara National Park. It is about a three hour drive through a variety of habitats from farmland to sugarcane to absolutely beautiful rolling hillsides covered in forest and eventually we are driving through a town called Orotina where we make a stop in the middle of the town at what seems to be the ‘town square.’ There are several tall trees and Paco insists that this is an extremely good place to see one species of owl. Apparently Black-and-white Owl feed on katydids and other insects like moths that come into the street lights and then having eaten well they roost in the trees in the middle of the square, right in the middle of the town! Roy has been very unwell this morning but manages to drag himself out of the van to look. So there we are with our telescopes and binoculars staring up into the trees looking for owls, surrounded by people sitting on park benches having their lunch and so on! It all seems rather surreal! However in no time at all, Paco finds two Black-and-white Owls, fantastic looking birds with dark faces and horizontal barring all down the front and they are huge! Even more surprising… there are two Two-toed Sloths here! You can understand how the owls can find their way into the middle of the town but how on earth did Sloths get there?!

Having had good views of both of those we move on, arriving at Villa Lappa Hotel at Carara at about half past twelve. After lunch and a bit of free time, we meet up again at about half past three to go down to Playa Azul, or ‘The Blue Beach’ – it is really hot! It is almost hard to believe how much hotter it is here than at Bosque de Paz. On the way a couple of stops are made – one at a particularly productive tree which has a few species in it including Yellow-crowned Euphonia. Then another stop is made at a small pond where we find Pigmy Kingfisher, Green Heron and Northern Waterthrush.

Then it is on to the beach itself, it is more of an estuary than a beach really where the River Tarcoles flows into the sea. There is a fair expanse of mud and a bit of beach and there are lots of terns, herons, egrets and waders here. On the wader front there are Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Whimbrel, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper. Then there are Laughing Gulls and a nice flock of Royal Terns in amongst which is a single Black Skimmer. Then there are the herons and egrets including a fair list – Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Tricoloured Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron but probably the rarest is the Reddish Egret – a very nice surprise!

A squadron of 18 Magnificent Frigatebirds glides overhead and toward the end of the evening loads of Brown Pelicans come gliding in off the sea to roost in the trees, probably between 50 and 100 all together… what a sight! There is much amusement as everybody watches some drunken men who have come in on a boat and get covered in mud trying to get their boat ashore. Then Carlos finds a Pacific Screech-Owl roosting in one of the trees in someone’s garden. But the day is finished with the superb sight of Scarlet Macaws flying overhead - these birds feed in the forest during the day but roost in Mangrove Swamps further away and fly over the river to this roost sight giving the chance of some fantastic views of them as they fly overhead. A real treat!

Day 6 We meet at reception at quarter to six, ready to go for a walk in the grounds of Villa Lappas. Within seconds of setting off we are picking up birds, including two Magnificent Frigatebirds, gliding high overhead and Janey spots a King Vulture. The weather is beautiful, blue skies with no cloud and not too hot yet as the day has only just begun! Initially the birding is fairly easy as the walk through the grounds has lots of open spaces. We find a Pale-billed Woodpecker; very large with a completely red head. As we start to get into a more forested areas we start picking up other species such as Rose-throated Becard, Streaked Flycatcher, Dusky Antbird and Buff-throated Saltator. A couple of Scarlet Macaws fly over looking fantastic in the early morning sunshine, and then a Red-legged Honeycreeper is spotted at the top of a tree overhead, the red legs catch the sun. A whole list of species follow including Rufous-naped Wren, Yellow Warbler, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Kiskadee, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Piratic Flycatcher and then some Philadelphia Vireos right beside the track. Eventually the path arrives at a little stream with a bridge over it and we pause here for a little while to see what is on the stones at the edge of the water. Quite quickly a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron is spotted, very impressive bird, also a Northern Waterthrush is pottering around at the edge of the stream. After two or three brief glimpses we eventually get excellent views of Blue Ground-Dove and David Maddocks picks out a Spotted Sandpiper. Time is passing quite quickly now so we turn around and head back for breakfast, picking up one or two species on the way back. Mary spots a lovely male Summer Tanager and we see Hoffman’s Woodpecker and Yellow-throated Vireo. We arrive back at the breakfast table to find a Black-headed Trogon perched in the trees beside us!

As soon as we are ready, we set off to our second destination which is a track going into the Carara National Nature Reserve, not very far from the bridge that goes over the Tarcoles. We haven’t even driven out of the hotel grounds and there is a circling flock of vultures over to our right which turns out to have all three species, Black, Turkey and King Vultures, in fact two or three King Vultures. We get onto the main road, and again we have hardly gone any distance before the van pulls to a halt because Carlos the driver has spotted two Scarlet Macaws at the top of a tree beside the road. So we all pile out and look at them through the scope, giving us excellent views as they feed in the tree top.

We finally begin our walk down a trail into the forest and soon start picking up good birds, including Black-hooded Antshrike, Rufous-breasted Wren and a White-winged Becard. A White-shouldered Tanager flies off down the track ahead of us and we get good views of Lesser Greenlet above our heads. Dotted-winged Antwrens seem to be quite numerous along here and we see both males and females. A beautiful Hummingbird – the Long-tailed Hermit hovers around in front of some Heliconia flowers. David Maddocks, who seems on good form today, picks up a Gray-chested Dove, sat quietly in the gloom under the trees. Rather disappointingly the only Red-capped Manakin we can find is a female looking rather dull green but we get good views of Blue Dacnis right above the path and Red-legged Honeycreeper. At one point Paco leads us off the track a little way to see if we can see any Orange-collared Manakins at a known lek. We all follow him into the undergrowth and then stand quietly listening for their wing snapping display, but it is absolutely silent. Shortly there is a short buzz, apparently an Orange-collared Manakin, and after several minutes Paco manages to find the bird and sets up his telescope on it. We take it in turns to creep forward and look in the scope and astonishingly the bird sits absolutely still until every single person has had a look through his telescope, and as soon as the last person has seen it, it flies off! And what a beautiful little bird it is.

We carry on down the track seeing Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Long-billed Gnatwen and Barred Woodcreeper. Elizabeth nearly sits on a very large lizard sat on a concrete bridge, it’s one with a lovely frill down it’s back – called a Ctenosaur, it must be a good 1 ½ to 2 feet long! We decide to turn round and head back to the van, not adding much extra on the way back but a real treat awaits us as Carlos has a whole load of little tubs of different fruit, all sliced up! There are papaya, mango, watermelon and pineapple and it has all been sat on ice while we have been away. The perfect treat to arrive back to when you are hot and sweaty!

From here we head on to the bridge over the Tarcoles River and looking down there must be at least 20 American Crocodiles, all resting along the bank. Within moments of us arriving, somebody starts throwing big lumps of what I can only assume is meat down to them, and they all come piling out of the water onto the bank to grab hold of it and fight each other for the pickings. Unfortunately he also drops the plastic bag as well which one of the crocodiles eats, goodness knows what that will do to its insides. Bird wise it is fairly good here too with Mangrove Swallow, Northern Jacanas and quite a nice mixture of herons including Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron and Snowy Egret. There are one or two Great-tailed Grackles as well and a couple of Macaws fly over. It is a really beautiful view from here with mountains in the distance and the hills to the right all covered in forest.

Over lunch, Pat makes a comment about the little green or yellow plastic bracelets we wear so that the barman knows you are from the hotel, and that way you can get your free drinks. However, whilst we have been out, people have been staring at these as though maybe we are labelled in some way, perhaps from some institution!

After lunch we have a bit of a break, people can relax a bit and have a swim in the pool or whatever, and then at three o’clock we all meet up again to go for a walk in the afternoon to another of the trails on the Carara Reserve. This time the trail is through denser primary forest. It is absolutely beautiful. There is a carpet of leaves on the ground, but very few low growing plants, just the odd ferns here and there. There is a mid layer of bushes or young trees which look like Laurel, and poking up through this are the taller trees, many of which have huge buttress roots sticking out either side. Some of the trees are huge, sticking way above the rest. We walk along incredibly slowly, trying not to make too much noise, or rustle our feet too much in the dried leaves because one of the best ways to find some of the forest birds like Tinamou or Antbirds, is to listen for the noise they make as they walk through the dried leaves. We hardly seem to have gone any distance when suddenly Paco calls out that he has spotted a Great Tinamou. It is a bizarre bird with an almost spherical, very plump body with a very tiny head on top and a little curved beak. It looks like some bizarre cartoon chicken as it creeps along on the forest floor, and then walks right across the path in front of us, really no distance away – apparently completely unbothered by our presence. These birds are notoriously difficult to see so it is a real highlight of the day! Another good bird follows shortly afterwards - a Chestnut-backed Antbird, a really dark bird with bright blue skin around it’s eyes. It is good to see more Dotted-winged Antwrens and Rufous-breasted Wrens. Then Roy spots a White-whiskered Puffbird sat quietly quite close to the track and everyone gets good views of it through the telescope. Shortly after this, Alan spots a superb female Baird’s Trogon, which is in a tree almost above our heads. The birding is quite slow for a while though we see a Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Black-and-white Warbler, a few Chestnut-sided Warblers. Eventually we get a second Chestnut-backed Antbird and another Great Tinamou – incredible! Slaty Antwren is also added to the list and then we come to a small river with a bridge over it and we just pop down onto the river bank to have a look up and down and see if there is anything to see. A Nine-banded Armadillo is working through the piles of leaves further up river and proves very difficult to see as it is buried under the leaves half the time. There also are some good birds here, Green Kingfisher, Buff-rumped Warbler and Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner. Time is really moving on now, so we walk a bit faster on the way back, not picking many more species up, but a Kentucky Warbler shows to a few people and several Scarlet Macaws fly overhead including a lovely flock of seven, looking absolutely stunning with the sun on them! As we get closer to the car park a Gray Hawk is spotted and Daphne spots some Lesser Nighthawks flying over, really high up.

We arrive back at the van where we enjoy more sliced fruit and have a quick look at Jupiter through the telescopes. Another six Scarlet Macaws are perched up in the trees then head off noisily to roost. What a wonderful end to a fantastic days birding!

Day 7 Another early morning start, with coffee at quarter to six and then a walk through the grounds, crossing the river on the same route we took yesterday morning. This morning however, we are walking much faster, because we are determined to get to an area where Long-tailed Manakins lek. We get to where the second bridge crosses the river and get good views of a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron in the same spot as yesterday with Spotted Sandpiper also there and a new humming bird - Steely-vented. There are plenty of Flycatcher around, but nothing new.

A bit further on Paco notices a Black-faced Ant-thrush calling in the undergrowth, so by imitating it he manages to get it to come out into view. We then notice there is some activity up in the trees, but it seems to be something big and we soon realise it is a small group of White-faced Capuchin Monkeys. Most of them are in the thick vegetation but one or two come out into the open and we get very good views of them. We arrive at the lek area and Paco points out the calls of Long-tailed Manakins. They seem to do three different kinds of calls. We spend a long time peering up the slope hoping to get views of them, and failing dismally, until after what seems like an eternity Paco suddenly spots a couple high up in a tree overhead. Most people get onto them but they are difficult and the views are quite poor, though you can at least see the long tails on them! Then a few minutes later, we come across two males, again rather hidden in the vegetation, but they are doing their proper lekking display. In effect they follow each other in a circular motion, one shuffles up the branch and takes off and flutters back to where it has started, in the meantime the other bird has shuffled up the branch and has now taking off. They follow each other round and round in circles, all the while making the most peculiar call - goodness only knows why the females find that attractive but I guess it is entertaining! Although difficult it has been a wonderful thing to witness.

We head back getting excellent views of Pale-billed Woodpecker, Great-crested Flycatcher and a nice pair of Masked Tityras, which are building a nest in a hole. We get brief views of a Violaceous Trogon, excellent views of Rose-breasted Grosbeak and also a nice Blue-crowned Motmot. And all this before breakfast!

At about nine o’clock we set off again, starting on the same path as we did yesterday afternoon, then taking a different loop. Before we have even started down the track we find a Crimson-fronted Parakeet on top of a tree and whilst watching this, we realise that high above it there are Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts and Gray-breasted Martins flying around. Just as we are about to pack up and head of for the walk a Double-toothed Kite flies over. We finally set off down the trail, the first part of which seems quite familiar after yesterday and very soon we pick up a few good birds. A Plain-chested Dove is wandering down the track ahead of us, and there are Dot-winged Antwrens either side of the path. We stop to check out a bird, which turns out to be a Plain Xenops and as we are looking a Black-throated Trogon flies into our view – fantastic! We get incredible views of it through the scope. We soon deviate from the path that we followed yesterday and go down a path that is slightly narrower and a bit more overgrown. There are more Black-hooded Antshrikes, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, then suddenly we hear a cry of Golden-crowned Spadebill – a tiny little Flycatcher. It proves difficult to get onto but most people get reasonable views of it. Our next good bird is a Black-striped Woodcreeper, probably the most distinctive member of this family. We find another Great Tinamou, our third including the two we saw yesterday, but Mary’s first, as she didn’t come on yesterday afternoons walk. We see White-shouldered Tanagers, Bay-headed Tanager and Tawny-capped Greenlet but an Eye-ringed Flatbill proves rather difficult to get on to. We eventually come to a clearing beside a river where we get fantastic views of Long-billed Starthroat feeding on some orange blossoms on the other side of the stream. We are still enjoying this when astonishingly a King Vulture flies in and lands in the tree opposite us. We set the scope upon it and get stunning views of it, although it is a shame that it is a young bird and is rather dull faced, but all the same an excellent find! We cross the bridge over the stream and see Green Kingfisher and Buff-rumped Warbler, and then Riverside Wren and Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner. What a morning!

After lunch, people relax, have a swim etc until about 3 o’clock when we set off down the road towards Tarcoles Village to go for our boat trip on the river. As we drive down there is a flock of at least 20 Magnificent Frigate Birds wheeling around overhead, and a couple of birds lower down. A single Scarlet Macaw flies past. The weather is really clouding over, in fact there are some menacing clouds high up to our right as we climb onto the boat and by the time we set off, the first rain drops are appearing on the water. The boat is very comfortable, with pairs of seats facing forward on both sides of the gang way and poles supporting a little roof, so most of the time as long as the wind isn’t blowing, we are quite dry despite the rain. But the rain is never really heavy and certainly doesn’t stop us seeing the birds. First there are Mangrove Swallows flitting round the boat, at times coming very close, then there are a whole variety of herons and egrets including Little Blues, Great Blues, Snowys and so on. We get particularly good views of a couple of Yellow-crowned Night-herons, a young one and a nice adult. There is a Gray Hawk in one of the trees nearby, which we stop and have a good look at and there are plenty of Gray-breasted Martins coming down and dipping at the water, also one or two Barn Swallows. Then we come across a bush with at least 12 Boat-billed Herons roosting in it and we gently take the boat right up close to get fantastic views of them! They seem slightly wary but they stay put, they really are the most bizarre looking birds, with huge beaks and very large eyes – these are a nocturnal species. Everyone is very impressed!

We carry on down the river. Occasionally a Caracaras flies over. Sometimes Crested, sometimes Yellow-headed, sometimes both together which is very nice for comparison. We also get a nice comparison of Orchard and Baltimore Orioles in a tree. One or two White Ibises fly past and we get good views of Rufous-naped Wren and a superb Prothonotary Warbler on the river bank. On a little grassy island in the middle of the river, there are some Seedeaters feeding and on close inspection we realise there are three species here. They are Variable Seedeater, White-collared Seedeater and Blue-black Grassquit. There are small flocks of Orange-chinned Parakeets flying over and eventually some of them land in a tree giving us very good views. There seem to be Ospreys flying up and down the river nearly all the time and we spot several perched up in the trees nearby. Pat spots a small group of Black-necked Stilts perched nervous on the river bank.

A little further down stream we come to a point where a much larger boat has pulled into the edge, and a man has jumped out and is wading in the river. This seems like a pretty stupid thing to do to me since there are Crocodiles around, but then I realise that that is exactly the man’s intention – he is carrying a dead chicken in his hand and he starts slapping the chicken on the surface of the water. A single huge Crocodile is approaching him. We realise this must be the famous crocodile man and as the crocodile gets nearer, he wades into shallow water, he is banging the chicken on the water still, and then holding it high in the air. The crocodile starts to come out of the water too and eventually starts leaping up, trying to get the chicken out his hand, which eventually it does. I’m pretty awe struck because this must be one of the biggest crocodiles I have ever seen, certainly bigger than the man! He looks delighted with himself, and goes back to his boat to a big round of applause! Incredible!!!

We turn the boat round and start heading back in the direction we came from, picking up one or two birds as we go back. A Muscovy Duck flies over the river. It always seems odd to see birds that we are familiar with in captivity, in the wild and this Muscovy Duck doesn’t look like the familiar farmyard version with all their black and white markings. Instead it is black, with big white patches on the wings. We also see Red-billed Pigeon and a huge Ringed Kingfisher flies down the river ahead of us, but unfortunately we don’t get very good views. We find an Anhinga perched up in a tree high above the water then enter a large bay where the river widens out. There are several Roseate Spoonbills perched in the trees here and an Amazon Kingfisher perched above them – it flies off, startling a Ringed Kingfisher in the process. There is also an immature Common Black Hawk perched in one of the trees and as we turn the boat around we spot an adult Black Hawk as well. We head slightly further on towards the river mouth and see a large flock of Black Skimmers wheeling around in the distance, plus a few Laughing Gulls and Brown Pelicans. Then we go up one of the side channels to look in the mangroves to see if we can find any of the mangrove specialities. One of these is Mangrove Warbler, and after a short while we manage to pick up a pair, which eventually come to the outside edge of the Mangroves, giving us superb views. They are funny looking things like Yellow Warblers with a bright orange head.

It is now time to head back, and we turn the boat round and start heading back to the launch. Three Scarlet Macaws fly over and land in one of the tall trees looking superb in front of the green foliage. Their bright reds, yellows and blues really stand out. Suddenly there is an amazing sound as a large male Howler Monkey starts calling from the same tree. It is unusual to see one on it’s own as they are usually in troops, but nevertheless this one is sat all by itself munching on some leaves.

Thanking our boatman very much, we get off and walk back to the van, stopping to admire a Black-capped Tityra perched in the trees above it. We travel down the road and Roy spots a Parrot on top of a tree, we all pile out to have a look and it turns out to be White-fronted Parrot, but whilst it’s there, more Parrots fly out of the tree and fly further on. From the calls, Paco says that there is a variety of species here, so we walk down the road and eventually get very good views of both Yellow-naped and Red-Lored Parrots as well. Two White-throated Magpie-Jays fly over.

Our final destination is the blue beach again. The tide is right in today, which means spotting the little Waders is a bit more difficult as there are all roosting together on an island quite some distance out. You can still make them out though, Whimbrels, Willets, Gray Plovers, Western Sandpipers etc, and a few Black Skimmers in amongst the Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls. There are huge numbers of Brown Pelicans coming in to roost in the mangroves on the far side, perhaps 300 or more with more coming in all the time. Carlos does an excellent job of finding Pacific Screech-Owl again roosting in the tree and just as we are about to leave, a Ferruginous Pigmy-Owl flies across in front of us and lands in a tree. It is getting really dark now and difficult to make out any plumage features, but you can certainly see it is a Pygmy Owl just by it’s size – it’s tiny! It is also calling like mad. We say our farewells to the little children who have gathered to watch us, and head back to camp at the end of an absolutely brilliant day’s birding.

However, the day was still not finished, after doing the list we set off in search of owls. The target species is Striped Owl. We take a dirt track scanning with some spot lights onto trees and fence posts for some time before eventually trying along the main road and just as we are at the point of giving up Paco spots one! First we all watch from inside the van, getting lovely views of it and then eventually open the doors and climb out. Astonishingly the owl seems completely unbothered by our presence, despite the fact that it’s only perhaps ten yards away and carries on looking down onto the grass looking for food. We even manage to get a scope on it and it really is a beautiful bird, far nicer looking than its illustration in the book. I can’t help feeling sorry for Janey who has gone down with the sickness bug that seems to be going around and is too poorly to be with us.

Day 8 We meet at around 6am and drive up the road a little way, climbing quite steeply up before getting out and walking gently back down the hill. A Black-crowned Tityra is picked up quite quickly and also Great-crested Flycatcher, but the time spent trying to see a calling Bright-rumped Attila proved fairly fruitless with just a flight view. We do get a new trogon however - Slaty-tailed Trogon. There are plenty birds that we have seen before such as Chestnut-sided Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Rufous-capped Warbler, Buff-throated Saltator, the best views so far of Orange-billed Sparrow, and excellent views in the scopes of Red-legged Honeycreeper. We have the wonderful sight of 13 Scarlet Macaws flying over looking absolutely stunning in the early morning sunlight. There are also one or two new birds, Yellow-Olive Flycatcher, a rather dull little thing, but Western Tanager is a stunner - all yellow, black and orange. Palm Tanager is new as is Scaly-throated Hummingbird. We get wonderful views, though very brief, of a Long-tailed Manakin sat right out in the open. At this point we suddenly seem to be surrounded by birds - every bush seems to have something in it. Yellow-throated Euphonia is new as is Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Squirrel Cuckoo, and a male Painted Bunting an absolute stunner. More birds seen here include Blue Ground-Dove, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Lesser Greenlets, Rose-throated Becard, Rufous-naped Wren - it’s just fantastic, birds everywhere!

We suddenly realise that the time is nearly twenty to eight, which is later than the time we are meant to be back to the hotel for breakfast, so we all get back into the van and start driving down the road. We have covered hardly any distance before we stop again because Carlos has spotted a Lineated Woodpecker. This spectacular bird is knocking seven bells out of a branch and we all pile back out of the van to have a look at it when a Laughing Falcon comes and lands in the tree above it. It looks like a bandit with a big black mask through its eyes.

During breakfast, the lovely flotilla of White Ibises flies up the river, and a Little Hermit comes to the feeders while we’re eating. After breakfast, we load everything back on the van, hand in our keys and leaving this delightful place to head off in the direction of Guanacaste.

After a surprisingly short time the habitat changes considerably. We seem to have left behind all the humid forest and come into an area of much drier surroundings. The grass all looks dry, the ground all looks dry, the trees have got no leaves, and everything seems a lot shorter. The forest is much sparser and there is a lot of agricultural land. Also a lot of cattle, rather like those you might see in India, mostly white, with big humps on their backs and big floppy ears. We make a stop to look for roosting owls but have no luck, however there are one or two other birds here including Olive Sparrows and Orange-fronted Parakeets, we also get excellent views of two Barred Woodcreepers. As we drive further we pass some rather stony field with short dry grass and Paco tells us to be looking out for Double-striped Thick-Knee. We can’t see any sign but suddenly Carlos spots two hiding in the shade of a tree. They are bigger than we expect, and extremely handsome looking birds, rather like our Stone Curlew. A bit further on there is another couple, and then further on again one more, so altogether we see five.

We continue driving when suddenly Daphne shouts out that there is a bird with a long tail perched in a tree. We stop the bus and it turns out to be an immaculate
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - an absolutely beautiful bird and everybody is enthralled as we watch it drop to the floor catching what looks like large beetles or big flies take them back into the branch to hit them and swallow them. It’s lower belly and under wings are the most beautiful orangey pink. Again we continue on. We make a brief stop to check out a bird in the woods which we never get on to, but while we are looking David Maddocks spots a hummingbird just above the van. We jump out because we are in an area where there are different hummingbirds that we haven’t seen before, and there seem to be at least three species around. Rufous-tailed, Steely-vented and a new one Cinnamon Hummingbird. Looking up in the branch where it was originally seen, Paco spots a small nest in one of the branches with two tiny little chicks, begging for food, stretching their heads as high as they can, an absolutely delightful sight! As we are getting back in the van, a pair of White-lored Gnatcatchers are spotted.

We make one more stop a bit further along the road, this time for a Turquoise-browed Motmot, an absolutely stunning bird with electric blue patches on its head and bizarre racquet shaped tail, it sits beautifully for us letting everyone look at it through the telescope and those who are not looking through the scope manage to pick up other birds in the surrounding area as well. Black-and-white Warbler, Banded Wren, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Rufous-capped Warbler, and then two White-throated Magpie-Jays fly over.

We finally arrive at Finca Ensenada, the place where we are staying in Guanacaste. No sooner do we get out of the vehicles than we hear a Three-wattled Bellbird calling, it makes loud bell-like calls, followed by high pitched squeaks. It doesn’t take very long to find it and we all get good views of this bizarre bird with what appeared to be worms hanging off it’s beak. A beautiful male Scrub Euphonia appears at the top of the same tree, before we head off to find our rooms and settle in before lunch.

But even lunch is not uninterrupted by birds. As we are sat there under the large thatched roof of the dining area a White-throated Magpie-Jay comes and perches just above us on one of the beams, apparently ready to take up any pickings that we may offer it. It really is a beautiful bird and has a fantastic quiff on the front of it its head. To see one so close it is a real treat!

By early afternoon the weather has become very hot indeed, there is complete blue sky from wall to wall and the temperature has soared. It is too hot to do anything and most people either go and have a swim in the pool or just have a rest in their hammocks or in their rooms, it is all very lazy and relaxed. Magnificent Frigatebirds wheel around overhead as do Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures. It is a beautiful place with a view out to the sea.

At about four o’clock we gather back at the van to do some birding and we head down to a small pool. As we drive along we flush a small group of Spot-bellied Bobwhites. There are parakeets flying around including Orange-fronted and Orange-chinned, there are Baltimore Orioles and there seem to be flycatchers everywhere. The pond is almost reminiscent of some of the scenes you see in Africa, with huge numbers of storks, herons, egrets and all sorts in the water. The storks are all Wood Storks there must be at least two or three hundred of them. There are also loads of herons and egrets including lots of Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, even one Bare-throated Tiger-Heron comes out on the bank. There is a huge flock of Blue-winged Teal probably over 100 of them and quite a lot of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks as well. There are waders around the edge. Western Sandpipers and Least Sandpiper seem to make up the bulk but we also pick out one Semipalmated Sandpiper and a Semipalmated Plover. There is a flock of Black-winged Stilts and in amongst them - a real surprise - there must be at least 20 Stilt Sandpipers, a rare bird in Costa Rica. Some years none are seen here. It seems bizarre that they out number the single Lesser Yellow-legs, normally a much commoner bird. Northern Jacanas walk around the edge and a single American Pigmy Kingfisher whizzes past.

Time is passing all too quickly so we decide to walk along the road a little way to see if we can spot any orioles or anything. There are quite a few parakeets and parrots flying over, including White-fronted, and astonishing numbers of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers flying over to roost. There is a Prothonotary Warbler, lots of Tropical Kingbirds and Kiskadees, one or two Baltimore Orioles and a new bird – Streaked-backed Oriole – an absolute stunner! We see a couple more White-lored Gnatcatchers, a White-fronted Parrot flies through and some nice Black-striped Sparrows. We also get better views of Cinnamon Hummingbird. We finish the day with a lovely flock of Lesser Nighthawks hawking for insects high over the road.

Day 9 We start our day at Guanacaste at the Finca Encanada where we are woken by the sound of Howler Monkeys. Some of us were woken at about five o’clock by Howler Monkeys but apparently other people have been woken at about half past one, two o’clock, three o’clock and four o’clock - they have been howling all night! It certainly is an incredible sound, very loud and very hoarse and you can’t help thinking it’s bound to hurt their throats! However they certainly look very contented sat up their tree and we can see them very well through our telescope from where we meet at quarter to six. Some people would like to throw a brick at them I think!

We haven’t even made it as far as the van when we get a new bird! Spot-breasted Oriole, absolutely beautiful orange and black birds with little black spots on the side of the chest. They fly across the top of some trees nearby and we follow them to find that there is also Rose-throated Beccard there, lots of parakeets including Orange-fronted and Orange-chinned and a nice Black-headed Trogon. There are also flycatchers all over the place and Kiskadees, Boat-billed Flycatchers, Tropical Kingbirds, Social Flycatcher, and in the background all the while you can hear Three-wattled Bellbirds calling. A superbly coloured Variagated Squirrel leaps from one branch to another in most impressive style. We drive down the road and a short stop picks up Common Ground Dove, Green-breasted Mango and Squirrel Cuckoo.

We continue till we reach an area of saltpans. There are two or three men working already despite the earliness of the hour, and sacks of salt are stacked up all over the place. There are quite a few big lagoons, all obviously very shallow and full of waders. There must be three or four hundred Semipalmated Sandpipers plus a lot of Western Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plovers, Semi-palmated Plovers and Wilson’s Plovers, probably a good hundred or so of each. Lots of Whimbrel are working the deeper mud, and dotted amongst them the odd Lesser Yellow-legs and Stilt Sandpiper. There are also lots of herons and egrets of different sorts, the usual Little Blues, Great Blues, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and so on. It is a superb sight but we have to cross through the middle of these saltpans to get to the mangroves we want to check for birds and as we do so the birds start wheeling around and flying about creating quite a spectacle before eventually settling again a little further away. As we go we pick up one or two more of waders including Willet and a little group of Turnstones.

In the mangroves there is an Anhinga perched right at the top of one and also
Yellow-crowned Night Heron and at least two Mangrove Black Hawks, both adults and in perfect plumage. Eventually one of them drops down onto the ground and starts eating a crab. There are Mangrove Swallows flitting around above the water, a
Blue-winged Teal and in the mangroves themselves we eventually pick out a Lesser Eleania. We manage to pish out a pair or Mangrove Warblers which come out very close indeed and we get very good views of a Ringed Kingfisher as it flies over high up. One more wader is added to the list – Short-billed Dowitcher, but unfortunately we don’t have any luck with any of the other mangrove specialities.

We’ve got a long way to go today so we need to get breakfast a little earlier than usual. We turn round now and head back to base. Back there we have a good breakfast, then as the van is being packed a couple of us wander round to see what else we can pick up before we leave. We get excellent views of at least two Three-wattled Bellbirds, both calling, we find a Streaked-backed Oriole, and then a Mangrove Hummingbird.

With the van packed we set off down the road but we’ve hardly gone any distance before we screech to a halt and Paco jumps up in great excitement shouting ‘Tamandua!’ Most of us don’t have a clue what this means but he’s clearly very pleased about it so we all pile out to look. Anybody that knows their mammals would know this is a species of arboreal Anteater and there it is, a superb looking animal fast asleep and curled up like a ball in a tree. How on earth it can be comfortable I’ve no idea as the tree is completely covered with big spines! Lots of photographs are taken before we leave it in peace and carry on down the road. We make a final stop at the pool we stopped at yesterday which is still covered with large numbers of Wood Storks, Black-necked Stilts, Jacanas, Egrets, Herons and Waders, with an Osprey in the background but I don’t think we pick up anything new. We do get lovely views of another Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as we leave however. We now have a very long way to go as we have to drive from here all the way round Lake Arenal, to get to Arenal Observatory Lodge, but people are in good spirits and there is lots of chatter as we go along the road. We keep our eyes open out the window to see if anything is flying around. We pick up Gray Hawk, a couple of them circling over the fields, also more Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Common Ground Doves, Yellow-headed Caracara and so on.

The road gradually winds it’s way up higher and higher until eventually we pass over onto the Carribean side of the central ridge and it is astonishing the difference. Having just spent a couple of days in the dry Guanacaste area with it’s brown dry grass and leafless trees, all of a sudden, here we are back in greenery. The grass is bright green the trees covered in leaves and also bromiliads and palms and ferns.

We pass through a lot of farmland then some nice looking areas of forest before eventually we come down to the lake itself. Lake Arenal is huge! We’ve got to drive the whole length of it! Just a few facts, it is apparently 80 metres deep at the deepest, and was created when the damn was built in 1980. This actually flooded a small town and all the people had to be evacuated, obviously, and moved into a new purpose built town. However, they were quite pleased because this obviously not only moved them out of the way of the reservoir, but also moved them further away from the Arenal Volcano itself which had caused horrendous devastation and loss of life in that town in 1968. It has to be said the lake itself looks absolutely beautiful.

We stop for lunch at a small restaurant not far from the shore of the lake and whilst waiting for lunch to be served even add more species to the list, Green Honeycreeper, Tropical Pewee and Southern Rough-winged Swallow. Well fed and recharged we continue on down the road, following the shore for a long way on a road that gets rougher and rougher, the pot-holes are absolutely horrendous in places and in some places the tarmac has gone completely and in others the side of the road seems to have collapsed into the streams underneath. However our slow progress means that we are at least able to stop and look at the odd bird such as Passareni’s Tanager with its bright scarlet rump and we see Buff-throated Saltator, Variable Seedeater, this time in it’s completely black form, Pale-vented Pigeon, Yellow-faced Grassquit, a little flock of Ruddy Ground Doves and at one point we are astonished to discover sixteen White-nosed Coatis in the middle of the road! Rather cheekily the whole group are stopping every car that comes along and putting their feet up on the side of the car, looking up at the windows hoping for handouts! They really are delightful!

As we cross the damn at the bottom of the lake there is an Amazon Kingfisher on the rocks, and also quite a few Northern Rough-winged Swallows but this is mainly a stop to get out and photograph Arenal Volcano. Sadly, the top of it is completely covered in cloud so you can’t see any of the pyrotechnics but it is an impressive looking mountain and the classic volcano shape. The weather has certainly deteriorated quite a lot and it is spitting with rain, however we get out to try a short walk along the track as we are heading up towards the observatory. There are White-crowned Parrots in the Sacropia Trees when we get out of the van and Gray-rumped Swifts flying around overhead. We are just trying to coax a Bay Wren out of the undergrowth when it starts to rain more heavily, so we race back to the van and head on further up the road.

We make one more stop before we arrive at the observatory because Paco has spotted a Keel-billed Toucan in the top of a tree. We all jump out and set up a scope and a couple of people get good views of it and then it flies off. But within seconds it is replaced by another two! Everybody gets excellent views as these birds hop around on the top of a tree and one even starts to call! There is also Montezuma Oropendola there and Red-lored Parrot. There is suddenly a rumble, a bit like thunder but somehow different, much shorter than most thunder and we suddenly realise we are hearing the volcano. It really is beginning to get dark now so we head on up to the observatory itself to pick up our keys and head off to our rooms to relax and settle in for an hour or so. We have to cross a rather wobbly suspension bridge in the process, which is quite fun!

After a delicious evening meal the final treat of the night is a huge moth outside the rooms with large eyes on its hind wings. The weather has really closed in now and there is quite a lot of heavy rain, so I think everyone is going to be sleeping with their fingers crossed for tomorrow so we have a good day and we can actually see the volcano!

Day 10 After a quick coffee at 6am we climb the stairs up to an observation platform from where we can easily view a bird table – well not a table but a bird feeder of some sort with prongs on which are speared all sorts of fruit. In no time at all, all kinds of birds start coming in to feed. The arrangement is particularly good because the weather is horrible, heavy drizzle and rain, very overcast, but up on this platform we have a lovely roof over us, we can open the windows without getting wet and still watch all the birds! Superb! There are large numbers of Red-legged Honeycreepers, with at one point eight of them feeding together on the fruit feeder, there are Blue-gray Tanagers, Bananaquit, Crimson-collared Tanager, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Palm Tanager, Hepatic Tanager, Summer Tanager, Baltimore’s Oriole, Green Honeycreeper - a pair of those, Yellow-throated Euphonia and some beautiful Golden-hooded Tanagers.

Immediately below us are a line of bushes with little purple flowers that hummingbirds seem to really like. There are several species buzzing about, including lots of Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds that keep chasing everything else around. However, while we are watching we see Violet-headed Hummingbird, which is a new one, as is White-necked Jacobin, probably the most impressive of the hummingbirds we’ve seen so far, and a tiny little female Black-crested Coquette. There are also Violet-crowned Woodnymph and Little Hermit. Back at the feeder, everything makes way for a huge Montezumas Oropendola that comes flying in. It tucks into the fruit and then starts displaying making an astonishing bubbling noise whilst turning completely upside down. A White-nosed Coati appears and we soon realise why they don’t just use a conventional bird table. After a tremendous effort it manages to get up onto the bird table and tucks into the fruit with great gusto, eating everything in sight! Three other new species are picked up before breakfast include Black-and-yellow Tanager, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, and Black-striped Sparrow. It has been an incredible scene with so many birds of so many different colours all feeding at the same time on this feeder. Best line of the morning has to go to Mary. After we’d seen so many Red-legged Honeycreepers Mary arrives just before breakfast and says, “Do you get Red-legged Honeycreepers here?”

After breakfast we all meet up again and decide to go for a walk around the hotel grounds. They are extremely nice with bits of forest as well as the more ornate gardens and it is as we enter the forest that we see our first Gray-headed Chachalacas. We also see Lineated Woodpecker, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Olive-striped Flycatcher, a very close Broad-winged Hawk drying its wings after the rain and a nice flock of Olive Tanagers. There are a pair of White-crowned Parrots perched on top of a Secropia Tree and we get brief but quite good views of a Tropical Parula. Then of there are the hummingbirds! We have seen many of them already this morning but not so close to and we add to the days list a superb adult male Green Hermit.

After this we head slowly down the road looking for birds as we go. It seems rather quiet and we have to work quite hard to find anything but we do eventually get good views of a Striped-breasted Wren and also a Least Flycatcher. Then a bit further on two or three Black-headed Saltators fly across the road and we get quite good views of them through the scope. A Barred Antshrike skulks in the bushes. In the meantime the weather is improving all the time, the rain has completely stopped now, the sky has become much bluer with only scattered clouds and every now and then we look up towards the volcano to see how much of it is visible. Each time we look there seems to be a little more and as we head back for lunch the whole volcano is almost in view. The cloud keeps drifting across towards the top of it and every now and then you get a glimpse of the top.

Whilst we are waiting for lunch, Roy sets up the telescope and has a look towards the top of the volcano and it soon becomes obvious that there are rocks tumbling down the side. Everyone is keen to have a look. It appears that this is rather sporadic and depends on the activity at the top. As we watch a billow of smoke erupts from a side vent and a massive rock is dislodged and tumbles down, shattering as it builds up speed. Another dirty gust of smoke appears out the top and again produces more tumbling rocks, then after a few seconds we hear the associated rumble. It is really quite exciting and everyone is quite mesmerised. David and Elizabeth are ecstatic! David is the Chairman of the British Geological Society so this is a dream come true.

By the end of lunch time the whole of the mountain is visible and as we head off towards Tabacon hot Springs we make the occasional stop along the way to take photographs. It is an impressive sight being the shape all volcanos are drawn at school right down to the smoke pouring out the top.

Tabacon hot Springs turns out to be a series of small waterfalls with pools in between where you can bathe in the hot water heated by the volcano itself, and it is hot! It’s like getting in a really hot bath when you can only do it gradually. Once you are in for a little while you do begin to acclimatise and you can sit under the waterfalls and have this hot water pounding on your back. It is a very pleasant experience, though you do end up feeling rather overheated! There is then a swimming pool with a bar which is a bit cooler, and a second swimming pool which is a lot cooler, being only 25 º C and that is where we all end up! All in all we probably spend about two hours here, and it is extremely relaxing and all with a view of Arenal Volcano!

By the time we have all got out and dried off, and back in the van, there’s probably only a couple of hours of daylight left so we work our way slowly back up the road towards the observatory lodge, stopping at a few sites to do some birding along the way. It turns out to be extremely productive and we see several new species as well as a lot of stuff we’ve seen before; the new ones include, Crested Guan, which we see probably four or five all together, Fasciated Antshrike, Long-tailed Tyrant, which I’ll come back to in a minute, Bay Wren, Banded-backed Wren and Great Antshrike. I want to come back to Long-tailed Tyrant purely because it is a very special bird for one member of the group. Angela, who is pretty widely travelled now, has been counting down in the last few days to species number 2000 on her world list! And Long-tailed Tyrant was it! So there was much back slapping and congratulations and she seems very happy with that being such a momentous species. It really is an extremely attractive bird!

Paco has been told that a Great Potoo has been roosting in some trees along the road and he stares carefully into them, checking every branch, to see if it is here today and suddenly - there it is! And what a fantastic bird! It’s big, it looks like an owl, but it is in fact related to Nightjars. As it is getting on towards dusk, we decide to wait and see if it flies and we watch as it wakes up and starts stretching it’s wings one at a time has a bit of a preen before it eventually wakes up, and initially it only makes a couple of short flights from branch to branch. It is enormous with a huge wing span and is extremely impressive as it flies away looking in silhouette rather like a big Short-eared Owl. An excellent end to an excellent day’s birding.

It is now dark as we drive the last few kilometres to the Observatory Lodge and we start noticing as we pass the odd clearing in the trees that although the top part of the volcano is clouded over again, however, you can still see bright red and orange rocks glowing as they tumble down from the top of the mountain. Some of them must be huge to be visible at this distance, and you can see them shatter and break into small pieces as they come tumbling down. It is an impressive sight so we stop for several minutes to watch before we finally head back to the lodge and it is just as well that we did because by the time we arrive the cloud has now completely shrouded the whole volcano.

It has been a particularly special day for Bob as it is his birthday and at the evening meal, when it comes round to pudding time - a cake appears with a candle on the top and everyone sings happy birthday to the sound of one of the waiters guitars! Bob does a lovely speech about how much he has enjoyed the day and how he has particularly enjoyed spending the day with us all and we all have a nice piece of cake. We also give him a post card of Arenal Volcano which everyone has signed and to our astonishment, the waiter then offers to sing Bob a song! He sings in Spanish and has a good voice and Bob seems delighted. To finish the day we go through to a quite part of the bar to do the check-list only to have yet another surprise! Angela suddenly produces a couple of bottles of champagne to celebrate her 2000^th world tick. What a day!

Day 11 Arenal Observatory Lodge and the day starts very well with completely clear views of the volcano. In the dark you can see bright orange rocks breaking away from the top, rolling down the side of the volcano and smashing into pieces as they go. Every now and again there is a big CRUMP as a puff of smoke and steam comes out the top of the volcano and more rocks come tumbling down. It is an impressive sight. None of us can stop taking photos of it! Of course David and Elizabeth are in overdrive, absolutely thrilled to bits.

At six o’clock we’re all meeting up with coffee and fruit juice before going up to the Observatory platform to watch the birds at the feeder, but also to carry on watching the volcano. Most of the birds at the feeder are as yesterday but we also find some interesting birds at the edge of the woods. A Golden-Olive Woodpecker appears, then a Rufous Mourner and a Russet Antshrike. A couple of people get onto a Rufous-winged Woodpecker and a Yellow-margined Flycatcher is seen. After breakfast we meet up outside the rooms to go for a short walk down the waterfall trail. Almost immediately we find a Cinnamon Becard and at the entrance to the trail we get excellent views of Rufous-tailed Jacamar. The trail itself proves very productive with loads of birds in a short time, White-breasted Wood-Wren is new and we get much better views of Striped-breasted Wren. Then Paco hears a raptor calling and as we look up a Black Hawk-Eagle appears, circling overhead, a little frustrating because we only get to see it for a matter of a few seconds in a gap through the trees but its an extremely good sighting. Other birds seen on the trail include Orange-billed Sparrow, Golden-crowned Warbler, Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, Plain Xenops, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Plain Antvireo, Streaked-crowned Antvireo and Lineated Foliage-gleaner. Roy also finds a tiny bright red stick insect.

After the walk we pack our bags and take the van down the track, stopping at one or two places to do a little bit of birding before we get to the end. We get excellent views of a Broad-billed Motmot and a couple of Rufous-tailed Jacamar’s in the background behind it – both superb birds.

We decide to have lunch before we get to the end of the track and find a rather pleasant spot where we can look out over the lake. We enjoy our sandwiches whilst watching Ringed and Amazon Kingfishers and two beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites come circling in overhead - fantastic! We now have quite a long drive ahead of us before we get to Selva Verde so we say goodbye to the volcano and it’s onto the main road and away we go, but with the pot holes in the road it is certainly not speedy going, and it doesn’t seem a problem to stop and look at the odd birds we spot as we go along. At one point, David Knight spots a White Hawk perched up in a tree - another fantastic bird! We get the scope on it and everybody gets cracking views before it flies off to another tree nearby.

Further on and someone spots Gray Hawk but when we get out to view it we discover that there’s a Laughing Falcon there as well. We make a short stop in La Fortuna for ice-creams and spot House Sparrows before we carry on our way, picking up Red-winged Blackbird, Bronzed Cowbirds and a nice Chestnut-mandibled Toucan.

Eventually we arrive at Selva Verde Lodge and settle into our rooms. It is very humid here although I don’t think the temperature is that high. After a few minutes to settle in, we meet up to do a short walk in the grounds which are beautiful, with a wonderful rainforest like atmosphere of Palms, Ferns, Bromeliads and tall trees. The river itself the River Sarapiqui, a beautiful, wide, fast flowing river with stones and boulders lining the edge. We see three kinds of Toucan’s – Keel-billed, Chestnut-mandibilled and a new one – Collared Aracari. Then we make our first stop down on the riverbank itself. There are two other birders here who tell us that a Sunbittern has just flown away, apparently scared off by some canoeists, but they have been around the area a lot so hopefully they will be here tomorrow. Paco spots a large King Snake on top of a log on the far side of the river. An Olive-backed Euphonia comes into the tree above our heads but it is difficult to get onto and along one of the tracks we see a Red-throated Ant Tanager. We decide to cross the river to see if we can find the Sunbittern, which means crossing a suspension bridge, which is quite exciting, and at the far side we find a superb young Fasciated Tiger-Heron. We spend a while looking for the Sunbittern but no luck so we head back to the lodge. Parrots are flying over in large numbers though unfortunately we can’t work out which species and then there is a lovely flock of egrets flying up the river to roost. Best of all is a wonderful male Snowy Cotinga perched in the bare branches above the lodge when we get back and we even manage to get the scope on it giving everyone excellent views. It is a superb bird - pure white with a dark bill and big dark eye. Certainly an excellent one to finish the days birding with and really a bit of a must if you are travelling with Cotinga Tours.

After a very pleasant evening meal and going through the list we also have the extra bonus of David Maddocks giving us a short talk on why there is so much volcanic activity on Costa Rica. It is extremely interesting and everyone is full of questions at the end. Having learnt all about plate tectonics and subduction and all sorts of other things it is time for bed.

Day 12 We meet at 6am and go for a walk in the grounds of the lodge. The weather is beautiful and the temperature at this time of day is idyllic, and we all make the most of it as we know it is going to get hotter later on. A Red-throated Ant-Tanager is calling from the bushes and after a bit of searching we manage to see it before it flies off. Then we make our way down to the riverbank and scan the far shore for Sunbitterns…but no luck though we do find a few other birds such as Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron and Louisiana Waterthrush. This is then followed by some rather frustrating moments as a White-throated Manakin and then a Red-capped Manakin are found, neither of which are easy to point out high up in the trees, though eventually one or two people do see them. We do however get very good views of a female Blue-black Grosbeak and on the far side of the river Buff-rumped Warbler. Wood Thrush is added to the list and then Mealy Parrot. This is the largest of the parrots, apart from the macaws obviously, and two of them perch on the far bank high up in a tree. Paco has been pointing out the call of Semiplumbeous Hawk and all of a sudden the two parrots fly off squawking loudly as it appears in the same tree. We get the telescopes on it and get very good views. Then suddenly David Knight points out that there is actually a second bird present. So we spend sometime enjoying these very smart birds before heading back for breakfast.

Once fed, we set of in the direction of La Selva Biological Station. On the way we make a short stop at a little pool beside the road, where there are a couple of Least Sandpipers and three Solitary Sandpipers which, as Paco points out, breaks the rules a little as they aren’t really solitary are they?!

Then we arrive at the biological station itself and spend some time walking along the road up to the reception centre. There seem to be birds everywhere! Many are birds we are now familiar with, such as Kiskadee, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Red-legged Honey-creeper, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Masked Titira, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-crowned Euphonia, then we also get a new flycatcher, White-ringed. We get good views of a superb male Howler Monkey through the telescope and also Chestnut-mandibilled Toucans. There are Golden-hooded Tanagers in the trees above us, Yellow-throated Vireo, Buff-throated Saltator and David Knight picks out a nice Rose-breasted Grosbeak. There are also Banded-backed Wrens and a superb male Black-cowled Oriole. We get good views of a Double-toothed Kite circling overhead and also another new bird, Black-faced Grosbeak. A little further on and we find a fruiting tree full of birds. There are lots of Shining Honeycreepers in it, Baltimore’s Oriole, Cinnamon Becard, a Mistletoe Tyrannulet and a beautiful adult King Vulture circling overhead. We stop briefly at the reception centre to fill in some forms and have an ice-cream and then carry on towards the forest. It is getting really hot now although it is not quite as humid as we perhaps expected it would be and the birding continues a pace with new birds in the form of Short-billed Pigeon, and a female Bay-breasted Warbler which takes a bit of sorting out, then the best views so far of Olive-backed Euphonia. A group of people are ahead of us on the path as we approached, clearly looking at something high up in a tree and as we get to the spot we realise it is a Three-toed Sloth right above our heads! It is not moving much, but then Sloth’s don’t really do they? Through the scope you can initially make out it’s face although it soon curls up and goes to sleep. Continuing on we find female Violaceous and Slaty-tailed Trogons, Plain-coloured Tanager, which is rather drab, and then we enter the forest itself.

One of the first birds we find in here is a Great Tinamou, what a brilliant start! There is also Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and a few other common birds when Paco points out that there is a swarm of Army Ants moving through, it really is quite a sight to behold! There is quite a wide band of them, perhaps six feet wide and there must be tens of thousands of them all marching in the same direction, going up the trees, along the palm fronds, covering everything! As they progress they swarm over the top of any other creatures that happen to be in their path and we watch as Katydids, Spiders and a Scorpion all try to get away. Some of the Katydids try to fly away in their attempt to escape and this is what attracts Antbirds. Paco is just explaining how all this works when he hears an Antbird call and within seconds and absolutely beautiful bird appears - Ocellated Antbird. Not just a difficult bird to see, this is a real stunner. Bare skin around it’s eyes is bright blue, it has a black chin but the rest of it’s body is a lovely rusty colour but with big dark spots all over. Amazingly it keeps right out in the open and we get fantastic views of it even watching it through the scope until we are completely satiated, at which point a second bird comes in, incredible! Paco tells me he has not seen one for three years or more. We hope that one or two more of the Antbird species will come in but we are well pleased with this sighting and the Barred Woodcreeper and Warblers that also come in. Then suddenly the ants have gone! Before turning back, we carry on down the road a little way to check out a Gray-headed Kite nest that Paco found a week or two ago. An adult bird is on the nest, the only shame being that you can’t see most of the bird, though you can see its long tail, protruding out over the side. So well satisfied with an excellent mornings birding we head back to Selva Verde for lunch.

During lunchtime a few birds are spotted by different people, such as Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Rufous Motmot, White-collared Manakin is seen again and also Orange-billed Sparrow but then at about three o’clock we meet up again to head of back to La Selva. On the way, Carlos brilliantly spots a Bat Falcon perched high up in a tree. We stop the van and get out to set the scopes up getting fantastic views of it. It is then on to La Selva again. Apparently this reserve is particularly good due to the fact that it provides a continuous corridor from about 35m above sea level, right up through the Braulio Carrillo National Park, which is goes way up to four or five thousand feet. It is a mixture of secondary and old rainforest and this fact that you have got a continuous band of habitat means it is particularly rich. The reserve is operated by the Organisation for Tropical Studies and is used enormously for biological research. Much of the information you might read about rainforests and rainforest animals comes from studies done here. As we walk through the forest we come across flags stuck in the ground along the Leaf-cutter Ant trails which are clearly linked to someone’s research, then there are insect traps, moth traps and labels stuck in the ground.

As we set off two or three Collared Aracari fly into a nearby tree and there are Chestnut-mandibled Toucans all over the place. We spot an Agouti and also two Peccaries belt off into the undergrowth. We come across a marvellous Leaf-cutter Ant trail. They have made a clean path right across a lawn and there are thousands of them all carrying big circles of leaf straight down a gaping hole. Again we see many of the birds that we saw this morning, like the Shining Honeycreeper, Green Honeycreeper and lots of Flycatchers and things. We stop to look at the Three-toed Sloth again and suddenly realise there is a little baby with it! It is so cute, it is a tiny little thing and it is climbing around on the branches before eventually crawling back to it’s mother. We also see female Snowy Cotinga, a nice Black-throated Trogon, another Barred-Woodcreeper, and a new hummingbird - Blue-chested Hummingbird. A bit further on still and we get Green Ibis, seeming almost out of place perched in the trees in the middle of a forest. We also have with us today a guide from the centre itself - a man called Rudolpho who is an old friend of Paco’s and seems to be a very good birder. But the real reason why he has been invited along soon becomes clear when he starts peering up into the canopy and suddenly picks out a Great Potoo high up in a tree. When we saw this species at Arenal Janey was ill and everyone had felt very sorry for her because it is such a special bird and she is so keen, it just seemed a tragedy that she missed it. Apparently however, Paco had asked around the local guides last night and discovered one was roosting in these trees, but it would be difficult to find the right spot ourselves…. hence Rudolpho. Of course he had kept all this quiet until this moment and suddenly he calls Janey across to the telescope and says, “Look in here,” and there it is a Great Potoo roosting at the top of a tree! Janey is thrilled to bits. In this light we get superb views of it and walk round to the other side to see it from the front. From here you can see it’s eyes and it’s beak - it really is the most bizarre looking thing!

Another astonishing thing here - an enormous mushroom! It is apparently the fruiting body of the fungus that the Leaf-cutter Ants grow in their nest. They take all the leaves and the flowers back to their nests let it rot down inside the nest, a fungus grows on it and it is the fungus that the ants actually eat. However of course all fungi have a fruiting body and that is what is sitting on top of this ant nest…and it is absolutely huge! I have never seen such a big mushroom or toadstool, it must be at least two and a half feet across!

The next target bird is Little Tinamou and Paco explains that we need to hurry back to a short stretch of path where there is a slim chance that we might pick one up. So we do a march straight back to the visitor centre, picking up one new bird on the way – Dusky-faced Tanager. There after saying goodbye to Rudolpho, we arrive at a piece of track in the middle of a particularly thick area of vegetation and Paco starts making this most amazing whistling sound which mimics the call of the Little Tinamou. We spend quite a lot of time standing here waiting and listening and eventually one starts to reply, but to our great disappointment it never actually appears. By now the light has completely gone so it is back into the vans and back to the lodge, where the only other additions to the day’s sightings are when we are doing the check-list. This takes place outside in a nice little seating area where the lights overhead attract insects. A Cicada flies in. These creatures make an incredible sound and we have heard many of them during the day in the forest so it is really good to actually get to see the animal itself.

Day 13 We wake at about 5am to the rather bizarre combination of Cockerels crowing and Howler Monkeys and have an early breakfast before we set off straight away to La Selva. Upon arrival we immediately start with a new bird, Yellow Oriole, singing in full sunlight at the top of a tree. A Black-cowed Oriole appears as well for comparison and a couple of Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts fly over. There are plenty of toucans about this morning, lots of Chestnut Mandibled, but the odd Keel-billed as well and several Collared Aracaris. We set the scopes on two Green Ibis high up in a tree and we get our best views so far of Bright-rumped Attila. There are flycatchers everywhere of all different sorts and Blue Dacnis and White-lined Tanager are seen briefly. We see Grayish, Buff-throated and Black-headed Saltators all really well and lots of other species we have seen before but with particularly good views of Tropical Pewee, Black-faced Grosbeak, Plain-colored Tanager, Faciated Antshrike, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Squirrel Cuckoo and Golden-hooded Tanager. New birds include Gray Catbird, Yellow Tyranulet and Slaty Spinetail. We get very good views of a warbler, which we still somehow can’t identify. Though similar to Chestnut-sided it is all streaky on the chest but doesn’t look quite like the Bay-breasted we saw yesterday and definitely isn’t Blackpoll Warbler… so what on earth was it? We see Banded-backed Wren, a nice view of a Long-tailed Tyrant perched on top of a tree and two or three Gray-headed Chachalacas fly across the path. We also get good views of Snowy Cotinga again, a couple of Masked Tityras and a Mealy Parrot flies over.

A bit further on down the track we get excellent views of Black-throated Wren - another new species. We also get Rufous-winged Woodpecker which gives excellent views this time unlike the other day. There are Orange-chinned Parakeets flying around and feeding in one of the fig trees. We see Olive-backed Euphonia and we spend a little while watching a really nice male Three-toed Sloth in a tree just above our heads. We also get a new wheelbarrow for the trip. Since the start of the holiday we have seen Yellow-bellied, Orange-bellied and Green-bellied and today we manage to pick up Blue-bellied Wheelbarrow. These are quite scarce in Costa Rica and are basically just migrants passing through at this time of year. (Or am I making it up?)

We take one of the tracks into the forest itself and quickly pick up a Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and Ochre-bellied Flycatcher. There is also White-breasted Wood-Wren. The star bird however is probably Band-tailed Barbthroat a rather nice little hummingbird which sits beautifully for us on the end of a little tree while we even get the telescope on it. As well as the birds, there are lots of other things to look at today, we find a tiny little red frog with blue legs known as the Blue-Jeans Frog. It is one of the poison arrow frogs but it is tiny, no bigger than your finger nail. We also see our first Spider Monkeys, asleep up in the trees flopped over the branches with their heads lolling over the side. Every now and then one looks round, has a yawn, a bit of a scratch and it is hard to appreciate just how long limbed and long tailed these wonderful animals are. Two Collared Peccaries wander across the path in front of us and we also make a stop to look at a Rubber Tree. This is the original native Rubber Tree of Costa Rica and not the species that is grown commercially for rubber, however you can see where in the past there has been damage to the bark and sap has oozed out and then set. Paco peels a piece of this off and we have good fun stretching it and playing with it. It really is exactly like a rubber band! Another odd thing, if you stretch it really hard and touch it against your lip, it is quite hot and as soon as you release it, it goes very cold! We spend a while watching Leaf-cutter Ants and there is also a trail of Army Ants across the path. We find a couple of millipedes, a female with a male on her back walking along like a double-decker bus! Finally there is a delightful little Damselfly with an incredible long body and amazing long wings with little white patches near the tips. The wings are completely transparent so in the gloom all that you see is the wing tips moving up and down. It hovers around the trees very delicately, we are told, hunting for spiders. We add Scarlet-rumped Cacique to the list and get good views of a Rufous Motmot.

Back at the reception centre we indulge in some lovely, cold, sliced tropical fruits, then we set off back to Selva Verde with one more stop before we get there. This is at Gavilan Lodge. It is a site well known for a roost of Spectacled Owls so we spend a long time searching for them. There is a flock of Dusky-faced Tanager, very noisy and behaving almost like African Babblers! We get good views of a couple of House Wrens and a Blue Ground Dove but then we make the most astonishing find - a Rufous Nightjar, perched up asleep on a stem of Bamboo. This is a very unusual find and it takes a little while to be absolutely sure what species it actually is, they are not an easy group. However, finally we manage to pick up all the identification features and get fantastic views of it through the telescope. We carry on searching for owls, finding Plain-brown Woodcreeper, a couple of Mangrove Swallows skimming above the river, and a lovely Bay Wren – but no owls!

In the afternoon as a change from forest we go to a large area of wet pastureland at a place called Tigre. It is mainly damp meadows with a big heard of the cattle with the big floppy ears, but some of the areas are particularly wet and there are some quite nice wet creeks. As soon as we get out of the van, we get a new species - Olive-crowned Yellow-throat, hard to pick out in the long grass. Four Wood Storks fly across in front of us and there are lots of egrets, mostly Cattle Egrets, quite a few Greats and the odd Little-blue Heron. Then we find something most odd, there are little birds hopping around on the ground looking almost like pipits, but there are no pipits in Costa Rica so what are they? After some puzzling we realise they are Yellow-rumped Warblers! Not exactly a bird know as a ground feeder, these are birds that normally are seen high up in trees but here they were behaving like little wagtails.

A little further on there are some Red-winged Blackbirds singing from the fence posts, and we get excellent views of a Red-breasted Blackbird, which is the most amazing colour. A couple of Green Herons flutter out of one of the creeks and then we find a rather controversial bird, Pink-billed Seed-Finch. Only controversial because most of the members of the group seem to think the bill looks yellow. Now I reckon they wouldn’t call it Pink-billed Seed-Finch if it had a yellow bill and certainly to my eye, the bill looks pink. However, I am definitely in the minority, most people seem to think it is yellow, some say it is cream, some say it is pink. Now we have with us this afternoon Peter Partington, a very well known bird artist who is here as artist in residence at the centre, but has come with us just for the afternoon. So, thinking he is going to be an expert on colour we turn to him - he says they are flesh-coloured bills! Louise is a real diplomat saying they were pinky at the base and yellowy at the tip! After a lengthy discussion we finally agree to call them Big-billed Finch, which suits them very well. Either way… they were very smart.

We wander further round and watch a lovely group of Cattle Egrets fly in behind the cattle and a Roadside Hawk calling from a tree and then end up at a particularly wet area in the middle of the fields where we flush an American Purple Gallinule. A White-throated Crake is calling but doesn’t come out in the open. There are lots of Jacanas around here and then suddenly in flies a Striped Cuckoo landing in the bushes right in front of us. It is fantastic and we quickly get the scope on it, everybody gets really good views and then it flies on. Paco had been doing Striped Cuckoo impersonations for about 20 minutes so presumably this bird responded to him... it must have been very disappointed! After this we get very good views of Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, which we struggled to see well earlier, and a Northern Waterthrush. It is now getting late, and we have a night walk tonight so we decide to call it a day and head back for our evening meal.

We arrive at the dining room to find that instead of the usual arrangement we’ve got a lovely full table set and Paco has bought wine and seated in the middle of the whole table is Elizabeth, the reason being, it is her birthday! Two minutes after we have had the main course the lights are all turned out and in comes the most enormous heart shaped cake with candles on top. It is white on top with brilliant pink icing all round the outside and has happy birthday written in Spanish on the top! We also present her with a card signed by everybody and hope she has had a good day.

After we have done the list we set off on a night walk, the aim is to try and see Crested Owl and also anything else that is out and about. We cross to an area of woodland on the other side of the road and soon hear Crested Owl calling. It is rather difficult to work out which is the best path to get closest to it and we have one or two false starts. Eventually we end up directly underneath where the owl is calling from… but it seems to be impossible to spot. We spend ages peering up and searching with the spotlights in the trees above, trying from different angles, different paths but all to no avail. The bird continues to call the whole time but the vegetation is just too thick. We head back feeling rather disappointed but just as we are walking back to the centre Paco spots an animal walking along one of the telegraph wires. It is kind of orange on it’s back with a pointed nose and a long tail and is clearly some kind of opossum, but it is not the common one, it must be one of the rarer ones. It has a long tail with which it grips the wires, and suddenly it races off along the telegraph wire and jumps off onto the trees. It is a brilliant site! On returning to the lodge and looking it up we identify it as a Central American Woolly Opossum… a great find and it certainly makes up for missing the owl.

Day 14 We start the day again in the grounds of Selva Verde Lodge. Having not yet got Sunbittern we decide to start the day with a walk down beside the river and cross over the big suspension bridge. When we get to the far side we scan the rocks really, really carefully but there is no sign. We are just about to turn back across the river when suddenly Paco says, “Got one!” He starts giving directions but it is miles away, right away off down the river! Even knowing exactly what I am looking for I can hardly make out anything and it is certainly hopeless to try and point it out to people so instead we decide to head off back over the river and along the far side until we get down to where the bird is. This doesn’t take very long and we arrive down the bank, tip-toeing the last bit so as not to scare the bird, when suddenly away it flies! Fortunately it doesn’t go far, flying across to the other side of the river and then landing on the rocks. We soon have scopes set upon it and get fantastic views of the bird as it perches right out in the open and starts to feed in amongst the boulders. We spend a good 20 minutes or more just enjoying this bird… a real one off.

Absolutely delighted with our success we head back for breakfast and then head off to Braulio Carillo National Park. Before we set off, Paco introduces us to a young lad called Hilba who is being trained as a naturalist at the centre and is trying to take any opportunity that he can to learn more birds. He seems very knowledgeable and it is good to have an extra pair of eyes. Braulio Carrillo National Park is a massive reserve - 50,000 hectares of the most wonderful tropical rainforest. We thought we had seen some impressive rainforest before, but this place really is the best we have seen. The are such a variety of trees and plants here, ferns of all shapes and sizes, beautiful palm trees, moss growing on all the branches, bromeliads, orchids, hangers and creepers plants climbing the tree trunks - it is just stunning! With the sun now out and spangling down through the trees onto the forest floor it is absolutely beautiful.

The first few hundred yards seems rather quiet but then we start to pick up a few birds. Tawny-capped Euphonia, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and then a White-roughed Manakin. A stunning Blue Morpho butterfly flies past and another one lands on a tree trunk and opens it wings in the full sun, a stunning sight. And then complete chaos!!! A mixed flock of birds are moving through. We hear lots of chit, chit, chits and little squeaks and the first birds come into sight. There are lots of Olive Tanagers and initially that seems to be all we can find, then there is a Tawny-crested Tanager, then another. Then Roy finds a White-throated Shrike Tanager as Paco finds a Spotted Barred-tailed and Hilba a Russet Antshrike. There are birds everywhere! Spotted Woodcreeper, Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, Golden-hooded Tanager, Common Bush-tanagers and more. There is pandemonium. I’m pointing birds out, Paco is pointing birds out, Hilba is pointing birds out, people are spotting their own things and calling out they have found something and what is it?….. it’s impossible to know where to look and what to look at! The forest seems alive with birds and then suddenly they are gone… as fast as they have arrived. The experience is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. We all feel we’ve seen great birds but also that we missed some. An amazing experience .

We carry on a bit further up the track and someone spots a bird low down to the ground. Paco and Hilba get extremely excited as it turns out to be a Dull-mantled Antbird. It may not be the prettiest of things but it is rare and difficult so see, so we are quite privileged. It seems to have a very odd marking on it which throws real confusion into the identification. A big white mark on the back of it’s neck, but none of the birds have that, so we can only assume it is a partial albino because all the other features fit Dull-mantled Antbird perfectly.

We carry on along the track and start to hear the squeaks and chirps of birds in the forest again but the forest is so dense we can’t really see them, so we continue past them as fast as we can until we have overtaken the flock and found a more open area. The tension mounts as we wait for the birds to appear and initially there is nothing in view at all, but then the little chirps and squeaks get louder and suddenly in from the right hand side they appear. Again the front wave is Olive Tanagers, then all sorts, Common Bush Tanager, White-throated Shrike-tanager, Russet Ant-shrike, Pale-vented Robin, Silver-throated Tanager, Emerald Tanager, Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Lesser Greenlet… all very exciting and many people catch up with the ones they are missing. This time the birds pass through and head off into the forest away from the track so that is our last chance to look at them.

Carrying on through the trail, things now seem really quiet. There are the odd birds around, we get Golden-hooded Tanager, Crowned Woodnymph and we also see a couple of monkeys! There is a small group of Howler Monkeys and further on we get wonderful views of a Squirrel Monkey feeding in the top of a tree full of berries. It’s astonishing how it can hang with the tip of it’s tail wrapped round a branch and reach right out to pick the berries on the furthest branches. Every now and again it pauses and looks at us, but it doesn’t seem bothered by our presence. We continue on down the path which now drops quite steeply back down to the van, then drive back to Selva Verde for lunch. We pack our bags and head off in the direction of San José.

The road, after initially passing through lots of farmland and the odd village starts to climb quite steeply and is quite winding. We get higher and higher and start passing the Braulio Caririllo National Park again. The forest seems to extend for miles in all directions, with deep valleys dropping away below us. The occasional waterfall drops down through the forest as a white streak. A big flock of White-collared Swifts cruises over the valley and we scan for raptors, though it has now started to rain sporadically and you can see showers of rain off in the distance. We make a brief stop at the River Elangel and go down to the bridge where Paco says we will have a quick look here for American Dipper, and just as he says it and American Dipper flies out from under the bridge and perches on a rock right in the open! He as good as called it there! We get excellent views of this bird as well as Black Phoebe and the lovely little Torrent Tyrannulet.

Our next stop is at a small cafe with a superb view down to a spectacular waterfall. There are hummingbird feeders outside and a bird table covered in fruit plus a massive fruiting fig tree. We start with the hummingbirds, of which there are a lot including Violet Sabrewing, Green-crowned Brilliant, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, a delightful little Green Thorntail, Green Violet-ear, Brown Violet-ear, a Green Hermit and two new ones Copper-headed Emerald and White-bellied Mountain Gem. We turn our attention to the Fig Tree which seems to be full of birds. There are Tennessee Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, several Palm Tanagers, then suddenly Paco says he can hear Golden-browed Chlorophonias so we scan the top of the tree, looking carefully for anything bright green, and suddenly we spot one, then a second! What a stunning little bird this is! And astonishingly if we have counted correctly, this is our 400^th species of the trip! We get excellent views of them as they hop around in the open searching for berries, along with Bay-headed Tanager, a Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Blue-grey Tanagers, and a superb Emerald Toucanet. We have the offer of coffee but it is hard to tear yourself away from the birds and drink it! However, as we seem to have seen most of the birds in the tree, we stop and have a break, drink some coffee and admire the large Tarantula and a huge Rhinoceros Beetle that they have on a table in little terrariums. I even get the chance to handle the Tarantula!

Meanwhile back at the tree, more birds are coming and going, there are now two Emerald Toucanets, two Black Guans, a Prong-billed Barbet and a Red-tailed Squirrel. The tree has now been christened the magic tree, because it seems to produce birds as if by magic! It has certainly been a real highlight of the day! However, time is passing and we have to leave this idyllic little spot and head a bit further along the road, where we make our final stop at La Paz Waterfall. This is an amazing waterfall that comes gushing over the top of a lip and falls vertically, straight into a pool at the bottom. It is very spectacular, though not very birdy as the only bird we get here is Torrent Tyrannulet, but well worth stopping at.

From here there are no more stops and we drive straight to the Hotel Bourgainvillea. People can’t believe how quickly the holiday has gone and certainly no-one wants to go home! We have a wonderful evening meal, and then adjourn to the conference room to go through the list for one last time and to discuss ‘Bird of the trip,’ ‘Place of the trip’ etc. We start of with Place of the Trip and two places clearly stand out- Bosque de Paz and Arenal, both of which get six votes so it is a draw! Playa Azul gets a vote and so does Braulio Corrillo National Park. Bird of the Trip produced a huge variety of responses. Out of thirteen people we end up with 11 different Birds of the Trip! These include Sunbittern, a couple of votes for Montezuma Oropendola, Boat-billed Heron, Keel-billed Toucan, Three-wattled Bellbirds, Snowy Cotinga, Violet Sabrewing, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Scarlet Macaw, Resplendent Quetzal and Ocellated Antbird. What a fantastic selection of birds that is! We also decide to do Mammal of the Trip and again get quite a variety including White-nosed Coati, Central American Wooly Opossum, Spider Monkey and Three-toed Sloth - which won (I think it was because it had a little baby with it!) Crocodile also got a vote despite not even being a mammal! Arenal Volcano at the crack of dawn, silhouetted against the dawn sky with glowing boulders tumbling down it’s side deservedly won top position in the votes for Magic Moment. Certainly when you look at the variety that has been chosen it has clearly been a fantastic holiday! Then with Bob and Mary having to catch an early plane tomorrow morning we all say our fond farewells to them and wish them good travels and we head off to bed.

Day 15 It is today that we all travel home, however before breakfast there is just time for a last bit of birding around the grounds of the Hotel Bourgainvillea. It all seems rather quiet at first but after a while we find a couple of House Wrens hopping around, the first Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds wake up, a Melodious Blackbird starts singing, and we get excellent views of a Blue-crowned Motmot. There are parrots flying around too, a nice little flock of Crimson-fronted Parakeets and a couple of White-fronted Parrots fly over. There is a Rufous-capped Warbler working it’s way through the little orange flowers along the wall and we get brief views of a White-eared Sparrow. We are just saying that it would be nice to get a new bird today just so that we have had something new on every single day of the holiday when a bird singing in one of the bushes doesn’t sound quite like a House Wren. On closer inspection, we discover that it is in fact a Plain Wren – a new bird for the trip! We also get very brief views of a hummingbird. It is clearly not a Rufous-tailed, but what is it? It doesn’t look like anything we have seen so far, very dark and it appears all green with a small bill and a dark tail, when Paco appears later and we describe it to him and he says there is only one possibility! Fork-tailed Hummingbird – another new species! So here we are on the last morning picking up another two new birds for the trip, making the grand total 403 species… incredible!

After an excellent breakfast, we then head off to a local shop that has things for sale including books, t-shirts, coffee and all sorts of things that people like to buy as presents and we decide to buy a little momento for Paco. It is a small book on Costa Rican Beetles, which he seems delighted with, and everybody signs inside it! Then it is off to the airport and away off home at the end of a fantastic trip with loads of fantastic memories!

Birds

Great Tinamou Tinamus major

Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis

Neotropical Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus

Anhinga Anhinga anhinga

Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens

Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias

Great Egret Ardea albus

Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens

Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor

Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea

Snowy Egret Egretta thula

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

Green Heron Butorides virescens

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea

Boat-billed Heron Cochlearius cochlearius

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma mexicanum

Fasciated Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma fasciatum

Wood Stork Mycteria americana

Green Ibis Mesembrinibis cayennensis

White Ibis Eudocimus albus

Roseate Spoonbill Ajaia ajaja

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis

Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata

Blue-winged Teal Anas discors

Black Vulture Coragyps atratus

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura

King Vulture Sarcoramphus papa

Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis

Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus

White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus

Double-toothed Kite Harpagus bidentatus

Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus

Crane Hawk Geranospiza caerulescens

Semiplumbeous Hawk Leucopternis semiplumbea

White Hawk Leucopternis albicollis

Mangrove Black-Hawk Buteogallus subtilis

Great Black-Hawk Buteogallus urubitinga

Gray Hawk Asturina nitidus

Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris

Broad-winged Hawk Buteo Platypterus

Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis

Black Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus tyrannus

Crested Caracara Polyborus plancus

Yellow-headed Caracara Milvago chimachima

Laughing Falcon Herpetotheres cachinnans

Bat Falcon Falco rufigularis

Gray-headed Chachalaca Ortalis cinereiceps

Crested Guan Penelope purpurascens

Black Guan Chamaepetes unicolor

Spot-bellied Bobwhite Colinus leucopogon

Purple Gallinule Porphyrula martinica

Sunbittern Eurypyga helias

Northern Jacana Jacana spinosa

Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus

Double-striped Thick-Knee Burhinus bistriatus

Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola

Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus

Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia

Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes

Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria

Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia

Willet Catoptrophorus semipalmatus

Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

Sanderling Calidris alba

Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla

Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri

Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla

Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus

Laughing Gull Larus atricilla

Royal Tern Sterna maxima

Black Skimmer Rynchops niger

Feral Pigeon Columba livia

Band-tailed Pigeon Columba fasciata

Pale-vented Pigeon Columba cayennensis

Red-billed Pigeon Columba flavirostris

Short-billed Pigeon Columba nigrirostris

Ruddy Pigeon Columba subvinacea

White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica

Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina

Ruddy Ground-Dove Columbina talpacoti

Inca Dove Columbina inca

Blue Ground-Dove Claravis pretiosa

White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi

Gray-chested Dove Leptotila cassinii

Ruddy Quail-Dove Geotrygon montana

Scarlet Macaw Ara macao

Crimson-fronted Parakeet Aratinga finschi

Olive-throated Parakeet Aratinga nana

Orange-fronted Parakeet Aratinga canicularis

Orange-chinned Parakeet Brotogeris jugularis

White-crowned Parrot Pionus senilis

White-fronted Parrot Amazona albifrons

Red-Lored Parrot Amazona autumnalis

Yellow-naped Parrot Amazona auropalliata

Mealy Parrot Amazona farinosa

Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana

Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani

Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris

Striped Cuckoo Tapera naevia

Pacific Screech-Owl Otus cooperi

Black-and-white Owl Ciccaba nigrolineata

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium brasilianum

Striped Owl Asio clamator

Great Potoo Nyctibius grandis

Lesser Nighthawk Chordeiles acutipennis

Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis

White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris

Gray-rumped Swift Chaetura cinereiventris

Vaux's Swift Chaetura vauxi

Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift Panyptila cayennensis

Stripe-throated Hermit (Little Hermit) Phaethornis striigularis

Band-tailed Barbthroat Threnetes ruckeri

Green Hermit Phaethornis guy

Western Long-tailed Hermit Phaethornis superciliosus

Scaly-breasted Hummingbird Phaeochroa cuvierii

Violet Sabrewing Campylopterus hemileucurus

White-necked Jacobin Florisuga mellivora

Brown Violet-ear Colibri delphinae

Green Violet-ear Colibri thalassinus

Green-breasted Mango Anthracothorax prevostii

Violet-headed Hummingbird Klais guimeti

Black-crested Coquette Lophornis helenae

Green Thorntail Discosura conversii

Magenta-throated Woodstar Calliphlox bryantae

Fiery-throated Hummingbird Panterpe insignis

Coppery-headed Emerald Elvira cupreiceps

Violet-crowned Woodnymph Thalurania colombica

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl

Cinnamon Hummingbird Amazilia rutila

Blue-chested Hummingbird Amazilia amabilis

Mangrove Hummingbird Amazilia boucardi

Steely-vented Hummingbird Amazilia saucerrottei

White-bellied Mountain-gem Lampornis hemileucus

Purple-throated Mountain-gem Lampornis calolaema

Gray-tailed (variable) Mountain Gem Lampornis castaneoventris

Green-crowned Brilliant Heliodoxa jacula

Magnificent Hummingbird Eugenes fulgens

Purple-crowned Fairy Heliothryx barroti

Long-billed Starthroat Heliomaster longirostris

Magenta-throated Woodstar Calliphlox bryantae

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris

Scintillant Hummingbird Selasphorus scintilla

Volcano Hummingbird Selasphorus flammula

Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno

Black-headed Trogon Trogon melanocephalus

Baird's Trogon Trogon bairdii

Violaceous Trogon Trogon violaceus

Collared Trogon Trogon collaris

Orange-bellied Trogon Trogon aurantiiventris

Black-throated Trogon Trogon rufus

Slaty-tailed Trogon Trogon massena

Resplendant Queztal Pharomachrus mocinno

Ringed Kingfisher Ceryle torquata

Amazon Kingfisher Chloroceryle amazona

Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana

American Pygmy Kingfisher Chloroceryle aenea

Blue-crowned Motmot Momotus momota

Rufous Motmot Baryphthengus martii

Broad-billed Motmot Electron platyrhynchum

Turquoise-browed Motmot Eumomota superciliosa

Rufous-tailed Jacamar Galbula ruficauda

White-whiskered Puffbird Malacoptila panamensis

Red-headed Barbet Eubucco bourcierii

Prong-billed Barbet Semnornis frantzii

Emerald Toucanet Aulacorhynchus prasinus

Collared Aracari Pteroglossus torquatus

Keel-billed Toucan Ramphastos sulfuratus

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan Ramphastos swainsonii

Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus

Black-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes pucherani

Hoffman's Woodpecker Brachoria hoffmani

Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus

Rufous-winged Woodpecker Piculus simplex

Golden-olive Woodpecker Piculus rubiginosus

Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus

Pale-billed Woodpecker Campephilus guatemalensis

Slaty Spinetail Synallaxis brachyura

Red-faced Spinetail Cranioleuca erythrops

Spotted Barbtail Premnoplex brunnescens

Ruddy Treerunner Margarornis rubiginosus

Plain Xenops Xenops minutus

Streak-breasted Treehunter Thripadectes rufobrunneus

Lineated Foliage-gleaner Syndactyla subalaris

Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner Automolus ochrolaemus

Plain-brown Woodcreeper Dendrocincla fuliginosa

Wedge-billed Woodcreeper Glyphorhynchus spirurus

Northern Barred Woodcreeper Dendrocolaptes sanctithomae

Buff-throated Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus guttatus

Black-striped Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus lachrymosus

Spotted Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus erythropygius

Streak-headed Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes souleyetii

Spot-crowned Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes affinis

Fasciated Antshrike Cymbilaimus lineatus

Great Antshrike Taraba major

Barred Antshrike Thamnophilus doliatus

Black-hooded Antshrike Thamnophilus bridgesi

Russet Antshrike Thamnistes anabatinus

Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis

Streak-crowned Antvireo Dysithamnus striaticeps

Dotted-winged Antwren Microrhopias quixensis

Slaty Antwren Myrmotherula schisticolor

Dot-winged Antwren Microrhopias quixensis

Dusky Antbird Cercomacra tyrannina

Chestnut-backed Antbird Myrmeciza exsul

Dull-mantled Antbird Myrmeciza laemosticta

Ocellated Antbird Phaenostictus mcleannani

Black-faced Antthrush Formicarius analis

Streaked-chested Antpitta Hylopezus perspicillatus

Fulvous-bellied Antpitta Hylopezus perspicillatus

Silvery-fronted Tapaculo Scytalopus argentifrons

Rufous Piha Lipaugus unirufus

Lovely Cotinga Cotinga amabilis

Snowy Cotinga Carpodectes nitidus

Purple-throated Fruitcrow Querula purpurata

Three-wattled Bellbird Procnias tricarunculata

White-collared Manakin Manacus candei

Orange-collared Manakin Manacus aurantiacus

White-ruffed Manakin Corapipo leucorrhoa

Long-tailed Manakin Chiroxiphia linearis

Red-capped Manakin Pipra mentalis

Yellow Tyrannulet Capsiempis flaveola

Greenish Eleania Myiopagis viridicata

Yellow-bellied Eleania Elaenia flavogaster

Lesser Eleania Elaenia chiriquensis

Mountain Eleania Elaenia frantzii

Yellow-bellied Elaenia Elaenia flavogaster

Torrent Tyrannulet Serpophaga cinerea

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher Mionectes oleagineus

Olive-striped Flycatcher Mionectes olivaceus

Mistletoe Tyrannulet Zimmerius vilissimus

Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant Lophotriccus pileatus

Common Tody-Flycatcher Todirostrum cinereum

Eye-ringed Flatbill Rhynchocyclus brevirostris

Yellow-olive Flycatcher Tolmomyias sulphurescens

Yellow-margined Flycatcher Tolmomyias assimilis

Golden-crowned Spadebill Platyrinchus coronatus

Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher Myiobius sulphureipygius

Tufted Flycatcher Mitrephanes phaeocercus

Dark Pewee Contopus lugubris

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Empidonax flaviventris

Yellowish Flycatcher Empidonax flavescens

Black-capped Flycatcher Empidonax atriceps

Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans

Long-tailed Tyrant Colonia colonus

Bright-rumped Attila Attila spadiceus

Rufous Mourner Rhytipterna holerythra

Dusky-capped Flycatcher Myiarchus tuberculifer

Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus

Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus

Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus

Boat-billed Flycatcher Megarhynchus pitangua

Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis

Gray-capped Flycatcher Myiozetetes granadensis

White-ringed Flycatcher Coryphotriccus albovittatus

Golden-bellied Flycatcher Myiodynastes hemichrysus

Streaked Flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus

Piratic Flycatcher Legatus leucophaius

Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus

Barred Becard Pachyramphus versicolor

Cinnamon Becard Pachyramphus cinnamomeus

White-winged Becard Pachyramphus polychopterus

Rose-throated Becard Pachyramphus aglaiae

Masked Tityra Tityra semifasciata

Black-crowned Tityra Tityra inquisitor

Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea

Mangrove Swallow Tachycineta albilinea

Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca

Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis

Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher Ptilogonys caudatus

American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus

Band-backed Wren Campylorhynchus zonatus

Rufous-naped Wren Campylorhynchus rufinucha

Black-throated Wren Thryothorus atrogularis

Rufous-breasted Wren Thryothorus rutilus

Riverside Wren Thryothorus semibadius

Bay Wren Thryothorus nigricapillus

Stripe-breasted Wren Thryothorus thoracicus

Banded Wren Thryothorus pleurostictus

House Wren Troglodytes aedon

Ochraceous Wren Troglodytes ochraceus

White-breasted Wood-Wren Henicorhina leucosticta

Gray-breasted Wood-Wren Henicorhina leucophrys

Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis

Black-faced Solitaire Myadestes melanops

Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush Catharus gracilirostris

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush Catharus frantzii

Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina

Sooty Robin Turdus nigrescens

Mountain Robin Turdus plebejus

Pale-vented Robin Turdus obsoletus

Clay-colored Robin Turdus grayi

Tawny-faced Gnatwren Microbates cinereiventris

Long-billed Gnatwren Ramphocaenus melanurus

White-lored Gnatcatcher Polioptila albiloris

Tropical Gnatcatcher Polioptila plumbea

White-throated Magpie-Jay Calocitta formosa

Brown Jay Cyanocorax morio

Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons

Brown-capped Vireo Vireo leucophrys

Philadelphia Vireo Vireo philadelphicus

Tawny-crowned Greenlet Hylophilus ochraceiceps

Lesser Greenlet Hylophilus decurtatus

Rufous-browed Peppershrike Cyclarhis gujanensis

Golden-winged Warbler Vermivora chrysoptera

Tennessee Warbler Vermivora peregrina

Flame-throated Warbler Parula gutturalis

Tropical Parula Parula pitiayumi

Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia

Mangrove Yellow Warbler Dendroica p. erithachorides

Chestnut-sided Warbler Dendroica pensylvanica

Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata

Black-throated Green Warbler Dendroica virens

Bay-breasted Warbler Dendroica castanea

Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia

American Redstart Setophaga ruticilla

Prothonotary Warbler Protonotaria citrea

Northern Waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis

Louisiana Waterthrush Seiurus motacilla

Kentucky Warbler Oporornis philadelphia

Mourning Warbler Oporornis philadelphia

Kentucky Warbler Oporornis formosus

Olive-crowned Yellowthroat Geothlypis semiflava

Hooded Warbler Wilsonia citrina

Wilson's Warbler Wilsonia pusilla

Slate-throated Redstart Myioborus miniatus

Collared Redstart Myioborus torquatus

Golden-crowned Warbler Basileuterus culicivorus

Rufous-capped Warbler Basileuterus rufifrons

Black-cheeked Warbler Basileuterus melanogenys

Three-striped Warbler Basileuterus tristriatus

Buff-rumped Warbler Phaeothlypis fulvicauda

Bananaquit Coereba flaveola

Common Bush-Tanager Chlorospingus ophthalmicus

Sooty-capped Bush-Tanager Chlorospingus pileatus

Black-and-yellow Tanager Chrysothlypis chrysomelas

Dusky-faced Tanager Mitrospingus cassinii

Olive Tanager Chlorothraupis carmioli

White-throated Shrike-Tanager Lanio leucothorax

White-shouldered Tanager Tachyphonus luctuosus

Tawny-crested Tanager Tachyphonus delattrii

White-lined Tanager Tachyphonus rufus

Red-throated Ant-Tanager Habia fuscicauda

Hepatic Tanager Piranga flava

Summer Tanager Piranga rubra

Flame-colored Tanager Piranga bidentata

Crimson-collared Tanager Phlogothraupis sanguinolenta

Passerini's Tanager Ramphocelus passerinii

Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus

Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum

Scrub Euphonia Euphonia affinis

Yellow-crowned Euphonia Euphonia luteicapilla

Yellow-throated Euphonia Euphonia hirundinacea

Spot-crowned Euphonia Euphonia imitans

Olive-backed Euphonia Euphonia gouldi

Tawny-capped Euphonia Euphonia anneae

Golden-browed Chlorophonia Chlorophonia callophrys

Plain-colored Tanager Tangara inornata

Emerald Tanager Tangara florida

Silver-throated Tanager Tangara icterocephala

Bay-headed Tanager Tangara gyrola

Golden-hooded Tanager Tangara larvata

Spangle-cheeked Tanager Tangara dowii

Scarlet-thighed Dacnis Dacnis venusta

Blue Dacnis Dacnis cayana

Green Honeycreeper Chlorophanes spiza

Shining Honeycreeper Cyanerpes lucidus

Red-legged Honeycreeper Cyanerpes cyaneus

Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina

Variable Seedeater Sporophila aurita

White-collared Seedeater Sporophila torqueola

Nicaraguan Seed-Finch (Pink-billed) Oryzoborus nuttingi

Yellow-faced Grassquit Tiaris olivacea

Slaty Flowerpiercer Diglossa plumbea

Yellow-thighed Finch Pselliophorus tibialis

Large-footed Finch Pezopetes capitalis

White-naped Brush-Finch Atlapetes albinucha

Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch uarremon brunneinucha

Orange-billed Sparrow rremon aurantiirostris

Olive Sparrow rremonops rufivirgatus

Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris

Prevost's Ground-Sparrow Melozone biarcuatum

White-eared Ground-Sparrow Melozone leucotis

Stripe-headed Sparrow Aimophila ruficauda

Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis

Grayish Saltator Saltator coerulescens

Buff-throated Saltator Saltator maximus

Black-headed Saltator Saltator atriceps

Black-faced Grosbeak Caryothraustes poliogaster

Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus

Blue-black Grosbeak Cyanocompsa cyanoides

Painted Bunting Passerina ciris

Red-breasted Blackbird Sturnella militaris

Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus

Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna

Melodious Blackbird Dives dives

Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus

Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus

Yellow-tailed Oriole Icterus mesomelas

Spot-breasted Oriole Icterus pectoralis

Streak-backed Oriole Icterus pustulatus

Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula

Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius

Black-cowled Oriole Icterus dominicensis

Scarlet-rumped Cacique Cacicus uropygialis

Chestnut-headed Oropendola Psarocolius wagleri

Montezuma Oropendola Psarocolius montezuma

Yellow-bellied Siskin Carduelis xanthogastra

House Sparrow Passer domesticus

MAMMALS

ommon Ospossum Didelphis Marsupialis

rown-throated Three-toed Sloth Bradypus variegatus

Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth Choloepus hoffmanni

Southern Tamandua Tamandua tetradactyla

White-faced Capuchin Cebus capucinus

Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata

Central American Spider Monkey Ateles geoffroyi

Kinkajou Potos flavus

White-nosed Coati Nasua narica

Collared Peccary Tayassu tajacu

Red-tailed Squirrel Sciurus granatensis

Red-bellied Squirrel Sciurus aureogaster

Variegated Squirrel Sciurus variegatoides

Central American Agouti Dasyprocta punctata

Nine-banded Armadillo Dasyprocta novemcinctus

REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

American Crocodile Crocodylus acutus

Spectacled Caiman Caiman crocodilus

House Gecko Hemidactylys frentatus

Common Basilisk Basiliscus basiliscus

Green Basilisk Basiliscus plumifrons

Green Iguana Iguana iguana

Black Spiny Tailed Iguana

(Ctenosaur) Cetnosaura similis

Green and Black Poison Dart Frog Dendrobates auratus

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog Dendrobates pumilio

(Blue Jeans Frog)