Birding Costa Rica - 2009


It's been fifteen years since my first trip to Costa Rica (and first experience in the neotropics) on a trip with my Dad sponsored by the Virginia Ornithological Society, and time for a return visit. So in July, 2009, I signed up for what turned out to be an superb trip with Borderland Tours. Twelve of us, with excellent guiding by Carlos (Charlie) Gómez and Chris Sharpe, not to mention our driver extraordinaire (and keen-eyed bird spotter), Niño, spent two weeks exploring a variety of locations. Overall, we saw or heard 389 bird species and a variety of other creatures, including a cacomixtle (ring-tailed cat), several coatimundis, three kinds of monkeys, peccaries, and sloths, as well as several snakes, frogs,lizards, caimans, and alligators.

Our trip began and ended in the outskirts of San Jose at Hotel Bougainvillea. Arriving a day early, several of us got our first birds in the hotel gardens and then had a delighful visit to the nearby InBioparque. Once everybody arrived, we headed off on our trip, staying two nights in each of Savegre Mountain Lodge, Rancho Naturalista, Hotel La Quinta, Villa Lapas, and Fonda Vela.

Here are some of my pictures from the trip. This time I finally upgraded to a for-real DSLR, the new Nikon D90. Most of the pictures were taken with a 70-300mm lens, with a few using the standard 18-105 mm lens. Some are a little fuzzy, dark, and/or out of focus, but so it goes. And, as always, there were lots of things that were only captured in our heads and never made it to film, such as the incredible Great Curassow, the evening four Green Macaws flew by in one direction while several toucans were headed the opposite direction, and many of the fabulous birds hiding deep in the foliage.

Click on any of the thumbnails below to see a larger view of any of the pictures in a new window.


These first pictures were taken on the grounds of Hotel Bougainvillea and at InBioparque.

Rufous-tailed
Hummingbird

Blue-crowned
Motmot

Squirrel
Cuckoo

Bromeliad

Succulent

Butterfly

Baby Bird

Chocolate Mint
Poison Dart Frog
(Dendrobates auratus)

Blue-jeans
Poison Dart Frog
(Dendrobates pumilio)

Blue-jeans
Poison Dart Frog

Colorful
Flower

Mom & baby
Sloth

Tiger Heron
and Jacana

Interesting
visitor

Eyeing a
snack

Swimming
Iguana

Green
Iguana

Little Green
Heron

Northern
Jacana

Flying
Jacana
The Volcano Junco was our target bird at elevation on Cerro de la Muerte.
Then it was on to Savegre Mountain Lodge in San Gerardo de Dota for the Resplendant Quetzal.

Sunning
Turtles

Big
Iguana

Caiman and
Turtles

Volcano
Junco

Long-tailed
Silky-Flycatcher

Two Long-tailed
Silky-Flycatchers

Fiery-throated
Hummingbird

Fiery-throated
Hummingbird

Tree
Fungus

Pink
Mushroom

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