Costa Rica Birding Trip, February 2001

San Jose to Tortuguero We are picked up at 6am for our bus trip to Matina, a small village near the Caribbean coast. We stop for breakfast near the cloud-forest aerial tram (which we are told later is not very good for birding) in Braulio Carillo Park where we see the ever-present GREAT KISKADEE to add to the GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES we have seen along the way. We also stop to watch a THREE-TOED SLOTH at the very top of a tree right near the road. As we go through miles and miles of banana 7 coffee plantations ("wastelands for birds") all we see are Vultures and CATTLE EGRETS along the way. At Matina we board a flat-bottomed boat with twenty or so others for a journey along the inland waterway to Tortuguero. Before we even get started, we see our first "exotic" bird: a RED-LORED PARROT, a fairly tame bird that hangs out by the boat-launch. On the boat trip, in and out of rain, we get close to dozens of shorebirds, egrets, and herons, the most interesting being a FASCIATED TIGER-HERON and BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERONS and NORTHERN JACANAS. After a 2 1/2 hour trip we arrive at Mawamba Lodge, get our rooms, have lunch, etc. We are assigned to a guide, Leonel, a former high-school biology teacher who serves as our escort for a late afternoon boat-trip into the rain- forest. Leonel points out TWO-TOED SLOTHS and SPIDER MONKEYS (both of which have babies with them), plus the MANGROVE SWALLOWS that flit over the water and the WHITE-COLLARED SWIFTS that soar overhead. We also get our first look at the weird and noisy MONTEZUMA OROPENDELAS. On a walk into the turtle town of Tortuguero there are BLUE-GREY TANAGERS, TROPICAL KINGBIRDS, and SHORT-BILLED PIGEONS, birds that we will see regularly on the rest of our trip, plus an HEPATIC TANAGER. Bird of the Day (hereafter: BoD) = BARE-THROATED TIGER-HERON Total for the Day (hereafter: TfD) = 32 species, 15 "lifers"

Rainforest SW of Tortuguero At 6am we board our flat-bottomed boat with 8 others and set off across the river for the narrow, shrouded canals of the rainforest. Almost immediately we get close views of HOWLER, CAPPUCHIN, and SPIDER MONKEYS and three kinds of toucans: COLLARED-ARACARIS, KEEL-BILLED TOUCANS, and CHESTNUT-MANDIBLED TOUCANS plus SQUIRREL CUCKOOS and WHITE-FRONTED PARROTS. Back for breakfast and a dip in the pool before a pre-lunch walk in the national park of Tortuguero; it produces almost nothing except for a lone SLATY- THROATED TROGON, a good start for our trogon list. Our late afternoon boat-ride produces a CAYMAN CROCODILE on a nest of eggs near a BOAT-BILLED HERON roosting in a leafy enclave. We also see quite a few large iguanas, some "Jesus Christ lizards" -- named for their ability to walk on water, and not all that many birds but they are interesting: a PURPLE- THROATED FRUIT CROW, some CHERRIE'S CACIQUES (formerly Scarlet-rumped), and a fantastic view of a female GREAT CURASSOW. BoD = the KEEL-BILLED TOUCANS (even our Costa Rican guide calls them the Fruit Loops birds) TfD = 21 species, 17 lifers.

Rainforest W&N of Tortuguero We change guides, getting a laughing glad-hander named Attilio who makes far too many mistaken identifications on our early morning boat-trip but has a knack for stumbling upon good stuff (either that or the silent boatman knows the spots to find things). With our corrections of his misidentifications, we tick off KING VULTURE, PALE-BILLED WOODPECKERS (feeding their young), a SUN-GREBE, some CINNAMON WOODPECKERS, BROWN-HOODED PARROTS, a SEMIPLUMBEOUS HAWK and a CRESTED GUAN (which Attilio first calls a Curassow). At lunch we inspect the baby BOA CONSTRICTOR in the poolside flowers and the RED-EYED TREE-FROGS that are around ever day. We avoid the muddy rain-forest walk before lunch and concentrate on a guide-free walk through the lodge's back gardens where we struggle to see and identify flitty birds like the WHITE- COLLARED MANAKIN and the tiny BLACK-HEADED TODY-FLYCATCHER. We realize that the key to birding Costa Rica is good guides. A walk on the Caribbean beach (too dangerous for swimming) produces many BLACK and TURKEY VULTURES and a one-legged WHIMBREL and a MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD. BoD (in a very close vote) = the SUN-GREBE (a great view of this elusive bird) TfD = 12 species, 10 lifers. Mawamba Lodge was a good introduction to Costa Rica. One of 6 or 7 such lodges in the area and the only one on the beach side of the river near the town, it has okay American-style food, adequate rooms and beds, hot if dribbly showers plus a good pool. The guiding was very uneven and the birding only part of the general eco-tour packages. Mosquitoes were not much of a problem for a Manitoban (I have more in my kitchen on an average July day).

To Tarcol Lodge on the Gulf of Nicoya Our plane, a 12-seater prop owned by SANSA, takes off at 6:30am or so, bucking the fierce winds from the ocean and barely missing one of the many vultures that mysteriously circle the area. After an hour flight to San Jose, we are met by our driver, Jorge who takes us by van on the Pan American "highway" towards the Pacific coast. Although he barely speaks English, he makes a slight detour into the town of Orotina to show us the BLACK-AND-WHITE OWLS in the town's central square. We arrive at Tarcol Lodge around noon, check in, eat lunch and scope out all of the birdlife in the vast muddy delta of the Tarcoles River right off the back porch. Herons, egrets, ospreys, WOOD STORKS, WHITE IBIS, shorebirds and dozens of 12-to-15 foot crocodiles. The highlight is a YELLOW-HEADED CARACARA. After lunch our guide, Jean Jacques Gozard, a 45 year old retired pharmacist, takes us to the river trail in Carara Park. Here we hit the birding mother-lode and soon experience the wonders of jungle birding. We go as much as a half-hour without seeing much of anything; then a mixed flock of birds will go through and we'll see 10 or 12 different species, bam, bam, bam. STREAK-CHESTED ANTPITTAS, COCOA WOODCREEPER, WHITE-WHISKERED PUFFBIRDS, BLACK-HOODED ANTSHRIKE, DUSKY ANTBIRDS, to name just a few. Also some hummingbirds -- PURPLE-CROWNED FAIRY and BLUE-THROATED GOLDENTAIL and our second trogon, the BLACK-THROATED. We also hear a lot of other birds, like the THREE-WATTLED BELLBIRD, but don't get to see them. (If I had counted all the birds I'd heard, searched for and not seen, I could add about 50 species to my list at least!) Back at the lodge we check out two PACIFIC SCREECH OWLS that have taken up residence in a tree across the street before we sit down to a outstanding meal with owner Kathy Erb, our guides and about 6 other guests. BoD = YELLOW-HEADED CARACARA TfD = 27 species, 17 lifers.

Tarcol Lodge and vicinity plus Carara Park At dawn from the back porch I see a SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER far out over the river: a lifer + a good omen. After another big breakfast we head for the south trail at Carara. We miss the ROYAL FLYCATCHER that has been seen regularly near the entrance, but we encounter all kinds of overwintering warblers still in their confusing fall plumage. We hear the raucous calls of the SCARLET MACAWS five or six times before we finally see them, mostly males in pairs, their magnificent red feathers glinting in the sun. Then we are in the midst of travelling flocks of colorful birds with strange-sounding names: BECARDS, SALTATORS, EUPHONIAS, HONEYCREEPERS, ANIS, GREENLETS. Several hummingbirds buzz across our path: the VIOLET SABREWING and the STEELY-VENTED HUMMINGBIRD, plus tropical varieties of GROSBEAKS, DOVES, WOODPECKERS, AND WRENS. The number and variety are almost overwhelming. After lunch, instead of a siesta, Jean Jacques and myself go in search of the chattering MANGROVE VIREO we keep hearing from the porch. It takes us a while and we just get a glimpse, but we are rewarded with great views of GROOVE- BILLED ANIS, MANGROVE WARBLER, CINNAMON BECARD, AND RUFOUS-BROWED PEPPERSHRIKES. Later in the afternoon we all decide to take a boatride on the river, much to Jean Jacques' disgust. He's an intense, insatiable birder and he doesn't think we will see anything we haven't already seen. But fate proves him wrong; we get great views of a TOURQUOISE-BROWED MOTMOT, two kinds of PARAKEETS, and a very obliging AMERICAN PYGMY KINGFISHER. Also within a couple of feet of a fifteen-foot crocodile, lazing on the shore. BoD = TOURQUOISE-BROWED MOTMOT TfD = 53 species, 36 lifers

Mangrove Forest around Tarcol + SE edges of Carara. By 7am we are in the mangrove forests NE of the lodge where we see two different kinds of several birds: PANAMA and STREAKED FLYCATCHERS, PALM and SUMMER TANAGERS, YELLOW and SOUTHERN BEARDLESS TYRANNULETS, GREEN-CROWNED BRILLIANT and GREEN-BREASTED MANGO HUMMINGBIRDS, another trogon (BLACK-HEADED) plus a MEALY PARROT and CRESTED CARACARA. We also hear a LAUGHING FALCON, repeatedly. Back at the lodge I think I see a black monkey in the tree in front; it turns out to be a big ball of GROOVE-BILLED ANIS, 10 or 15 of them huddled tightly together -- not for warmth (it must be 90) but some sort of weird bonding. It's extremely hot, so we split up in the afternoon; Jean Jacques takes a power-birder from England, his girlfriend and myself to his favorite birding spots on the edges of Carara. (First we stop at his home in the mountains where he regales us with stories of almost daily encounters with poisonous snakes like the dreaded fer-de-lance . I birdwatch with one eye for a while.) Except for the BROWN JAYS and MASKED TITYRA most of the afternoon's birds are small and flitty and we don't get very many outstanding views: YELLOW-BELLIED ELAENIA, OLIVACEOUS PIKULET, WHITE-VENTED EUPHONIA, MISTLETOE and YELLOW-CROWNED TYRANNULETS plus some new SALTATORS, SPARROWS, FLYCATCHERS, and TANAGERS. We end the day with two birds whose familiar songs bedevil me here: a HOUSE WREN and a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. BoD = SCARLET MACAWS TfD = 36 species, 30 lifers. Tarcol Lodge, owned by the Gateway people who set up our trip, is, in comparison with the other 4-star lodges we were in, the least satisfying place to stay but with the most hospitality and easy access to one of the best birding spots in Costa Rica (Carara). You have to share a shower which has a tendency to stop in mid-soap, the mosquitoes are worse than the Caribbean, and it's off in the middle of nowhere. Still, the food is great, if simple, the location is an asset for birding, the guides are top-notch, and the place is usually full of die-hard birders from all over the world. And you can bird off the back porch.

Tarcoles to Savegre Mt. Jorge, our driver, arrives at half past the crack of dawn & takes us to Cartago where we meet a guy in a 4-wheel-drive SUV. We don't see any owls along the way, but we do spot an SWALLOW-TAILED KITE in a tree. The reason for the 4WD SUV is soon clear; the "road" to Savegre is extremely steep, bumpy, twisty, one-lane wide with no guard rails. We shut our eyes most of the way; the driver doesn't. We have often been told to make sure we reserve Marino as our guide as soon as we check in; we do. Then we are directed to the hummingbird feeders by a group of Brits. We notch WHITE-THROATED MT. GEM, GREEN VIOLET-EAR, MAGNIFICENT and SCINTILLANT HUMMERS in short order. A walk around the grounds produces RUDDY PIGEON, TUFTED FLYCATCHER, BLUE AND WHITE SWALLOWS and many RUFOUS-COLLARED SPARROWS -- a cute bird with a slight crest and what looks like a black bowtie on a white breast; they are as common as House Sparrows here. The valley is full of apple, peach, and plum orchards and the mountainsides are covered by 30-metre oaks, some of them 1200 years old; that night the temperature goes down to +4 C. BoD = Scintillant Hummingbird (reminiscent of our Ruby-throat) TfD = 10 species, 9 lifers.

Savegre Mt., upper trails Marino Chacon, 45 year old farmer and businessman, is the most entertaining bird-guide I have ever met. His unflagging energy and enthusiasm, his sense of humor (aided by his fractured English: "Wait me here!" "Hold me this!"), and a couple of engaging spotting-tricks make the day pass quickly. His 4WD "mule" gets us back up the mountain to the bird sites; halfway up we see a BAT FALCON, BARRED FOREST-FALCON, and ORNATE HAWK EAGLE and a noisy flock of SULPHUR-WINGED PARAKEETS. But Marino knows that everybody's "target bird" for the day is the RESPLENDENT QUETZAL, and before long his mimicked whistles have located several, including a mature male with a three-foot long tail. He then turns his attention to a COLLARED TROGON. When he sees me frantically thumbing my birdguide, he says "Plate 26, number 5." He then records the bird on his own home-made tapes. Later when he finds a RUDDY TREERUNNER and someone else looks to the book for confirmation, he whispers "29-4." We quickly realize that Marino has memorized not only the songs, markings, behaviours, and habitats for the birds but also all the plates in the guide! He does the same for MOUNTAIN ELAENIA, a couple of different kinds of flycatchers and woodcreepers and vireos. When we can't find an OLIVACEOUS WREN, he surprises us again by pulling out a small hand-mirror. With it he finds a tiny patch of sunlight among the dense foliage and directs a beam of light on the area. For a partly-obscured FLAME-THROATED WARBLER, he even deflects the sun's rays onto the bird itself, making the plumage live up to the bird's name without seeming to affect it at all. For the afternoon we are joined by the Birding Maniacs -- 6 women and 3 men from Maryland who visit one world hot-spot a year. Their leader, a furniture maker with a US lifelist of 675, proves no match for Marino, who quickly gets us a lodge specialty: the LONG-TAILED SILKY-FLYCATCHER. On the lower trail we see COLLARED REDSTARTS, BLUE-HOODED EUPHONIAS, GOLDEN-BROWED CHLOROPHONIAS, three new kinds of tanagers (SPANGLE-CHEEKED, FLAME-COLORED, AND SOOT-CAPPED BUSH), and end our day with YELLOW-BELLIED SISKINS near the lodge. BoD = Resplendent Quetzal (what else!) TfD = 28 species, 24 lifers.

Savegre Mt., lower trails (am) and river's edge(pm) Before we even get started, one of the Birding Maniac guys falls on the way to breakfast and breaks his elbow. Ouch! We are loaded into the back of an apple truck and head up the mountain; along the way some of us see a BLACK GUAN that we flush out of a tree and some SPOTTED WOOD QUAIL. We add three birds that seem out of place (Hairy Woodpecker, Gray Catbird and Red-tailed Hawk -- though this one is endemic to Costa Rica). The birds of this forest are not the mixed flocks we have been seeing elsewhere; they come one by one: LINEATED FOLIAGE-GLEANER, GRAY-BREASTED WOODWREN, MOUNTAIN ROBIN, a BLACK-THIGHED GROSBEAK and a BLACK- CHEEKED WARBLER and a flock of SILVERY-THROATED JAYS we have often heard but not seen before. Part-way down the trail one of the Maniac guys leans back to view a trogon and falls over backwards from the trail; by some miracle there is a hummock right where he falls or he would have plummetted backwards over 500 meters to the bottom. We are all shaken up. Back at the lodge for lunch we get several SLATY FLOWER-PIERCERS. At lunch we are joined by Robbie and Paul, two birding brothers from England that we met at Tarcol. They casually mention that they already have 405 species in just ten days; we all start tallying. A walk down the rushing river in the afternoon produces BLACK PHOEBE, DARK PEWEE, CHESTNUT-COLLARED SWIFTS, COMMON BUSH TANAGER and RUDDY-CAPPED NIGHTENGALE THRUSH. We spend a long time trying to track down a BLACK-FACED SOLITAIRE. I'm the only one to get a good look until, with the help of Marino's amateur tapes, we lure another in. We also spend a half-hour each trying to see the unseeable: a SILVERY-FRONTED TAPACULO and a ZELODONIA, two birds that seem to be in the undergrowth right in front of us but remain camouflaged. When we notice a TORRENT TYRANNULET in the rapids, the group gets obsessed with seeing an AMERICAN DIPPER. We spend far too much time looking, see one fly by, but never find it walking underwater. After dinner we somehow convince Marino to take us owling. Before we go he shows us a tree-full of sleeping YELLOW-BELLIED SISKINS, each one at the end of its own branch, curled up in a ball and oblivious to us all. Armed with two beacons and Marino's amateur tapes, we head for a clearing halfway up the mountain. The tapes get responses from at least 4 BARE-SHANKED SCREECH OWLS, one of which comes to a tree right in front of us. But we never get the lights on it. Nearby a DUSKY NIGHTJAR calls but we can't see that either. BoD = Silvery-throated Jays TfD = 21 species, 17 lifers. After the heat and dust of Tarcol, Savegre is a welcome relief. And the happy- go-lucky Marino is a direct contrast to the intensity of Jean Jacques. There are not as many species of birds here as elsewhere (161 as opposed to 414 at Tarcol) but the rooms are better, the food is different (fresh Rainbow trout every day plus great blackberry juice), and, because of Marino and the quetzal, it is a "must" for any Costa Rican bird-trek.

to Rancho Naturalista Before breakfast we get a good look at a VOLCANO HUMMINGBIRD, another of the lodge's specialty birds but not much in evidence at this time of year. Well fed, we ask our driver to stop at the top of the exit road (6kms from Cerro de la muerte) so we can look for Volcano Juncos. No luck, but we do add SOOTY ROBINS to our lists. And ROCK DOVES in the city of Turrialba. At Rancho we discover that young Cesar Sanchez will be our guide. He was at Tarcol and impressed us. Son of CR's best birder, Julio Sanchez of the National Museum, Cesar combines university training with much fieldwork; he starts us slowly -- a trip along a ravine pathway to a forest hummingbird feeder where we add 5: VIOLET-CROWNED WOODNYMPHS, GREEN THORNTAIL, LITTLE and GREEN HERMITS, and a lodge specialty, the tiny SNOWCAP. Then off to 4 pools in a mountain stream where we watch hummers (incl. NEW ONES: PURPLE-CROWNED FAIRY, RUFOUS-TAILED and GREEN-CROWNED BRILLIANT) taking baths! They hover about a foot above the water, plunge in, rise up, shake themselves and dart away. On the way back we see the more common area birds: PASSERINI'S TANAGER, both OROPENDELAS (the CHESTNUT-HEADED is new; its wingbeats sound like a helicopter's rotors), DULL-MANTLED ANTBIRDS and WHITE-CROWNED PARROTS. BoD = the SNOWCAP TfD = 13 new species, 12 of them lifers

Rancho's balcony & lower trails Rancho Naturalista is famed for its second-floor balcony from which over 200 species of birds have been recorded. At 5:30am every morning they set out ripe bananas and cooked rice on platforms and trees (plus coffee for the birders). The BROWN JAYS arrive first, then the OROPENDELAS and some TANAGERS, then a dozen or so clumsy GRAY-HEADED CHACHALACAS. Before breakfast we chalk up 30 new birds, among them: BLACK-HEADED SALTATORS, BLACK-CHEEKED and GOLDEN-OLIVE WOODPECKERS, BANANAQUITS, RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLERS BARRED HAWK, and two stunners: CRIMSON-COLLARED TANAGER and BLUE-CROWNED MOTMOT. Like shooting fish in a barrel. After breakfast we head for the pasture; on the way we see VIOLACEOUS TROGON (f), SPOTTED WOODCREEPER and WHITE-CROWNED MANNIKIN. We spend a slow morning with three guides watching wave on wave of birds feeding in the fruit trees: mainly the eye-catching TANAGERS (SPECKLED, BAY-HEADED, AND SILVER- THROATED), some familiar warblers, some TAWNY-CAPPED EUPHONIAS, and two kinds of FLYCATCHERS -- DUSKY-CAPPED and SLATY-CAPPED). After lunch resident guide Matt Denton takes us to the upper trails where mixed flocks surge through the understory: RUSSET ANTSHRIKE, DUSKY ANTBIRD, two TROPICALS (GNATCATCHER & PARULA), WHITE-COLLARED MANNIKINS, several WOODCREEPERS (incl. OLIVACEOUS) and WOODPECKERS (incl. SMOKY-BROWN) and, of course, FLYCATCHERS (incl. OLIVE-BELLIED and PLAIN XENOPS). BoD = (a tie) Crimson-collared Tanager and Blue-crowned Motmot TfD = 33 new species, 29 of them lifers

Rancho balcony, trails & Tuis River Valley Any day that starts with LITTLE and GREAT TINAMOUS, 2 MOTTLED OWLS, a RUFOUS MOTMOT, and some EMERALD TANAGERS is going to be a great day! The first one of these we see from the balcony along with 40 or so other birds; the others pop up on the lower trail after breakfast. But we never see the BROAD-BILLED MOTMOT, though we here it and stake out its nest hole for a while. The rest of the morning we see many of the birds already ticked with very few new ones: GREEN HONEYCREEPER, CHECKER-THROATED ANTWREN, a neat SCALE-CRESTED PYGMY TYRANT and two birds that Mat explains are usually minxed flock leaders: RED-THROATED ANT- TANAGER and WHITE-SHOULDERED TANAGER. Matt has a fund of interesting bird info. In the afternoon we pile in a beat-up '78 Toyota 4x4 and bounce down to the Tuis River Valley where Matt in his spare time has discovered two extremely elusive rarities: the SUNBITTERN & LANCEOLATED MONKBIRD. We comb the river's edge and stake out a spot where Matt has see the monklet the last six times he has looked. To no avail. Luckily Matt has more birdlore to share as we search: stuff like Rufous-collared Sparrows sing in their sleep and Euphonias are good mimics so you have to be careful identifying by ear. We see very little that is new: a BLACK-AND-YELLOW TANAGER, another of the rattle-winged MANNIKINS (the WHITE-RUFFED), and two more FLYCATCHERS -- the OLIVE-STRIPED and YELLOW-OLIVE). Frustrated that we have heard WHITE-BREASTED WOOD WRENS probably twenty times in two days but never see them, we stake out two dormitory nests that Matt has found near the lodge. Sure enough, at 5:40pm the wrens hop across the grass and into their nests. About ten minutes later we feel the ground move and the buildings rattle. Later we hear it was a 5.6 quake centered about 10kms away. BoD = the Tinamous, the owls, and the Motmot (all GREAT views!) TfD = 15 new species, all of them lifers

Rancho's balcony and upper trails At 5:45am over coffee we get 40 or so of the usual suspects plus two new lifers: MELODIOUS BLACKBIRDS and in the distance a GRAY-HEADED KITE. The rest of the day is mostly unproductive. It's hotter and drier than usual; so maybe the birds have gone deeper and higher into the forest. Or maybe it's the dozen noisy ugly Americans that now fill the forest with their braying and laughter! We do see two of Rancho's specialty birds: PURPLISH-BACKED QUAIL DOVES and later in the afternoon deep in the forest a male BLACK-CRESTED COQUETTE, newly returned to the area. We also hear (but never do see) a third specialty, again and again, the maddeningly evasive TAWNY-CHESTED FLYCATCHER. Before we call it a day we add OLIVE TANAGER and CHESTNUT-CAPPED BUSH FINCH. Then a familiar call and even I can identify a drab SWAINSON'S THRUSH. BoD = Black-crested Coquette TfD = 7 new species, 6 of them lifers 

Rancho balcony, pasture and lower trails Damn! We are shut out from the balcony: NO new birds. Instead of departing with a whimper, however, we get a reprieve. Our ride is at 1pm, not 9am. Guide Cesar Sanchez vows to get us two specialty birds that have so far eluded us: the SLATE-THROATED REDSTART (unaccountably) and the RUFOUS-TAILED JACAMAR. We've heard the dratted Jacamar probably 20 times over the past four days and its call once again lures us on. This time we are not only successful but spectacularly so; it sits on a branch in the sunlight for 10 minutes and fills the entire lens of the scope. Wow! Searching for the redstart, we see a GOLDEN-CROWNED WARBLER and a BUFF-THROATED FOLIAGE GLEANER (don't ya just love the names!). Cesar also takes us to a lek of about 20 LITTLE HERMITS high up in the forest where the tiny cinnamon and green hummers fan their tail feathers, preen, whirr their wings and chirp at each other. On the way back we find a redstart. Cesar always gets his birds! Waiting for lunch on the balcony I spot a SLATY SPINETAIL bathing; it's distinctive enough for me to identify without guide or book and a great bird if it's to be our last. I also watch the weird courtship displays, 20 meters away, of the male MONTEZUMA OROPENDELA, squawking, pitching itself forward from a branch yet holding on with its feet, halting itself with its wings when it is hanging upside down, and then righting itself. Twice a minute, all day. Seven females meanwhile wove together their five-foot long sock-nests right next to him. They had nothing when we got there and were virtually done as we prepared to leave. Our final bird turns out to be a YELLOW-BILLED CACIQUE which flies into a nearby tree as we are rushing to leave. BoD = the Jacamar TfD = only 6 new species but all of them lifers and all of them great. We had heard about Rancho Naturalista from probably 2 dozen people before we ever got there. It is everything it was cracked up to be. Because we ticked so many birds off our lists in the previous 9 days, we didn't see as many new species here as elsewhere. But we saw some memorable stuff here and the "balcony birding" was terrific. Resident guides Matt Denton and Cesar Sanchez we would recommend to anybody; the combo of pleasing personalities, full site-knowledge, informative bird lore and anecdotes, plus solid research and book knowledge made them unbeatable. They also knew how to set a good pace and when to keep quiet. Rancho's rooms are spacious and well-appointed; the showers hot and full. The setting (the lodge looks out over a long valley at Turrialba and Irazu volcanoes) is spectacular. Most importantly, the food is unbelievably good. Alex is truly a gourmet chef and Lisa, the manager, will make you feel like you are in an expensive 5-star resort. And they'll do your laundry and have an internet hook-up on their computer. What else can we recommend? Mainly that it pays to have good guides if you are going to Costa Rica. They can not only find birds quicker and identify them by ear (the main question asked of them: what's making that sound?), they can compensate for Dana Gardner's inadequate illustrations in the Costa Rica birdguide (Gary Stiles' prose descriptions are exceptionally good) and the rather repetitive and amateur quality of Aaron Sekarak's Travel and Site Guide to CR Birds. Overall: we lucked out on the itinerary, changed at the last minute by Gateway. Mawamba is a good intro, especially since we had no other guides to compare with theirs. Tarcol is a great contrast because there are so many birds nearby. Savegre is a further contrast because of its mountainous location. And you have to save Rancho Naturalista for last or every place else would be anti-climactic. Would I go back? In a heartbeat! Booking lodges and transportation through Gateway is THE way to go. We met four British doctors who rented a big SUV and were robbed by brigands who clearly had them targetted from the airport. (They had to sign a form promising to not accept help for a flat tire, but they did!) We had no worries. We also met many groups that were accompanied by a guide for their entire itinerary. In more cases than not these guides, though good, were redundant, taking a back seat to the local guides (included in the price of the lodge) at each stop. We found that we paid about half of what the other groups did -- even with the generous tips we left the guides. 

Total species for the trip = 321; 242 of them were lifers.

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