Birding in Southern Costa Rica: Motmots to Quetzals

Orientation: 6 p.m. at the hotel. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule and any changes, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Our Group Leader is a trained birding expert who will lead field trips and give educational presentations. Meals included in our program feature local cuisine. In some cases, they will be plated and served with a set menu; in others, we will have buffets with multiple options. Unless otherwise specified, transportation during your program will be provided by air-conditioned bus. Our buses do not include onboard toilets, so we have scheduled stops during drives for bathroom breaks. We have set aside free time in the schedule for your personal independent exploration. Please be aware that program activities, schedules, and personnel may need to change due to local circumstances. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

At the hotel.

At leisure. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead. Prepare luggage for hotel check out and transfer in the morning.

At the hotel.

We'll by joined by a local expert for an introduction to birding in Costa Rica. Then we'll check out, board the bus, and begin our transfer to the Central Pacific coast.

At a local restaurant.

After lunch, we’ll have our boat ride on the Tárcoles River estuary to observe shore birds and water birds along the mangroves and sandy riverbanks. This area is commonly frequented by herons, egrets, cormorants and spoonbills. It is also one of the best places in the country to view large American crocodiles—some measuring up to 16 ft in length! Next, we'll return to the bus and continue our ride to the hotel. We’ll check in and freshen up before accompanying our Group Leader on an exploration of the lodge grounds.

At the lodge.

Weather permitting, we'll join our Group Leader in a night walk in search of nocturnal species.

At the lodge.

We'll start the day with some early morning birding around the lodge before returning for breakfast. Then we will continue birding with our Group Leader on the lodge grounds. Our lodge is located between two life zones, the humid tropical forest and the high humidity pre- montane forest, and is surrounded by rural roads, pastures, mature and secondary forests, and organic farming plots. These bioclimatic, ecological, and landscape conditions make it possible for an abundance of birds to live in the Central Pacific region, surpassing 300 species of migratory and resident species.

At the lodge.

We'll continue birding at the lodge grounds this afternoon, maximizing our chances of seeing the target species. Before dinner, we'll have a presentation by a local expert on the ecology of the Scarlet Macaw.

At the lodge.

We’ll review our birding checklist and have a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule. Prepare for an early check out and transfer in the morning.

Early, at the lodge.

After check-out and loading the bus, we'll begin our transfer to the Golfito area. On the way, we'll stop at Carara National Park for a walking field trip in search of new bird species. Carara lies at the northern limit of the Pacific lowland rainforest and the southern limit of the dry, deciduous forest. Its unique location within a transition zone means that plant and animal species from both habitats coexist in the reserve. In addition to conserving primary and secondary growth forests, Carara National Park also protects the Rio Grande de Tárcoles river basin and its rich wildlife. The park is a favored birding destination, with more than 350 recorded bird species including a sizable population of endangered Scarlet Macaws.

At a restaurant en route.

We will reboard the bus and continue our transfer to Golfito. After check in we'll settle into our rooms and later rejoin our Group Leader for birding activities in the property’s garden and along its trails. The lodge is situated midst the lowland tropical wet forest of Piedras Blancas National Park. Over 340 bird species have been recorded at this location, including Black-striped Woodcreeper, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, Brown-throated Parakeet, Southern Lapwing, Slate-colored Seedeater, Red-breasted Blackbird, and Crested Oropendola.

At the lodge.

Weather permitting, we’ll join our Group Leader on a night birding walk around the lodge. We’ll also review our birding checklist and have a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule.

At the lodge.

We'll start the day with some early morning birding in lodge environs before returning for breakfast. Then we’ll set out for a full day of birding activities at the Esquinas Rainforest Reserve. We will bird in the forest, along reserve trails, as well as in open areas around the lodge. The local bird checklist includes 362 species, many of them considered as specialties that are either endemics or easily found here, for example the Great Curasaw, Spectacled Owl, Rufous-winged Woodpecker, Olivaceous Piculet, Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager and Rudy-breasted Seedeater, amongst others. The grass fields and marshes around the lodge are the habitat for many species of water birds and shorebirds like herons, egrets, wood storks, ducks, and spoonbills.

At the lodge.

We'll continue birding at the reserve and along La Gamba road this afternoon, maximizing our chances of seeing target species.

At the lodge.

We'll review our birding checklist and have a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule. Prepare for check out and transfer in the morning.

At the lodge.

We will have an early morning birding walk on the lodge grounds then return for breakfast. After checking out, we will board our bus and begin the transfer to the San Vito area in the Coto Brus Valley. We will arrive at Las Cruces Biological Station in time for lunch. Las Cruces Biological Station is an important tropical research facility and center for teaching and environmental education run by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS). Station facilities include classrooms, a laboratory, an auditorium, and a library with an herbarium. This mid-elevation site is responsible for protecting more than 300 hectares of premontane wet forest habitat and was declared part of the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1983. Variations in elevation, ranging from 3,280 ft - 4,592 ft, contribute to the station's rich diversity of flora and fauna, including more than 400 birds, 113 mammals, and 2,000 plant species.

At the station.

We’ll go on a birding walk in the gardens and secondary forest around the botanical gardens. This is an excellent location for us to spot tanagers, dacnis, and saltadors. Las Cruces Biological Station is also home to the world-famous Wilson Botanical Gardens. In addition to educating the public about tropical ecology and conservation, the garden is used as a training ground for scientists in the fields of tropical botany, horticulture, and sustainable development. The botanical garden displays a mix of tropical and subtropical ornamentals including a number of rare and endangered plants from Costa Rica and other parts of the world. Paths are clearly marked and color-coded, leading guests around plantings of bromeliads, ferns, heliconias, orchids, palms and others. At the end of our walk we'll return to the station. Before dinner, we'll meet with a resident naturalist who will give us an overview of the Station’s mission and some of its important research projects and Wilson Botanical Gardens.

At the station.

We’ll review our birding checklist and have a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule.

At the station.

We'll join our Group Leader for early morning birding in the Station's environs then return for breakfast. Then we'll take a short walk to the 49-foot observation tower and climb its metal staircase to the top. As we make our way up the tower, we'll pause at different levels and search for birds in the forest understory and canopy. We hope to spot some of the mid-elevation birds of the Pacific side of the Talamanca Mountains such as Speckled Tanagers, Scarlet-Thiged Dacnis, Blue-Crowned Motmots, Violaceous Trogons, and Turquoise Cotingas. We'll remain vigilant for Coto Brus Valley species such as the Streaked Saltator and Charming Hummingbird.

At the station.

We'll accompany our Group Leader on a walk through the station's gardens for an afternoon birding session. Then we'll board the bus and make our way to Cerro Paraguas (Umbrella Mountain) for some more birding. After we disembark, we will follow our Group Leader on foot to bird along a country road surrounded by coffee farms. With the Panamanian border located just a stone throw away, it is not surprising that a few species have begun to make an appearance into the area including the Pearl Kite, Crested Oropendola, and Veraguan Mango. At the end of our field trip we will board the bus and return to the station.

At the station.

We will take a walk around the botanical gardens with our Group Leader in search of nocturnal species. We’ll also review our birding checklist and have a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule. Prepare for check out and transfer in the morning.

At the station.

We'll do some early morning birding on the lodge grounds before coming back for breakfast. After check out, we’ll begin our transfer to the San Gerardo de Dota area.

At a local restaurant en route.

En route to San Gerardo de Dota, we’ll do some birding at the Cerro de la Muerte and La Georgina area to observe timberline species that maybe present such as Volcano Junco, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Black and Yellow Silky Flycatcher, Timberline Wren and Sooty Thrush. Once we arrive at the lodge, we’ll check in and settle into our rooms. Then we’ll make use of the remaining daylight hours to set out birding on the lodge grounds.

At the lodge.

We’ll review our birding checklist and get briefed on tomorrow’s schedule.

At the lodge.

We will have an early morning walk, birding around the lodge, then return for breakfast. Next, we'll ride in 4x4 vehicles to reach upper trails, then set off birding on foot in the lodge’s reserve adjacent to the Los Quetzales National Park. The Resplendent Quetzal is our main target in this area, but we also hope to observe interesting species like the Emerald Toucanet, Collared Trogon and Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher. The San Gerardo Valley (approximately 7,000 ft elevation) combines highland oak and cloud forests with open grasslands and forest edges, attracting a variety of birds including large numbers of Resplendent Quetzals. In addition, the region is also home to a number of birds only found at this elevation range like Fiery-colored Tanagers, Marbled Wood Quails, Buffy-Tuftedcheeks, Golden-browed Clorophonias, Elegant Euphonias and Tufted Flycatchers. We'll ride back to the lodge after our field trip.

At the lodge.

We’ll accompany our Group Leader on a birding walk on lodge grounds. Before dinner, we’ll attend a presentation on the Resplendent Quetzal by a local expert.

At the lodge.

We’ll review our birding checklist and have a briefing on tomorrow’s schedule.

At the lodge.

We'll check out then begin our transfer back to San José with birding en route.

At a restaurant en route.

Upon arrival, we’ll check in to the hotel with time to freshen up and relax a bit before joining our Group Leader for a final checklist review before dinner.

At the hotel, we’ll have our farewell dinner and share favorite experiences with new Road Scholar friends.

At leisure. Enjoy our last evening together as a group in Costa Rica. Finish packing and get a good night’s rest in preparation for check out and departure in the morning.

At the hotel (depending on departure times). This concludes our program.

If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!