Carara National Park is one of the premier birding locations in Costa Rica. In addition to the easily accessible rainforests of the park, the area also boasts tropical dry forest, mangroves, and estuarine habitats and other wetlands. It’s a must on every birding trip to Costa Rica but ironically, there are few places to stay [...]
Continue reading about Some Thoughts on Birding Costa Rica at Punta Leona
Playa Hermosa is a beach in the northwestern part of Costa Rica. There may be other places called “lovely beach” in the country but this is the official one. The beach is decent but, for birding, you should really head inland. I went up that way this past weekend for a short family vacation with [...]
Continue reading about Good Birding in Costa Rica near Playa Hermosa
I had a long, bird-filled day while guiding in and around Carara National Park yesterday and thought that I might share some news, tips, sightings, what have you. In no particular order: 1. Stay on the trails: While looking for birds along the Laguna Meandrica trail (the “river trail” of Carara birding fame), our group [...]
Continue reading about Recent Birding News from Carara National Park, Costa Rica
When planning a birding trip to Costa Rica or other biodiverse tropical locales, there are a few basic steps that most birders take. Above all, a field guide must be acquired to hint at the birds that creep, fly, and call from those distant, beckoning rainforests. This is of basic important because you need a [...]
Continue reading about Some Recent Birding Magic from Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Thick-Knee. What an odd name for a bird. I mean there aren’t any “Big-Ankles”, “Fat-toes”, or even a “Skinny-Wing” in the bird world. While there is a stint that is “Long-toed” it doesn’t cease to be a stint. The “thick-knee”, on the other hand, wasn’t even named after other members of the Burhinidae but since [...]
Continue reading about The Golden-eyed Double-striped Thick-Knee
Montezuma always makes me think of Mexico but there is another one much closer to home (at least for me). This is the seaside village of Montezuma located on the southern part of the Nicoya peninsula. If any birders make it there, it’s usually by accident or with a non-birding tour group set on checking [...]
Continue reading about A Brief Guide to Birding around Montezuma, Costa Rica
Most birders visit Carara National Park in Costa Rica during the dry months of January, February, and March. Those sunny months represent Costa Rica’s high season for birding (and tourism) simply because much of the country is significantly drier at this time of the year. Coincidently, the birding also tends to be more productive so [...]
Continue reading about Birding Carara National Park, Costa Rica on October 3rd
Chomes, Costa Rica is this end of the road village on the Gulf of Nicoya. There is a sign for it on the Pan-American highway, but your average tourist just zooms on by as if the place never existed. I don’t know what the guide books say about Chomes but if the place is even [...]
This past weekend, I got in a bit of birding around Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste. When we left the house on Friday, I had visions of augmenting my year list with everything from waders to Thicket Tinamou and Elegant Trogon. I desperately need these and other “Guanacaste” birds if I’m going to break the 600 mark [...]
Continue reading about Birding Near Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
This past Saturday, I spent most of the morning in the rainforests of Carara National Park. I usually visit this birdy protected area for guiding, but on Saturday, I cruised down the new highway to the hot coastal plain not to help birders see Turquoise-browed Motmots, Great Tinamous, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatchers, and Spot-crowned Euphonias, but to [...]
