Costa Rica has more than one Rio Frio. Even though “Rio Frio” means “cold river”, oddly enough, I have only visited sites known by this descriptive name in the Caribbean lowlands. This region’s tropical humid climate ensures that none of the rivers are particularly cold so I feel perplexed every time I end up being [...]
Continue reading about A Brief bit of Birding in Costa Rica around Rio Frio
Before heading down to Costa Rica for a healthy dose of bird biodiversity, studying that field guide is imperative for knowing what you are looking at. Even if you plan on hiring a birding guide (always a good idea), it’s still important to gaze at illustrations, try to learn field marks, and read about the [...]
Continue reading about Tips on Woodcreeper Identification when Birding Costa Rica
Today is Halloween. The date conjures up images of jack-o-lanterns, trick or treaters, masquerades, and horror movie marathons. On the natural side of things, for those who reside in the temperate zone, the dark, cold winds of the early night and arrival of wintering waterfowl are reminders that freezing weather is right around the corner. [...]
Continue reading about Two Months and 20 Species to hit 600 for the Year
October is part of the official rainy season in Costa Rica. Each year, low pressure systems get together to stew up a massive dumping of water upon Costa Rica and other parts of Central America. The results often include landslides, flooding (albeit typically in floodplains), and lower temperatures. On a side note, I should add [...]
Continue reading about What to Do When Birding in the Rain in Costa Rica
Varablanca, Costa Rica is a village situated on a mountain pass between two volcanoes; Poas and Barva. Head up into the patchy high elevation forests of those mountains and you have a fair chance of connecting with most of Costa Rica’s signature highland species. Back down at the pass, though, much of the area has [...]
Continue reading about Exciting New Birding Route near Varablanca, Costa Rica
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 [...]
Sadly, the places that act as true models for sustainable living are far and few between. This is all too apparent when driving along just about any road in Costa Rica. Look out the window in any direction and you come face to face with urbanization, pasture, or intensively farmed land. Patches of habitat are [...]
Continue reading about More Organic Farm Birding in Costa Rica at The Finca Luna Nueva
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
Bamboo, that massive grass, is a common component of eastern Asian forests. When I was in Thailand in 2007, the huge clumps of bamboo that made up much of the understory in the forests around Doi Chiang Dao gave them an otherworldy, prehistoric appearance. Green Magpies, Lesser Yellownapes, drongos, and a bunch of other super [...]
Continue reading about Seeding Bamboo on the Road to Volcan Barva
While birders in the northeastern USA were watching some exciting species thanks to Hurricane Irene, I had an average morning of birding in the agricultural landscape near my house in Santa Barbara, Costa Rica. I so wanted to join other birders looking for migrant Cerulean Warblers on the Caribbean slope but in being temporarily car-less [...]
Continue reading about An Average Morning of Birding in Costa Rica’s Central Valley
