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Month: December 2024

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Birding Costa Rica

The Arenal Christmas Bird Count, 2024- Some Highlights

Blinking lights and inflatable decor are waving in the breeze, the malls resound with Christmas-themed songs, and Yellow Warblers are chipping from the bushes. These factors and tamales can only mean one thing; it’s Christmas bird count time in Costa Rica!

Well, they mean other things too but in regards to the birding way of life, yeah, it’s count time. While birders up north are trudging over frozen grass and trying to stay warm as they count Buffleheads and American Crows, in Costa Rica, we’re sweating in the humid woods and watching Baltimore Orioles.

We’re also seeing trogons and listening to tinamous as we count hundreds of birds. There’s plenty of counts to participate in too although here, for most, you gotta sign up in advance and pay a participation fee. Since some counts happen on the same or similar dates, local birders also have to decide which ones to participate in. My partner Maryllen and I opted for one we usually do; the Arenal Count.

This classic count covers most of the excellent sites in the Fortuna area as well as the area we bird; at and near Finca Luna Nueva. Here’s some birding highlights from this year’s count:

Finca Luna Nueva Nightbirding

Thanks to the Hotel Finca Luna Nueva, we stayed at the hotel the night before the count. In addition to resting up in their comfy, peaceful rooms, we also had the opportunity to look for birds of the night.

Although it would have been exciting to explore this rich site’s organic farm and rainforest all night long, sleep took precedence. Instead, during the hour before dawn, our team (including Tyler Wenzel who also made several cool recordings) heard Crested Guan, the rumbling of Spectacled Owls, one gruff Crested Owl, and a juvenile Mottled Owl. As we walked towards the tower, we also heard and saw a smart Black-and-white Owl.

Good stuff and with more exploration in the area, I bet you could also find Striped Owl, Barn Owl, Central American Pygmy-Owl and probably Middle Amerian Screech-Owl.

Finca Luna Nueva Daybirding

We started at the hotel’s tower, a bamboo structure at the back of the property. This is a good spot to check the birding action in second growth, several tall trees, and listen to birds in nearby rainforest. Although it was a bit quiet on the count morning, we still had fun with raspy Red-throated Ant-Tanagers, chipping Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers, Dusky Antbirds, wrens, and several other species.

Birding Costa Rica
Check out the pink feet on this rainforest hummingbird.

I should also mention that one of our first birds of the day was Scarlet Macaw. Several of this spectacular parrot have taken up residence at Hotel Finca Luna Nueva!

After the tower, we walked a trail through beautiful rainforest and picked up several deep forest species including Checker-throated Antwren, White-flanked Antwren, White-throated Shrike-Tanager, and other species.

Fer-de-Lance

The trails at Luna Nueva are nice but, as with all rainforest traiks, you have to be prepared for certain conditions. It’s typically warm and humid, birding can be challenging, and trails can be muddy.

Most of all, you have to be aware of snakes, especially one in particular. They aren’t abundant and you would be lucky to see one (or unlucky if you don’t like snakes) but Fer-de-Lances are present. This viper is actually common in many parts of Costa Rica, and even occurs in some parts of the Central Valley.

However, you don’t see many because they prefer to stay hidden in and near brush piles. Once in a while, though, they can sit right in the middle of a trail. During the count, one was doing just that! It’s precisely why I always watch where I step and why all birders in Costa Rica need to do the same. I saw it when I was pretty close and if I had taken one more step, I would have certainly walked right on top of it.

Thankfully, I saw the viper, it noticed us, left the trail, and we continued onwards. This doesn’t mean you should stay away from the trails at Luna Nueva (the same thing can happen at many lowland and foothill sites), it’s just a reminder to watch where you step, never leave the trail, and consider going with a guide.

Finca Luna Nueva Awesome Breakfast

After an early morning of 100 species, we enjoyed breakfast back at the hotel restaurant. And I mean enjoyed! One of the great things about birding at Luna Nueva is that when you aren’t focusing on birds, you’ll enjoy fantastic, healthy meals. I’m talking rice and beans made with turmeric, kim-chee, home made, dense breads, tropical fruits including jackfruit, and more.

The food is excellent but you don’t have to stop focusing on birds if you don’t want to. Sit at the edge of the open air restaurant and you can still watch wood-rails, tanagers, aracaris, and other birds while you sip your coffee.

Soltis Center

Our counting area also includes the Soltis Center; a field course station owned by Texas A and M. It’s an excellent site with Porterweed bushes and flowering trees that can attract Snowcap among other, more common hummingbirds, many tanagers and other foothill species, soaring raptors and more.

Speaking of raptors, we saw two of the official count species, King Vulture, from the parking area. In the forest, unfortunately, we didn’t do as well as past years. Recent storms had knocked down a few trees, one of which blocked us from reaching the waterfall. It was also rather breezy and birds were quiet.

With that in mind, instead of staying at Soltis, Tyler suggested that we check Chachagua Rainforest, a site that connects to Soltis and Luna Nueva.

Chachagua

After a short drive, we reached this classic site. The owners were happy to have us bird the grounds although ongoing construction limited where we could go and what we saw. Nevertheless, we enjoyed some common birds around the ponds and did especially well on the entrance road.

Thanks to a fruiting fig, we had close views of a dozen Bay-headed Tanagers, Emerald and Silver-throated Tanagers, and even two Rufous-winged Tanagers. While we enjoyed those beauties, our best bird of the day also hopped into view- Yellow-eared Toucanet!

As always, the Arenal Count was a fine day of birding. The other teams also had plenty of species, probably well over a hundred for each counting area. Despite several birds not sounding off, we still finished with 150 species. Check out the eBird trip report!

To learn more about sites mentioned in this post, where to watch birds in Costa Rica or giving a last minute gift to a birder headed to Costa Rica, support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page Costa Rica bird finding guide. I hope you see Yellow-eared Toucanets, I hope I see you here!

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Birding Costa Rica birding news

Costa Rica Birding News- December, 2024

Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl from the side.

Are you going birding in Costa Rica? If you’ve never been, I hope you visit soon. If you’ve already been, you already know what to expect and I also hope you visit soon. No time to wait to bring the binos to this birdy place!

Whether your birding time in Costa Rica is nigh or in a few months, this information may help:

The wet season was rough but it seems over

We’re on the cusp of the high season and the birds are happening. That’s not really news, birds are always happening in Costa Rica but since some folks wonder if you can see birds in Costa Rica at other times of the year, well…yes you can.

Lots.

However, if you were birding Costa Rica this past November, you would have been watching them with an umbrella. Maybe a boat too. The rains were torrential, several lowland areas experienced flooding, and, tragically, a number of people lost homes and belongings. It was so bad, I’m guessing that quite a few roads in lowland areas now have large holes and other damage.

The good news is that the rains have ended, at least for the Pacific slope. It’ll probably still be pouring in the mountains and on the Caribbean slope but that’s normal from now to February. Be ready for it but you should also still be ready to see lots of birds.

Highland birds down low

In Costa Rica, we get a lot of altitudinal migration, especially during the winter months. These days, there’s been quite a few birds lower then usual, even species like Northern Emerald Toucanet. It makes me wonder what choice birds might be frequenting the foothill rainforests at Quebrada Gonzalez? I’m eager to check it out!

If you are birding lowland areas, give any fruiting trees a good check. There could be a rare Lovely Cotinga or two in the Sarapiqui region along with other species more typical of middle elevations.

Lowland owls high

Over the past ten years or so, owls more typically associated with warm, tropical forests have been appearing at much higher elevations. Spectacled Owl and Black-and-white Owl have been found as high as Irazu and the Dota Valley, and Middle American Screech-Owl has occurred at the Observatory Lodge.

Who knows what sort of effects these range expansions might have on Bare-shanked Screech-Owls and various other highland biota? In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you find these large owls at high elevations and if so, please eBird them!

Redhead in Guanacaste, Snowy Plover in Tarcoles, what else is out there?

Tis the season for rare birds too, at least for birders who reside in Costa Rica. Recently, a male Redhead was found at Hacienda Vieja Wetlands in Guanacaste, and a Snowy Plover was seen at the Tarcoles River mouth.

The Redhead is a major rarity in Costa Rica. I hope it’s a sign of other odd ducks on the horizon (might I wish for a country first Gadwall?). We’ll know soon enough as more local birders look for them.

The Snowy Plover is rare but much more regular than the Redhead. It has appeared at the Tarcoles River on other occasions but this year, it’s a lot more difficult to see. The river mouth has moved quite a bit and sadly, the best spots are only accessible by boat. Some good areas can also be viewed from near the end of the Guacalillo Road but it’s kind of a long and rather desolate drive.

With luck, that plover and other good birds will appear on the beach at Tarcoles, especially at the mouth of the small Tarcolitos River (more like a stream easily accessed from Tarcoles).

There have also been a scattering of sightings of rare warblers for Costa Rica and I’m sure there’s some other very rare stuff that has touched down on these birdy shores. I hope to find some.

A whole lot of traffic going on

Whether visiting Costa Rica now or soon, traffic is the current reality. All we can do is know when and where it’s worst and avoid those situations. Anywhere in the Central Valley is bad; if you are on the road from 6 to 9 and from 4 to 6, it won’t be pretty.

It’s also gotten steadily worse in other places, especially parts of the Pacific, mostly on roads to and from beach areas. If you can, do not drive up to the Central Valley on Sunday afternoon. If so, you’ll be wasting time in an ongoing, slow-moving parking lot. The same goes for driving down to the Pacific on Friday.

Bringing US Dollars? Make sure the bills are in perfect condition

Yes, the currency in Costa Rica is the Colon but pretty much all places will also accept US dollars. However, they might not give the best exchange rate and, now, more places probably won’t accept bills unless they are in perfect condition.

That’s sort of been happening for a while now but expect it to get worse. Recently, when I tried to deposit US bills into my bank account, the teller handed several right back to me! These bills weren’t dirty or defaced or anything, all they had were minute tears and one had a bit of writing on it. Nope, wouldn’t accept them. So, I don’t know if other banks act the same or how stores will act but I never had my bank refuse bills before.

I suspect it’s tied to announcements that big stores and banks can no longer accept damaged bills in the USA but whatever the reason, if you do have to bring dollars to Costa Rica, make sure they are in perfect shape. Of course, the easiest solution is paying everything with cards. That’s what locals mostly do, so much so, it’s gotten to the point where small places usually lack change.

The Costa Rica Birds Field Guide App is updated

Unspotted Saw-whet Owl Costa Rica bird app

Have you noticed that eBird now uses “Northern House Wren”, “American Barn Owl” and that Cooper’s Hawk has lost its Accipiter status? There’s been a bunch of taxonomic changes happening and several birds in Costa Rica have been affected. One of the happy changes was splitting Brown Booby into two species. See one of the Pacific? That’s a Cocos Booby my friend! Scan one from a Caribbean shore? You got Brown Booby on your Costa Rica list!

To keep up with those changes, in November, I helped update the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app. In addition to new bird names, the app also has a bunch more photos including several birds in flight, vocalizations for at least 870 species, some other edits, and now includes 1021 species and subspecies. It’s got a bunch more than the actual bird list because I wanted to also include various species that could show up in Costa Rica.

As always, I could say a lot more about the birding in Costa Rica. I’ll just mention that there’s always lots of birds to see, most are accessible, and get ready to have fun because this country is like a birding and bio wonderland! I hope to see you here!

To learn more about birding places mentioned in this post and hundreds of other sites to see birds in Costa Rica, support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”.

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bird finding in Costa Rica Birding Costa Rica Introduction urban birding

Urban Birding in Costa Rica (and Walmart)

Urban birding in Costa Rica? Does Costa Rica even have urban areas? Well, obviously yes but if all your conclusions about Costa Rica came from tourism marketing videos, that would be a valid question. According to images and videos, Costa Rica is (1) beaches, (2) zip lines through tropical forest, (3) volcanoes, (4) tropical wildlife like sloths, toucans (occasionally species that live in Brazil), and monkeys, and (5) everyone exclaiming “pura vida!”.

This toucan does live in Costa Rica.

Hey, I don’t blame those marketers (except for using the wrong toucan species), after all, the goal is selling an experience, showing potential tourists highlights and reasons for vacationing in Costa Rica. They aren’t wrong either because this birdy nation is those things but, just like Niagara Falls, NY is more than the famous cataracts (to me it’s also family, DiCamillo’s bakery, a blizzard of gulls, and a lifetime of memories and fantastic stories), Tiquicia has so much more.

For the record, as with most countries, Costa Rica also has busy urban areas. For my nature-linked tastes, they are too busy but at least escaping them is pretty easy. Fly into SJO and you’ll experience that urban stuff pretty quick but, if you stay outside the metro area, you’ll also leave it behind just as soon as you arrive. However, if you do find yourself faced with urban birding in Costa Rica, don’t despair!

As the Urban Birder David Lindo reminds us, birds are everywhere, even in big cities, often more than you think and in places where you least expect them. With recent heavy rains and a mild cold keeping me from doing much birding, those urban birding concepts have been on my mind. These were a couple recent reminders that birds really are everywhere and they can even include rare and endangered species.

Yellow-naped Parrot at Walmart

Yes, sounds like an odd birding dream but it just goes to show that, in Costa Rica, birding dreams come true! The other day, I took a regular, random shopping trip to Walmart with my partner and her daughter. In Costa Rica, although one sees fewer “Walmart people” than in the USA, people watchers will be pleased to know there’s usually one or two folks shopping in would be pajamas, employees sport those same blue, Walmart vest things, and there’s always a couple of shoppers roving the store in motorized carts.

However, before you feel a bit too reminded of being back in the USA, you’ll notice many more differences. Forget about undercover security and shopping on your own. There’ll be a few security guards decked out with an impressive and potentially intimidating display of pseudo-military looking gear (stuff like tactical looking vests with too many pockets, maybe a flashlight and other random stuff but perhaps lacking weapons), and you’ll find yourself wondering how other shoppers manage to block entire aisles while being completely unaware that they do not have the entire store to themselves.

Actually, those aisles blockages are mostly because the aisles are too narrow but whatever. The worst thing, though, and the most different, will be the salespeople. These bastions of Costa Rica Walmart are invariably women who sport uniforms that represent what they want you to buy. You won’t help but notice them and not only because they stand in place and block the selections of tortillas or bread or sliced ham.

No, you’ll notice them mostly because as soon as you come within range, they will start talking to you, automatically telling you about this and that product in question or asking you what you are looking for. It doesn’t matter if you would rather look at those tortillas for yourself or check ham out on your own. It doesn’t matter if you stare straight ahead with a blank and unbecoming 1,000 yard stare. No, they will still want to “help” you.

I understand that’s their job, it’s good they have one, perhaps I should talk with them more? But the thing is I don’t go to Walmart to casually converse with people about ham discounts. I don’t really want to be there at all so I’m not keen on spending time to stand and listen to sales spiels. I’m not particularly anti-social, I would just rather not spend my time that way.

In an attempt to avoid the unwelcome conversation, I usually end up saying, “No, gracias” but then I invariably wonder why I thanked them for advice I didn’t ask for. My partner says to answer them in English and yes, that has helped. I have done that as well as occasionally answer in other non-Spanish languages and let me tell you, no matter how talkative, when presented with a classic language barrier, even the most gung-ho Walmart salesperson throws in the towel!

Now if you find yourself in a Costa Rica Walmart, in all likelihood, those organic, real life influencers will know you are a tourist and probably be too afraid to talk to you anyways. However, if not, and if you don’t feel like practicing Spanish or would rather spend time watching birds (because when birding in Costa Rica, every second counts), you can always smile and say something in English. Thanks to Duolingo and so many people wanting to learn English, it’s still a risk but what are you gonna do? You got birds to see (dammit)!

A word of advice; the coffee and tea aisle is especially challenging. It’s a veritable gauntlet of loquacious and determined coffee and tea influencing saleswomen so out of control, I never purchase coffee in Walmart for that very reason!

But so what about shopping in Walmart, like, isn’t this a birding blog? Yes but when birding abroad, you will likely need to step into a store, and Walmart is a common choice. It’s good to know what to expect. Also, when you step outside the store, at least the one in San Francisco, Heredia, you might see a Yellow-naped Parrot.

Yes! Insanely, when we exited Walmart yesterday afternoon, like magic, the laughter-like calls of Yellow-naped Parrots were somehow penetrating the urban din. Showing that nature must triumph (or that they had loud voices), a pair of these critically endangered species defiantly yelled over the nearby traffic. They were perched right on the tip of a non-native cypress and even without binos, the bright yellow on their napes stood out against their plumbeous sky backdrop.

It was a fantastic sighting! I mean, I almost ran back inside to confront the aisles influencers and tell them that no, I’m not interested in that block of Turrialba cheese but let me tell you all about the fantastic Yellow-naped Parrots at the edge of the parking lot! Oh, not interested? Well, I wasn’t interested in hearing about cheese either but you started telling me all about it anyways…touchee senora.

Now this doesn’t mean Walmart is a good place to see birds, in fact, I can’t recommend it. But, it is a reminder that birds can appear in Costa Rica in odd places, even rare species. When in Costa Rica, you stop birding at your own peril because even in urban areas, a Lineated Woodpecker may swoop into view, Short-tailed and Gray Hawks might be soaring above, and wood-rails are sneaking around the edges of polluted streams.

A classic view from Walmart except that there are two Yellow-naped Parrots perched in the trees on the left, and the mountains in the background have cloud forest with quetzals and tapirs.

Centro de Recreo SITET

Speaking of wood-rails, this undiscovered birding gem has them along with lots more. I thought I knew about most of the places to go birding in Costa Rica, I mean, I included hundreds of sites in “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” and yet, after a random school trip, I realize have to edit the book and include this place, the Centro de Recreo SITET.

Located in Rio Segundo, rather close to the airport, this is a small but excellent oasis to see common birds in an urban setting. Forget about that ridiculous Walmart Woods eBird hotspot, this is the place to go! We went to this small, private park for a school picnic and wished we had brought binoculars! A combination of mature Caribbean pines, huge figs, second growth, stream and pond attracted a surprising array of species.

Need Boat-billed Heron? Several roosted over the pond, even good enough for pictures! How about Gray-cowled Wood-Rail? A few of these fancy rails fed near a stream also frequented by Lesson’s Motmot and other common species. Chestnut-capped Warblers and Cabanis’s Wrens called from the thick stuff, Black Phoebe wagged its tail, and Ringed Kingfisher flew overhead, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow is also present.

birding Costa Rica

This overlooked site looks especially good for migrants and interesting wintering birds. I’m definitely going back to see what I find. If you want to check it out, this site has a 2,000 colon entrance fee ($4), is closed Mondays and open other days from 8 to 4. It’s located off a busy road but once inside, the birding should be alright and there are various picnic tables and grills. I bet it can get loud and busy on the weekend but other days are probably quiet. This is my eBird list, it also shows exactly where this spot is located.