254 Total Species counted
43 Endemics/near Endemics
29 Hummingbirds species
180 Lifers
This is my trip report for our exciting Costa Rica Feb. 2008 interior birding trip , the itinerary included many Middle to Central Highland elevations as well as the Atlantic Lowlands. Participants were myself and my father , Peter. We live in New Jersey USA. The guide was the unparalleled Jean Jacques Gozard who resides near San Ramon, Costa Rica , he is a top guide of the Country and heads Amazillia Tours , his knowledge of birding goes way beyond the confides of Costa Rica as he heads tours throughout Central America and many of the Carribean Islands he also occasionally guides in Africa and Europe. He is Top-notch and I highly recommend him. Jean Jacques's local patch is the Pacific lowlands/Carrara/ area but we did not include that location on this trip. Here is his website if you want further info on this wonderful guide : http://www.amaziliatours.com/EN/index.htm
This was our Itinerary which Jean worked to help create , this is not his usual tour but he wanted to appease my desire for Highland and Middle elevation species and hitting hummingbird heavy locations. It was a custom route but very successful and I was happy we did it this way.
Day 0 - Jan 25 2008 - CENTRAL VALLEY San Jose & Bougainvillea grounds
DAY 1 - CENTRAL VALLEY / ATLANTIC LOWLANDS La Paz / Virgen Del Socorro / Gavilan Lodge
DAY 2 - ATLANTIC LOWLANDS Gavilan / La Selva O.T.S./ Braullio Carrillo
DAY 3 - ATLANTIC LOWLANDS & FOOTHILLS Gavilan / La Selva O.T.S./ Braullio Carrillo
DAY 4 - ATLANTIC SLOPE & MOUNTIAN HIGHLANDS Rancho Naturalista / Cerro De La Muerte
DAY 5 - MOUNTIAN HIGHLANDS Dota Valley / Paramo Habitat / Los Santos
DAY 6 - MOUNTIAN HIGHLANDS Dota Valley / Los Santos / Mirador property
DAY 0 : San Jose & Bougainvillea grounds
19 Species Observed
Highlights and Specialties :
BLUE-CROWNED MOTMOT
CRIMSON-FRONTED PARAKEET
HOFFMANN'S WOODPECKER
We took a 5 hr. flight from Newark NJ to San Jose and then cabbed to the Bougainvilla Hotel. Our first half-day of birding began in late afternoon after checking in to the Bouganvilla Hotel located near San Jose in the Central Valley http://www.hb.co.cr/ . This is a popular Lodge for visiting birders and a great introduction to Costa Rica birding , it boasts very expansive gardens and a birding lookout tower . Pete and I eagerly birded the grounds on our own on this day and then Jean Jacques made an impromptu appearance that night to make sure we were good to go in the A.M. We managed to get close-up views of the truly remarkable Blue-crowned Motmot , our first Motmot and what a stunning bird ! Our target was Prevost's Ground-Sparrow but we missed it and Jean promised we would give a good try for it again the next A.M. Other birds we tallied were two near endemics - Hoffman's Woodpecker and several flocks of Crimson-fronted Parakeet. Some other birds here were more abundant and we would see them again in our travels : Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Blue-Grey Tanager , Groove-billed Ani ,Inca Dove and Rufous-collared Sparrow. We found some familiar birds to us like Baltimore Oriole and Eastern Kingbird who breed in New Jersey during the summer season. After this teaser day of Neotropical birding, we were stoked and really anticipating the wonders that lay before us for the next several days in Costa Rica !