INTRODUCTION

Costa Rica is widely known as a premier birding destination. Albeit easily to travel around, we still found enough challenges in finding all our targets birds. The country really lived up its expectations!

Our trip wouldn't have been so successful without the recent and detailed information shared by Dani Velasco-Lopez and Chris Venetz. Tatiana and Renato from Caño Negro Experiences joined us on a most enjoyable excursion in the Caño Negro area. Sergio Arias opened his cosy house to us and spent the whole day chit chatting with us and providing local coffee and cookies while waiting at his bird feeders. Thanks to all!

ITINERARY

Download kml file with all gps coordinates

PRACTICALITIES

Transport

We rented a car for the whole period from Alamo. Although the car (Suzuki Swift) wasn't brand new and had no central locking system, we were pretty pleased with it. We managed to reach all birding destinations with this regular car. Driving is on the right and most people were driving according to the rules, even speed limits were followed. The main roads are generally good without potholes. For several birding sites (especially the roads towards the Cano Negro area, Monteverde and La Ensenada), dirt roads need to be driven on but they are fairly good. Only the 1km long steep and rocky entrance road at Rancho Naturalista was slightly more challenging. For such a steep fee it must be possible for them to maintain it a bit better...

Driving time table:

Accommodation & food

Costa Rica is a very popular tourist destination and hotels are numerous and available in a huge range of quality/expenses. Lodges in popular birding sites can get fully booked rapidly and it's best to make reservations well beforehand. For e.g. We had to flip our itinerary (N & S loop) as Rancho Naturalista and La Selva had only few days days with vacancies. We often used Booking.com to make reservations the day before. Airbnb is also commonly used in Costa Rica.

The country isn't particularly known for its cuisine, but we enjoyed the food throughout. Even vegetarian dishes are available or happily created on request. Some of the more luxury lodges did not really stand out for their kitchen.

Money

The official currency is the Costa Rican Colón, but most hotels prefer US dollars. ATM's were easily found throughout the country. Credit cards were widely accepted. Beware: Rancho Naturalista does not accept credit cards, only cash or advance payments!

Weather

We had pleasantly dry weather during the whole trip. In the lowlands it gets pretty warm around noon with a drop in bird activity. In the highlands bird activity is higher throughout the day, but the nights get rather chilly, especially at Cerro de la Muerte.

Many tour companies tend to go later in the season (from April onwards) as Bellbirds are singing commonly in Monteverde and Umbrellabirds have their lekking site. Some species might be more vocal as well (Quail Doves?). The downside is that rain is more frequent. Read more at the Climates to Travel website.

Health, safety and annoyances

We did not encounter any issue. There is virtually no malaria on our birding tour - read more at the site of Institute of Tropical Medicine. Tap water is safe to drink (in contrary to most other Latin American countries)! In our perception the people were very friendly and we felt safe all the time.

In the past, there have been car thefts near some birding sites. In Braulio Carillo we parked our car near the HQ. At the start of the River Trail in Carara, there was an unofficial guard to keep an eye on the cars.

Visa

We obtained our tourist visa upon arrival in the airport. Read more at the Embassy of Costa Rica website.

Electricity

120V type A or B (like US sockets). Read more at the Worldstandards website.

VISITED SITES

Below is a list of the sites we birded. Observado and especially eBird were scrutinized thoroughly. Some logistical information came from various trip reports on www.cloudbirders.com. These were the most useful reports:

• Campbell, 2015
• Burger, 2015
• Schneider, 2016 (this report only appeared on CloudBiders after our trip)

Barva area

Our initial plan for the first day was altered by a very late arrival (a snow storm caused several hours of delay). Hence, we skipped a night visit to Volcan Irazu and found ourselves birding at a stakeout for the Cabanis's Ground Sparrow. Prior to our departure we found that this species is becoming unreliable at many places. Most people go to the Ujarrás area, but we found another seemingly reliable site via eBird.

Just north of San Jose, we birded some roadside scrub near the Sports/Recreation Center of Barva (10.022640, -84.116502). The friendly guard kept an eye on our car and we explored the dirt road just before the barrier. The Ground Sparrow was readily found together with a few other dry forest species.

Highlights: Cabanis's Ground Sparrow (2 birds readily seen in the roadside scrub at the entrance gate)

Braulio Carillo NP

En route to La Selva, we had a few hours to bird Braulio Carillo NP, which we initially planned to visit at the very last day of our trip. The park is a vast area of well preserved forest, but there are not many trails to explore it. The main birding site would be the Quebrada Gonzalez Ranger Station (10.161886, -83.937966) and the loop along the Las Palmas Trail. The trail starts right next to the HQ. The area was considered potentially risky to leave your car unattended, but the parking area near the HQ is perfectly safe.

Only a few km northwards, the El Tapir gardens (10.174615, -83.930442) can be visited in order to find some hummingbirds. They charge 10 USD per person. The verbena flowers in the garden could have some Snowcaps (best in the morning), but we failed to find any. When close, probably you could check the verbanas from the main road as well.

Highlights: Lattice-tailed Trogon (1 bird along the Las Palmas trail 10.159343, -83.937499), White-throated Shrike-Tanager (1 bird in a mixed flock along the Las Palmas trail), Blue-and-gold Tanager (1 bird in a mixed flock along the Las Palmas trail), Streak-crowned Antvireo (a few along the Las Palmas trail), Black-crested Coquette (one at El Tapir), Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush (3 birds seen along the Las Palmas trail). Note that Black-crowned Antpitta (seen already in Panama) and Grey-headed Piprites are sometimes seen in the Braulio Carillo area, but we had no luck with these ones.

La Selva Biological Station

Close to La Selva, we made a brief stop along the main road at a supposedly marshy area (10.4055967, -83.9731522). In the past the site was reliable to find Nicaraguan Seed Finch. It turned out that all decent habitat had been turned into agricultural area. We gave up quickly - we should see them later on - and headed to La Selva.

The biological station of La Selva is a well known birding destination and it surely lived up our expectations. We opted to stay in the accommodation of the station (10.431194, -84.003350) as it offers more flexibility for (night) birding. It is a bit costly, but includes 3 meals and there is no cheap accommodation nearby that we were aware off. It should be possible to stay elsewhere and pay an entrance fee.

The forest of the station is extensive and so is the trail system. We mainly birded the open area near the station (for cotingas), the connecting road between the station and the cabins and walked several trails on the others side of the river, with the CES (camino experimental sur) and CEN (camino experimental norte) being the most productive.

Highlights: Bare-necked Umbrellabird (a young male was one of the best surprises of our trip, we saw it along the CEN trail at 10.435977, -84.0112839), Snowy Cotinga (1 bird flew by early morning right near the station, another bird was seen in the middle of the day in the trees next to the guard post along the entrance road), Slaty-breasted Tinamou (very late afternoon, we taped in one bird and then seen walking in front of us along the track between the station and the cabins at 10.4361353, -84.005867), Olive-backed Quail Dove (2 birds were seen at 10.4366875, -84.0099945), Tiny Hawk (1 bird seen), Vermiculated Screech Owl (a few birds heard and one seen), Great Green Macaw (several sightings around the restaurant and en route), Rufous-winged Woodpecker (3 birds at 10.4366837, -84.0060196), White-ringed Flycatcher (after quite some effort 2 birds seen near the station), Black-throated Wren (daily seen or heard)

La Furtuna area

We spent the night in one of the cheaper hotels in La Fortuna en route to Volcán Arenal. Unfortunately, we only found out after dark that Sendero Bogarin (10.470393, -84.650677) at the edge of the village is a good spot for birding. During a brief early morning visit, we were unable to find any Uniform Crake from the roadside. Many people seem to get it there easily, so it might be worth paying the entrance fee and have a stroll in the little private park...

Highlights: none

Volcán Arenal NP

In the lowlands next to the Volcán Arenal, we first birded the Arenal Peninsula sector. Birdlife here is different to the higher parts of the park. Right at the huge dam of Lake Arenal, an old (dirt) road can be taken towards the NP and Observatory Lodge at (10.472065, -84.758783). We focused on the first stretch where the motmot and other target species where found quickly.

We then moved towards the posh Arenal Observatory Lodge (10.437773, -84.710310) for one night. As the price is accordingly high, we wouldn't necessarily do it again in hindsight. It is possible to spend the night in a cheaper place (for e.g. in El Castillo) and enter for a day visit and pay 10 USD pp. Birding was done in the open area near the and the garden near the Smithsonian Room, where several hummingbird came to feed on the abundant verbena flowers. We also explored some of the trails on the property. The last morning we spent about 3 hours on top of the recently built observation tower. It gives excellent views on the canopy (and the volcano), but despite constantly scanning we were unable to find any Lovely Cotinga.

Highlights: Keel-billed Motmot (one bird was tape responsive along the old peninsula road at 10.4706821, -84.7590027), Streak-crowned Antvireo (several birds), Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush (1 seen, more heard), several productive ant trails with o.a. Spotted, Dull-mantled, Zeledon's, Bare Crowned, Bicolored and Ocellated Antbird.

Caño Negro

The Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge is a huge wetland area close to the Nicaraguan border. It is home to many waterbirds but also some range restricted passerines. In the rain season the river gets swollen and several large water bodies are filled up. At the time of our visit, all lakes were completely dried out.

On the way to the small town of Caño Negro we made some stops at the few places that were still water (canals, small ponds). A random stop got us the scarce Seed Finch (10.9744205, -84.697319).

Accommodation is limited in this small town, but there are still several options. We checked in in our hotel and birded the lagoon next to it in the afternoon. Later on, by sheer luck we found a river island with a heronry and a night roost for thousands of birds (blackbirds and both grackles). It is located next to the jetty at 10.8838482, -84.7915268.

Via our hotel we were able to arrange a boat trip for the next day. There are several bird guides in town. We went with Renato from Caño Negro Experiences. We concentrated on finding Yellow-breasted Crake, which required some hiking between caymans and through a (dried out) field of lily pads. We were lucky to find one at this time. When water levels are higher, they are said to be much easier.

In the afternoon we had a very enjoyable walk with Renato and Tatiana in riparian forest (10.89044, -84.7676468). We had to cross the river and then just hike through the dried out lakes to get there. Surprisingly, we found no Agami Herons, but had some other nice birds.

We can strongly recommend the services of Caño Negro Experiences! They are very nice people to hang out with and they really enjoy birding themselves. On the other hand, when talking to them we found out that birding in the Medio Queso area (near Los Chiles) might be more productive when focusing on birds.

Highlights: Nicaraguan Seed Finch (2 pairs seen a the above mentioned gps coordinates), Nicaraguan Grackle (easily seen, but in much smaller numbers than its Great-tailed counterpart), Canebrake Wren (several birds were heard and eventually seen on the boat trip), Yellow-breasted Crake (due to low water levels it took some time to find one, but eventuelly we flushed one at 10.8609552, -84.7978516), Grey-breasted Crake (1 bird calling came in sneaky in one of the vegetated lagoons), Pacific Screech Owl (seen in the village), Olive-crowned (Baird's) Yellowthroat (seen at 10.858114, -84.8515238)

Volcán Tenorio

Initially, it was unclear if we would include this site in our itinerary. We decided to go there and spent some more time searching Lovely Cotinga. The night was spent in a cheap hotel in Bijagua (several options). Most people opt to stay in the more expensive Celeste Mountain (10.717653, -85.024769) or Heliconias lodges (10.713664, -85.041374). For the latter, probably you could pay an entrance fee and walk their trails, but we didn't check.

We mainly birded the main road that passes the Celeste Mountain Lodge. From the lodge we started birding and continued for a few km. The open area with at the entrance to the Tapir Valley (10.720690, -85.013956, signposted) is supposed to be good for the cotinga so that's where we spent most time. Unfortunately, no cotingas were seen.

Highlights: Snowcap (a male seen foraging along the road at 10.7176971, -85.0164032 was a real surprise to us)

La Ensenada Lodge

We included a short stop at the dry north-western woodlands by visiting the Ensenada Lodge. The avifauna is similar to the Palo Verde NP (and the Hotel Solimar). The lodge (10.138681, -85.040598) was poorly signposted, but we got there easily but following our navigation system. Lodging isn't too expensive here, but food was.

Birding can be done on the ground of the (still active) Finca. It includes pastures, dry woodland (trail was closed though), saltpans and some mangroves. We spent most of the time looking for the bobwhites.

Highlights: Spot-bellied Bobwhite (2 birds flushed from the scrubby grasslands near the forest edge at 10.140992, -85.037599), Yellow-naped Amazon (2 birds near the lodge), Spot-breasted Oriole (a few birds), Rufous-necked Wood Rail (a family of 4 birds was seen in the mangroves), Lesser Ground Cuckoo (in total 3 birds were seen, best at 10.1365318, -85.038559), Pacific Screech Owl (heard and seen near the lodge)

Monteverde & Santa Elena

The Children's Eternal Rainforest (Bosque Eterno de los Niños) was largely established between 1988 and 1993 when students from all over the world collected money to buy forested land for protection. Now it is up to 23000 hectares. Next to this large protected zone, other smaller reserves were created and many tourists come here to observe birds and other wildlife. We chose a cheaper hotel in Santa Elena as our base.

The first morning was spent inside the Curi Cancha Reserve. The entrance and HQ are at 10.306355, -84.807558. It gets less visitors than the Monteverde Reserve and it seemed like a reliable spot both for the Bellbird and the Chiriqui Quail Dove amongst others. It opens at 7 in the morning and the entrance fee was 10 USD pp. We still encountered numerous people walking the trails and the strong winds made birding difficult. The hummingbird feeders and surrounding open area held some good birds.

As the Curi Cancha Reserve doesn't open at first light, on the third day we wandered around the entrance road and accidentally found another private reserve: the Dwight and Rachel Crandell Memorial Reserve. The entrance is at 10.307812, -84.807046 and it's free of charge to visit! It seemed promising, the wood quails were far more tape responsive and thus we kept birding the trails. Later on we moved again to the Curicancha reserve.

Right next to the entrance of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve we visited twice the Cafe Colibri (10.302315, -84.796184). Crowded hummingbird feeders and excellent coffee makes for a great combination!

We made a reservation in advance to spend a night in the San Gerardo Biological Station. Many of the species could be seen in other places, but to us birding here was one of the more pleasant during our trip! Alternatively, you could make it a (long) day trip. We parked the car near the entrance of the Santa Elena Coud Forest Reserve. From there it is a nice but somewhat steep hike down along a broad jeep track. The basic but pleasant station (10.363742, -84.790136) is located superbly within the forest. From there, one can take several trails that lead through the forest and make up for excellent birding...

We did not really visit the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (10.343558, -84.796079) itself. Entrance is not included in the San Gerardo reservation as they have different owners. Birding here should be good and there is definitely far less people compared to the Monteverde part.

Highlights: Red-fronted Parrotlet (we were extremely lucky to get a flock of 11 birds flying past us when walking down to the San Gerardo station, we first heard them calling and then seen daunting over the valley at 10.3548889, -84.7931442), Three-wattled Bellbird (the first week of February might be a tricky one for this speciesin the Monteverde area, but luck was at our side and the first birds were already back in their breeding territory, a pair seen at 10.3629379, -84.7865524), Sooty-faced Finch (both on the walk to and from the station we had a single bird along the entrance road at 10.3493557, -84.7927399 and 10.3556519, -84.7932281), Black-breasted Wood Quail (several groups heard and some seen in Curi Cancha and Dwight and Rachel Grandell Reserve), Coppery-headed Emerald (good numbers), Azure-hooded Jay, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Black-thighed Grosbeak and White-bellied Mountaingem were seen very well around the San Gerardo field station (Sendero Catarata), Blue-vented Hummingbird (1 bird at the hummingbird feeders in Curi Cancha), Magenta-throated Woodstar (easily seen, for e.g. in Curi Cancha), Black-eared Warbler (small numbers throughout)

Carara NP

With still some late afternoon time to bird, we opted to check in in the not too expensive Cerro Lodge (9.808280, -84.611201) and do some birding along the main road there. Strangely enough, very few birds were seen here. We were told that some Yellow-billed Cotingas were present in the morning. Next morning, we tried our luck, had a nice breakfast and while enjoying our coffee 2 birds flew in but couldn't be found perched in the trees.

Some people have dubbed the River Trail in the Carara NP the most productive trail of Costa Rica. Not so for us! Birding was really slow and few target birds were seen. The trail starts from the main road at 9.793287, -84.602303 and during our visit an unofficial guard was keeping an eye on the cars on the improvised parking lot. The trail was rather crowded and bumped into several birding groups and other tourists.

Starting from the HQ (9.781018, -84.606240) we birded some more trails, starting with the cemented Universal Loop Trails and the Quebrada Bonita Trail. It was almost noon before we got there and we encountered little bird activity. Even more people on the trails...

Highlights: Yellow-billed Cotinga (2 birds seen from the terrace of the Cerro Lodge), Riverside Wren (some very vocal birds were seen along the Quebrada Bonita Trail at 9.774319, -84.602029), Orange-collared Manakin (along the River Trail, an active lek held several displaying males at 9.7967472, -84.5990448), Streak-chested Antpitta (a very tame bird kept hopping in front of us along the Universal Loop trail at 9.7768745, -84.6061783), Blue-vented Hummingbird (1 bird at the Cerro Lodge), Black-hooded Antshrike (several birds), Yellow-naped Amazon (4 birds near the Cerro Lodge)

Piedras Blancas NP & Osa Peninsula

The southwestern lowlands of Costa Rica hold some restricted range species and one of the few real country endemics: Black-cheeked Ant Tanager. In order to get these, one could go to several places like the Piedras Blancas NP, or the Corcovado NP. We did not visit the latter. We opted to bird the La Gamba area and more specifically the trails of the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge.

Beware! Recently the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge (8.698984, -83.204583) has changed their policy and it is no longer possible to bird their trails without staying there or taking a guide! We were told differently by friends and were not aware of this. The friendly lady at the reception told us so, the helpful bird guide was fully booked but gave us some advice on where to find our target species outside of the property. After our birding outside of the property (see below) we were awaited by an unfriendly (understatement) manager of the lodge. He wrongly assumed we birded the trails of the property. After his raging monologue without space for any reply and his insulting of the French people (sorry for that), we smiled, showed him our back and simply walked out. Pura Vida!

Just before the Esquinas RF Lodge, there is a research institute (part of or linked to the University of Vienna): Tropenstation La Gamba (8.701214, -83.201507). The people were friendly and helpful and showed us public trails that we could bird on. We concentrated on the trail that starts just before the Esquinas Property (start at 8.701334, -83.202553), climbs uphill , downhill towards a river and eventually would lead all the way to some kind of ranger station inside the Piedras Blancas NP.

We would recommend staying in one of the lodges (Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge, Dante Corcovado Lodge, La Tarde Ecolodge, or Esquinas) or at least making prior arrangements on a day visit for birding. On the other hand: the major target bird is the ant tanager which probably can be found in any primary forest patch.

Few bridges are so well known in the birding scene as the Rincon Bridge (8.689587, -83.476070). Early morning both Yellow-billed and the much rarer (at that site) Turquoise Cotinga can be seen near this bridge. We tried our luck and were able to get both of them late afternoon! The mangroves just before the bridge are worth checking for the Mangrove Hummingbird. Playback helped a bit to get a bird perched into views.

Highlights: Black-cheeked Ant Tanager (up to 4 birds seen along the free Esquinas trail), Baird's Trogon (1 bird seen near the small stream at the entrance of Esquinas 8.70051, -83.203557), Turquoise Cotinga (1 bird seen in flight and briefly perched next to the Rincon Bridge), Yellow-billed Cotinga (1 bird seen in the mangroves before the Rincon bridge), Mangrove Hummingbird (1 bird seen in the Rincon mangroves), Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner (1 bird seen along the trail at 8.701738, -83.211576), Costa Rican Swift (several groups seen throughout the area), Fiery-billed Aracari (2 near the Rincon bridge), Golden-naped Woodpecker (4 birds on the free trail in la Gamba), Black-hooded Antshrike (several birds), Orange-collared Manakin (several birds on the La Gamba trail), Spot-crowned Euphonia (a few near La Gamba)

Ciudad Neily area

While driving from the Osa peninsula to San Vito, it was just a couple minutes of detour to a stake-out for Veraguan Mango. Although not a lifer for us (seen in Panama), we gave it a try and as we arrived at sunrise, one of the first birds seen was a perching mango!

Highlights: Veraguan Mango: (one bird readily seen at 8.6276369, -82.9392013)

San Vito area

Upon our arrival to San Vito, we first went to a nearby backroad where Costa Rican Brush Finch is seen regularly. Although widespread, this species isn't an easy one to connect with without visiting a stakeout. The dirt road that runs along some forest patches on the east of the village is such a place. Take the dirt road just before the Finca Canator. We drove about hundred meters and one of the first birds seen was the Brush Finch (8.8121557, -82.9620056).

The San Joaquin marsh is situated near the San Vito airstrip and is home to a recently split bird: the local form of Olive-crowned (or Masked) Yellowthroat is treated by several authors as a full species Chiriqui Yellowthroat. At the time of our visit, the access to the marsh was a bit complicated as there were construction works going on, but we were allowed access. According to the local people, the site is somewhat protected and in the future the access will be straightforward again. The place to enter is at (8.825545, -82.950747).

Just south of San Vito, we visited the Las Cruces Biological Station and it's embedded Wilson Botanical Gardens (8.784426, -82.958692). It is possible to stay overnight in the station, but it is rather expensive and not necessary for visiting the area. We stayed in one of the hotels in San Vito and came for a day visit. The staff was friendly and helpful and even allowed us to make a pre opening hour walk. The small entrance could be paid afterwards. Jason, the local bird guide was proud to show us a coquette on its nest and explained us the better birding sites for our target list.

Most time was spent at the highest parts of the Ridge trail as it would give us the best chances on finding quail doves. Instead of hiking up all the way, Jason explained us how to get there more easily/rapidly. As it involves accessing private property, we are not putting any details here - try to contact Jason and get directions from him. Apart from that, we also made a short visit to the lower trails (observation tower and river trail).

With only very few hummingbirds around in the Wilson Botanical Garden, we were told (by Jason again, thanks!) to pay a visit at the nearby Casa Botania B&B (8.797536, -82.954852). It turned out to be hosted by a mixed Tico-Belgian couple. The verbena flowers indeed attracted many hummingbirds and at times a Chiriqui Quail Dove is said to visit the chickens in their garden. No such luck for us though...

Highlights: Costa Rican Brush Finch (1 bird responded very well on a short burst of playback at its stakeout), Chiriqui Yellowthroat (late evening we failed to find any, but early morning a pair came in closely in the San Joaquin marsh), White-crested Coquette (Jason, the local bird guide at the Wilson Botanical Garden, was proud to show us a female on the nest), Chiriqui Quail Dove (after quite some effort in Monteverde, Casa Botania and Las Cruces we finally saw a calling bird on our second morning at the Ridge Trail in Las Cruces), Chiriqui Foliagegleaner (2 birds seen along the River Trail in the lower parts of Las Cruces), Marbled Wood Quail (2 birds along the Ridge Trail in Las Cruces), Garden Emerald (3 birds seen near the Botania B&B)

San Isidro & Los Cusingos

In our initial itinerary we included a stopover near San Isidro, mainly to visit the Los Cusingos Reserve. As there were no target species left, we didn't visit the place. For us it was mainly a backup site for Turquoise Cotinga and some of the Pacific lowland species. It's also one of the better sites to find Tawny-winged Woodcreeper. The entrance is at 9.339575, -83.628957.

We booked a night at the Cotinga B&B (9.34127, -83.625942) in advance as the Talaria Lodge (9.403140, -83.670622) was already full. The B&B is conveniently located for visiting the Los Cusingos Reserve but it also has some White-crested Coquettes visiting the verbena flowers.

On our way to Cerro de la Muerte, we had a brief stop at the parking lot of the San Isidro University. It is a known stakeout for Turquoise Cotinga. The parking opens from 06:00 and can be entered freely (9.379120, -83.691375). At the far end, many birds work their way in the flowering/fruiting trees early morning.

Highlights: White-crested Coquette (1 bird visited the verbena flowers late afternoon), Turquoise Cotinga (a male was present in the early morning at the far end of the university parking area), Tropical Screech Owl (seen near the B&B), Fiery-billed Araçari (2 birds at the University), Garden Emerald (1 bird near the B&B)

Cerro de la Muerte

Our first stop in this area was La Georgina Restaurant (9.558032, -83.723629) on the top of the pass along the main road. The restaurant has hummingbird feeders and a garden full of flowers. The people were very friendly and after a cup of coffee we explored the property for a while.

Next stop was the unpaved 'Antenna Road'. Following observations on Observado, we found some kind of trail (9.565823, -83.754259) that goes through the paramo and bamboo, which produced quite some good birds. The surroundings of the antennas at the top (9.554324, -83.755915) where the second birding spot for this road. We spent quite some time there but failed to find Peg-billed Finch.

The afternoon of our first day was spent along the Providencia Road, also referred to as the KM 76 road. The turnoff from the main road is at 9.615570, -83.818209. We less or more worked the stretches between km 2-5 along this dirt road. The roadside birding was rather slow, but nevertheless we were able to find some sought after species!

On our second day, we started working the road into the Savegre Valley. We had a brief stop at the higher parts near the Cabanas San Gerardo (9.588103, -83.799567), where we would spend the night. But the main birding was done on the trail system of the Savegre Hotel Natural Reserve & Spa (9.550847, -83.807522). For 10 USD pp it is possible to make a day visit to the area without having to spend the night there (expensive!). We birded the main trail up and then did good part of the El Roble Trail. In the afternoon we also explore the lower main road near the school (9.557610, -83.803820) to find Dark Pewee.

We slept the first night in the Paraiso Quetzales Lodge (9.644409, -83.850301). The lodge is nicely embedded in the montane forest and has (probably) some great trails to bird - we never made it. The main reason to stay overnight would be the potential help to find the night birds as the local guides can take you to the best spots. We found all species on our own...

Highlights: Unspotted Sawwhet Owl (1 bird seen along the Providencia Road at 9.604846, -83.8267059), Bare-shanked Screech Owl (1 bird taped in and seen near the Paraiso Quetzales Lodge at 9.6453133, -83.8473511 - we didn't try another one), Dusky Nightjar (several birds heard and seen near Paraiso Quetzales Lodge and the Cabanas San Gerardo), Ochraceous Pewee (1 bird along the Providencia Road at 9.6104546, -83.8226929), Dark Pewee (it took some time to find one, but eventually we heard and saw one bird near the river along the Savegre Valley road at 9.5617504, -83.8024826), Peg-billed Finch (after quite some effort searching all suitable bamboo habitat, we had a pair along the Providencia Road at 9.6041956, -83.8269119), Silvery-throated Jay (a very vocal pair was seen along the El Roble Trail at 9.551137, -83.7944412), Costa Rican Pygmy Owl (we heard several birds and eventually managed to see one in the upper canopy along the El Roble Trail at 9.5506935, -83.798439), Wrenthrush (a very cooperative pair was seen along the antenna road side trail at 9.5650349, -83.752243), Spotted Wood Quail (very easy to see in the Savegre Valley, especially on the Savegre Hotel trails), Buff-fronted Quail Dove (a real surprise to flush and see one bird along the Providencia Road at 9.6008692, -83.8280182), Sulphur-winged Parakeet (many times heard and seen near the Savegre Hotel), Large-footed Finch (good numbers in the Savagre Valley), Yellow-thighed Finch (good numbers in the higher altitudes of Cerro de la Muerte), Fiery-throated Hummingbird (most easily seen on the hummingbird feeders of Restaurante La Georgina), Volcano Hummingbird (commonly seen), Talamanca Hummingbird (most easily seen on the hummingbird feeders of Restaurante La Georgina), Grey-tailed Mountaingem (easily seen on the hummingbird feeders of La Georgina and Comida Tipica Mirian), Vulcano Junco (very common near the antennas), Black-and-yellow Phainoptila (2 in the La Georgina gardens), Black-capped Flycatcher (regularly seen) Yellow-winged Vireo (seen on a few occasions, but only small numbers), Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher (daily good numbers), Timberline Wren (in total up to five seen, most along the antenna road), Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush (daily seen), Sooty Thrush (daily seen)

Casa Tangara dowii

While preparing our trip, I noticed the regular observations of Buffy-crowned Wood Partridge at a private hotspot. Sergio was very happy to have us at his beautiful place named the Casa Tangara dowii. His house has one directional blinding windows allowing great observations of bird coming to his feeding station. Several species were observed, but we needed to wait until later afternoon for the Wood Partridges! During the waiting game we enjoyed the chit chatting with Sergio and his tasty coffee & cookies! A great stopover from/towards Cerre de la Muerte!

Sergio Arias (Costa Rica Birding Hotspots) can be contacted on +506 835 89 938. In the future he is planning to upgrade and offer package deals. For the moment his house is a bit hidden and not signposted but the entrance is at 9.742570, -83.960384

Highlights: Buffy-crowned Wood Partridge (a pair came in late afternoon (16u30) to feast on the papayas and corn at Sergio's feeding station), Buff-fronted Quail-Dove (at least one parent and grown up chick seen; the younger bird was much more accustomed to human activity and was present for several times during the day), Prong-billed Barbet (a few birds), Sulphur-winged Parakeet (a small flock)

Rancho Naturalista

We ended our trip with this well known birding site. As it easily gets fully booked in the high season, we needed to adjust our itinerary to its room availability. Actually, only few target species were left to be seen here. In hindsight, we might skip this place as it is by far the most expensive lodge we've visited, the trail system is rather limited, food wasn't mind blowing and in our opinion all target birds could fairly easily be seen elsewhere (given some homework and planning). On the other hand: it is a very enjoyable place to be, different habitats can be birded and it certainly has a relaxing atmosphere. The guides are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Rancho Naturalista wasn't clearly signposted in our opinion, but was nevertheless easily found. The unpaved entrance road starts at 9.833914, -83.572105 and for about 1 km it goes steep up. It could use some maintenance in our humble opinion...

Most birding was done on the trail system on the property. We concentrated on the higher parts in order to find the piprites and/or quail doves, like the aptly named Quail Dove Trail and Manakin Trail. We also lingered around the lodge itself with some nice bird feeders and verbena hedges to attract hummingbirds.

The very last day we quickly explored the vicinity outside the lodge property and tried to find Dipper/Sunbittern along the Rio Platanillo. Take the dirt road at 9.817690, -83.544266.

Highlights: Snowcap (only one male and one female paid a visit to the verbena hedges next to the main building), Tawny-chested Flycatcher (a pair was seen along the Quail Dove Trail at 9.833944, -83.560386), Chiriqui Quail Dove (1 bird seen walking on the Quail Dove Trail at 9.834397, -83.561162), Purplish-backed Quail Dove (1 bird flushed from the Manakin Trail and seen perched in a tree at 9.833557 ,-83.559781), Scaled Antpitta (a real surprise - one bird kept hopping in front of us on the Quail Dove Trail)