*The itinerary is being changed for 2024, this should be online sometime in April 2023.

 

Day 1: Arrival in San Jose

After arrival at the international airport in Alajuela (the official airport of San Jose), you will be transferred to a nearby hotel for the night.

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Day 2: San Jose to Rancho Naturalista via Cartago

After a breakfast at our Alajuela hotel, we shall leave for the journey east, stopping in Cartago to bird some ruins for the Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow, one of only a handful of endemics to the country. After that, we shall continue on towards Turrialba, and World-famous Rancho Naturalista, situated in the foothills of the Caribbean slope. The next three nights will be spent in the very comfortable setting of Rancho Naturalista. That night, there will be an optional search for Mottled Owl and Common Potoo near the lodge for those who wish to do so.

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Days 3-4: Rancho Naturalista

Rancho is a long-time favorite destination for visiting birders, so much so that many revisit the lodge. The lodge is fantastic, the birding on the grounds themselves is superb and offers some top draw species, and it is also located near other sites (e.g. Tuis Valley and Laguna Angostura), for yet more specialties too. ‘Rancho’ is the so-called ‘Home of the Snowcap’, one of the most beautiful of all Costa Rican hummingbirds. We will scan the extensive lilac Verbena flowers for this species, but also Black-crested Coquette, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Garden Emerald, Green Hermit, Brown Violetear, Violet-headed Hummingbird, and Green-breasted Mango too. There are also both fruit feeders, visible from the dining area while eating, and which attracts aracaris, chachalacas, oropendolas, and tanagers, and hummingbird feeders (White-necked Jacobin) on the balcony, where a constant supply of tea and coffee are available. Other species available on the property include Thicket Antpitta (easier to hear than see!), Bicolored Hawk, Purplish-backed Quail-Dove (the best place for this species, but still luck is required to see it), Collared Trogon, Lesson’s and Rufous Motmots, Brown-hooded Parrot, Crimson-fronted Parakeet, Golden-olive, and Hoffman’s Woodpeckers, Crimson-collared Tanager, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Black-throated and Stripe-breasted Wrens, White-ruffed and White-collared Manakins. By casting our net wider, and covering other nearby sites, we also have the opportunity to add Russet-naped Wood-Rail, Sunbittern, American Dipper, Torrent Tyrannulet, Black-bellied Hummingbird, Green-fronted Lancebill, Red-headed Barbet, Black-and-yellow Tanager. The nights will be spent at Rancho Naturalista enjoying not only their delicious food, but also their famous hospitality.

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Day 5: El Copal to the Talamanca Highlands

After reluctantly leaving Rancho early this morning, we shall visit another excellent area of forest in the Caribbean foothills, El Copal. While this will offer yet further chances to enjoy the adorable Snowcap within the blooms surrounding the headquarters, as well as other hummingbirds like Green Thorntail and Crowned Woodnymph; the trails that snake through the forest are excellent for mixed flocks that hold species like Black-faced Grosbeak, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, and a dizzy assortment of tanagers like Tawny-crested, Speckled, Black-and-yellow, Emerald, and Bay-headed Tanagers, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Russet Antshrike, Ash-throated Chlorospingus, and also sometimes the scarce Rufous-browed Tyrannulet. The area also holds a number of birds in the understorey, which require work to see, like Black-breasted Wood-Quail, Dull-mantled Antbird, Ochre-breasted Antpitta, Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, and White-crowned Manakin. If we are fortunate enough to find a swarm of army ants, then we may also have the chance to see Ocellated, Zeledon’s or Spotted Antbirds in attendance at the phalanx. Other species we’ll be on the lookout for include Gray-headed Kite, Purple-crowned Fairy, Gartered Trogon, and Broad-billed Motmot. In the afternoon, we shall drive into the hhlands, and stay at one of several great lodges in the area. That night, we will check if any of the local Dusky Nightjars are in attendance.

 

Days 6-7: Talamanca Highlands – ‘Quetzal Country’

We will be staying in one of the best areas in the country for the must-see Resplendent Quetzal, during a time when they are frequently nesting on the property, and so this species will undoubtedly be our focus for the morning. However, the lodge and its surroundings are home to many species that are regional endemics, only shared between the southern mountains of Costa Rica and far western Panama (the so-called ‘Chiriqui highlands). These include, Black Guan, Collared Redstart, Flame-throated and Black-cheeked Warblers, Black-and-yellow and Long-tailed Silky-Flycatchers, Yellow-winged Vireo, Large-footed and Yellow-thighed Finches, and Sooty-capped Chlorospingus. The hummingbird feeders at the lodge are sensational, bringing unbeatable looks and photographs of two local specialties: Fiery-throated Hummingbird and the local Talamanca Hummingbird, while Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush and Sooty Thrush, both also regional endemics, often hop right around the lodge building. Some of the rarer species in the vicinity, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, Ochraceous Pewee, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, and the monotypic family, the Wrenthrush. We will also visit a nearby higher elevation site either on this day or the following one to add Volcano Hummingbird and Volcano Junco to the list. On this night we can search, again, for Dusky Nightjar, and see if we get very lucky with one of the local Unspotted Saw-whet Owls.

 

Day 8: Talamanca Highlands to Talari Mountain Lodge

After some final time in the beautiful cloudforests within the Cordillera Talamanca, we will head downslope to the Pacific foothills near the town of San Isidro del General. We will be based for the next two nights at the wonderful Talari Mountain Lodge. Time permitting, in the late afternoon we shall visit a place near the city of San Isidro de General for the dazzling Turquoise Cotinga, as late afternoon is often a good time to spot this species; (we have further chances for this species the following day too). At the end of the day, we will arrive at Talari Mountain Lodge, our comfortable base for the following two nights. At night, there will be an optional search for Tropical Screech-Owl on the lodge property.

 

Day 9: Talari and Los Cusingos

A full will be spent exploring not only on the lodge grounds but the nearby home of pioneering ornithologist Alexander Skutch, Los Cusingos, which is now a well-established bird sanctuary and birding hotspot. At the lodge, the feeders and garden will be our focus, which can attract birds like Fiery-billed Aracari, an endemic to the South Pacific and extreme western Panama, and also Golden-hooded and Cherries’ Tanagers, Blue Dacnis, Green Honeycreeper, and even Lesson’s Motmot too. Other possibilities in the immediate surrounds, include Snowy-bellied and Scaly-breasted Hummingbirds, Garden Emerald, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Scaled Pigeon, Costa Rican Swift, Pale-breasted Spinetail, and Streaked Saltator. At Los Cusingos, the forest and gardens at the forest edge are superb; this area is arguably the best place in the country for the rare White-crested Coquette, and also hosts birds like Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Long-billed Hermit, Long-billed Starthroat, Charming Hummingbird, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Golden-naped, Pale-billed and Smoky-brown Woodpeckers, Tawny-winged and Ruddy Woodcreepers, Black-hooded Antshrike, Black-faced Antthrush, Yellow-bellied Tyrannulet, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Golden-crowned Spadebill, Green Shrike-Vireo, Red-capped and Velvety Manakins, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, and Spot-crowned Euphonia. It is also a good place to observe the normally shy Great Tinamou. At the end of an action-packed day of birds, we shall overnight once more at Talari Mountain Lodge.

 

Day 10: Pacific Foothills to South Pacific lowlands

Today, we’ll move from the foothills of the Pacific slope to the lowlands, near the coast, and Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, our base for the next two nights. Before we leave the foothills, we’ll check for Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Pearl Kite locally. In the afternoon, we will visit nearby Rincon, where Yellow-billed Cotinga and Mangrove Hummingbird are found in the mangroves there. Other species in this area include Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Yellow-headed Caracara, King Vulture, Common Black-Hawk, Gray-lined Hawk, Red-lored Parrot, White-necked Puffbird, Prothonotary Warbler, Isthmian Wren, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, and Red-breasted Meadowlark. This is also a good time of day to see Scarlet Macaws on the wing, as they labor their way to roost in the mangroves, and it is also a good site for kingfishers, with Ringed, Amazon, and Green all possible. At night, there will be an optional excursion to look for nightbirds, most notably Spectacled Owl or the rarer Striped Owl.

 

Day 11: Esquinas Rainforest Lodge

We will have a full day to explore the trails and roadsides at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, check out some nearby more open country sites, and also to revisit Rincon (if needed) too. Esquinas and the surrounding area is home to some rare or local species in the country, not least the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, which is a Costa Rican endemic. Aside from this species are Veraguan Mango, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, and Uniform Crake. Other exciting possibilities in this rich birding area of the South Pacific, include Little Tinamou, Great Curassow, Crested Guan, White Hawk, Baird’s and Black-throated Trogons, Rufous-winged Woodpecker, Blue Ground-Dove, Blue-headed and White-crowned Parrots, Bronzy Hermit, Purple-crowned Fairy, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Black-striped Woodcreeper, Scrub Greenlet, Northern Bentbill, Royal Flycatcher, Rose-throated Becard, Rufous Piha, Black-bellied Wren, White-throated Shrike-Tanager, and Ruddy-breasted Seedeater.

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Day 12: South Pacific to San Jose

After some final birding in the South Pacific in the morning, and lunch in the area, we shall drive back to Alajuela, close to San Jose airport, where we spend one night.

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Day 13: Departure

The tour ends this morning; transportation will be available to the international airport.