Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Costa Rica Photo Journey 16-25 July 2017 Tour Leader: Jay Packer Many thanks to Deepak Ramineedi for allowing us to include his photos in this trip report. This Yellow-throated Toucan at Laguna del Lagarto wasn’t bothered at all by the rain. Note: Except where noted otherwise, all photos in this trip report were taken by Jay Packer. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 1 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Introduction This Costa Rican photo journey featured visits to five regions of this small Central American country. We covered the moist Caribbean slope, Caribbean lowlands, dry forests on the Pacific slope, a large tropical river, and cloud forests of the volcanic highlands. The clients on the tour were a young couple and their 8-month old son. Given the considerations of traveling with an infant, the pace of the tour was relaxed and much of the photography was done at feeders or from the car. Even so, the diversity of Costa Rica was impressive as we encountered almost 200 species, photographing most of the targets that we hoped to see. Photographic highlights of the trip included stunning shots of toucan species in the rain, great hummingbird multiflash photography, a nesting pair of Turquoise-browed Motmots, Spectacled Owl, King Vultures, Resplendent Quetzal, very cooperative Great Green and Scarlet Macaws, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, and more. 16 July 2017 We began the tour with a drive out of San Jose to the well known Casa de Cope, west of Guápiles. Here, local artist and conservationist Cope caters to photographers with an impressive backyard habitat that features fruit feeders and hummingbird nectar. We spent three hours in the morning enjoying an introduction to the birds of the moist Caribbean slope. Passerini’s Tanagers, Green Honeycreeper, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, and Long- billed Hermit all offered great pictures, while an elusive White-tipped Sicklebill toyed with us, darting in to feed on nearby Heliconia flowers but then leaving as fast as he arrived. Non-avian highlights included Strawberry or “Blue Jean” Poison Dart Frogs and an Eyelash Pit Viper. The camouflage of the Eyelash Pit Viper is exquisite. Photo courtesy of Deepak Ramineedi. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 2 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 This male Green Honeycreeper enjoyed the fruit feeders at Casa de Cope. Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers fiercely guarded the feeders at Casa de Cope. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 3 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 After lunch at a nearby restaurant owned by Cope’s friend, we continued our drive to Selva Verde, a lodge protecting some 500 acres of wet Caribbean-slope lowland forest. We enjoyed a relaxing evening before dinner and enjoyed views of the basilisk lizards (capable of running short distances over water with their large hind feet), Green and Black Poison Dart Frogs, and a shy Rufous Motmot. 17 July 2017 In the morning, we were greeted by Mantled Howler Monkeys who graciously provided a wake-up call at 5am, despite not being asked to do so. After a delicious breakfast with our daily infusion of coffee, we headed west to Finca Calaveras, a farm owned by Don Alvaro. It is here that a group of Scarlet and Great Green Macaws have become habituated to a steady supply of peanuts on offer each morning. Witnessing the routine alone is impressive enough. “Lapaaaaa! Lapa, lapa, lapa, lapa, lapa, come lapaaaaaaa!” (Macaws! … Come eat, macaws!) The pictures were the icing on the cake. One of the many habituated Scarlet Macaws at Don Alvaro’s farm. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 4 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 When the farmer calls them for food, they fly in nice and close for their daily treats. Great Green Macaws also come in to feed at the farm. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 5 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Where there’s food to be stolen, you’ll find White-throated Capuchins ready to steal it. Having enjoyed the macaws, we returned to the lodge for some lunch and well earned rest. Satisfied, we headed back out in the afternoon to Dave and Dave’s Nature Park, the home of one of Costa Rica’s premier photographic destinations. Formerly known as Nature Pavilion, the location is the home of Dave Sr. and his son Dave Jr. The former was a native of San Francisco that moved to Costa Rica some 40 years ago, and his son now helps run the family business. Their house features extensive feeders with fruit and sugar water for the toucans, tanagers, and hummingbirds that spent the day enjoying the buffet set out for them. We spent a little time at the fruit feeders but decided to focus instead on using multiflash photography to capture the variety of hummingbirds coming in to feed. Dave Sr. was incredibly helpful as we setup on his back porch to enjoy and capture the afternoon show and the furious burst of activity that occurred as dusk fell. Multiflash uses multiple off camera flashes to freeze fast motion in birds like hummingbirds. The results can be stunning, and we were certainly pleased with our results at Dave and Dave’s. Highlights included Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, a species largely confined to Central America, the beautiful Crowned Woodnymph, and more common denizens like White-necked Jacobins and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds. We were also awed by our first looks and pictures of a toucan when a Yellow-throated Toucan decided to yelp from the top of a tree above us for an extended period of time. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 6 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, one of the common species at Dave and Dave’s feeders. We returned to Selva Verde for dinner and a well-deserved night’s sleep. 18 July 2017 Blessed by howler monkeys that evidently decided to sleep in themselves, we awoke this morning at 6am. After packing up and grabbing a quick breakfast, we hit the road for a bit of a drive to the lowlands of Laguna del Lagarto, a lodge in northern Costa Rica not far as the Harpy Eagle flies from Nicaragua. As we drove from paved roads known to Google Maps to dirt tracks off the labeled path, it began to rain – a phenomenon not unknown in rainforests. It didn’t let up either, and we feared that the afternoon would be lost to the weather. When we arrived at the lodge, we walked into the covered dining area to witness a continuous stream of activity that had us immediately running back out into the rain to the car to grab our camera gear. We spent the next six hours, save a short break for lunch, photographing the nonstop activity that came into the feeders and the surrounding trees from the lodge, all while staying dry and enjoying the occasional refreshing glass of juice. For much of the afternoon, we had repeated opportunities to photograph all three toucan species in the area. Yellow-throated Toucans, the iconic Keel-billed Toucan, and the slimmed down Collared Aracari all came in throughout the day at close range. The real challenge at times was fitting them into a 500mm lens! www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 7 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Keel-billed Toucan, perhaps the most famous bird in Central America. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 8 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Yellow-throated Toucans also sat for absolutely stunning portraits. In addition to the croakers and the yelpers above, we enjoyed a large supporting cast around the lodge that included at least three separate nests of Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, Long-tailed Tyrants, and Black-crowned Tityras. Also offering excellent photos were a host of tanagers including Passerini's, Blue-gray, Palm, Golden-hooded and the three honeycreepers: Shining, Red-legged, and Green. A troop of Montezuma Oropendolas came through from time to time scaring everything off, like a band of teenaged misfits at the local shopping mall. To top it all off, we saw Brown-hooded, Mealy, and Red-lored Parrots in the area as well as a pair of Great Green Macaws that announced their presence with a scream as they flew past the lodge. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 9 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 A mother Collared Aracari with her nearly full-grown chick. This Black-cheeked Woodpecker was just one of 30 species seen from the lodge dining room on our first afternoon at Laguna del Lagarto. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 10 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 The Golden-hooded Tanager is one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful tanagers. The Brown-hooded Parrots around the lodge were downright adorable. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 11 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 Long-tailed Tyrants are distinctive little flycatchers with tails longer than their bodies. www.tropicalbirding.com +1- 409-515-9110 [email protected] Page 12 Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica Photo Journey: July 2017 The Shining Honeycreeper can be separated from the similar Purple Honeycreeper by its bright yellow (as opposed to red) legs.