BIRDING ROAD TRIP - Costa Rica 2018
Here are some photos from the epic road trip thru Costa Rica with Tropical Feathers and founder Noel Ureña
(January 21 - February 12, 2018)

Noel planned an impressive road trip that covered almost 1,500 miles throughout the Costa Rican countryside.  We started in San Jose and headed north over the central mountains into the lowlands of the Caribbean; and then north near the Nicaraguan border - with many detours along the way to pick up specialties; and then headed west into the prolific Guanacaste & Tilaran Mountains; and over toward the Nicoya peninsula into the dry forest region that almost ...reminds us of parts of California. Then south along the beautiful Pacific coast down to within sight of Panama; and finally into the Talamanca mountains to track down some treasures hidden in forests. 

Along the path, we met many new people and friends who were always jumping in to help us track down special birds or places - or just to be friendly.  And Noel's love for his country, for birds and for us made the trip unlike any other. Since this was our second trip together, it was like old friends taking a classic road trip to explore the Costa Rica.  We were pleased to have his sweet wife, Sulma, join us the last few days. 

At the end, we found 482 different species of birds (a trip record for us) including 41 hummingbirds(!) and 18 owls and other night birds.  A couple days were 14-16 hours of birding - but worth every second. Of special note were the endemics we picked up. Of the 103 species that occur only in that region, we've now seen 80. To non-birders, those are just numbers, but to us, it's a biggie.   The new birds we saw pushed our life list to 1,481.  Just 19 away from our next big milestone.

Thank you Noel for the best trip ever!  Literally - and we mean literally.  It was beyond anything we expected or hoped for.  The memories are packed into the mind and will supply many hours of happy recall through the years.

As always, our first priority was to find new birds and see as many varieties as possible; but we also came home with almost 12,000 photos to sort through.  In the field, you have to take what you can get, especially if birding comes first.  So, some shots are OK, some are good and a few are trophies.  But they're all evidence of the birds we saw and souvenirs to watch flash by on the screensaver. 
Here's the trip, more or less in line...

Below is a GPS map from the camera showing most of the locations we birded

Our rather short flight went through Dallas and then straight to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Can everyone name the countries of Central America?

The main feature we passed over was the Grand Canyon - on the east end where the Colorado River curves north...
Below are some of the primary locations we visited around the country...
Noel picked us up at the airport in the early evening and we stayed the night in the beautiful Bougainvillea Hotel...
...and started birding the next morning on the Hotel grounds.		Lesson's Motmot
Summer Tanager
Brown Jay		Philadelphia Vireo
After a short walk around the Hotel grounds, we hit the road toward La Selva Biological Station and stopped a few places along the way...
Braulio Carrillo NP
First big endemic target bird happened right away - Bare-necked Umbrellabird
Buff-rumped Warbler		Dot-winged Antbird (f)
Next up was a place called El Tapir.  This small area, just off the road, is noted for its hummingbirds - dense with Porterweed, that violet flower that you see everywhere and that hummers love.  Especially the Snowcap(!)
Noel discussing what's been around with the grounds keeper
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Black-Crested Coquette
Black-Crested Coquette
...No Snowcap today... 8-(       Will have to try again on our way out of La Selva.
Next, we visited a very impressive mini Rainforest created on only a couple acres by Jose Alberto, or as everyone calls him, Cope.   Check out the YouTube video.  He and his wife Reina, took us to many very cool sightings.
Crested Owls - two of them!		Great Potoo (good view of tail, not so good of head)
Honduran White Bats Tent making bats - chews along the stem to cause the leaf to bend like a tent,		Walking Stick - about 7" - has front two legs stretching forward which are about 6"
Cope's wife, Reina, led us to several sites.		Helmeted Basilisk
Silver-throated Tanager		Blue-Gray Tanager
Clay-colored Thrush		Stripe-throated Hermit
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer		White-necked Jacobin
Chestnut-headed Oropendola
One of the big requests we had for the trip was to find a Sloth.  Noel led us to four(!)  This one was at Cope's mini-rain forest.  They call him Coco.
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth
La Selva		Our rooms...
Single bed and bunk beds (set up for students)
The familiar bridge leading to the main trails
Great Curassow (m / f)
Rufous Motmot		Broad-billed Motmot
Pale-vented Thrush (beak muddy from digging in the dirt)		Short-tailed Hawk
Collared Peccary (mom & babe)		Mantled Howler Monkey
White-collared Manakin		Social Flycatcher
Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer at Heliconia		Heliconia (many different types)
Red-lored Parrot		Wood Thrush
Heliconia		Long-billed Hermit
Thick-billed Seed-Finch (f)		Thick-billed Seed-Finch (f)
White-ringed Flycatcher		Canebrake Wren (Endemic)
Groove-billed Ani		Dusky-faced Tanager
White-winged Becard		Tropical Pewee
Yellow-throated Toucan
Eyelash Viper		Millipedes mating
Central American Agouti		Beware the Bullet Ant
Ruddy Ground-Dove		Rufous Mourner
Black-cowled Oriole		Mealy Parrot
La Selva Trails		Rain break
Cafeteria - this is a research site where students come in from around the world.  Well organized operation.
The Golden Chariot - Noel's rugged Toyota		On the road outside La Selva - fruitful birding area
Keel-billed Toucan		Broad-winged Hawk
Side path in La Selva		Green Iguana
On our way out of La Selva, we went back to El Tapir for another chance at the highly desired endemic hummingbird, simply named "Snowcap"
Snowcap (!) - one was showing up, working flowers, then disappearing and returning 10-15 minutes later
Very quick and hard to get a sharp photo, could have spent all day.  But you get the idea.		Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Next, on to Poas Volcano Lodge...
...and more birds along the way...
Laughing Falcon		Harris's Hawk
We stopped by the La Paz waterfalls and the popular Mirador La Cascada Cinchona restaurant
Mirador La Cascada Cinchona is a restaurant with a nice observation deck. Was destroyed by a 6.1 earthquake in 2009
		Lookout of the Cascades - "Mirador La Cascada"
		Tire art
Northern Emerald Toucanet - in the rain
Prong-billed Barbet (Endemic)		Northern Emerald Toucanet
Red-headed Barbet (f)		Red-headed Barbet (m)
Buff-fronted Quail-Dove (Endemic)		Violet Sabrewing
Baltimore Oriole (f)		Baltimore Oriole (m)
Green-crowned Brilliant (f)		Blackburnian Warbler (f)
Hepatic Tanager		Palm Tanager
Passerini's Tanager (m)		Passerini's Tanager (f)
Grayish Saltator		Common Chlorospingus
Bat Falcon
Side trip to Socorro Road		This was a new road, not yet explored by Noel.
Current Bridge		Old bridge
White Hawk(!) - flew in front of the truck at the bridge and landed nearby for a few minutes.
The road was fruitful, but no photos taken except for the last bird. As the night was coming on, Noel pulled over at the right habitat to call out an owl.  And one flew in just overhead before landing and giving us that look...
Bare-shanked Screech-Owl (Endemic)
Some sights along the road
The Full-Super-Blood-Blue Moon was coming
Poas Volcano Lodge
		Full sized cow, over-sized frog art
Nice rooms - and they put two furry hot water bottles in the bed while we were eating supper (!) ...really (!!!!!)
View from room		Broad-winged Hawk
Common Chlorospingus		Sooty-capped Chlorospingus (Endemic)
Collared Redstart (Endemic)
		Yellowish Flycatcher
Hummingbird feeders in Poasito across from a popular restaurant
Magenta-throated Woodstar (Endemic)		Talamanca Hummingbird (Endemic)
Purple-throated Mountain-Gem (m) (Endemic)		Purple-throated Mountain-Gem (f)
Green-crowned Brilliant (immature male)		Green-crowned Brilliant (mature male)
La Paz Waterfall Gardens
Water feature and stained glass window
The place has several different exhibits, nice trails and an excellent Hummingbird feeding area
Green Hermit
Black-bellied Hummingbird
Green Thorntail
Violet Sabrewing (m / f)
Coppery-headed Emerald battling Black-bellied Hummingbird (It's what they do)
Coppery-headed Emerald (m / f)
Crimson-collared Tanager		Gray-breasted Wood-Wren
Costa Rican Warbler (Endemic)		Spotted Barbtail
Slaty Flowerpiercer (Endemic - piercing the base of a flower to get the nectar)		Along the trails
Unique fencing along the trails - looks like Wood Elf trails
Another water feature		Don't touch the caterpillars - some are equipped with poisons
Leaving Poas... and on to Cano Negro... PART TWO		Going through town...

Index:

Jan 21	Arrive in Costa Rica - Hotel Bougainvillea	Part One (above)
Jan 22-24	La Selva Biological Station
Jan 25-26	Poas Volcano Lodge
Jan 27-28	Natural Lodge Caño Negro	Part Two (link)
Jan 29-30	Celeste Mountain Lodge
Jan 31	Hotel Fonda Vela – Monteverde
Feb 1	La Ensenada
Feb 2-4	Cerro Lodge – Carara National Park - Tarcoles River Mangrove	Part Three (link)
Feb 5-7	Esquinas Rainforest Lodge
Feb 8-10	Suenos del Bosque Lodge – Talamanca - Savegre Hotel
Feb 11	Hotel Bougainvillea
Feb 12	Flight Home
Bonus	Hummingbirds & Owls/Night Birds & List of Birds by location	Part Four (link)