Photo Gallery
Photos by Rich Hoyer unless otherwise noted
Our initial drive to Rancho Naturalista includes a short side trip to the frequently foggy Irazú volcano, the highest in Costa Rica. Occasionally we’re lucky enough to have clear skies and spectacular views of the craters.
The stunted vegetation here is home to the Volcano Junco, from all appearances a close relative of the northerly Yellow-eyed Junco.
The habitat here is lush with everblooming wildflowers, such as this False Lily-of-the-Valley, fuchsias, melastomes and Indian paintbrushes.
A bit farther down the mountain we look for regional endemic birds of the Costa Rican oak forests, such as this amazingly tame Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher (which is certainly not a flycatcher and probably not a Silky-flycatcher either!)…
…and this gorgeous Flame-throated Warbler, a member of a mixed species flock attracted to pygmy-owl imitations.
At Rancho Naturalista, all mornings were greeted from the balcony. Here birds fed from hummingbird feeders, blooming hedges, bananas, and rice.
The Gray-headed Chachalacas made their unselfconscious appearance each day to feed on bananas, including this recent fledgling with its parent.
The evenings at Rancho Naturalista were made all the more charming by the sounds emanating from bird baths, such as this croaking Masked Tree Frog.
On several days we took longer walks on the trails that ascend the thickly-forested slopes above the lodge, where several exciting birds could be seen…
…such as this White-crowned Manakin.
But we spent more time just a short ways down the trail at the row of hummingbird feeders, where the right combination of sky and angle of the sun would illuminate the perches of the several species that fed here, such as this male Violet-crowned Woodnymph…
…this breathtaking (every time) male Snowcap, the hallmark species of Rancho Naturalista…
…this Green Hermit…
Photo: Silvio Sommazzi
…and this Green Thorntail.
Photo: Silvio Sommazzi
We took time to look at some of the amazing butterflies, such as this Sister Clearwing…
…and at a white sheet hung out at night and illuminated with a sodium vapor lamp we marveled at hundreds of moths…
…like this giant silk moth in the genus Rothschildia. Shiny beetles, 8-inch long dobbinflies, and a praying mantis with a shield-like thorax were among the other insects attracted to the light.
All of our meals were family-style with generous servings of delicious dishes and deserts as well as plenty of fresh, tropical fruits at breakfast.
Just 20 minutes away from Rancho was the Cerro Silencio road were mixed flocks contained Emerald, Speckled, Tawny-crested and Black-and-yellow Tanagers, species almost never seen in Rancho’s slightly lower and drier forest.
Our afternoon visit to the 1000-year-old ruins of Guayabo National Monument turned into one of the most memorable natural history experiences of the tour when…
…Rancho’s resident guide Stephen Tsuyuki spotted this Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth.
The most thrilling find during our visit to the lowland EARTH University forest reserve was this small Rainforest Hog-nosed Pitviper.
On our final day we visited the high-elevation cloud forest of Tapantí National Park, where this Collared Trogon put in an appearance.
On sunny mornings at Tapantí, dozens of unidentified butterflies flit through the foliage. This Marchal’s Eighty-eight (though it looks more like ninety-eight) landed on the photographer’s thumb!
We finished the birding tour with a quick roadside stop that added nine species to the trip list, including this scarce and local White-throated Flycatcher.