Snowcap, one of Costa Rica’s most arresting hummingbirds. Photo: Rancho Naturalista
Our summer tour in Costa Rica satisfies a frequent request for a more relaxed short tour with a minimum of hotel changes. We’ll be based at the delightful and comfortable Rancho Naturalista where extremely birdy surroundings will charm us throughout our stay. On some days we’ll explore the lovely environments near the lodge; on others we’ll offer trips farther afield where different habitats result in different birds.
Rancho Naturalista in late July has a marvelous climate. During their “little summer,” daily highs will be in the low-70s to low 80s with only a chance of rain in the afternoon or evening. The combination of a single base of operations, good food and accommodation, lots of exciting birds and a near-perfect climate makes this the perfect short birding getaway.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6 p.m. in San José. Night in San José.
Day 2: We’ll depart this morning for Rancho Naturalista. It’s a short drive but birding stops along the way will insure an early afternoon arrival. It’s only a short detour up to the dormant volcano Irazú, where the humid montane forest hosts many regional endemic species. In the highest stunted forest, Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers, Sooty Robins and Black-billed Nightingale-Thrushes are common, and we have a good chance of seeing Large-footed Finch. It make take some searching to spot the local Timberline Wren, but the Volcano Juncos can be found walking around the parking lot. We’ll take time to peer into the caldera (if it’s not too foggy), then work our way back down the mountain. Where flowering vines adorn the taller trees we’ll search for the stunning Fiery-throated Hummingbird, while mixed flocks could hold Flame-throated Warbler, Yellow-winged Vireo, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper and Ochraceous Wren. The scarce Resplendent Quetzal is a remote possibility here. On arriving at Rancho Naturalista, we may be mesmerized by the hummingbirds outside our rooms. Night at Rancho Naturalista.
Days 3-6: During these days we’ll take time to thoroughly acquaint ourselves with the extraordinarily birdy grounds of our lodge.
A complex network of several trails will give us access to most of the 125-acre private reserve. Each day on the ranch we’ll take a different route, passing through open fields, regenerating landslides, various stages of second-growth forests, primary forest and the associated edges. Emergent trees such as Cecropia often host roving flocks of frugivores, including Silver-throated, Speckled and Bay-headed Tanagers, Blue Dacnis and Green Honeycreeper. Within the forest understory, we’ll stop to comb the insectivore flocks for such interesting birds as Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Checker-throated Antwren, Immaculate and Spotted Antbirds and Plain Xenops. Walking quietly in the early morning we’ll have a decent chance at seeing Great Tinamou or Purplish-backed Quail-Dove on the trail, and one lookout point is good for late morning soaring raptors. White-ruffed Manakin, Dull-mantled Antbird, Thicket Antpitta and Fasciated Antshrike are further possibilities. One special attraction along the main trail is the display of hummingbird feeders in the forest understory, where we should see Snowcap, one of the most breathtaking members of the entire family; Green Hermit and Violet-crowned Woodnymph are also more common here than at the lodge.
“We were thrilled with the Rancho Naturalista tour and with Rich Hoyer. He was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We liked especially his sharing of information beyond birds as we like looking at herps and insects.”
Alison Van Keuren, NY
We’ll have ample time to enjoy easy but exciting birding right from the balcony of the comfortable lodge. Hummingbirds such as White-necked Jacobin, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Green-breasted Mango and occasionally Green Thorntail feed inches away from your face, while fruit, rice and a bird bath in the yard below attract a seemingly endless variety of species, including Montezuma and Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Collared Aracari, Keel-billed Toucan and Crimson-collared Tanager.
We’ll also venture away from the lodge for parts of some days to add variety. A hike up the nearby Río Tuís valley or to the base of Cerro Silencio could yield Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Sunbittern, Sulphur-winged Parakeet, Black-and-yellow Tanager, or the rare Lanceolated Monklet and Rufous-rumped Antwren. We’ll take an afternoon trip to Guayabo National Monument, pehaps stopping along the way to look for Boat-billed Heron, but of more interest than the birds here are the largest pre-Columbian ruins in the country. The rounded mounds where buildings once stood, a cobbled processional road, and an underground system of culverts are most of what remains. Another day we’ll visit a private reserve in the Caribbean lowlands where just a few of the seemingly limitless possibilities include Tiny Hawk, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Broad-billed Motmot, Rufous-winged and Chestnut-colored Woodpeckers, Tropical Gnatcatchers, Long-billed Gnatwren, Royal Flycatcher and Black-cowled Oriole. Nights at Rancho Naturalista.
Day 7: On our final day we’ll leave early for Tapantí National Park, where the higher elevation cloud forest holds many treasures. Here the trees drip with mosses, orchids and other epiphytes, and the undergrowth is incredibly dense. Some very rare birds have been seen here, including Ochre-breasted and Scaled Antpittas, but there are several more common species to pique our interest. Mixed flocks can host Prong-billed Barbet, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Lineated Foliage-gleaner, Barred Becard, Three-striped Warbler, Silver-throated and Spangle-cheeked Tanagers and abundant Common Bush-Tanagers. Between the flocks we’ll keep our eyes peeled and ears tuned to pick up on the the more secretive species, such as Black Guan, Emerald Toucanet, Mountain Trogon, Sooty-faced Finch and Green-fronted Lancebill. While we usually expect Swallow-tailed Kites soaring overhead, we could also get lucky with Black Hawk-Eagle or Barred Hawk. On our drive back through the Central Valley, we’ll probably stop just off the highway at a spot where the extremely local White-throated Flycatcher and Sedge Wren are found, while Red-billed Pigeons and Crimson-fronted Parakeets are familiar drive-by birds. Night in San José.
Day 8: The tour concludes this morning in San José.
Updated: 15 April 2006
Prices
- 2007 price about $3,140
- Single Occupancy Supplement $390
Notes
Maximum group size eight with one leader. This tour price, correctly noted above, differs from the 2007 WINGS catalog price due to a late change in hotels. These tour dates, also noted correctly above, differ from dates published in the 2007 WINGS catalog.