Join us on a memorable bird photo tour featuring extraordinary tropical birds in the middle-elevation cloud forests around world-renowned Monteverde on the northern Pacific slope of Costa Rica, a boat tour through the water wonderland of Palo Verde National Park, and exploration of lowland transitional forest and rainforest in Carara National Park on the central Pacific coast. During the tour we'll have numerous opportunities to photograph hummingbirds, a wide variety of colorful tropical birds, and even one or more species of monkeys.
MONTEVERDE
Our tour begins with a visit to Monteverde on the northern Pacific side of Costa Rica. Monteverde was nothing more than a Quaker farm in the 1970's but has grown to become a world-class tourist destination. A short distance up the road is Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a middle elevation cloud forest preserved with the help of World Wildlife Fund. Various locales around Monteverde as well as the cloud forest reserve itself offer excellent opportunitities to photograph birds and other animals. Certainly we hope to see and photograph Resplendent Quetzals, often called the world's most beautiful bird, which is mating in March and can often be found around Monteverde.
A hummingbird gallery at the entrance to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve offers us an opportunity to photograph these delightful birds as they fight over perches and feeding stations. Several different species regularly frequent the feeders including Green Violetear, White-tailed Emerald, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Coppery-headed Emerald, Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, Green-crowned Brilliant and other species.
Within the park itself we'll look for and photograph a wide variety of colorful tropical birds. Our guide will be indispensable in finding and identifying birds for us to photograph. Possibilities include Red-headed Barbet, Fiery-billed Aracari, Keel-billed Toucan, Hoffmann's Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, and Pale-billed Woodpecker. We'll also find and photograph a bewildering variety of woodcreepers and flycatchers along the forest trails. We'll attempt to photograph a variety of tanagers, which can be a challenge without a long lens. Some of the tanagers found at Monteverde are Gray-headed Tanager, Crimson-collared Tanager, Silver-throated Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Rufous-winged Tanager, and Spangle-cheeked Tanager as well as several species of Euphonias that are close relatives. Other birds of interest we may encounter and photograph are various hawks, White-ruffed Manakin, several species of wrens, Buff-rumped Warbler, Buff-throated Saltator, and Orange-billed Sparrow.
PALO VERDE NATIONAL PARK
After departing Monteverde we'll return to the Pan American Highway and dcrive north toward Liberia. We'll be driving through Guanacaste Province, one of the drier regions of Costa Rica. We'll be looking for photo opportunities en route and are often able to photograph Black-mantled Howler Monkeys during this transfer. Liberia is a regional center of no particular note, but it provides us with access to Palo Verde National Park.
The following morning we'll embark on an all-day boat trip through Palo Verde National Park. This water wonderland is home to large numbers of Jabiru and other aquatic birds like Boat-billed Herons, numerous herons and egrets, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Limpkin, Black-necked Stilt, various shorebirds, hawks, and other birds. We should also have opportunities to photograph crocodiles and Black-mantled Howler-Monkeys.\
CARARA NATIONAL PARK
After departing Liberia the following morning, we'll drive south toward the central Pacific coast. En route we'll have numerous opportunities to stop and make photographs. Some of the birds we encounter include Turquoise-browed Motmot and usually the extraordinary White-tailed Magpie-Jay. We'll also stop en route at the town square in Orotina where Black-and-white Owls can invariably be found roosting.
We should arrive at our next lodge, upscale Villa Lapas, by mid-day. Following lunch in a local restaurant, we'll have the afternoon to photograph birds around the lodge grounds or other nearby locales. Some years Chestnut-mandibled Toucans nest in holes near the lodge, and when they're there they provide superb subjects for our photography. Late that afternoon we'll visit the bridge over the Rio Tarcoles to view Scarlet Macaws flying to roost. We'll also see numerous crocodiles in the river below.
Villa Lapas provides easy access to Carara National Park, where we'll spend a full day making photographs of birds and other animals. Carara offers some of the best opportunities for photographing forest birds and monkeys in central Costa Rica.
Early next morning we'll be walking the Laguna Meandrica Trail through secondary forest. This will be an exciting morning making photographs of forest birds. We hope to photograph several species of trogons which may include Black-headed Trogon, Baird's Trogon, Northern Violaceous Trogon, Black-throated Trogon, and Slaty-tailed Trogon. We may be able to photograph Orange-collared Manakin as they display on communal mating leks along the trail. We can expect to see a variety of tanagers and euphonias such as Gray-headed Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Cherrie's Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonia, and Yellow-throated Euphonia, and those with a long lens should have opportunities to photograph them. A variety of antbirds can be found and photographed from the trail, including Barred Antshrike, the near endemic Black-hooded Antshrike, Dot-winged Antwren, and Chestnut-backed Antbird. A good variety of flycatchers and wrens such as Rufous-breated Wren and the range-restricted Black-bellied Wren provide subjects for our photography. We may be able to photograph some parrots such as Orange-fronted Parakeet and Red-lored Parrot. Other interesting possibilities we may find include Stripe-throated Hermit, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, White-whiskered Puffbird, and Lineated Woodpecker.
We'll have time at mid-day to enjoy a leisurely lunch and relax a bit at the lodge. Later in the afternoon we plan to explore the Headquarters Trail that winds its way through primary rainforest. The species diversity is lower in this mature forest, but hope to see and perhaps photograph some more secretive birds such as Great Tinamou and Streak-chested Antpitta.
On the final morning of the tour, we'll either return to the Laguna Meandrica Trail where ponds at the far end offer opportunities to photograph Boat-billed Heron and Fasciated Tiger-Heron, or we'll spend the morning making photographs around the lodge grounds. Following lunch we'll return to San Jose for a final evening dinner before departing next morning for home.
