My Costa Rica Birding Expedition

If there is a birding Paradise, this is it!

Costa Rica had been on my 'Bucket List' for a very long time.... I had the good fortune of ticking it off in February 2024. Those nine days were a dream-come-true! We visited quite a few places there and each place was a veritable treasure chest, presenting so many varieties and species of birds as well as vegetation! Instead of writing a single blog, I decided to break my story into small parts featuring one venue at a time, in a similar manner to what I did six years ago with my blog on the "Times Passion Trail" (https://www.aditideshp.com/blog/category-the-times-passion-trail).  I hope you like this approach and enjoy each place with me !

So here it goes...

Costa Rica - San Jose

We started our journey from Los Angeles, where our son and his family  live in the nearby Thousand Oaks.  We flew United Airlines from Los Angeles via Houston to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. We arrived there at around 9 pm local time and checked in at Hotel Bouganvillea. What grabbed my attention at the first glance was the reception desk.  The reception was beautifully adorned with myriads of crystals and geodes, immediately reminding me of my daughter. She loves crystals; works with them to create crystal-embedded-art, as well as uses them during her Yoga and Reiki healing sessions with her clients (https://www.instagram.com/embodiment_with_disha/profilecard/?igsh=c3p3b3MwendhNzNj)

 These crystals made me feel at home!

GEODES IN COSTA RICA

 

I woke up in the morning to beautiful bird songs and when I pulled aside the curtains, a vast vista of various trees, shrubs, plants and flowers unfolded in front of me. I just about managed to brush my teeth, before rushing outside eagerly, not even waiting to have my customary morning chai!

 

There was something for everyone in this wonderland of a resort! There were beautiful crsytals and humongous geodes for the geologists and the crystal-worshippers. There were innumerable trees, some of them very old and with so many varieties of flowers. All these had their botanical as well as common names displayed! I saw a huge group of college students with their professor, who was explaining the significance of each tree, telling interesting stories about them. And then there were health conscious people, running, jogging and walking on various paths in the garden. There was a huge collection of epiphytes and orchids in front of the restaurant. All our senses were pleasantly satiated.

 

ORCHIDS IN COSTA RICA

As soon as I walked into the huge garden, the first birds which attracted my attention, was a pair of Rufous-backed(*)  Wrens - small, active birds, with blackish crown, lores, eye stripes and a white supercillium. The nape and back are chestnut (rufous) and rest of the body and tail have black, white, and brown streaks and spots.  They were joyfully flitting about and chasing each other all around a central fountain, singing all the time. They brought a happy smile to my face!

RUFOUS-BACKED WREN

There was a light drizzle going on.  But I was too excited to get in out of the rain!  My only concern was that my Camera and my glasses shouldn't get wet!

There was a very huge, old tree, right in front of me.  There was a tag on it, The Guanacaste Tree, the National Tree of Costa Rica. There was a lot of avian activity going on, in this tree. A typical knocking sound attracted my attention to the upper branches, and sure enough, I was thrilled to see two species of woodpeckers, Hoffman's woodpecker and Lineated Woodpecker with its prominent red crest! 

HOFFMAN'S WOODPECKER

LINEATED WOODPECKER(*)

My ears and eyes were alert to new sounds and sights, when I heard a beautiful, melodious bird song.  We kept on hearing it repeatedly, in different parts of the park.  We found it quite difficult to trace its origin.  At last, we saw a very non-descript brownish bird - it was Clay-coloured Thrush!

CLAY-COLOURED THRUSH

There is a very interesting story about the Clay-coloured Thrush. The Costa Ricans chose it as their National Bird (Symbol) in 1977.  They did so, inspite of the fact, that Costa Rica has so many colourful and beautiful birds. The reason for this is that this simple and non-descript bird is found in all the parts of the country, so it is familiar to the general population, since its early history. Furthermore, it has a strong and melodious song, which is heard during the start of the rainy season, and it has a tendancy to live near the houses and human settlements. So people feel very affectionate towards the Clay-coloured Thrush.
 

We saw several other beautiful birds as the morning progressed - Social flycatcher, Cinnamon-bellied Saltater, Tropical Kingbird, Blackburnian Warbler,  and quite a number of the Blue-gray Tanagers.

CINNAMON-BELLIED SALTATER

SOCIAL FLYCATCHER

TROPICAL KINGBIRD

BLUE-GRAY TANAGER

Then there was this large White-winged Dove, which was brownish gray with blue eye ring and red eyes. The most distinguishing feature was a white edge on their wings!

WHITE-WINGED DOVE

Suddenly, I saw a movement under some bushes near the fence.  It was a curious looking ground bird skulking along noiselessly.  It was a White-eared Groundsparrow!  It has a stubby, dark grey bill and unstreaked olive-brown upperparts. The head is blackish with broken white eye-ring and white patches in front of and behind the eye.  It was perfectly camouflaged in the brown soil.  I noticed its movement only because of the white patches around the eyes.

WHITE EARED GROUND SPARROW

These were the first birds of Costa Rica that I saw.  Every continent, country and region has its own collection of species of birds, different from others. While Costa Rica has 746 species of birds in its tiny landmass, India is richly endowed with its own bird species; around 1377, which includes visiting birds. There are about 81 species which are endemic to India.

It is so interesting to visit different regions and observe the avian life there.  The visit to San Jose was very satisfying and it was a great precursor of things to come! Of course, one lifetime won't be enough to see everything,  but one can do only one's best!!

Aditi Deshpande

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not intended as a promotion of the stated hotel/resort/property.  I have only shared the things which I loved and which impressed me.

(*) Corrected, sincere thanks to Mark S as well as Val35 from Birdforum for advising me with logical explanation!

Thanks Pieter for your input and correction....

I sincerely appreciate the positive feedback as well as corrective input/suggestions from all my viewers!