Resplendent Quetzal is the species that most birders want to see on their first trip to Costa Rica. And, why not? It’s a gorgeous bird, among the most beautiful in the world. But, I optimistically assumed that we would see the quetzal and put Sunbittern at the top of my most-wanted list. It’s also an amazing bird which I had hoped to see in Panama in 2017, but the birding gods had not favored me with a sighting. I won’t keep you in suspense – I was fortunate to see both the quetzal and the Sunbittern. But, let’s start at the beginning.
Resplendent Quetzal
I was not actively looking for a trip last fall, but Costa Rica had been on my mind. When the Carolina Bird Club announced a trip with Amanda and Paul Laurent of Epic Nature Tours, I almost ignored it. But, I didn’t ignore it; I called to ask about the trip. Amanda told me that due to quirks of scheduling only one couple was signed up, but they would run the trip regardless of the number of participants. Because of poor vision, I struggle in large groups, so I quickly decided that this was a unique opportunity. It would be worth the stress of squeezing it into my schedule between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I flew to San Jose on December 4. Paul and Amanda met me and the other participants, Diane and Gary, at the airport and whisked us off for a meal before checking into our hotel. Our first new birds were right in the hotel parking lot – Hoffmann’s Woodpecker and a cute little Rufous-naped Wren.
Rufous-naped Wren
The following morning we were on our way towards Manzanillo on the Caribbean coast where we would spend the next four nights. We arrived at Congo Bongo Ecolodge mid-afternoon after several birding stops and lunch along our drive from San Jose. The lodge has nice trails, including one that leads right to the beach, where we headed after settling in our rooms. It was a lovely spot and it had birds, including my most-wanted shorebird, Collared Plover, a life bird for me.
Collared Plover
December isn’t officially the rainy season, but it rained anyway. Paul and Amanda were quick to adjust our schedule day by day and it didn’t feel like we missed a thing. The lodge was so lovely that I think we all actually enjoyed having a little more time there due to a couple of rainy mornings.
Amanda making breakfast for us in our open-air kitchen
Our bedrooms were at each end of the house and the kitchen, an eating area, and hammocks were in the large open-air middle part. Even without nets, we had no bugs. It was truly a tropical paradise!
The patio on the other side of our house
Eyelash Viper
On our first full day we went to Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge. We saw birds, but the highlight was an Eyelash Viper, which gets its name from the enlarged scales over its eyes.
Eyelash Vipers are one of the smallest venomous species in Central America, reaching only 22-32 inches (females are larger than males). These nocturnal pit vipers live in trees and palms and are not usually aggressive towards humans unless threatened. They come in a wide variety of colors; ours was a beautiful yellow/gold.
Also in yellow was this Gray-capped Flycatcher, another life bird for me, that we saw on one of our stops near Manzanillo.
Gray-capped Flycatcher
The next day we spent the morning kayaking on the Punta Uva River. The river was beautiful with thick vegetation of both sides and we saw quite a bit of wildlife.
Black River Turtles
I photographed this caiman on our journey up the river. Later, when we passed by again on our way back, it didn’t appear as if it had moved an inch.
Spectacled Caiman
We paddled as far upriver as it was passable, and then Paul and Abel, our local guide, knowing how much I wanted to see a Sunbittern, walked a ways into the rainforest with me following a small stream in hopes of finding our target bird. This location was the only one in our itinerary where we had a realistic chance of finding the sought-after bird so we wanted to try as hard as possible to find one. Our quest was unsuccessful, so we abandoned our hopes and started back down the river. We paddled a short distance and then suddenly, magically, two Sunbitterns appeared right in front of us!
Sunbittern
That afternoon we visited the Ara Project, now Ara Manzanillo, a conservation initiative working to save the endangered Great Green Macaw from extinction. We were thrilled to watch 35 to 40 macaws enjoy their afternoon feeding.
Great Green Macaws
On our last full day on the Caribbean Coast, we had a long 7-hour walk at Cahuita National Park. Like other areas near the coast, the park was teeming with wildlife. We saw so many “lizards” that I couldn’t keep up with all of them. This Emerald Basilisk was especially accommodating about a photo op.
Emerald Basilisk
One of my favorite creatures was this big gorgeous spider. This one, Orange Rusty Wandering Spider, is harmless, but it is sometimes confused with Brazilian Wandering Spider, the world’s most toxic and dangerous spider. Fortunately, Paul is not only an expert birder, but also an expert on spiders, snakes, and lizards.
Orange Rusty Wandering Spider, Cupiennius getazi
There were pretty flowers in the rainforest, too.
Swamp Lily, Crinum erubescens
And, of course, we saw birds. The avian highlight for me was an American Pygmy Kingfisher. The others had a brief look at one, but I missed it. Abel patiently waited with me for the bird to reappear while the rest of our group walked on. We were rewarded with an extremely cooperative female who put on quite a show for us flying back and forth, but also sitting still for photos.
American Pygmy Kingfisher
Near the end of our walk, we encountered a large group of white-faced Capuchin monkeys. Capuchins are highly intelligent animals known for their ability to use tools. The only other primates that use tools are chimpanzees and orangutans (and humans, of course). Fascinated, we watched for quite a while, especially enjoying the young monkeys playing, but the little ones didn’t hold still for photos.
White-faced Capuchin Monkey
We had a quick stop on our way back to the lodge for a Northern Jacana on the side of the road and then our wonderful day was done except for dinner. This was also the end of our time on the Caribbean coast as we would check out of Congo Bongo and head to the Bribri indigenous community in the morning.
Our group (minus Amanda). Left to right: Gary, Abel, Paul, Shelley, Diane.
Birding for Life 