Christmas Holiday in Costa Rica Dec 22—29, 2007
Posted by Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty
Steve Hilty is the senior author of A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, and the recently published Birds of Venezuela, both by Princeton University Press. Other credits inclu...Related Trips
Costa Rica's unique combination of history, wildlife, and convenient lodging for naturalists makes it one of the New World Tropics' most compelling travel destinations. Our holiday visit coincided with one of the more busy travel periods of the year. It also coincided with a lot of rain, an unfortunate road accident which caused a lengthy delay, and some staffing and rooming problems in a couple of our hotels. Despite the glitches (it was a holiday, after all) and the rain, and my wayward luggage, we still managed a pretty good list, with excellent representation among families and even some downright rare and unexpected species.
Not surprisingly, some of the top vote-getters, as determined by an informal survey at our final checklist session, were mostly eye-pleasing species like toucans, tanagers, and manakins, but both guides were enamored by a couple of waders—a juvenile and probably naïve Agami Heron, and a Fasciated Tiger-Heron, both along the river in front of the Hotel Sueno Azul. The La Selva Biological Station trumped all areas for diversity—Squirrel Cuckoos, motmots, trogons, toucans, manakins, Snowy Cotingas, tanagers, and euphonias to name a few—but the very rainy first day at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, for sheer in-your-face birds, was also spectacular. Nine species of hummingbirds, Prong-billed Barbets, Yellow-thighed Finches, and all those hordes of Tennessee Warblers and tanagers at the feeders were nirvana of the first order. What a memorable place it is.
And what a memorable place Costa Rica is. It is a tiny country, fully-packed with people and small roads, and sometimes miniaturized hotel rooms as well. It is also jam-packed with birds and wildlife (recall all the primates we saw) and, despite the increase in population and development, the country's bird and natural history opportunities actually seem to be getting better.
I hope you enjoyed this trip and found it memorable. Maybe it will whet your appetite to return and explore even more of Costa Rica.