Birding with Ram Gopalakrishnan: Costa Rica: natural paradise

“Quetzal!” someone shouted out, triggering a rush for the best position and angle to photograph him. With his lurid green color, red belly and and long flowing feathers, he's certainly the poster boy for birding in Costa Rica. Two years in the planning, my wife and daughter were with me in this Central American country for a 9 day mini birding trip: most tours take 14 days to cover the 830 odd species packed into this tiny country. Fascinating bird names like motmot, potoo, tityra and chachalaca filled us with anticipation.

Costa Rica straddles the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean Sea on the east, with a chain of mountain ranges or Cordilleras (Guanacaste, Central, Talamanca) separating the Pacific and Caribbean drainage divides. This pocket nature powerhouse has gained an enviable reputation for being a nature magnet for ecotourists; almost a quarter of its land mass is under protected areas and it has successfully arrested deforestation and implemented nature conservation measures. We were here in end-April, just before the rainy season from May-September, and hoped not be affected by early rainy weather.

After landing in the capital San Jose, our first birds in the hotel garden were a pair of nesting Rufous-backed Wrens. Clay colored Thrushes and Great-tailed Grackles replaced the ubiquitous mynas and crows we were used to in Indian cities, and the numerous Black Vultures reminded us how India must have been before their diclofenac induced decimation.

We drove north towards the wetlands of the Cano Negro Mixed Wildlife Refuge, a Ramsar site near the Nicaraguan border. As we crossed the central highlands, we stopped for coffee at a height of 1200 m, at a restaurant with feeders (sugary water, with a few cut fruits on a conveniently placed pedestal). That's when the colors of the birds scrambling for their free feast hit us. Green-crowned Brilliants were the commonest of five species of hummingbirds at the feeders, including the Coppery-headed Emerald, seen only in Costa Rica and the comparatively rare Black-bellied Hummingbird. There were many species of tanagers after the fruit as well as the Red-legged Honeycreeper. Best value coffee I've ever had I thought, but as we were to find out, a typical feeder experience in Costa Rica.

A bridge over a stream was a great place to spot a few specialists for that habitat: the American Dipper, the Torrent Tyrannulet and the Black Phoebe. The drive through farmland was packed with a new bird every minute: Rufous-collared Sparrows, Yellow-faced Grassquits and a variety of Seedeaters. A majestic Gray Hawk surveyed his terrain, while overhead swooped Swallow-tailed Kites. A tree was taken over by nests of a whole bunch of Montezuma Oropendulas with their impossibly colored face and bills. And our first Toucan: the Yellow-throated, who really ought to be named after its massive trademark bi-colored bill.

As we left the highlands to the plains for the drive into Cano Negro, a whole new bunch of species took over. A Crested Caracara foraged around on the ground. Groove-billed Anis with their odd shaped head and the Nicaraguan Seed-finch with its hugely thick bill were quite unmistakable. A roadside pond yielded a preview of what Cano Negro offered: the huge Ringed and the petite American Pygmy Kingfishers.

Tendrils of morning mist curled up over the river. A profusion of Anhingas and Neotropic Cormorants surrounded us, along with numerous charismatic herons: Bare-throated Tiger, Boat-billed and Great Blue. Green, Ringed and Amazon Kingfishers kept up a constant racket. Birding on the river bank yielded two lovely birds, the Barred Antshrike and the Black-headed Trogon. The obligate feeder at the Natural Lodge where we stayed, played host to the lovely Blue Dacnis and Black-cheeked and Hoffman's Woodpeckers, in addition to the usual crowd of freeloaders. The Howler Monkeys kept up a constant gurgling howl all day at the lodge.

Two rare lifers were what we were after in the evening light. The shy Sungrebe, which eBird aptly describes as neither a sun lover nor a grebe, sailed daintily close to the bank. And finally the locally endangered Yellow-tailed Oriole, lit up the evening gloom with its coloring. A tiny Bat Falcon ripped off the feathers of a small bird it was feeding on. A memorable day in the water.

Two Pied Puffbirds perched on top of a tall tree glinted white in the morning sunlight as we birded a bit before breakfast. The Masked Tityra took the prize for a clown like appearance. Huge Red-lored Amazons (parrots) yelped out like trumpets as we dragged ourselves off from this magical wetland habitat south to the Juan Castro Blanco National Park in the Central Mountains, north of San Jose.

We stayed at The Nest Nature Center near the town of Aguas Zarcas, a reforested property on what was once a pasture full of cows. Now a verdant forest, several hides and feeders serve as a platform for spectacular birding. Lesson's Motmot woke us up: motmots are named after their double hooting call resembling an owl. A nesting Yellow-billed Toucan popped in and out of his hole to bring food to feed the young ones inside. From a hide we watched the male White-collared Manakin make a spectacular clicking sound with his wings as he hops around from tree base to base trying to attract the female. A White-tipped Sicklebill with its unmistakable hyper curved bill just didn't allow a photo. A baby Striped Owl looked huge, even though it was just a baby.

Next morning we drove north to La Laguna del Lagarto, an eco-lodge close to the Nicaraguan border that offers spectacular photos of rarer birds. At the large open feeders, a procession of charismatic birds with spectacular bills and coloring showed up for the bananas: Keel-billed Toucan, Brown-hooded Parrot, Collared Aracari. At a hide for the King Vulture, a couple of carcasses attracted these magnificent scavengers, with their huge wattles and impossibly colored heads as they pushed away the plebeian crowd of Black Vultures. To our Indian eyes, the Broad-billed Motmot looked like a curious intermarriage between the bill of a frogmouth, the head of a chestnut-headed bee-eater and the tail of a racket-tailed drongo. The red cap of the Red-capped Manakin lit up the gloom of the rainforest and we sighted our second trogon, the Slaty-tailed.

Our destination next day was Donde Cope, to the east, where our host Cope had converted his house garden into a lush oasis, with a pool and feeder station. White-necked Jacobins (hummingbirds named after a monk order wearing black and white robes) were bold enough to feed from the palm of our hands. He took us on a true rainforest experience in the adjacent dense forest beside a winding stream. A male Northern Black-throated Trogon guarded it's young, as all good fathers do, inside a tree hollow. A huge Owl Butterfly was the size of a small owlet. A colony of tiny Honduran White Bats rested under their carefully crafted shelter beneath a Heliconia leaf. A pair of Crested Owls continued their daytime slumber. A prolonged search finally yielded the Spectacled Owl, the largest one in these parts. A Great Potoo, a frogmouth like bird, and its chick merged imperceptibly into the tree trunk below it: this one has to take the cake for its outworldy appearance and its perfect camouflage.

We next drove south to the verdant montane forests of the Talamanca highlands, habitat for some higher altitude specialists. As we stopped for lunch at the aptly named Paraiso Quetzal Lodge, the female obligingly allowed us a photo session. In these parts, if there's a crowd of waiting photographers, you can bet there's a Resplendent Quetzal in sight; much like a tiger sighting in an Indian jungle. Savegre Lodge at a height of 2300 m, our base for birding in the Talamancas, is a large private property near the Savegre River complete with many trails in the oak forest above it. We certainly weren't disappointed: we saw a male Quetzal right outside our room as we checked in. The Black Guan, a huge tree dwelling bird with a blue eye ring was the chachalaca equivalent in the highlands. The Collared Redstart's name did no justice to its bright maroon “prayer cap”. A Collared Trogon reminded us that the quetzal was not the only trogon in these parts. We saw the Buffy Tuftedcheek, endemic to these highlands, foraging in tall trees. A new set of hummingbirds took over, these being highland ones: Talamanca, Volcano, Scintillans, Fiery-throated, Stripe-tailed, White-throated Mountain Gem. Bird a minute birding!

We took a short drive to La Esperanza where locals have constructed some artificial nests as part of quetzal conservation efforts. A pair had laid chicks a couple of weeks ago and dad and mom were active bringing back avocado flesh, their main food, as well as insects and lizards. We were part of a big group of photographers who spent a couple of hours watching the devoted parents but while waiting, we looked for other things rather than obsessing over the tiger (quetzal) in a tiger (quetzal) forest. Two stunning endemics distracted us: the Flame-throated Warbler and the Ruddy Treerunner. A Northern Emerald-Toucanet was the only pocket sized representative of the toucan family in these highlands. A Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher expertly regained in mid-air the nesting material it had dropped. An uncommon Ochraceous Pewee offered an excellent roadside photo-op. Lunch stop was for a group of handsome Spotted Wood-quails lured out by its favorite grain on to a log at a nearby lodge: that lodge's lunch advertisement!

The highlands gave us the perfect parting gift as we drove out: a male Quetzal visible from our car. We weren't done yet: we took a short detour up to 3300 m into paramo habitat (montane habitat between 3000 and 5000m with shrubs, moss, stunted trees and bamboo). We promptly lucked out with two altitude specialists: the Volcano Junco which boldly inspected us with its penetrating yellow eyes, and the Timberline Wren. A perfect end to our highland sojourn.

Our next destination was the west coast to take a boat ride on the Tarcoles River as it flows into the Pacific. Rows of neat toilets and segregated waste bins on the bank reminded us of the effort Costa Rica puts into promoting nature tourism. American crocodiles lazed on the banks with their jaws open, Howler Monkeys dangled on the branches of the large trees above and calls of the Common Black Hawk resounded all around. Iguanas of every size gave us their basilisk-like glare. The Turquoise-browed Motmot has to be have the best eye shadow among all the birds in this country. Mangrove swallows were actually nesting on our boat. The Collared Forest-falcon gave us the perfect view as he perched over a log. Scarlet Macaws zipped overhead with the sun showing off their red, blue and yellow hues. Verdant mangrove forest and a tree full of Magnificent Frigatebirds, with their long and hooked beak, reminded us that we were approaching the rivermouth near the Pacific Ocean. A wonderful couple of hours in the water.

Our last stop was Carrara (means River of Alligators) National Park. Here tropical dry forest meets the very moist forest of the South Pacific, with species from both ecosystems present. “You can't take your plastic bottle on the trail," reminded our guide, as we stepped on to a neatly paved trail which actually had a camouflaged toilet halfway down as well as neat signboards in English and Spanish explaining various aspects of nature. Huge trees with enormous buttresses beside an adjoining stream made for a unique rainforest experience, despite what my daughter called 500% humidity. Cafecillo shrubs surrounded us: they are well adapted to shade, don't need much light to grow and are found only in the Central Pacific region of Costa Rica. A trail of leaf cutter ants crossed the path ahead of us, each carrying a single leaf.

We thought the dense canopy of the rainforest wouldn't let us see the producers of the numerous calls we heard around us but we saw 14 species nonetheless. The orange bill of the Orange-billed Sparrow evoked murmurs of admiration. A pair of huge Pale-billed Woodpeckers should really be called red-headed after their completely red head. The Chestnut-backed Antbird and the White-whiskered Puffbird were ticked off. We emerged drenched in sweat and quenched our thirst after the two hour sauna like experience, though thoroughly satiated with the beauty of the forest.

Costa Rica has brilliantly converted its natural resources into a magnet for nature tourists and sustainable eco-tourism: a win-win for both humans and the environment. Though relatively costly to travel in, the country offers a fantastic and varied experience for nature and bird lovers.

What are you waiting for?