Costa Rica – it was “a little damp”

[Galago]

22 minutes ago, AfricIan said:

Annie - I have a confession, it's a Frosted not Frosty Flasher, I only realised my mistake when checking its scientific name and found that the Frosty range is Cuba through to Puerto Rico not Costa Rica.  I hope you agree that even Frosted Flasher is much more fun than Astraptes alardus 

Dare I say, Ian, your explanation put the 'icing' on the cake for me? (Boom!)

 

The sloth is just adorable, what lovely photos. Is its coat really that green, or is that a trick of the light? It makes it look as though it's covered in a sort of Spanish moss type substance. And, I think it's the only green I've ever seen on a mammal, unless you count hippos emerging from a dambo covered in Nile cabbage.

[AfricIan]

42 minutes ago, Galago said:

Is its coat really that green, or is that a trick of the light?

 No Annie, it really is that green.  Green isn't the "natural fur colouration" which is a more normal brown but their very slow movement and high humidity of their environment allows algae to grow in their fur and that's what gives them the green colour.

[AfricIan]

Apologies, I've just realised I've not included the extensive sightings list from Baru & Marino Ballena National Park

Birds: White-necked Puffbird, Wedge billed Woodcreeper, Black-hooded Antshrike, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Red-lored Parrot,
Grey-headed Chacalaca, Scarlet Macaw, Melodious Blackbird, Magnificent Frigatebird, Palm Tanager, Green Honeycreeper, Golden-naped Woodpecker,
Tropical Kingbird, Snowy Egret, Bare throated Tiger Heron, Brown Pelican, Peregrine Falcon, Common Black Hawk, Amazon Kingfisher, Blue-winged Teal
Tricoloured Heron, Black-crowned Tityra, Golden-hooded Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Red-eyed Virio, Montezuma Oropendola, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, 
Boat-billed Flycatcher (29)
 

Mammals: Collared Peccary, Agouti, Coatimundi, Brown-throated three-fingered (toed) Sloth, Mantled Howler Monkey (5)

 

Reptiles: Anole Lizard, Spine-tailed Iguana, Pacific Basilisk (3)
 

[AfricIan]

Sorry about the delay folks and thanks for waiting!

 

On 1/8/2023 at 5:14 PM, janzin said:

I was about to say "that's not a Hairy Woodpecker!" as it looks totally different than "our" Hairy Woodpecker in the Eastern USA, but I looked it up and indeed it is a Costa Rican subspecies. I didn't know, don't think I've ever seen one there.

 

I'm glad I got it right! I'm not a birder by any stretch of the imagination so most of the ID's have come courtesy of Gustavo/Lesley's list and the Merlin Bird App 

 

Part 4: Corcovado National Park, Pacific coast (Casa Corcovado Lodge)

 

Heading further down the “West Coast Highway” we turned off to Sierpe and a cruise down the Sierpe river into the Pacific Ocean with more things to see:

 

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

 

Green Tree-boa

 

Common Potoo

 

White Ibis

 

Northern Tamandua (Anteater)

 

Turning left out of the river mouth into the Pacific & down the coast to Casa Corcovado – and this is where things got “a bit damp!”
We knew that Casa Corcovado was a “wet landing” ie no pier for the boat to dock so we were all prepared in our shorts & beach shoes, our luggage was in waterproof sacks, Barbara & Gustavo had dry bags & everyone else had “protection” for cameras etc.
The transition from river to ocean was a bit up-and-down but our skipper judged the swell to perfection and the ride down the coast was uneventful however the landing was anything but. The boat had to navigate through the rocks with the waves smashing against them, wait for a lull then nip through, spin round & back up to the beach where a small army of folk were waiting in the water to hold the boat as we disembarked one at a time.  Unfortunately, we got hit by a wave and everyone at the rear, including me, got absolutely drenched.

 

Video - "wet" landing

Thanks Trish!!

Once we got up to the lodge, courtesy of the little tractor – the path up is STEEP, our rooms were outstanding and the hammock “pagoda” was pressed into service as an unofficial drying rack.

 

 

 

  

  

 

They do a mean 5pm Margarita (with snacks) & the view isn’t bad either!

 

  

 

The grounds were, once again, lovely to wander around and Gustavo was intrigued when I referred the “walking trees” as Triffids 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by AfricIan
Correct video link

[Atdahl]

You had me at "Margarita "...

 

I've always wanted to stay here in addition to our usual stop at Bosque del Cabo so looking forward to hearing how it was. 

 

Alan

[AfricIan]

Again, there was much wildlife to be seen in the extensive lodge grounds & trails.  The trails were very wet & muddy so the lodge issued wellies were most welcome and it rained!

 

 

Scarlet Macaw

 

Broad-winged Hawk (juvenile)

 

Crested Caracara

 

Great Curassow

 

Baird's Tapir

 

 

Crested Guan (one from Lesley)

 

Central American Spider Monkey (& another of Lesley's)

 

Yellow-throated Toucan

 

Great-tailed Grackle

 

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

 

Common Black Hawk

 

We also headed back out on the boat to do some snorkelling at Caño Island but the weather in the previous days had stirred the sediments up somewhat so the water was a bit murky however it was great to get into the warm waters and we see did lots of colourful fish and some cool things both on the way out & on the way back.

 

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (+ Frigate Bird looking for a cheap meal!) 

 

Humpback Whale (calf)

 

And mother - amazingly close to the shore!

 

 

Corcovado Sightings (birds): Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Yellow crowned Night Heron, Common Potoo, White Ibis, Osprey, Yellow-headed Caracara,

Yellow-throated Toucan, Spotted Sandpiper, American Oystercatcher, Black-throated Trogon, White Hawk, Great-tailed Grackle, Crested Guan, Great Currasow, 

Broad-winged Hawk, Brown Booby, Black Tern, Masked Booby, Royal Tern, Laughing Gull, Laughing Falcon (22)

 

(mammals):  Northern Tamandua Anteater, White-faced Capuchin Monkey, Central American Spider Monkey, Baird's Tapir, Humpback Whale, Pantropical Spotted Dolphin

 

(reptiles & other): American Crocodile, Green Tree Boa, Tropical Wolf Spider

 

Next: Part 5 - Piedras Blancas NP, Playa Nicuesa Lodge

Edited January 11, 2023 by AfricIan
Add acknowledgement

[Atdahl]

Holy crap, you had tapirs just wandering around the grounds?  Were they habituated?

[AfricIan]

1 hour ago, Atdahl said:

Holy crap, you had tapirs just wandering around the grounds?  Were they habituated?

 

These weren't in the lodge grounds as such @Atdahl, but at the farthest end of the "picnic area" by the beach   The main buildings are about twice as high up the hillside as the "Margarita sunset point" so there is much less human traffic than around the lodge buildings.  They are at least "semi-habituated" as they weren't fazed by us so long as we kept a good distance away from them but when Fabien (he of the dancing lemur impression at the end of the landing video ) did a face-plant in the mud when he slipped trying to creep a little bit closer they disappeared into the forest in a flash.

[michael-ibk]

Wow, awesome to see Tapir!

[AfricIan]

Thanks @Atdahl& @michael-ibk, I'd hoped to see Tapir but would have been happy to get a glimpse through the trees so to see them grazing in the open was "a bit special".  Thanks also to everyone else for hanging in there, not long to go now 

 

Part 5 - Piedras Blancas NP, Playa Nicuesa Lodge

 

Nicuesa Lodge is on the Golfo Dulce so we jumped back into the boat for the short trip up to Drakes Bay, transferred to a minibus and over the peninsula to Puerto Jiménez where it was back onto another boat across the bay to Nicuesa Lodge.
En-route, we’d stopped off at a small trapiche to see how they used traditional methods (& equipment) to crush the pure cane juice from the canes and turn it into “Miel” (honey?) & a very tasty “fudge”.  We also stopped at a “gold mine” – standing by a stream in the rain watching someone panning earth wasn’t my cup-of-tea but the coffee & breads afterwards made up for it. 

It was dry & clear right across the Golfo when we left Puerto Jiménez but about half way over our destination disappeared from sight and we resigned ourselves to another soaking.  

 

Rooms at Nicuesa Lodge were, once again, excellent

 

  

 

But this was frequently our view out and as a consequence everything was constantly damp
 

 

  

 

Again, wellies were provided for walks on the trails and on the beach.

(Thanks Barbara)

 

Flat-backed Millipede

How many Flat-backed Millipede can you count (some may be "cuddling")

 

We had a “close encounter” with a Fer-de-Lance that was at the side of the trail, quite close to the lodge - well done to our local guide for spotting it 

 

 

White-faced Capuchin

 

Owl butterfly

 

Leaf-mimic katydid

 

 

Yellow-throated Toucan

 

Great Curassow (Vicky's iPhone again!)

 

Summer Tanager

 

White-tipped Dove

 

Eyelash Pit Viper (again, iPhone through Gustavo's spotting scope)

 

Basilisk eating its Crab lunch (another from Lesley)

 

Carmine Skimmer Dragonfly

 

We also had an enjoyable morning cruise down the Rio Coto mangroves, which again produced some good sightings:

 

Ringed Kingfisher

 

Snowy Egret

 

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

 

Green Iguana

 

Yellow-headed Caracara

 

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

 

Boat-billed Heron

 

 

Cocodrilo (which was the name of our room at the lodge!)

 

As we headed back to Nicuesa, a school of dolphin and, a first for all of us, “flying” Spotted Rays

Bottlenose Dolphin

 

 

Eagle Spotted Ray - A huge thanks to Trish who was the only one of us to successfully get a worthwhile photo.

 

 

Sightings - birds: Common Pauroque, Double-toothed Kite, Mistletoe Tyrannulet, Purple-crowned fairy, White-tipped Dove, Long-billed Hermit, Ringed Kingfisher, Lesser Yellowlegs,

Green Heron, Scarlet-rumped Cacique, Grey-headed Kite, Pale-vented Pigeon, Groove-billed Ani, Mangrove Swallow, Northern Jacana, Southern Lapwing, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 
Great Blue Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Whimbrel, Willet, King Vulture, Green Kingfisher, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Turnstone (25)
 

- mammals: Bottlenose Dolphin

 

- Reptiles & other: Fer de Lance, Eyelash Pit Viper, Narrow-headed Tree Frog, Glass Frog, Green Iguana, Eagle Spotted Ray (6)
 

Next: Part 6 – Back to San Jose

[Atravelynn]

What an assortment of fascinating species!  I counted 7 millipedes. Trish clicked at the right second for the flying Eagle Spotted Ray.

[AfricIan]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:55 AM, Atravelynn said:

I counted 7 millipedes.

 

Nice try but 7 is a bit on the low side, I can count 14 but then I’ve got the advantage of being able to zoom in on the iPhone’s 12MP original - There was also a bit of an orgy of “cuddling” going on

 

Part 6 – Back to San Jose

 

Our route back from Nicuesa Lodge to San Jose was back across Golfo Dulce to Puerto Jiménez where we’d pick-up the SANSA flight direct to San Jose.
But first, we needed lunch

 

That’s what you call a seafood pizza!

 

 
“Departure Lounge” at Puerto Jiménez airport (Thanks Barbara)

 

Grey-headed Chachalaca

Then it was into the familiar cabin of a Cessna Caravan for our flight north.  All started well with a great sunset over the Pacific

 

but when we got about as far north as Marino Ballena NP we started circling . The captain was also checking the weather radar display which was a very disconcerting mass of red – he flicked it on then pretty much straight off again so I don’t know if he was trying not to worry his passengers but eventually he came onto the PA to say that there were big thunderstorms ahead and San Jose was currently closed so we were diverting to Liberia (town not country!) to refuel and see what the weather was going to do. Picking his route through the weather display sea of red, I think he did a great job of avoiding the worst of the torrential rain, thunder & lightning before an uneventful landing at Liberia where Lesser Nighthawk & Double-striped Thick-knee added to the bird count.  None of us fancied a road transfer down the Pan-American Highway so it was with some relief that 45minutes later we were told that the thunderstorms had moved south (as if we didn’t know that, having flown through them!), San Jose was open again & all the delayed flights had now landed so we were clear to resume our journey .

 

Part 7 – El-Iral

Trish was heading back to France but we had a “spare day” at the end of the trip to tie in with the direct BA flight home so Lesley/Gustavo had arranged for us to head out to El-Iral, a working dairy farm ~10km NE of San Jose where they have good walking trails (& restaurant).  It was a beautiful sunny morning in San Jose & Gustavo assured us that the forecast was good.  
The views from the restaurant were great but by the time we’d ordered our lunch, sorted which trail(s) we were going to walk and downloaded the app/appropriate maps the clouds were rolling in.

 

We’re a hardy bunch though and “enjoyed” a couple of hours walking the trails where a Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher added to the birds list before an excellent lunch and back to San Jose. 

 

(Lesley)

 

 

Conclusion: , it does rain in the rain-forest and we did get “a little damp” at times but as you’ll have seen in the photos, we did have a fair amount of sun and we had a super time. All the lodges were excellent and I’d struggle to pick one over another - they were each great in their own way. Organisation and guiding was first class, we couldn’t have hoped for better travelling companions and our range of sightings certainly exceeded my expectations.

Thank you to Lesley, Gustavo, Barbara & Trish for an unforgettable trip  and everyone for sticking with my ramblings!

[TonyQ]

Thank you for an excellent report, great photos and engaging writing.

It looks like you had a good  itinerary. And as you say, it does rain in the rainforest!

The “flying “ ray is amazing, I didn’t know they did that

[AfricIan]

1 hour ago, TonyQ said:

Thank you for an excellent report, great photos and engaging writing.

Thank you, I've enjoyed reliving the trip.

 

1 hour ago, TonyQ said:

The “flying “ ray is amazing, I didn’t know they did that

I didn't either. Prior to this trip if someone had mentioned ray, my immediate association would have been a "Blue Planet" image of a winged fish swimming gracefully through the water, not leaping 6ft into the air, apparently "for fun" although the best reason I've read is to demonstrate their strength and swimming skills.

 

[michael-ibk]

It was great fun "returning" to Costa Rica through your report Ian, thanks so much for sharing! Very successful trip indeed. Love the flying Manta. 

[AfricIan]

Thanks @michael-ibk, throughly enjoyable trip & I’m so jealous of Trish for those ray photos, tempered by the knowledge that I got the only decent shot of the Tamandua & best one of the Quetzal - what goes around comes around 

[xelas]

Great trip report, Ian. I am glad that you showed us that there is still plenty of new locations to be visited in The Land of the Pura Vida! Wet ... yeah, it can be wet in Costa Rica. And cold.

Edited January 20, 2023 by xelas

[offshorebirder]

Flying Rays, Baird's Tapirs - Holy Cow, man!

 

 

[AfricIan]

On 1/20/2023 at 10:25 AM, xelas said:

yeah, it can be wet in Costa Rica. And cold.

We were obviously aware that it was likely that we'd get wet at times Alex and were also warned that we should pack some warm clothes for the "cloud forest" part of the trip but it was never too cold. Although we were weight restricted for the flight back up to San Jose we were able to leave a bag of "warm clothing" in the minibus when we jumped into the boat at Sierpe & were reunited with it back in San Jose.

 

On 1/21/2023 at 2:08 AM, offshorebirder said:

Flying Rays, Baird's Tapirs - Holy Cow, man!

Some things we were "expecting" to see Nate, some things we were "hoping" for and some, like the flying rays, were just never on the radar - even now!

[Dave Williams]

I'm late to the report but reports don't always get my attention unless I'm investigating possibilities! A really enjoyable read and some fabulous sightings. I must admit wet conditions are far from ideal and one I would avoid where possible, but the Lake District wouldn't be so if it wasn't a high rainfall area and likewise Costa Rica's rain forest!

I have to say that of all the sightings the flying Manta was top for me!

[AfricIan]

Thanks Dave, it’s always a pleasant surprise when a TR suddenly reappears on the recent activity list. 
Yes, it was wet a lot of the time but it only restricted, never stopped, us doing what we planned to do. Whether it would have been appreciably drier going in, say, January  I don’t know but given that “seasons” seem out of kilter everywhere these days I suspect probably not. 
That “flying” ray sighting was so unexpected it remains one of my all-time favourites & I’m so glad that Trish managed to capture the moment