First Eight Days of Our February 4 to 20 Majestic Feathers Birding Trip, Costa Rica

I spoke with Edwin Ramirez on Friday night February 11 to see how the first week of the tour had gone. He was excited to tell me that just that day between their morning trek into the Carara National Park and birding by boat on the Tarcolés River they had seen 120 species. He told me that the tour participants were thrilled with the birds that they had seen during this amazing day of exploring riparian, mangrove, and tropical dry deciduous forest. He reported that especially satisfying to the group had been their encounters with; an American Pygmy Kingfisher, several Scarlet Macaw, and they had gotten really good close looks at a very cooperative Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, and then there are the other 117 species that they saw, WOW!

I am especially fond of the Tody-Flycatchers; Common Tody-Flycatcher, Black-headed and the Slate-headed and I really enjoy seeing them and having the chance to get a photo when I am co-leading one of our tours. I am not co-leading on this tour because it was necessary for me to stay behind to continue pulling together our fall 2011 trip to the Galapagos Islands and Peru as well as to do a bit of scouting for another future trip.

Common Tody-Flycatcher, March 2010

But back to the current Majestic Feathers adventure, on Saturday February 5 the group flew from San Jose to Palmar Sur in the southern Pacific area of Costa Rica. There is a small park at the little airport there and before boarding our bus to travel to their first eco-lodge they birded the park. Two highlights there were a pair of Double-striped Thick-knees and a Tropical Screech Owl. What a way to start off their birding in the Puntarenas Province!

Double-striped Thick-knees, March 2010


Following two days of sun up to sun down birding in the La Gamba, Golfito area they turned northward on their journey and on Tuesday February 8 while birding at Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary they added the brilliant Turquoise Continga to their ever expanding bird trip list. The Los Cuingos Bird Sanctuary is named for the Fiery-billed Araçari and this tract of 142 hectares located in Quizarrá in San Isidro of Perez Zeledón was acquired in 1941 by the botanist and ornithologist Dr. Alexander F. Skutch. Dr. Skutch came to Costa Rica while working as a botanist for the United Fruit Company studying the anatomy of banana leaves, he fell in love with the birds of the tropics and his interest in tropical nature led him to settle in this lush valley. A guide to the Birds of Costa Rica was co-authored by A. F. Skutch with F. G. Stiles and is considered to be the “bible” of Costa Rica field guides. Dr. Skutch was Edwin’s birding mentor and so it is especially interesting when he shares stories about Skutch from his personal point of view.

Turquoise Continga, March 2010




Fiery-billed Aracari, March 2009

On Tuesday night our excited birders crested 11,000 feet in the Talamanca Mountain Range and marveled at their first views of primary cloud forest. Mind you they were not on foot they were in Enrique Gomez’ wonderful Toyota Coaster. Enrique is our driver and he is a really good bird spotter and, he can safely stop his bus on a dime when someone shouts, BIRD! From the highest point on the road they dropped into the Savegre River valley for two days of amazing birding. They had two up close and personal encounters with male and female Resplendent Quetzals that I am sure they will be talking about for years to come! Scores of other species were added to their list including; Magnificent Hummingbird, Green Violet-ear, White-throated Mountain-gem, Scintillant Hummingbird, Volcano, Hummingbird, Flame-throated Warbler, Acorn Woodpecker and Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher. On the top of Cerro de la Muerte the Volcano Junco with its blazing yellow eyes was a real treat!


Green Violet-ear, March 2009

On the evening of February 10th after birding here and there along their route they arrived in the Central Pacific area for three days of birding. It is from this area that I got Edwin’s Friday night report about how the tour was going and about some of the highlights of the trip to that point. He also shared that the plan for the next day was to drive up to a private cattle ranch located just inland along the west side of the Gulf of Nicoya, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. We have taken our tour groups to this ranch many times and have always been rewarded with one, to as many as four sightings of Jabirus! On Friday Edwin had received a call from the ranch to let him know that six Jabirus had been seen. It is estimated that there are approximately 100 Jabirus remaining in Costa Rica so when we are able to show people four they are seeing a good percentage of the Jabiru population. Edwin was excited to let me know that he had taken a poll of the group and that they had decided to depart for the ranch before breakfast the next morning in order to have more birding time at the ranch. I really like it that we can let our participants make decisions like this and I know of no other company that would do this and I regard this as a real plus. I also think it is wonderful that local folks will call Edwin and let him know what is happening on their property. To me this speaks highly of his reputation.

I don’t know yet how many Jabirus they were able to see at the ranch since it will be a day or two until I hear from Edwin. Once I know I will report that number here on the Majestic Feathers blog. Based on my experiences at this ranch I am sure that in addition to Jabiru they also saw huge mixed flocks of White Ibises, Wood Strokes, Roseate Spoonbills and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. Add to that a few of the other species that I have seen on this ranch during past trips; Muscovy Duck, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Great, Cattle, and Snowy Egret, Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Snail Kite, Harris’s Hawk, Collared Forest-Falcon, Limpkin, Yellow-naped Parrot, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Streak-backed Oriole, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and Gray-crowned Yellowthroat and a staggering number of species can be added to a life list while visiting this beautiful private ranch.


Jabirus, March 2010

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, March 2009

At sun down of day 8 the trip list total stood at 308 bird species.

I can hardly wait to write the next installment of this groups birding in Costa Rica with Majestic Feathers. I have a gut feeling that they may break our all time high bird total of 427 species in 14 days of birding. That point (14 days) in their tour will arrive on February 17th so we will see. The good news for them is that since this is a 17 day tour that we designed specifically for them they will hold our first total for 17 days of birding. What fun for them!

I hope you will become a follower of our blog so that you will be among the first to know about the next installment for this trip, upcoming tours and reports from my local birding adventures.

We are looking for birders interested in a July 2011, 14 day Costa Rica birding tour. If you are interested and would like to receive information about this trip please send me an email. Email me .