Costa Rica Birding (El Viejo Wetlands)

Year 10

Friday Molly, Jon, Beth and I drove over from Las Catalinas to El Viejo Wetlands (90 minutes). This private wildlife sanctuary of 5,000 acres directly borders Palo Verde National Park. El Viejo has a basic boat tour on the River Tempisque plus lunch at the Hacienda. The first public tours of the day are at 9 am (purchase via their website), but if you arrive a bit early you will also get out on the river earlier before everyone else!  Regardless of whether everyone in your group enjoys birding, everyone loves this tour! There is enough wildlife and plants to keep is the most jaded non-outdoors person happy. Finally all boats have large canopies. Thus, you are always in the shade and moving (getting a breeze). If you want a true private early morning birding experience, it is possible to arrange a private tour starting at 7 am. Call El Viejo for pricing and to reserve same.

Before showing some of the birds et al that we saw … first a few maps for our time down here in Costa Rica. Be aware that roads do not allow one to travel quickly. Here are a couple of notes before the maps:

  • From the airport in Liberia to our rainforest lodge (La Carolina Lodge) was three hours of driving.
  • It also takes about three hours to drive from the airport to Las Catalinas … unless you have 4 wheel drive and want to drive CR 911 (do not attempt even with 4 Wheel Drive in Rainy Season).
  • Playa Potrero is about 15 minutes from Las Catalinas
  • The Stream next to the golf course which is under construction is also about a 15 minute drive. This is where I repeatedly saw trogons.
  • If you wanted to bird / visit the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, you would fly into San Jose, not Liberia. I am on the Pacific side of the country. Remember my comments about roads … getting around is a slow proposition.

Regional Map

Detailed Las Catalinas Area Map

And now the El Viejo Wetlands Birds!

First … the Kingfishers!

Green Kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher

And the Herons!

Bare-Throated Tiger Heron (final image is a juvenile)

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Little Blue Heron

Crocodiles and Bats (Mom guarding recently hatched young … apparently only about 1 in 60 crocodile kids reach adulthood according to our guide … the rest become food for other birds and animals)

Northern Jacana

Roadside Hawk (its actual name … I kid you not!)

Costa Rica Las Catalinas Birding: Trogons and Mot Mots

Year 10

We are over on the coast, and we hope the Rainy Season will start soon … and with it some thunderstorms which may provide some afternoon cooling temperatures. While Duluth just set an all time record for snow in a single winter (135+ inches of snow), we reach close to 100F every afternoon, plus humidity.

The two birds I most wanted to find here at Las Catalinas were the Black-Headed Trogon, and Turquoise-Browed Mot Mot. I am pleased to report both birds after early morning and late afternoon hikes have yielded themselves up to my camera. April makes birding a bit easier as one may follow bird song as our feathered friends search for  mates. Both the Mot Mots and Trogon’s song helped me narrow down the areas of my search, which leads to this comment … if you are not using Cornell’s Merlin app, you should. By installing the bird pack for Costa Rica (and earlier this year for Hawaii) I was able to learn more about my target birds habits. Once I obtain good photographs, Merlin’s Bird Photo ID helps with identification.

Anyhow … the Black-Headed Trogon and Turquoise-Browed Mot Mot

Birding the Costa Rica Rainforest Highlands: La Carolina Lodge Finale!

Year 10

This is my final post about our stay at La Carolina Lodge up in the Rainforest Highlands of Costa Rica. This is a most excellent eco-lodge, which will help you get off the grid and relax. Sorry if this post seems like a “data dump”, but even with restricting images to just one per bird species, I saw some amazing feathered friends. Visiting in April means many birds are busy “courting their prospective mates”.

Before the birds, more about our lodge. If you want fancy … air conditioning with wifi plus TV’s go elsewhere. Our basic cabin was open to the mountain stream below our deck. In the image of Molly reading she is NOT online. We both downloaded books to our tablets before visiting. However, if you want to experience life at a slower pace which is immersed in nature, La Carolina Lodge is for you! All our meals were family style, and the lodge raises / grows 80% or more of what we ate. Our all inclusive cash price (credit card price is higher) for our cabin including 3 nights and 9 meals for two adults was $690 in April of 2023. The staff is super friendly.

Molly Reading on our Cabin Deck

The View of the Eating Area (open area structure at the top is my next image)

Happy Hour View of the Stream from the Lounge / Eating Area (alcohol is not available, but you are allowed to bring your own … of course for us, Chardonnay!)

And now the remaining birds … (in alphabetical order)

Black Vulture

Black-Cheeked Woodpecker

Blue Gray Tanager

Clay Colored Thrush

Crested Guan

Green Honeycreeper

Montezuma Oropendola

Palm Tanager

Red-Legged Honeycreeper

Red-Lored Parrot

Ruddy Ground Dove

Russet-Naped Wood Rail

Scarlet-Rumped Tanager

Streak Backed Oriole

White-Whiskered Puff Bird

Yellow Green Vireo

Yellow-Throated Euphonia