My trip to Costa Rica occurred in March 2008 and was under the
guidance of Greg Downing and Greg Basco. The latter is a US citizen who lives
in Costa Rica and is married to a local lady.
I arrived at Juan Santamaria International Airport, San Jose, via
Florida in the USA. I met other
participants of the tour at the Hotel Bougainvillea, which has it’s own gardens
with beautiful orchids and other tropical flowers and a good selection of some
local birds.
The following morning after breakfast we travelled to the Turrialba
area on the Atlantic slopes of Costa Rica’s Central Volcanic mountain range
where Rancho Naturalista is located. One thing was obvious on the journey was
that there has been minimal disturbance of the tropical forests of Costa Rica.
This may have been accidental in that the coffee plantations do not take too
much space but in recent times the Government has made a decision to preserve
much of the natural flora.
Rancho Naturalista is pleasantly located and comfortable. Fruit is
liberally dispersed in trees to attract birds…..which in turn attracts
birderwatchers. Greg Downing had set up several multiple flash set-ups on the
lodge balcony and in the nearby forest and participants circulated around
these. Hummingbird species included the Snowcap, Green-breasted Mango and
White-necked Jacobin.
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| Approximate locations of accommodation |
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| View from Rancho Naturalista |
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| Indoor dining room at Rancho Naturalista |
When not photographing hummingbirds we photographed the tanagers,
orioles, oropendolas and chachalacas that visited the lodge’s fruit feeder.
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| Collared Aracari |
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| Montezuma Oropendola |
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| Black-cheeked Woodpecker |
We
spent three full days and four nights at the Rancho Naturalista and during that time got many nice shots of the Green-breasted Mangos (both male and female), White-necked Jacobin and Wood Nymphs. Often at feeders a dominant hummingbird will take charge and chase others away so you might not necessarily get a great variety of birds.
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| Green-breasted Mango |
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| Green-breasted Mango |
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| Green-breasted Mango |
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| Green-breasted Mango pair |
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| White-necked Jacobin |
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| White-necked Jacobin |
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| White-necked Jacobin |
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| White-necked Jacobin |
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| Violet-eared Hummingbird |
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| Crowned Wood Nymph |
We
next headed to the higher cloud forests of the northern Central Volcanic
Mountain Range and our lodge, Bosque de Paz. Bosque de Paz Ecolodge is located
in one of the most biodiverse areas of the country, nestled in a picturesque valley
at approximately 4,500 feet above sea level between the Poas Volcano and Juan
Castro Blanco National Parks. After lunch at Zarcero (Greg Basco’s home town)
we arrived at the lodge. Endemic wildlife included the turkey-like Black Guan
and Agoutis, large forest rodents. Quetzals are common visitors to the area but
we did not have the fortune to see any in a photographable location.
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| Bosque de Paz Ecolodge |
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| Agouti |
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| Coati |
The next morning the multi-flash set-ups were in place and
attracted a different subset of hummingbirds; the Scintillant Hummingbird
(Costa Rica’s smallest species), Violet Sabrewings (Costa Rica’s largest
species), the Purple-throated Mountain Gem and the Green-crowned Brilliant.
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| Green-crowned Brilliant |
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| Magnificent Hummingbird |
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| Violet Sabrewing |
Small
groups of photographers were free to explore the local flora and fauna in the nearby valley and along the rushing
stream. In the evenings there were slide-shows and discussions in an adjacent
conference room. As expected in Costa Rica, the home of good coffee….the brew was
always superb.
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia |
On the following day we went on an excursion to photograph the
nearby Toro waterfall, which is 110 metres high and provided spectacular shots
of the falls and the surrounding cloud forest.
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| Toro Waterfall (click on image to see large version) |
We next set out to the Sarapiqui area to a lowland rainforest. We
roamed the Selva Verde Lodge grounds in search of photographic targets that
included the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog, the Blue Jeans Frog, the Green and
Black Poison dart frog and the famed Red-eyed Tree frog. In the afternoon we
went on a boat tour on the nearby Sarapiqui River to photograph Sunbitterns,
Bare-throated Tiger heron, Green Ibis, Sloths and the Spectacled Caiman. That
evening we photographed frogs in their natural habitats around the lodge and
experimented with using LCD torches as a light source.
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| Black and Green Poison Arrow Frog |
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| Red-eyed Tree Frog |
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| Red-eyed Tree Frog |
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| Red-eyed Tree Frog |
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| Red-eyed Tree Frog (using LED torches as a light source) |
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| Blue Jeans Frog |
We
spent one last evening at the Hotel Bouganvillea before dispersing in various
directions.
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| Cattle Egret |
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| Bare-throated Tiger Heron |
Just to comment on aspects of the tour. Both Gregs were excellent
hosts and accomplished naturalists and photographers….at all times good company
and both with a good sense of humor. The trip was well-organized and the
hummingbird set-ups were painstakingly done. The Rancho Naturalista is
comfortable with many species available. Some of the other guests, a group of
British birders were not as friendly as they could be and some feeding stations
that Greg Downing set up for morning photography disappeared overnight.
The
second lodge was also very comfortable and the food was very good. There seemed
to be some problems with the disposition of hummingbird feeders but this did
not impact greatly. To photograph hummingbirds in the multi-flash set-ups
requires that the normally placed feeders are removed thus pushing the birds to
the photograph set-ups. Not many lodges are keen to allow this and this limits
the venues for this type of photography. If there are other guests present
there is therefore a conflict of interests as they want to observe as many
species as possible coming to the lodge’s feeder. The third location that was
included to photograph the exotic local frogs was generally good but the river
trip was not very spectacular from a quality photograph point of view. Recent
trips offer more diversity and concentrate on more of the spectacular bird life
aside from hummingbirds. Greg Basco also works with Joe and Maryanne McDonald,
which would also be a great combination of expertise.
Graeme Guy September 2012
