And so it is that many people are now going birding in Costa Rica. The country has become a very popular neotropical destination.

Not only for birders, but for others as well who enjoy everything that's "good" about the place. Airplanes from the US are filled with people going to beaches and cruise ships in addition to those going to explore and enjoy "the nature" they've learned of on the Discovery Channel and elsewhere.

But the group of us who went, during the recent FONT Costa Rica birding tour February 7-14, (the 24th FONT tour in the country), actually saw only few tourists and many birds. That's because we went to where less people go, into the southern portion of the country, mostly on the Pacific side. From the highest of the mountains, we went south along the Pacific coast to places "off the beaten path" in the hills near Panama, by the coast of the Golfo Dulce (or "Sweet Gulf"), and into the remote Osa Peninsula.

I was so very fortunate to go to Costa Rica for my first time nearly 30 years ago, with a group of birding friends from Philadelphia. Things have changed so much there since then. Many square miles of tropical forest disappeared, particularly about two decades ago. Big trucks on the highway loaded with big logs were a common sight. Also gone today are most of the huge banana plantations that once were. It's now positive that more diverse (and bird-friendly) habitats have replaced them. Also certainly different now than it was, in a word, is the "infrastructure". In most areas, 30 years ago, there were few places to stay, and they were at best basic. Today, in many parts of Costa Rica, there are wonderful lodges, where birds and other aspects of nature are just outside the door. So, while some raptors, for example, have become more difficult to find as the forest is less, other birds, notably hummingbirds, are easier than ever to see, as many lodges have an array of feeders.

30 years ago, my friends and I ventured into a wild, remote area of southern Costa Rica. We went by boat across the "Golfo Dulce", and then rode in the back of an old truck to the end of a dirt road, where a river was too wide and deep to cross. We walked along that river, or more correctly, through it, as we forded from side to side more than twenty times, entering a jungle that could only be described as "wild". There were jaguar tracks in the mud, and innumerable birds in the trees and bushes ranging from tiny hummingbirds and colorful tanagers to raucous macaws. Men were along the river with pans mining for gold. We were in the interior of the Osa Peninsula by the outer edge of the Corcovado National Park, said to be one of the wildest of world's places. I know I've used the word "wild" three times in this paragraph (sorry), but that's what the area was. We only spent part of a day there. By nightfall, we had to leave.

For some reason, I've wanted, over the years, to go back that place. And strangely, about two years ago, I learned that there's now a small lodge nestled in that same remote area - a place that accommodates guests, particularly birders. I just had to go back, to see again the river, the forest, the birds - to see how much the place has changed. And, our February 2004 FONT tour in southern Costa Rica, traveled into that part of the Osa Peninsula.

Going into that area, and then later, for a day, going from it, the experience was much as it was years ago. Travel was on a dirt road. There was little or no traffic. Along such a road, across the northern portion of the Osa, we saw various hawks, and flocks of Scarlet Macaw, parrots and parakeets in the trees. The Riverside Wren was roadside, along with the hawk that has that name. In a bush by the road, a Striped Cuckoo posed. At a small pond, whistling-ducks looked at us as we looked at them. And, again, there was virtually no traffic. At one point, it was a good thing, as a 3-toed sloth was crossing a road. And that's a slow process! We had seen sloths, where they normally are, in trees. But, looking down on one by the edge of the road was certainly a different perspective. We could see the algae on the animal's back - growing about as slowly as the odd creature moves.

We actually made it into the remote area of the Osa, with the lodge by the river, in the dark of night, after a full day's birding. Along the dirt road on the way in, we had good looks at two different Striped Owls as they perched on roadside telephone wires.

The lodge and the people who run it, Liz and Abraham, were great. Both the sleeping accommodations and the meals were wonderful. Such things, again, were not there during my first visit about 30 years ago. Nor were the sharp eyes of Abraham. I've never seen human eyes that could see so well, whether they were spotting a hummingbird deep in the brush, or a cotinga or a hawk far-away on a tree branch high up on a ridge.

We walked along the river, or again more accurately, we forded the river (but not 20 times, and doing so in proper boots).
One of the hummingbirds deep in the brush was a sitting White-tipped Sicklebill.
The cotinga in the tree-top on the ridge was the Turquoise.
The perched hawk was a Double-toothed Kite.
Other raptors that flew overhead included two nearly all-white the White Hawk and the King Vulture. Also with white in their exquisite plumage, Swallow-tailed Kites could not be ignored.
There was another cotinga-type that was calling continuously in the ridge-top trees, a few Three-wattled Bellbirds.
Also noisy, Scarlet Macaws flew overhead. Obvious as well were toucans and aracaris.
By a lagoon near the lodge, Boat-billed Herons quietly sat on their nests.
Nearby, tinamous and anthrushes could be heard calling as they walked the forest floor.
In the trees, trogons gave away their presence with their voices. Particularly nice was a tame, perched Baird's Trogon, a species indigenous to only that part of the world.

A bird even more restricted to that region visited the plantings by the lodge, the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. It is one of only very few Costa Rican endemics (just 4 out of more than the 700 bird-species in the country). Not only endemic to Costa Rica, it's virtually endemic to the Osa Peninsula.

But perhaps the most exciting of the birds of that Osa rainforest was the Orange-collared Manakin. There was a lek - that's a place where male manakins display, sometimes quite actively. With their wings, they make a loud snapping noise. They have favored perches, usually horizontal branches, and the small colorful birds bolt quickly from one to another. It was truly a marvelous experience to stand quietly at the edge of the lek, early in the morning when the birds were most active, and watch a half-dozen or more of the birds perform.

By the river at dusk, a Spectacled Owl flew along, just above the treetops. Early the next morning, an otter was swimming in the river. And, later in the day, a short distance up the river, there was one man panning for gold (as I saw it done years ago, by a few).

A few miles away from the river and the forest, closer to the coast, we saw, in a lone large tree in the middle of a field, a bird rare in Costa Rica, that's maybe a "new arrival" having spread north from Panama. The hawk-eyes of Abraham spotted it. It was a beautiful Pearl Kite. In the telescope it was all the more so, even though slightly obscured by leaves. But then those keen eyes discovered something even less obvious in that tree, the female Pearl Kite sitting on its nest. In the book by Stiles & Skutch, "A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica" published in 1989, it's stated that the Pearl Kite "possibly resides in central Panama, and that it may be found sometime in the future in Costa Rica, maybe expanding from an isolated population in Nicaragua". The species, however, has been expanding north through Panama (although far from common there). The bird has been known to be in that part of the Osa Peninsula of southwestern Costa Rica for at least a couple years, favoring that large field just noted with the large tree.

Other birds have been expanding, with deforestation, north into southwestern Costa Rica. During an enjoyable afternoon, in open countryside, not far from Golfito (a small coastal city that used to a banana port), we saw a few such species, notably Red-breasted Blackbirds, and various seedeaters and finches. Fork-tailed Flycatchers were rather obvious during that afternoon ride, as were a number of parrots of parakeets (of a few different species). The birds were different than those that were there years ago, but the again when we were on small dirt roads and crossing a river on a ferry that could only hold two cars, it was much like "old times".
As the day ended, a White-tailed Kite hunted over a field, as a pair of nearby Laughing Falcons gave a loud duet. Pauraques began to call in the distance.

Early the next morning, in the forested hills north of Golfito, there was a quick sighting of a wild cat, a Margay. The first bird of the day was the brilliant Orange-billed Sparrow. A White-necked Puffbird was atop a tree. Parrots flew about. Toucans perched. Wrens and other birds sang.

The previous day, in those forested hills, we had one of our best finds of the tour, an absolute "bonanza". It was a particular fruiting-tree that attracted birds like a magnet. Drawn to it were colorful tanagers of a few species, three species of euphonias (also colorful of course), honeycreepers, flycatchers, woodcreepers, woodpeckers (including two particularly good the Rufous-winged and the Golden-naped, the latter a regional specialty.) In all, during the two hours or so that we stayed there, at least a hundred, probably more, individual birds came to the tree. It's been said, particularly in the tropics, that "if you find the restaurant, you find the birds". As much as there was a "bonanza" for us, with the birds, it (that is, the tree) was all the more a "bonanza" for the feeding birds. We watched the spectacle from a small (again, untraveled) road. Behind the tree was a stream, with its water hosting birds as well, from Green Kingfishers to bathing hummingbirds. An attractive male White-necked Jacobin hovered above the water. As did the Beryl-crowned Hummingbird.

Probably more than any other family of birds, it was the hummingbirds that have most characterized our tour. Until now, in this narrative, I've tried not to mention them, so that I could refer to them more collectively. Only with the wonderful White-tipped Sicklebill, I simply couldn't resist.

Also on the Osa Peninsula, of course, there were others. One that we saw, unique to coastal mangroves and called the Mangrove Hummingbird, is one of the 4 birds mentioned-earlier as endemic to Costa Rica. It was near an attractive male Mangrove Warbler, now "split" from the Yellow Warbler, as it has a rusty red head.

Going from the mangroves back to the river, forest, and lodge, we stopped at a certain flowering tree where, in the past, Liz had seen the White-crested Coquette. It was there. Another name for that nice little bird is the Adorable Coquette.
Another name for the Beryl-crowned Hummingbird, that we saw by the lodge and elsewhere, is the Charming Hummingbird. It's not without reason that such hummingbirds are described as adorable and charming.

I mentioned earlier that nowadays in Costa Rica there are hummingbird feeders as never before. Sometimes, they are frequented by masses of hummingbirds.
High in the mountains, outside the window behind a road-side restaurant, nearly 10,000 feet above sea-level there is now such a group of feeders accompanied by its contingent of hummers. There, at the place called Georgina's, the spectacular Fiery-throated Hummingbird can be seen very well. Also the Volcano Hummingbird. We had our first good look at a male Volcano Hummingbird actually away from a feeder. It was perched, in nice sunlight, facing us with its purplish gorget shining. The name Volcano is ascribed to that hummer as the gorget appears like flowing lava.
Also near Georgina's, on the ground, was "Big-Foot". That's the name that we gave to the bird properly called the Large-footed Finch. It scratches on the ground, with those big feet, like a Towhee.

Returning to hummingbirds, at another place in the mountains, they came in droves to feeders at a lodge where we stayed, nestled in a valley. Looks could not have been better at hummingbirds as large as the Magnificent and as small as the Scintillent. In between, were Green Violet-ears and the Gray-tailed Mountain-Gem (the last was another of the 4 Costa Rican endemic birds). Feeders enable up-close encounters with wonderful hummingbirds.

At the lodge on the Osa Peninsula, we encountered hummingbirds in another, rather exciting way. We saw them at their nests. Usually these small hummingbird-haunts are under large, hanging leaves. On their nests, we saw females of the Bronzy Hermit, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Blue-throated Goldentail, and Beryl-crowned Hummingbird. Never during a neotropical tour do I recall so many hummingbird species at their nests. Which was wonderful, as in the lowlands, hummingbirds do not visit feeders as readily as they do in the highlands. In addition to seeing hummingbirds at their nests in the Osa, we saw others attracted to the various tropical plants by the lodge, including the Crowned Woodnymph and what's been known for years as the Long-tailed Hermit. It's now called the "Western Long-billed Hermit" (even though its tail is still just as long). Bird-names, especially those of hummingbirds, are quite something. It's too bad they can't all be named "adorable" and "charming".

This tour narrative will end now back in the highlands. Where, again honing in on names, we saw during one morning, such hot ones as the Fiery-throated Hummingbird (already mentioned), the Flame-throated Warbler, and the Flame-colored Tanager. Elsewhere during the tour, as noted, we saw the Fiery-billed Aracari. Too hot.

Mention was made earlier of the fruiting-tree that attracted so many birds. Again "if one finds the restaurant, one finds the birds". Sometimes, as during our tour, that can apply as well to restaurants where people stop to eat. Hummingbirds attracted to feeders outside the door, sometimes by mistake come in the door, as we saw during lunch. At the road-side Georgina's restaurant referred to earlier, Rufous-collared Sparrows had no inhibitions coming inside on the floor. But the best during our tour, was during another lunch in a highland restaurant where a Yellow-thighed Finch (it looks like a black Catbird with yellow thighs) came in next to us. For everyone except me, it was a "lifer" at the next table.

Another highland bird that didn't come inside, but was certainly tame and close to us outside, was the Collared Redstart (or "Whitestart" if you prefer). With whatever name, it is one of the most attractive and dapper of Costa Rican birds. It's local name is "Amigo de Hombre", that is "friend of man" (due to its tameness and inquisitive nature).

And that leads us to what turned out to be (as it often does) the "favorite bird" of the tour. It's a bird of the Central American highlands that's called "Resplendent" - the Quetzal. People back home always ask "did you see it?". Yes, we did. And, we saw it well. We saw both male and female. As if they were props, both were perched close to us, both with their brilliant shiny green, red and white coloration. Some say the Quetzal is the "most beautiful bird in the world". It may be. The male has what appears to be a "tremendously long tail", with two extraordinary bright-green streamers, more than a foot-long, extending below it when it sits, and behind it when it flies. While we were watching the male Quetzal as well as we did (again, said to be among the most beautiful of birds to see), we heard in the background one of the most beautiful of bird sounds, the song of the Black-faced Solitaire.

Here's the list of all our "top birds" during the February 2004 FONT Southern Costa Rica Tour:

(The left number, refers to points (everyone votes 1 thru 10); the right number to ballots. No bird, even the Quetzal, received votes from everyone.)

 1 - RESPLENDENT QUETZAL - 38/5
 2 - Scarlet Macaw - 37/5
 3 - Collared Redstart - 31/5
 4 - Orange-collared Manakin - 23/4
 5 - White-tipped Sicklebill - 17/3
 6 - Blue-crowned Motmot - 17/2
 7 - Fiery-throated Hummingbird - 16/3
 8 - Chestnut-mandibled Toucan - 14/2
 9 - Fiery-billed Aracari - 14/2
10 - Bay-headed Tanager - 14/2
11 - Pearl Kite - 12/2
12 - Red-breasted Blackbird - 11/2
13 - Laughing Falcon - 10/1
14 - Blue-headed Parrot - 9/1
15 - Swallow-tailed Kite - 7/1
16 - Northern Jacana - 6/1
17 - Striped Owl - 5/2
18 - Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher - 5/2
19 - White Hawk - 5/1
20 - Turquoise Cotinga - 5/1
21 - Black-faced Solitaire - 4/2
22 - Boat-billed Heron - 4/1
23 - Flame-throated Warbler - 4/1
24 - Rufous-winged Woodpecker - 3/1
25 - Fork-tailed Flycatcher - 3/1
26 - Riverside Wren - 3/1
27 - Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager - 3/1
28 - Orange-billed Sparrow - 3/1
29 - Baird's Trogon - 2/1
30 - Magnificent Hummingbird - 2/1
31 - King Vulture - 1/1
32 - Squirrel Cuckoo - 1/1
33 - Golden-naped Woodpecker - 1/1

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