19 January: Arrive in Costa Rica and transfer to the Hotel Bougainvillea, where you will meet your local guide and have an evening welcome/orientation dinner. 

20 Jan: Beginning at daybreak, we will spend a leisurely hour or so birding the grounds of the hotel. Those who are visiting the neotropics for the first time will have the chance to make acquaintances with some very common and widespread species such as Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Tropical Kingbird, Blue-gray Tanager, Rufous-collared Sparrow, and Costa Rica’s National Bird, the Clay-colored Thrush. Several species of North American migrants will be present, along with resident species that might include Red-billed Pigeon, Lesson’s Motmot, Hoffmann’s Woodpecker, Crimson-fronted Parakeet, and Cinnamon-bellied Saltator.

 After breakfast, we’ll travel over the Central Volcanic Cordillera to the Caribbean foothills, where our lodging is set in the middle of the rainforest, adjacent to the sprawling Braulio Carrillo National Park. Staying at ground level, we might encounter Slaty-breasted Tinamou, Olive-backed Quail-Dove, Uniform Crake, Sunbittern, Ocellated Antbird, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Dusky-faced Tanager, and Tawny-crested Tanager. And perhaps we’ll cross paths with a mixed-species insectivorous flock containing such creatures as Streak-crowned Antvireo, Checker-throated Stipplethroat, White-flanked Antwren, Striped Woodhaunter, Brown-billed Scythebill, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, and Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant. But our lodge is also home to the Rainforest Adventures Aerial Tram and from the unique perspective of the gondolas gliding through the canopy we could get eye-level views of Lattice-tailed Trogon, Cinnamon Woodpecker, Green Shrike-Vireo, White-throated Shrike-Tanager, Blue-and-gold Tanager, or Emerald Tanager. Overnight at Tapirus Lodge. (Be sure to pack a flashlight so that you won’t miss out on the optional night walk—it’s also not a bad idea to have one in the event the power should ever go off at night anywhere during the tour.)

 21 Jan: After breakfast, we’ll pay a visit to “Cope,” a local artist/naturalist who has turned his small yard into an avian oasis. As we sit just a few feet from the feeders, the parade of visitors that will entertain us and keep camera shutters clicking could include White-necked Jacobin, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Olive-backed Euphonia, Montezuma Oropendola, Scarlet-rumped Tanager, and Red-legged Honeycreeper. A walk with Cope through a nearby forest patch will surely turn up some fascinating creatures, perhaps even roosting owls and bats!

Eventually, we will retrace our steps back up over the mountain and continue on to the southern slopes of Irazu Volcano. The afternoon will give us our first opportunity to meet some of Costa Rica’s highland specialties, such as Buffy-crowned Wood-Partridge, Talamanca, Volcano, and Fiery-throated Hummingbirds, Black-capped Flycatcher, Timberline Wren, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and the extremely range-restricted Volcano Junco. At 11,000 feet in elevation, it can get quite cool near the summit, especially after dark when we will be looking for Dusky Nightjar, Bare-shanked Screech-Owl, and the near-mythical Unspotted Saw-whet Owl. Overnight at GrandPas Hotel.

 22 Jan: We’ll have the entire day to explore the highland habitats on the upper slopes of Irazu Volcano, as well as the possibility of dropping down to the Valley of Ujarrás to search for lower elevation species including White-tailed Kite, Collared Aracari, Barred Antshrike, Cabanis’s Wren, Yellow-throated Euphonia, White-lined Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, and, following a fairly recent split, a bird found only in Costa Rica: Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. Overnight at GrandPas Hotel.

23 Jan: Today we travel from the Central Valley to the El General Valley, traversing the Talamanca mountains en route, which will allow us the chance to search for any highland birds we may not have seen as yet as the forests are home to Black Guan, White-throated Mountain-gem, Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Ruddy Treerunner, Yellow-winged Vireo, Sooty Thrush, Black-and-yellow and Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers, Large-footed Finch, Flame-throated Warbler, Slaty Flowerpiercer, and the bird everyone wants to see: Resplendent Quetzal. Overnight at Hotel del Sur.

24 Jan: We’ll explore a variety of sites and habitats in the area with some of the more hoped-for species being White-crested Coquette, White-tailed Emerald, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Red-headed Barbet, Elegant Euphonia, Speckled Tanager, Streaked Saltator, and the stunning Turquoise Cotinga. More open areas might produce Striped Cuckoo, Roadside Hawk, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, and Yellow-bellied Seedeater. Overnight at Hotel del Sur.

25 Jan: We’ll travel south along the PanAmerican Highway stopping along the way to look for Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Green Shrike-Vireo, and Ocellated Crake at known spots. Eventually, we’ll reach the San Vito area, where we’ll look for still more regional specialties such as Scaled Pigeon, Blue-headed Parrot, Lance-tailed Manakin, Northern Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Lesser Elaenia, Bran-colored Flycatcher, and Thick-billed Euphonia. Overnight at Hacienda Don Paolo.

26 Jan: Before leaving the San Vito area, we’ll do a bit more birding and hope to find still more species for our growing list, perhaps getting good looks at Costa Rican Swift, Garden Emerald, Fiery-billed Aracari, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Black-chested Jay, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, or Costa Rican Brushfinch. A spectacular bit of roadway takes us down to the lowlands of the Coto Valley, where we’ll spend the afternoon looking for open country species that could include Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Plain-breasted Ground Dove, Southern Lapwing, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Savanna Hawk, Yellow Tyrannulet, Scrub Greenlet, Red-breasted Meadowlark, and Ruddy-breasted Seedeater. Overnight at Hotel Centro Turistico Neily.

27 Jan: We’ll take advantage of the relatively cooler morning hours to search the Coto Valley area one more time for local specialties such as Veraguan Mango, Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, Red-rumped Woodpecker, and Brown-throated Parakeet. Our travels today will take us around the scenic northern (interior) end of the Golfo Dulce and onto the Osa Peninsula. Overnight at Danta Corcovado Lodge.

28 Jan: At dawn, we’ll spend some time on the bridge over the Rincon River, which is famous as one of the best places to see the extremely range-restricted Yellow-billed Cotinga. Among the many other species that we could see at the spot are Pale-vented Pigeon, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Golden-naped Woodpecker, Black-crowned Tityra, Shiny Cowbird, and perhaps our first views of the gaudy Scarlet Macaw. Birding forested areas on the lodge property and nearby sites could produce looks at Marbled Wood-Quail, Band-tailed Barbthroat, White Hawk, Black-throated Trogon, White-necked Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Black-striped Woodcreeper, Velvety Manakin, Bright-rumped Attila, and Blue Dacnis. Overnight at Danta Corcovado Lodge.

29 Jan: Before leaving the lodge, we’ll have one more chance to look for species endemic to the southern Pacific regions of Costa Rica and adjacent Panama, such as Charming Hummingbird, Baird’s Trogon, Orange-collared Manakin, Black-bellied Wren, Isthmian Wren, Riverside Wren, Spot-crowned Euphonia, and Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager, which is found only in a small area of southern Costa Rica.

We’ll travel north along the Coastal Highway, reaching the Tarcoles River in time for an afternoon boat ride. By now we may have seen most of the wading birds associated with wetland sites, so our attention will be focused primarily on the mangrove forest, where we’ll be looking for birds found primarily in this unique habitat. Our targets include Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, Panama Flycatcher, Mangrove Vireo, the mangrove race of Yellow Warbler, and another bird found only in Costa Rica, Mangrove Hummingbird. Additionally, we’ll be searching for species such as Boat-billed Heron, Plumbeous Kite, Common Black Hawk, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Peregrine Falcon, Yellow-naped Parrot, Cinnamon Becard, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, and Prothonotary Warbler. Overnight at Hotel Villa Lapas.

30 Jan: We’ll spend the morning in Carara NP, where a mixed-species flock could provide us with excellent views of White-whiskered Puffbird, Black-hooded Antshrike, Dot-winged Antwren, Dusky Antbird, Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, Plain Xenops, Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Long-billed Gnatwren, and White-shouldered Tanager. Carara is also a good place to look for understory species and with luck we might get to see Great Tinamou, Ruddy Quail-Dove, Gray-chested Dove, Streak-chested Antpitta, or Black-faced Antthrush. After lunch, we’ll return to the Central Valley. Overnight at Hotel Bougainvillea.

31 Jan: Transfer to the airport for your departing flight.