Costa Rica - Day 3

Friday, January 13, 2023 

We started our day by driving a ways down the entrance road from our lodge and then getting out to bird. 

There were a couple of birds that Johan wanted to find for us as this would be our last chance to see them.  One was a Black-headed Trogan, and we located a pair pretty quickly. 

Black-headed Trogan

A real surprise (and a lifer for us) was a Ruddy Quail-Dove, and a bird usually found deep in the forest. This one was in a small patch of trees alongside the road. 

Ruddy Quail-Dove

We returned to the lodge for breakfast and enjoyed a great display of Scarlet Macaws, White-throated Scrub-Jays, Cinnamon Hummingbirds and a White-faced Capuchin. 

Scarlet Macaw

White-throated Magpie-Jay

Cinnamon Hummingbird

White-faced Capuchin

Breakfast was weirdly slow (how long does it take to make toast?) and we got away a bit later than planned for our drive down the coastal highway.  

Goodbye to the giant Scarlet Macaw!

We immediately encountered a big traffic jam at the “Crocodile Bridge” (where people stop to see crocodiles in the Tarcoles River below) which was under repair with one-way traffic. We had a couple of other delays and barely made it to the dock at 11:30 for our boat to Casa Corcovado Jungle Lodge.

At the boat dock a lodge guide gave us a long introduction about packing our gear, wet landings, safety in the tropics, etc. I know he was trying to be exciting and informative but it was a bit dramatic for my taste. We finally boarded the boat for the trip out to the lodge, which was about 45 minutes in a mangrove lined river followed by 45 minutes out in the Pacific Ocean. 

Teri and I had hoped that this would be a birding opportunity, but it was basically transportation. They did stop early on to show us a Common Potoo,  a Three-toed Sloth, and a Tree Boa, but most of the trip was pounding through the waves at high speed. 

Common Potoo

Three-toed Sloth

Tree Boa

Once at the lodge beach there was some confusion as we’d been on a brand new larger boat, and now needed to transfer over to a smaller boat to get closer to shore. After an awkward transfer in rough seas we got in close to shore in the smaller boat then jumped out into about 2’ of water and walked on in. A small tractor towing a little trailer hauled us up an incredibly steep road to the beautiful lodge grounds, where we received another briefing from the lodge manager. 

 

We then had a nice lunch in the outdoor restaurant. 

After lunch we were shown to our rooms. It was very warm and humid and thankfully the room had a lot of ventilation including a ceiling fan. Our cabin was very large, with a mud room, then a large sitting room, then an even larger bedroom. It was a duplex, with the other cabin having their entrance at the back.  We were aware of the other couple being there but it wasn’t an issue. 

After getting settled in we went out for a walk on one of the lodge's trails. We saw a Great Tinamou out in the forest. These large, shy ground birds are tough to spot and we were lucky to see this one.

Great Tinamou

After our walk we headed down to the "Sunset Overlook" for a great view of sunset over the Pacific Ocean. They served some light snacks and drinks here, and it was a popular place for guests to end the day. 

After dinner we went on a short night walk. We found a tree frog, and a mature Spectacled Owl. We'd seen an immature Spectacled Owl two nights ago but this one was a full adult. 

Masked Tree Frog

Spectacled Owl

Next - Our visit to Corcovado National Park.