Monteverde Cloud Forest

Costa Rica has featured in my wildlife plotting for many years. I have dreamed of coming here and as we continue our journey south we are finally here. We added a few birds in El Salvador and Nicaragua but here birding was not really the focus. In fact in Nicaragua we were without our binoculars and camera due to their informal ban on such items. So once we arrived in Monteverde (Green Mountain), I felt like superman with his powers back and I was determined to bird and photograph as much as I could.

Flora

I don’t often photograph or talk about plants and trees but I have to say that the Cloud Forest here is such an exceptional habitat and so well preserved – bravo Costa Rica! I am far from an expert in such things but walking the trails of Monteverde Cloud forest and taking the Hanging Bridge tour at Selvatura even I was converted to photographing plants and trees.

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Bugs

Again, I don’t take a huge interest in insects and the rest of the small stuff but again Monteverde forced me to look beyond birds and mammals for once. Costa Rica seems to just add a couple of extra sizes and splashes of colour to what I am used to and it forces you to pay attention.

Birding Curi Cancha Reserve

We spent an excellent morning in the Curi Cancha reserve birding with the excellent local guide Esteban Mendez (WhatsApp +506 8685 5982) during which we saw 80 species including 28 lifers. As is often the case in days like this you want to make the most of your time with the expert guide so no sooner have you seen a bird you move on to look for the next. In other words you don’t get great photos. But this was a great morning in a great reserve.

Highlights included the Brown-Billed Scythebill with its monstrous down curved bill, the endemic Coppery-headed Emerald and sustained views of the multicoloured Golden-browed Chlorophonia. Esteban pointed out that Chloro means green, and Phonia relates to song, it didn’t disappoint with either.

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Birding Monteverde Cloud Forest

Armed with some tips from Esteban we took the bus up to the Cloud Forest and then walked first the Sendero Tosi trail hoping to see Quetzal and then the longer Sendero Camino trail for general birding.

On the Tosi trail the first birds we saw were Black Guan and then the Azure-hooded Jay (both lifers) but it wasn’t long before we saw a roped off area indicating a tree with a Quetzal nest. That said they didn’t give themselves up easily and it was 50 minutes before the male flew in. We did hear them calling which was lovely and whilst not a lifer (we saw them in Guatemala) this is still such a special bird and was the first time I photographed them.

Continuing on the Camino trail we added a Bananaquit (not seen since Belize) and were especially pleased to find a pair of nesting Collared Redstarts (lovely birds), thanks again to Esteban for suggesting where to look.

We were also really pleased to get our first views of the Capuchin Monkey, it even dropped some messy fruit stones on our heads (cheeky little eh monkey).

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Hummingbirds

After walking the trails it was time for lunch and we visited the coffee shop which runs the Monteverde Hummingbird Gallery. Wildlife photography doesn’t get easier than this, eating cake and drinking a Latte whilst photographing 10 species of beautiful Hummingbirds. Smallest was the Magenta-throated Woodstar which almost never landed (probably expected to get bullied off). The largest was the Violet Sabrewing which definitely threw its weight around.

As if this wasn’t enough two Swallow-tailed Kites flew over to complete a fantastic day (this was a bird I just missed in Belize so a well overdue lifer).

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We leave Monteverde tomorrow with 132 species on our Costa Rica list of which 53 are lifers. The trip to date total (since Mexico) is 457. Plenty more birding to come in Costa Rica though, can’t wait.