Golfito area

9th-12th February 2018 - Birding in the Golfito area

Golfito is situated in the south-west of Costa Rica and is well situated for us to see many of the birds of the Southern Pacific lowlands.  While we were there the weather was hot and dry.

9th Feb - We were picked up at 6:30am at the San Jose Aeroporto Hotel by our guide Carlos.  He would be our guide for most of the trip.  The journey to Golfito took 4-5 hours and crossed some of the dry forest areas, so we did stop off at a few places to see a few birds that we were unlikely to find elsewhere on the trip.  These included Hoffmann's Woodpecker and Nutting's Flycatcher.

South West of San Jose on route to Golfito.

Nutting's Flycatcher - A bird of the dry north-west.  Our only chance to see this species.

On route we stopped at the Tarcoles River and walked across the bridge.  Here we managed to pick up quite a few new species including Black-necked Stilts, Bare-necked Tiger Heron, Common Black Hawk, Osprey, Ringed Kingfisher and Amazon Kingfisher.  Plus a good number of American Crocodiles!

The Tarcoles River view from the bridge.  Maybe good for a swim?

Forget the swimming.  View from the bridge looking directly down!

Fasciated Tiger-Heron - by the bridge.

Black-necked Stilts - from Tarcoles Bridge

Then on to the nearby Tarcoles Beach and our first view of the Pacific Ocean.  There were not a lot of birds to see here but we had some great views of Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans as they flew past.  Plus a single Royal Tern offshore.

Tarcoles Beach 

Scarlet Macaws - We were fortunate to have these magnificent birds fly low overhead but rather a snatched shot.

Magnificent Frigatebird - Several flew low over the beach.

Brown Pelican - A flypast.

We arrived at the Sierra Hotel in Golfito late in the day.


10th Feb - A 6am start for a birding session before breakfast close to the hotel.  After mopping up some of the common birds around the hotel we walked through the perimeter fence and onto the deserted airfield runway.  However it was not deserted for long as a small passenger plane appeared and landed just after we scampered clear of the runway.  The local official was not amused!

Golfito Airport

Scarlet-rumped Tanager (previously Cherrie's Tanager)-  Seen daily during the first half of our trip.

Scarlet Macaw - Seen during our early morning walk.

Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret and White Ibis.

Clay-coloured Thrush - A widespread species seen daily.

Green Kingfisher - A widespread species in Central and South America

Later in the day we went to Esquinas Lodge where we had lunch and spent some time birding in their extensive grounds. Star bird here was a pair of Green Ibis which were well out of their normal range.  Also good to see our only Giant Curassow of the trip, as well as good views of Charming Hummingbird.

Green Ibis - These were a big surprise as the normal range is restricted to the Caribbean coastal areas.

Great Curassow - One of five birds trying to hide from view as we approached Equinas Lodge

Cayman - At home in the grounds of the lodge.

Charming Hummingbird - seen from the dining area at Esquinas Lodge.  A near endemic.

Charming Hummingbird - Note the colour change on the head as it moves

Black-striped Sparrow - The range of this species includes much of Central America and the northern parts of South America

Yellow-throated Toucan (previously known as Chestnut-mandibled Toucan) - Seen most days.

White Peacock, Anartia jatrophae

Sulphur Butterfly (Phoebis philea)

11th Feb - As usual an early start.  We headed to a birding site to the south of Ciudad Neily, on the way picking up Daniel, a local guide, who would be with us for the day (and proved to be an excellent guide).  We headed for a low lying area along a river and saw a wide variety of species including Anhinga, Black-crowned Night Heron, Cooper's Hawk, Grey-lined Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Squirrel Cuckoo, Lesser Nighthawk, Red-rumped Woodpecker, Isthmian Wren and Orchard Oriole.  However the prize lay at the end of the walk when we saw the endemic Veraguan Mango which we eventually had good views of.

Veraguan Mango - Once considered to be a Panamanian endemic, it is also found in the very SW of Costa Rica.

Yellow-Olive Flycatcher - Widespread in Costa Rica.

Philadelphia Vireo - A wintering bird.   

Red-lored Parrot  -  Our only sighting of this species.

Lesser Nighthawk  - Perched directly over the path!  But still easy to miss.  

Mantled Howler Monkey,  Alouatta palliata    -  A male.  Several seen and heard during the trip.

After returning to our vehicle we headed to another site, on the way crossing a river with shallow margins.  We stopped off and ticked off a number of waders including Semipalmated Sandpiper and Western Sandpiper.

We then moved onto a large area of open grassland where we had distant views of Savannah Hawk, a species only recently added to the Costa Rican bird list but now breeding in this area!  The Savannah Hawk was seen at a nest site but very distant, so here are a few of the other birds seen in this very open area.

Eastern Meadowlark - A widespread species from the eastern half of the USA through Central America to the northern parts of South America.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher - Found on the Pacific coast areas of Costa Rica but widespread in South America.    

Crested Caracara - Found from the very southern areas of the USA into the northern parts of South America.  

Red-crowned Woodpecker  - Seen on five days during the first week of the trip.  

Before heading back to Golfito we visited an area in the hope of seeing a ????? Hummingbird.  Despite hanging around for about two hours we failed to see this scarce species but we did manage to see the following.

Crested Oropendola - Costa Rica is the northern limit of their world range but it is widespread in South America.     

Plain-breasted Ground-dove  - More widespread in the NW of Costa Rica but we were in a small pocket of this species range.  The only time we saw this species.

Queen Butterfly   Danaus gilippus 

12th Feb - Before breakfast we visited two areas of Mangroves in the Golfito area, in search of the endemic Mangrove Hummingbird.  Unfortunately we failed to find this species but did add several other species to our list.

Roadside Hawk - minus a tail. Perched in the sun early morning.

After breakfast we headed to our next destination of Wilson Lodge in the southern Mountains.  Along the way we did see a few nice birds including .....

Swallow-tailed Kite - Two birds few around for several minutes showing off their aerial capabilities. 
This one carrying nesting material.

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