Costa Rica trip report now available

Limosa's recent tour to Costa Rica led by Colin Bushell and local expert guide Herman Venegas was a great success with an impressive list of specialities being seen

The trip report is now available and can be downloaded by clicking here and the systematic list is here.

To quote Colin's update at the end of the trip:

"We have just returned from Limosa's "Classic Costa Rica" after another very successful tour. This holiday can be divided into three sections: Highlands, the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. This year, we started on the Pacific coast with some first class birding in the Carara National Park area where Scarlet Macaws, Turquoise-browed Motmots, White-whiskered Puffbird, Yellow-throated Toucans and Fiery-billed Araracaris featured. Before leaving the coast for the highlands, we took a boat trip through the Tarcoles mangroves, always a favourite with Limosa groups and a chance to see five species of kingfisher, including the diminutive American Pygmy Kingfisher. 

Into the highlands and we were able to see up to six Resplendent Quetzals in a day, point blank views of Golden-browed Chlorospingus, Fiery-throated Hummingbirds, Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers in the forests and Volcano Junco in the Paramo. 

The final chapter of the tour commenced at the famous Rancho Naturalista with its Snowcaps, Sunbitterns and so much more, before we descended the Caribbean slope to our final destination in the lowlands. From here, we were able to search the renowned forests of the legendary La Selva Biological Station, but perhaps the highlight for many was the close views of nesting Great Green Macaws nearby. We returned to San Jose by way of Cinchona where we sipped coffee and watched Blue-throated Toucanets and the endemic Coppery-headed Hummingbird at leisure.

Having led more than a dozen tours to Costa Rica, I would pick out a few other sightings as less than expected. Special mention must go to the nine species of owl seen (eight of them at daytime roosts!), Great and Common Potoos, lengthy views of two Scaled Antpittas, a Lesser Ground Cuckoo dustbathing in the middle of the road and one of the final birds of the tour - Yellow-winged Tanager (a rarity in Costa Rica)."."

The tour will be running again in 2025 and to view further information please click here.