a bird in hand

A bird in the hand is said to be worth two in the bush. We’d add that a lot depends on the bird in question. As we’ve entered the final month of our two-and-a-half years in Costa Rica, D has grown increasingly more intent on carving out opportunities to go birding in the hopes of reaching his target of 700 species in Costa Rica. Last week, browsing eBird hotspots for chance reports of his remaining likely targets, D came across close-up photos of the black hawk-eagle — a spectacular raptor that, while not uncommon, is usually only ever seen high in flight. The photos had been taken at a nest discovered not far from Monteverde and were almost too good to believe. Use one of his few remaining birding opportunities to try to find some of the species that have eluded us or get up in the middle of the night to drive three hours to Monteverde for a chance to see a nesting hawk-eagle? D considered the choice for a split-second, then set his alarm. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: a bird (almost) in hand that would be worth dozens in the bush!

the coolest birds ever

“So…what are the coolest birds you’ve seen in Costa Rica?” D’s friend, who is not a birder but who quickly cottoned on to the hobby’s appeal, asked on their walk down to the San Gerardo biological station in Monteverde. That outing during Semana Santa, which proved a bit more adventurous than D had bargained for, ended with sightings of two incredibly hard-to-find birds, including one of D’s all-time favorite Costa Rican species. It also got D thinking about his most memorable birding experiences during our two-and-a-half years here. Some of the birds that made this list are truly remarkable mega species; others are not that uncommon, but we saw them under circumstances remarkable enough to fix the experiences in our memory.

Costa Rica pelagic

When D mentioned pelagic birding to his regular birding buddy, the latter scoffed. “Esos pajaros no tienen nada de gracia,” he said, meaning he would much rather walk through the woods in search of colorful songbirds and delight in their dulcet tones than spend a day on a boat squinting to try to tell apart various fast-moving, drably-colored gulls. For D, on the other hand, an oceanic birding expedition held undeniable appeal, not least because it promised the opportunity to see birds he had never glimpsed before.

mega Tuesday

Much like Walter Sobchak, for whom a bowling alley offered refuge in times of stress, D has found a similar escape in Costa Rica’s abundant natural hotspots. Work getting you down? Adulting responsibilities are piling up? Life feeling too complicated? F#%! it, dude, let’s go birding! Nothing like some quality green therapy to help bring down one’s stress level. D had planned to take advantage of a local holiday this week to check out a couple of new-to-him hotspots with his regular birding buddy. When his friend bailed due to a last-minute work conflict, D headed out on a solo outing instead.

child’s play

Our Semana Santa trip to Monteverde with visiting friends marks the last time for the foreseeable future we’ll set foot in what is undeniably one of Costa Rica’s most magical places. As Monteverde is also among the country’s top birding hotspots, D felt tempted to spend our entire three-day stay deep in the woods. Had this trip taken place earlier in our Costa Rica assignment, he might well have done just that, visitors be damned. After more than two years of dedicated birding all over the country, however, the potential returns did not justify such an extreme approach.

a deeper look

Over the years, D’s ongoing search for new birds has provided numerous other benefits, some expected and others much less so. Birding has been a means to practice wildlife photography and an escape from pandemic-era lockdowns; an excuse to travel extensively around our host countries and a way to meet people and cement friendships; a reason to spend more time in nature and improve our health, as well as a therapeutic break from our hectic work and lifestyle. Every once in a while, it also provides a window into local culture and serves as a bridge to greater understanding.

tanager top ten

We were roadtripping through California, on home leave after our first overseas posting to Nairobi, when we caught sight of our very first tanager. A splash of bright color, a flutter of wings, and the bird settled high in a pine tree. Our assignment to Kenya had sparked D’s interest in birding, but we were still complete neophytes back then. There are no tanagers in Africa. That splash of color proved a preview to the joys that awaited us when set out to bird the American tropics.

rays of sunshine on a rainy day

One of the reasons D angled for us to visit Boca Tapada last weekend is that for weeks prior he had been seeing a wide range of amazing bird photos posted by other visitors to the area’s two primary birding lodges. Toucans, parrots, tanagers, and all manner of other colorful birds posed in postcard-perfect portraits while raindrops fell behind their perches. While D still prioritizes seeing new species over nailing the perfect picture, photography has always animated his birding passion. As we get closer to closing the book on the Costa Rica chapter of our lives, the idea of capturing perfect images of some of our favorite local birds has gained greater appeal.

bottom of the barrel

We just returned from Boca Tapada, leveraging Presidents Day to check off one more place on our Costa Rica map. We can’t say this was our favorite of the many trips we’ve taken all over the country in the last two years, but that has little to do with Boca Tapada itself, which more than lived up to its reputation as a stellar destination for wildlife viewing. Rather, the trip came together very last-minute, leading to some sub-optimal decisions that did not set us up for complete success.

what’s in a name

While D and his friends were admiring tanagers at La Marta and gawking at the ornate hawk-eagle they lucked into at El Copal, a firestorm of controversy erupted in the birding community. As with any hobby, birding offers quite a range of experiences depending on the level of one’s personal investment. On one end of the spectrum are the people who simply like going outside to look at and listen to birds — to meditate in nature and enjoy a bit of its beauty. At the other end are committed birders, whose obsession with the hobby verges on madness — people who study bird habits, learn bird calls, and devote considerable time, money, and energy to tracking down hard-to-find species in remote locations. For the record, D is trending toward the latter extreme. Part of what appeals to D about birding is this multifaceted nature. He appreciates the hobby’s therapeutic value (studies show that people who spend significant time outdoors tend to live longer). D also enjoys the competitive aspect of birding — once one has seen most of the common birds, it takes skill, patience, and no small amount of luck to build up one’s life list…which brings us back to the controversy.