Thankfully our flight from Florida got off on time and customs and immigration was a breeze in Costa Rica. Once we made it to Arenal we settled in and I enjoyed some birding from the deck which produced a nice and close Chestnut sided Warbler. A walk on our way to dinner turned up a Tennessee Warbler to add to the warbler list.
Cape May Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Cape May Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Gray crowned Yellowthroat, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Black throated Green Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Tennessee Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Golden crowned Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Black and White Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 6, 2024
Wednesday was our first full day at Arenal Observatory Lodge and I was out the door bright and early and spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon out walking the various trails (with a brief stop for breakfast). The most common species over the course of the day, as expected, were Chestnut sided Warblers and Tennessee Warblers. I started off on some trails that crossed a river and then out into some pasture land and this produced both Buff rumped Warbler (along the river) and Gray crowned Yellowthroat (in the pastures). I came across a few mixed flocks with warblers in among them and added Black throated Green Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Tropical Parula and Golden crowned Warbler. The rarest warbler for the day was a continued female Cape May Warbler that has been around the lodge property for the winter and after a bit of waiting I got great looks and photos of it and added a new warbler species to my Costa Rica list (bringing that total to 34 species). A total of nine species overall for the day.
Golden winged Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Golden winged Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Golden winged Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Chestnut sided Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Tennessee Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Golden crowned Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Buff rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
Northern Waterthrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 7, 2024
The second full day at the lodge found me checking a number of new trails and a few from the day before. As expected the most common warblers were once again Chestnut sided Warbler and Tennessee Warbler. During my morning walk I got great looks at Buff rumped Warbler along a small stream and managed to get some photos. As I was headed back for breakfast I had a Louisiana Waterthrush along the larger river on the property (sadly no photo of that species). The morning walk also produced my first (and only) Slate throated Redstart of the trip as well as multiple Golden crowned Warblers, Gray crowned Yellowthroat, Tropical Parula and the continued Cape May Warbler. Once breakfast was done I walked the trails for almost another four hours with the highlight being a female Golden winged Warbler. The mid to late afternoon was spent around the deck and this produced a Northern Waterthrush working its way through the gardens. I found a total of eleven species overall for the day.
Blackburnian Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
Buff rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
Northern Waterthrush, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
Golden crowned Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
Chestnut sided Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
Black throated Green Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
Tennessee Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 8, 2024
On the last full day at the lodge I used the knowledge gained on the previous two days to try to track down as many warblers as possible. It is a combination of pinning down known locations of a few species and a lot of luck in coming across other species. I was out before first light to bird a few hours before breakfast and one of the most notable species was a Blackburnian Warbler feeding very high in the trees in bad light. After a short stop for breakfast I headed back out again and covered an even greater distance over nearly four hours of time. The overcast conditions faded a bit as the morning progressed and occasionally the sun would come out and heat up things quickly. The most unusual species on the second morning excursion was a very uncooperative Kentucky Warbler that was in view only briefly and called very little. Sadly I had no luck relocating the Cape May Warbler for the day despite several stops at its favored location. Overall I ended the day with eleven species of warbler, which is the same count as the previous day.
Tropical Parula, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 9, 2024
Tropical Parula, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 9, 2024
Tennessee Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 9, 2024
Golden crowned Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 9, 2024
Black and White Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 9, 2024
Yellow Warbler, Hotel Laguna Arenal, Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica, Mar 9, 2024
On Saturday we stayed around the lodge until early afternoon and then moved over to our new lodging along Lake Arenal for a couple nights. This is when the trip hit another speed bump. We arrived at our new lodging (Hotel Laguna Arenal) and it was nothing like it was described. We picked it as it got great reviews but I would not recommend it to anyone. The view was great from the room but that was it. The room was very noisy, there were several free roaming cats on the property, the restaurant on site was closed, etc, etc. It was far from what the reviews stated and what the website from the hotel described. We then spent a few hours trying to find new lodging (the Arenal Observatory Lodge had no openings for the two remaining nights we would be in Costa Rica). We eventually found lodging further up the lake in Nuevo Arenal (a place called
Villa Decary) and transport to there. It was a very stressful day to deal with on vacation. Overall for the day I ended with eleven species for the day (ten at lodge) with the only new species for the trip being a Yellow Warbler that showed up as we were leaving Hotel Laguna Arenal to a better spot.
Black and White Warbler, Villa Decary, Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica, Mar 10, 2024
American Redstart, Villa Decary, Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica, Mar 10, 2024
Cape May Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 10, 2024
After the fiasco of the previous day Sunday turned out to be good as we ended up back at Arenal Observatory Lodge. To start the day I walked along a well travelled road near our lodging and added a few warblers including my first Mourning Warbler and American Redstart of the trip as well as a few other species. After about an hour and a half along the road I returned to our lodging and we discussed our options. After some phone calls we found that the lodge had an open room so we bite the bullet and paid for more transportation back. We arrived around noon and I walked for a bit before and after a lunch. The best warbler among several I had during the afternoon was the continued Cape May Warbler. I missed on see the species the last few previous days at the lodge despite a lot of looking. Certainly happy to see it still around. I finished the day with ten species of warblers between our time along the lake and up at the lodge.
Chestnut sided Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 11, 2024
Buff rumped Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 11, 2024
Chestnut sided Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 11, 2024
Cape May Warbler, Arenal Observatory Lodge, Costa Rica, Mar 11, 2024
With a bonus morning into the early afternoon at the lodge after the debacle of the previous day I hoped to track down some warblers. The windy conditions that started the previous day continued and it looked threatening for rain. Nonetheless I headed out before dawn and continued until breakfast. The fog, wind and occasionally light rain made birding tough with only a few warblers. After a breakfast break I had plans to head back on immediately on the trails but heavy downpours for almost an hour curtailed those plans. Eventually I did make it out a little both before and after lunch on some trails close by and turned up more warblers (including the Cape May Warbler once again after a fair amount of looking). We ended our time at the lodge with a 2:30 pick up for the drive back to San Jose. I finished the day with nine species overall.
During the entire trip I found a total of 18 species in Costa Rica with one new for me in the country, Cape May Warbler. This puts my Costa Rica warbler list up to 34 species. I would highly recommend Arenal Observatory Lodge to anyone travelling to Costa Rica. but stay clear of Hotel Laguna Arenal. Villa Decary is okay for a nights stop but the grounds are not as birdy as advertised and the trails mentioned on their website no longer are maintained and therefore not accessible.
