Chestnut capped Warbler, Finca Mango, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
I made a trip down to the southern Pacific foothills of Costa Rica at the end of January into early February. This was my 16th (!) trip down to Costa Rica and my first to the area of the former Rio Magnolia Lodge since it closed. I got an Airbnb that was in the same area as the old lodge on a large tract of land (1500 acres) in an area known as Refugio San Antonio. I flew down early morning from Hartford and after a connection in Charlotte I made it to San Jose in the middle of the afternoon and then made the four hour plus trip down along the Pacific coast. I finally arrived a little after 8PM…a long ride down for sure.
Chestnut sided Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 29, 2025
Blackburnian Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 29, 2025
Mourning Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 29, 2025
Golden winged Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 29, 2025
Black and White Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 29, 2025
Tennessee Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 29, 2025
After a decent nights sleep I was out at dawn and the first warbler I had was a Blackburnian Warbler. I followed that up quickly with Chestnut sided Warblers, Slate throated Redstarts and Tennessee Warblers. More walking produced multiples of Golden winged Warbler and Mourning Warbler over the course of the morning. The Slate throated Redstarts are a species that I could not get at Rio Magnolia Lodge as the elevation there was too low. Being several hundred meters higher gives the potential of other species with the elevation there around 1300 meters. I ended the morning with half a dozen species before the clouds and fog moved in around 11AM. I stayed around the house for the afternoon and had some warblers but nothing new.
Golden winged Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 30, 2025
Wilson's Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 30, 2025
Slate throated Redstart, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 30, 2025
Blackburnian Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 30, 2025
Tennessee Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 30, 2025
My second day down there started off a little cloudier but still pleasant and warm. I hiked the road off to the south for about a mile and turned up eight species over the course of a few hours with two new species for the trip with a Yellow Warbler and a Wilson’s Warbler. After a brief break I walked another road and had more warblers including my first Gray crowned Yellowthroat of the trip. The clouds moved in by late morning and persisted for the remainder of day with some brief rainy bouts through the afternoon. Staying around the house did produce another warbler for the day with a Black and White Warbler. By the end of the day I had reached double digits with a total of ten species of warbler.
Chestnut sided Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Blackburnian Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Slate throated Redstart, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Chestnut sided Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Black and White Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Slate throated Redstart, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Blackburnian Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Golden winged Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Chestnut sided Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Chestnut capped Warbler, Finca Mango, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Chestnut capped Warbler, Finca Mango, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
Chestnut capped Warbler, Finca Mango, Costa Rica, Jan 31, 2025
On Friday I once again walked a few of the roads starting early although I did not cover as much distance. I hit a few good pockets of birds with warblers represented in a few of them. I also added another species for the trip with a Chestnut capped Warbler. Chestnut sided Warbler was the most numerous warbler once again with Tennessee Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler also around in good numbers. Late in the morning I got a ride down to a lower elevation to check out another Airbnb house owned by the same owner as the place I was currently staying. I didn’t arrive until around 10:30 and activity had trailed off quite a bit. Nonetheless I still found some decent stuff including a family group of Chestnut capped Warblers that allowed for some good photo opportunities. By the end of the day I had found nine species of warblers.
Tennessee Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 1, 2025
Wilson's Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 1, 2025
Chestnut sided Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 1, 2025
Thunderstorm over Pacific, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 1, 2025
To begin the month of February I was out again early tracking down warblers. It actually started off a little foggy and then cleared out fairly rapidly. There was a distant rumbling thunderstorm out over the Pacific as well as threatening gray skies coming in from the east that eventually brought some light rain. Thankfully it didn’t last long and didn’t impact birding much at all. With the weather being less than optimal getting views (and photos) was a bit tough at times. Nonetheless I still managed to track down eight species for the morning. Late in the morning I got a visit from John and Maureen, the former owners and operators of the now closed Rio Magnolia Lodge. I had not seen them since our last trip to the lodge back in January of 2022, not long before the lodge closed. It was great to see them but it would have been even sweeter to see them again at the lodge!
Golden winged Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 2, 2025
Golden winged Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 2, 2025
Tennessee Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 2, 2025
Mourning Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 2, 2025
Mourning Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 2, 2025
After getting out early on Sunday to do some owling I then spent the next few hours walking the roads looking for birds. Just as it was getting light enough to see I had an interesting sighting. In a small tree (perhaps 30 feet tall) I noticed some activity and found all the birds (at least seven) to be Tennessee Warblers. I assume they had all roosted in the same general area overnight…very interesting for sure. My initial walk for the day turned up seven species of warbler with some great looks at a few of them. The rest of the morning I spent taking a couple other short walks and during one I came across the owner of the property freshly arrived from Switzerland. I had a nice conversation with him about the property and the birds here. By late morning the clouds had settled in once again with the occasional break. The rest of the day turned up more of the same for species so ended the day with seven species in total.
Tropical Parula, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 3, 2025
Chestnut sided Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 3, 2025
Mourning Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 3, 2025
Golden winged Warbler, Refugio San Antonio, Costa Rica, Feb 3, 2025
On my last full day in Costa Rica I figured I would try to maximize the number of species seen in a day by using the knowledge gained the last several days on where some species tend to be found plus walking further down one of the roads into more open and edge habitat. During my four hours walking in the morning I found a total of ten species of warblers with one new one for the trip with a Tropical Parula (one of my main targets for the day). Oddly Tennessee Warbler was the most abundant warbler species for the day, surpassing the usual front runner of Chestnut sided Warbler. The remainder of the day was spent mainly around the house with a few short walks but no new species for the effort. I then left for the airport somewhat early on the 4th and made the five hour trip to San Jose and then an early afternoon flight to Florida. I finished my time down there with a total of dozen species of warblers.
