Alice and I enjoyed this trip, but would not place it in our top five trips, but rather somewhere in our top ten. We were ready to head for home after disembarking the Quest. If I had to plan this trip all over again, I might have looked into spending a couple of days going up the east coast of Costa Rica and flying back home out of San Jose rather than Panama City, and skipping the Panama City extension.
If you are interested a birding only trip to Costa Rica, there are several good companies, such as Fieldguides, that offer good adventures. One of my Virginia birding friends, Allen Hale, has offered small group tours to Costa Rica and Panama for many years. If you only have a day or two in Costa Rica, or want to add a day or two to an existing trip, I might be able to put you in contact with Max Vindas as a private guide.
I want to thank the following people for reviewing my report and/or photos, and helping with identifications of some of the bird species: John Rowlett, Walt Childs, Allen Hale, and Max Vindas. Most of the birds I saw and/or photographed were identified in the field by NatGeo naturalists, but there's always a few photos that I take where I need to make the identifications after processing the photos.
Trip bird list (129 species; "P"hoto; "V"isual only):
Amazon Kingfisher P
Anhinga P
Azure-hooded Jay P
Bananaquit P
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron P
Barn Swallow P
Barred Antshrike P
Bat Falcon P
Bay-headed Tanager P
Black Vulture P
Black-bellied Plover P
Black-crowned Antshrike P
Black-crowned Manakin V
Black-crowned Night-Heron P
Black-necked Stilt P
Black-throated Green Warbler P
Blue-and-White Swallow P
Blue-footed Booby P
Blue-gray Tanager P
Blue-headed Parrot V
Blue-throated Goldentail V
Boat-billed Flycatcher P
Boat-billed Heron P
Brown Booby P
Brown Pelican P
Buff-throated Saltator P
Cattle Egret P
Cherrie's Tanager P
Chestnut-backed Antbird P
Chestnut-sided Warbler P
Cocoi Heron P
Collared Redstart P
Common Chlorospingus P
Common Tern P
Common Tody-Flycatcher P
Costa Rican Warbler P
Crested Caracara P
Crimson-fronted Parakeet P
Dot-winged Antwren P
Double-toothed Kite P
Fork-tailed Flycatcher P
Garden Emerald V
Golden-olive Woodpecker P
Gray Hawk P
Gray-breasted Martin P
Gray-headed Chachacala P
Great Blue Heron P
Great Egret P
Great Kiskadee P
Great-crested Flycatcher V
Great-tailed Grackle P
Green Heron P
Green Kingfisher P
House Sparrow P
Keel-billed Toucan P
Laughing Gull P
Least Sandpiper P
Lesser Greenlet V
Lesson's Motmot P
Limpkin P
Little Blue Heron P
Magnificent Frigatebird P
Mangrove Black Hawk P
Mangrove Swallow P
Mealy Parrot P
Mountain Elaenia P
Muscovy Duck P
Neotropic Cormorant P
Northern Potoo P
Northern Waterthrush P
Olive-striped Flycatcher P
Orange-collared Manakin P
Osprey P
Palm Tanager P
Philadelphia Vireo P
Plain Xenops V
Plain-breasted Ground-Dove P
Purple-throated Mountain Gem P
Red-billed Pigeon P
Red-capped Manakin P
Red-crowned Woodpecker P
Red-faced Spinetail P
Red-legged Honeycreeper P
Red-lored Parrot P
Resplendent Quetzal P
Roadside Hawk V
Rock Pigeon P
Roseate Spoonbill P
Royal Tern P
Ruddy Treerunner P
Ruddy Turnstone P
Rufous-capped Warbler P
Rufous-naped Wren P
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird P
Sandwich Tern P
Scarlet Macaw P
Scarlet-rumped Cacique P
Short-billed Dowitcher P
Short-tailed Swift P
Slate-throated Redstart P
Slaty Antwren P
Snowy Egret P
Sooty Thrush P
Sooty-capped Chlorospingus V
Spot-crowned Euphonia P
Spotted Sandpiper P
Spotted Woodcreeper P
Streaked Flycatcher P
Summer Tanager P
Tricolored Heron P
Tropical Kingbird P
Tropical Mockingbird P
Turkey Vulture P
Unidentified ID:9582 P
Unidentified ID:9903 P
Variable Seedeater P
Whimbrel P
White Ibis P
White-shouldered Tanager P
White-tipped Dove V
White-winged Dove P
Willet P
Wood Stork P
Yellow Warbler V
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher P
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron P
Yellow-faced Grassquit P
Yellow-headed Caracara P
Yellow-throated Toucan P
Jump to start of trip; January 5/6
Jump to Monteverde Cloud Forest; January 7
Jump to Monteverde Cloud Forest; January 8
Jump to Tarcoles River Cruise; January 9
Jump to Corcovado National Park; January 10
Jump to Golfo Dulce; January 11
Jump to Golfo Dulce; January 12
Jump to Coiba National Park; January 13
Jump to Panama Canal; January 14
Jump to Gatun Lake January 15
Jump to Panama City trip extension January 16-18
Jump to Final remarks and trip bird list