Going Bats in Costa Rica

Many of you may have read Venkat’s and Alex’s trip report from their short but sweet visit to Costa Rica in early 2022:

If you felt a certain twinge of envy that they saw 72 species of mammals, including 45 species of bats and some rarities like Alston’s Mouse Opossum and Central American Silky Anteater, then this is the trip for you! Vino de Backer has offered to take a small group to some of the same hotspots, on a 5-night high-speed mammal and bat extravaganza, ending up at my lovely property, Sylvan Camp and Falls, where, if you act fast, you may be able to stay for a week-long bat blitz (one space just opened up), or just stay a night or two and head back north with Vino.

The trip starts on Feb 14. You’ll make your way to Sarapiqui to look for bat rarities and other highlights here then head to Monteverde with Vino for bat netting and mammalwatching. After 2 nights you will drive south, stopping at a tunnel loaded with bats and taking a boat ride at Damas for the silky anteater, and finally continuing south to Sylvan.

Our bat blitz will be full of expert leaders – Daniel Hargreaves and Melissa Donnelly will be joined by Jose Gabriel Martinez (just check Jon’s Nicaragua reports to find out more about Jose, he is a bit of a legend). Dave Johnston will also be coming with an array of high nets. I think it will be pretty exceptional for molossids, given the high nets we will have on hand (and folks to work them). You can choose to leave Feb 19/20 or with Vino Feb 21-22, or, if you get the last spot on the bat blitz, Feb 25 is the last day. Please contact me through the above website for more information,

thanks, Fiona Reid