Rachel
My partner and I had similar concerns when signing up for a trip to Belize
in mid June - would all the neat birds that folks go to see going be absent?
I am happy to report that the trip was an unqualified success for us. There
were significant groups of birds absent (warblers and many water birds) -
but our trip focused on the interior and came up with about 165 life birds
for us. That is, there were plenty of neat birds left in the rain forests
and jungle. So I suggest that whether Costa Rica in July will be worth it
depends on your target birds, and the quality of your tour. FYI, we went
with Michael Carmody of Legacy Tours (based in Spokane) and could not have
been more pleased with the guiding and accommodations.
Jan

-----Original Message-----
From: vogelfreund at comcast.net [mailto:vogelfreund at comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 3:03 PM
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] RFI: Costa Rica in July

I can't give you answers you are looking for, but I keep recalling that an
ecotourist/student researcher, or etc. was killed by an angry swarm of
"killer bees" while in Costa Rica. So be carefull!

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Rachel" <RachelWL at msn.com>
> I am considering signing up for a birding trip to Costa Rica for next
> July. Most tour groups go to Costa Rica in February and March, but this
> trip originally was designed for school teachers who have summers off.
> Migrants from North America will be absent at that season, but I'm not
> sure what other trade-offs there are. Does anyone have opinions about
> the advantages and disadvantages of going to Costa Rica in July?
>
> Please reply off-list.
>
> Thanks,
> Rachel Lawson
> Seattle
> RachelWL at msn.com
>