Author: Charlie

Retired American nature-lover, living in Costa Rica, photographing birds and other jewels of nature. This site simply reports on my joys of being RETIRED IN COSTA RICA!
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Birds From Morning Walk

Orange-bellied Trogon female 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
 Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Silver-throated Tanager
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Tropical Kingbird
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Broad-winged Hawk
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Yellowish Flycatcher
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Green-crowned Brilliant Hummingbird
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Bay-breasted Warbler juvenile female
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Rufous-collared Sparrow
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

And of course as on all bird walks, we saw many more than I photographed. Some are too small or too far away or I try and don’t get a usable photo. The last 2 photos were actually shot on  my first afternoon here while exploring, but we did see both of them on the morning bird walk. The three new birds for me are the Silver-throated Tanager, Bay-breasted Warbler and Broad-winged Hawk. Plus the photo of the Orange-bellied Trogon female is my new best photo of that species. Every trip has its rewards even beyond new birds and this one is no exception!  Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort & Nature Reserve

And of course the new ones will soon appear in my Costa Rica Birds photo gallery.
My Trip Gallery on this visit  (being developed now)
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Night Hike Creatures

Masked Tree Frog
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Masked Tree Frog
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Masked Tree Frog
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Unknown Frog 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Slim-fingers Rain Frog 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica
Bullfrog   (Really Big!)
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Pug-nosed Anole 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

One of 3 Species of Walking Stick Insects
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

One of 3 Species of Walking Stick Insects We Saw
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

One of 3 Species of Walking Stick Insects We Saw
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Wolf Spider
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Forest Floor Millipede 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

White-crowned Parrot Sleeping 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Obviously this night hike was dominated my many kinds of frogs. I do the night hike every time it is offered in one of these nature lodges and they are all very interesting and very different. On this trip we saw two snakes but I did not get a usable photo. We also saw some other kinds of frogs not shown here, lots of other insects, and heard even more. It was about 2 hours in the dark with our only light being flashlights, even for the photos, which explains partly why these photos aren’t so good. And this was unusual to not see a red-eyed tree frog, but we had the masked tree frogs which I guess you could call blue-eyed!  🙂  We also saw no mammals including no bats, no owls or other birds beyond the sleeping parrots. Each hike is unique!

I still have many other interesting photos from the first day which will just have to come later! This morning was the bird hike and I’ll show those photos tomorrow. I like it here! Not touristy and not many people! Their website link again:  Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort and Nature Reserve.

My Trip Gallery on this visit


¡Pura Vida!

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Arrival at Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort

Stained Glass Window in my Cabin
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

The One Traffic Jam Enroute to 
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

The View in All Directions fromVilla Blanca Cloud Forest Resort
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Me at the entrance gate
Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

Rufous-collared Sparrow 
 Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort
Near San Ramon, Costa Rica

I have loads of photos I would like to show, but will settle for these “just arriving” shots now. Left Atenas about 10:15 and arrive around 11:30-11:45, had lunch, explored grounds, made many photos yet to show, 6:00 to 8:00 Night Hike and late dinner with two other guys. The hike was great with more species of frogs than I’ve ever seen, a flock of parrots sleeping, 2 snakes, gobs of strange insects, and I’m sure something else. That will be one whole post! So this quick post and off to bed for an early morning birding hike before breakfast. This place is wonderful!

My Trip Gallery on this visit   and   the Hotel Website

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Cloud Forest Experience This Week

The mountains north of where I live contain many small farms and large forest reserves.
I am going to experience that as well as seek out mountain birds, relax, and enjoy great food!

While at Aguila de Osa Hotel on Drake Bay I learned that they were part of a small chain of 4 nature hotels under the name of Greentique Hotels and that one was less than 2 hours from Atenas, just north of San Ramon and not too far from Arenal Volcano, one of the most beautiful in the world! It is Called Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel and Nature Reserve. (Click link or logo for their website.) I decided then to add it to my list of future trips and here it is this Monday-Friday. I have 3 guided birding/nature hikes scheduled and if at least 2 other adults there to make a group, I will take the day trip to Arenal Volcano National Park. Otherwise, more of the reserve!

Based on my experiences in their Drake Bay hotel, I will be happy just hanging out at the hotel grounds and hiking through their reserve. Plus their sister hotel had the best food of any yet in Costa Rica, so that alone may be enough!  🙂  And possibly one relaxation massage! And of course lots of photographs, especially of birds and other nature! If the internet connection is good there, I will try to post daily reports with photos.

If anyone is paying that close attention to all my trips, this in some ways will be similar to my other cloud forest places visited, though all are unique. San Gerardo de Dota is the best place for photographing the Resplendent Quetzal bird and most lodges there are a little more rustic, catering mostly to birders in steeper mountain terrain. I’ve been there 3 times so far and will go again! I’ve been to Monteverde once and it may be more similar to Villa Blanca terrain on top of a mountain, though Monteverde has lots of small local hotels & cabinas and two national parks plus one big commercial hanging bridges park. It is harder to get to, driving up a steep mountain on a gravel road and a little more “touristy” than I prefer, but I got a lot of bird photos there and will go again! My other mountain experiences weren’t quite high enough to be considered “Cloud Forests” but were each good in their own ways. And the adventures continue! See reports of each in my gallery TRIPS.

I’m coming close to my 3-year anniversary living here (December) and have traveled the entire country, visiting many places for birds and other nature experiences, more than most of the expats I’ve met here. But I still have a long way to go and many new places to visit yet! One goal is to visit all 34 National Parks which shouldn’t be too difficult since I visited all 55 Tennessee State Parks! And I’m about 1/3 the way done now! Thanks for following my adventures!
¡Pura Vida!
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Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler joined me for Breakfast Friday
 My garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

I believe it is a migratory male from the states. The year-around male here has an orange/rust colored head. The female is usually lighter colored than this. This is not an uncommon bird, but all species are fun to see and to have in decent light for a photo. The next shot is not as good, but he’s flying and that to me is always fun to catch!   🙂

Yellow Warbler 
 Atenas, Costa Rica

My Costa Rica Birds photo gallery for more bird photos

THANKS for sending your birds south for your winter as our summer begins!  ~Charlie

North America has more than 50 species of warblers, but few combine brilliant color and easy viewing quite like the Yellow Warbler. In summer, the buttery yellow males sing their sweet whistled song from willows, wet thickets, and roadsides across almost all of North America. The females and immatures aren’t as bright, and lack the male’s rich chestnut streaking, but their overall warm yellow tones, unmarked faces, and prominent black eyes help pick them out.   ~The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Nat Geo names Costa Rica as Happy Place

Read about it in the online National Geographic article:
These are the World’s Happiest Places

NOTE: It may require you to log into your Nat Geo account to read the whole article.

or for an overview of how they measured happiness and 9 ways to be happy, see these videos

My garden is one of my “Happy Places” here.  🙂
As is my total Photo Gallery!  What makes you happy? 

Other organizations & universities have listed “happiest countries” similarly and always Costa Rica is in the top 3! It is nice living where people are happy and not complaining all the time like in states. It adds to me being healthy as does the universal healthcare here! “What? Me Worry?” 

¡Pura Vida!

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Nashville Seniors to Help Children’s Home Here

One view of Hogar de Vida campus, Atenas, Costa Rica

I was recently contacted by a fellow senior adult in the church I attended in Nashville, First Baptist Church, Nashville, TN USA. They were interested in doing a mission trip to Costa Rica and so I contacted the director of the Hogar De Vida children’s home here in Atenas and in short the group from Nashville will be coming in April 2018 for a week of assorted service activities at the children’s home. If you are in First Baptist Nashville and are interested, talk to anyone on the SAALT Council or to the project coordinator Fred Linkenhoker. 

If you would like to know more about the non-denominational private Christian children’s home, Hogar de Vida:

Facebook page of Hogar de Vida: 
https://www.facebook.com/HogardeVidaCR/  (See photos of others serving there in the past.) And be sure to see the featured video linked on their page:  What We Do… Video  (I can’t link it here.)

And their web page is actually a Costa Rica section inside the web page of their larger program of children’s homes in multiple countries: 
The work is being directed & coordinated by the children’s home and I am just serving as one of the team members and sort of a local host to my old friends in Nashville, especially if some decide to stay over for some Pura Vida tourism in Costa Rica. 

Speaking Spanish is not required, though very helpful if you do! 🙂


Learn through on-the-ground moments about the world beyond your zip code.   ~Samaritan’s Feet Website
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Color Coordination ? Sun Protection ?

I like, thus my collections of caps and sunglasses for walking.
I almost never go out without a cap.
Here’s my collection!

Similarly I never go out without sunglasses.
 And my collection of those,
A green T-shirt just needs a green cap and sunglasses!
Common sense, huh? 
  🙂   Fun!  ¡Divertido!

And cheap (borato) sunglasses are plentiful here! 
Some less than $2  –  las gafas de sol

While most caps, la gorras, are more expensive (más caro)!
¡Pura Vida!
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Cardiology Doctor Visit Today

So, I waited over an hour but that included having my blood pressure checked, being weighed and measured, and an EKG. I waited longer than that for docs in Nashville I was paying big bucks for! This did not cost me a penny under the government healthcare plan call CAJA (an acrostic for something). Medicare for All is what you guys in the states should do. And as a Senior Adult (adulto mayor) I rode the bus to and from Alajuela for free! They treat us old people nice in Costa Rica, even foreigners! I do pay a monthly fee for CAJA kind of like we do for Medicare in the States and for me about the same price. BUT, this pays 100% of everything, doctors, hospitals, surgeries, procedures, prescriptions!

As I already knew, my arteries were shown to be clear in the angiogram I had in August. I have an appointment (cita) to see Dr. Hernandez (el cardiólogo) again in August 2018 with a separate appointment for the lab 10 days before to get my blood analyzed. And enough prescriptions to keep me on Atenolol & baby aspirin until then. Both Rxs are free for me but I need a new paper prescription each month, only one month at a time supply allowed!—so the doc gave me 10 prescriptions!  🙂   I get them filled at our local CAJA Clinic here in Atenas Central. 

Now back to birding and other fun retirement activities. Life is good! And a trip next week which you will soon hear about! 


🙂