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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Cañon Negro Birds, Part 2

Mangrove Cuckoo
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Great Blue Heron (Running from A Caiman?)
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Black-collared Hawk
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Amazon Kingfisher male
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Sungrebe (non-breeding male)
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Neotropic Cormorant
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

Black-necked Stilt
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica
Roseate Spoonbills
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica
Could not get closer. We were not in the boat but walking in mud!

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Cañon Negro Reserve, Costa Rica

See Yesterday’s Post for the other 9 photos of birds there that I’m sharing, including a Squirrel Cuckoo and Laughing Falcon. Then Monday I shared only the Harris’s Hawk, maybe my favorite, which we saw driving back from Cañon Negro.

About Cañon Negro Wildlife Refuge  (Wikipedia)  Tomorrow some scenery & people there

Or for more of my general photos see the gallery Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA


So far, every new trip I make in Costa Rica yields at least one new species of birds photo for me. And this trip was no exception! On this post the new ones for me are the Mangrove Cuckoo and Black-collared Hawk. And new ones the last two days were the Harris’s Hawk and Laughing Falcon! Four more species added to my collection this week! Not bad!
And that collection is my Birds photo gallery
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Cañon Negro Birds, Part 1

Squirrel Cuckoo 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Anhinga female 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Yellow-throated Toucan 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica
Green Heron 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica
Amazon Kingfisher female 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica
Boat-billed Heron 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Laughing Falcon 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Red-winged Blackbird 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

Social Flycatcher building a nest 
Cañon Negro, Costa Rica

And 9 more tomorrow night, then we start on Tenorio and more from the lodge. Tomorrow (Wed.) I ride the buses back to Atenas.

And my Birds photo gallery

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Harris’s Hawk

Harris’s Hawk
Roadside between Bijagua and Canon Negro, Costa Rica

Click the photo to see it larger.

I made around 600 images at Canon Negro today and have a lot of birds & other photos to share, but I have not had time to process them all, plus we have been without internet connection most of the day and what we have now is very slow. So this is all the report for tonight. But this shot of a Harris’s Hawk will probably be my favorite shot of the day and is my first ever for this kind of hawk. I also got two other kinds of hawks and a Laughing Falcon today, but not this good of an image.

Tomorrow I finally get to the nearby Tenorio Volcano National Park which is where I want to photograph a beautiful waterfall with bright blue water, BUT, all the heavy winds blew a tree down over the waterfall trail Saturday or Sunday and as of today they still have not opened the trail, soooo, I may not get the waterfall I came for. I will learn when I get there. There are other trails to hike and birds to find and I’m hoping for the rare Umbrella Bird that is known to be in the park, but tough to see. Will try! Having a great trip! Traveled to Canon Negro with a lovely couple from France today. Using the same guide tomorrow, Alex, to explore the park, just him and I.

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Birds at Celeste Mountain Lodge

Golden-hooded Tanager
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Clay-colored Thrush
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica
The National Bird of Costa Rica

Great Kiskadee
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Barred Antshrike Female
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Kiskadee, White-ringed or Social Flycatcher
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Blue & Gold Tanager
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Sepia-capped Flycatcher Maybe
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Yellow-faced Grassquit
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Passerini’s Tanager Female
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Passerini’s Tanager Male
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Yellow-throated Euphonia
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Celeste Mountain Lodge, Bijagua, Costa Rica

I saw several other birds and a couple of others I got bad photos of, but these are the ones I’m willing to share!

Most of these are repeats for me but I’m always looking for a better photo of every bird! The new species for me here at the lodge are the Barred Antshrike Female, though I got a male in Nicaragua; the Yellow-faced Grassquit and the Sepia-capped Flycatcher.

Of course you can also see my photo gallery titled Costa Rica Birds for more!
Or for all of Central America, go to Birds
Later after this trip I will share some photos of the flowers and insects seen here plus what the lodge’s rainforest trail looked like. But birds come first.  🙂

Or you might want to see the lodge’s website for more about their services, great food, etc.
Happy International Day of Happiness!  March 20   🙂
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By Bus to Bijagua

I road my familiar bus to San Jose Coca Cola Station and then
a taxi to Pulmitan Station where I waited for the bus to Upala with everything
indoors at this station, including the boarding of the buses. I nice terminal.

And if I had not eaten breakfast at home, I could have eaten here.
I did have coffee of course and read a little of a Spanish language
newspaper and the latest book on my Kindle while waiting. 

It was the same bus all the way to Bijagua with many brief stops picking up people. Yes, it was a “collectivo” stopping anywhere someone was at a stop and went into Alajuela Central to pick up a lot of people there. It was definitely best that I went to San Jose and got my favorite seat, the front right seat looking out the windshield all the way up! It was most of the way on Highway 1 and from Baranca on a very familiar route to me which we used on our “Visa Runs” that first year. And the Baranca bus station is also a restaurant with shops and big restrooms that I have stopped at many times, so quite familiar. We had a 20 minute break there. All other stops were along the road including my stop in Bijagua in front of a Soda. I found an unmarked taxi that took me to the lodge.

After arriving at Celeste Mountain Lodge I wandered around with my camera for a few birds in the garden and a bird-less hike on a rainforest trail which I will try again in the morning. The room is basic and nice but the food is fantastic gourmet food! At least dinner was tonight! 3 more dinners plus the other meals. It will be amazing if they keep up the quality of food we had tonight. It is one menu for everyone each night with something new everyday. We started with the best 3-cheese quesadilla appetizer with homemade peccadillo that I could have made a meal of! Then sliced chicken breast with this scrumptious sauce accompanied by three local fresh vegetables all cooked differently, with their own sauces. My Planter’s Punch went great with this and it was topped off with a delicious chocolate layer cake. Wow! Beats bus stop food!  🙂
I have a lot of pictures from this afternoon here, but will save them for sharing tomorrow. Tired and sleepy now! And it is cool tonight! Down to 17c or 62f.   ¡Buenos noches!
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My Spanish line is ready for the San Jose bus station in the morning.

Necesito el bus a Upala, saliendo en Bijagua. Favor de por entrada de adulto mayor.

I need the bus to Upala, exiting in Bijagua. A ticket for one senior adult please.

It pays to be over 65 here (adulto mayor), giving me discounts on all buses and national parks, museums and theaters, etc. 

I emailed my self the Spanish line so I can open it on my phone and read it if needed. Or more likely I will wing it! The first sentence is easy now, and the second can be shortened to “para un adulto mayor” as I hand him/her my cedula and gold card.

The bus trip is part of the adventure!  🙂
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Tree-trimming the Quick Way!

Whack! Whack! and Drop the Machete!
All before I can turn on my cellphone & photograph it!
2 limbs of my Guarumo Tree were banging against roof in the wind.
My yard, Atenas, Costa Rica

Photo gallery of My Home Gardens

And for anyone planning to drive a car here in the near future, Ruta 27 will get a little faster next week and the La Patina Bridge repairs & widening is to be finished by April 30 according to this article in Tico Times. And it will speed up the buses to San Jose also!

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Seeing Costa Rica by Public Bus

Looking out my bus’ front window at others waiting for different buses.
Coca Cola Bus Station, San Jose, Costa Rica

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.

Robert Louis Stevenson

I’ve already mentioned that I am traveling to my next adventure destination by public bus. For fellow travelers here or you in other countries planning to travel here on a budget, let me share one more help for this kind of travel. It is a Facebook Group Costa Rica by Bus. It is a free, public group but you have to join to be notified of postings. 

The Robert Lous Stevenson quote above in on that group’s heading and possibly typical of the many young adults who like to travel all over Costa Rica. 

I just posted a statement of how I changed my plan for this week, learned from Juan, my new helper at the bus station here in Atenas. Here it is  in case you don’t see it there: 

I learned a new trick today to make my bus traveling maybe a little easier, thanks to Juan at the Atenas Bus Station. I’m going to Tenorio Volcano National Park, closest town Bijagua. The online scheduler had me going from Atenas to Orotina, then on to Baranca where I catch the pass-through bus to Upala after a layover. Juan suggested that even though “back-tracking,” it would be easier, maybe quicker, and surer to go to San Jose where the Upala Bus starts. When I’m on that bus (seat guaranteed if early) I never have to get off or worry about missing a connection or waiting for a bus or having a seat. Since the Atenas & Upala stations in San Jose are close, I’m going to try that this trip. Any comments or suggestions? Or something I or Juan didn’t think of? 


And I think I already shared the site where you can plan a schedule in English online:
 http://thebusschedule.com/EN/cr/   To have it show my revised schedule above, I just add in the box “By way of” the words San Jose. And we will see if anyone comments on paragraph above. You can learn a lot from fellow-travelers! 

There are many bus companies in Costa Rica and we have one in Atenas:  http://www.coopetransatenas.com/


Most Atenas buses are nice modern vehicles like this Mercedes-Benz
But most are not air-conditioned which really isn’t needed here.
This one is German-made, others Korean or Chinese – all imported.
Buses to very rural areas are sometimes old school buses.

And if you want something else to ride a bus to, try San Jose’s Fiesta de Gallo Pinto. 



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Passion Flowers

Red Passionflower
On a vine covering a neighbor’s wall, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Note the three stages here, bud, open flower, and spent flower.

Passionflower
Monteverde, Costa Rica
This one is like the ones I used to photograph in Tennessee.

See photos of some of the many varieties of Passionflowers in Costa Rica


I never cease to be amazed at the huge variety of flowers here. Though not the main focus of my photography, you might want to see the few I have photographed in gallery Flora & Forests
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The Lost City of the Monkey God

Nope, not my next trip! The Lost City of the Money God, A True Story is a book I’m reading right now on my Kindle Fire and it is fun! It is mostly about the 2012 and 2014 explorations of a totally uninhabited rainforest in eastern Honduras mostly to see if there really was a “lost city,” “White City” or “City of the Monkey God” of legends and what they discovered just might become the largest of all pre-Columbian indigenous cities in Central America. It will take years to know. It will certainly rival the Mayan city of Copán now attracting tourists to western Honduras.

Here’s the National Geographic summary story by the National Geographic writer who also wrote the book with photos by the Nat Geo Photographer who traveled with him.

Or here is a different summary by CBS News online

And some additional bits on the National Geographic Website with a little video

This is in one of my neighbor countries now and really interests me. The new Mayan city discovered in Guatemala is suppose to be the largest one yet, though this one is sounding like a possible rival and it may not even be Mayan. They don’t know yet what culture.

This also interests me because the jungle there is so like the jungles here that spark my sense of adventure and exploration. Their encounters there with a Fer-de-lance Viper like one I found dead on my street as starters. And I look forward to another new adventure this coming Saturday, Tenorio Volcano Park and Canon Negro. Though I do hope the vipers keep their distance!   🙂