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!
Posted on

Laughing Gull for April Fool’s Day :-)

Laughing Gull,  Lake Nicaragua near Granada

Cornell’s All About Birds on the Laughing Gull

Labeling these bird photos is not always an exact science and here I have some doubts, though this is the name my guide gave it. The books show more of a black cap or hood than this bird has but the first year juveniles don’t have it and this one does look young.

Posted on

2 Motmots & 1 Kingfisher in Nicaragua

Tourquoise-browed Motmot was common at Montibelli Reserve, Nicaragua

Blue-crowned Motmot at Montibelli Reserve, Nicaragua

Blue-crowned Momot taking a dust bath at El Jaguar Reserve, Nicaragua

Read About Motmots on Wikipedia


Belted Kingfisher on Lake Nicaragua at Granada, Nicaragua

Belted Kingfisher Flying, Lake Nicaragua

Read About Kingfishers on Wikipedia


Posted on

3 Trogons in Nicaragua

Black-headed Trogon, Montibelli Reserve, Nicaragua
This one is very common in Montibelli and we saw many!
Elegant Trogon, Montibelli Reserve, Nicaragua

Gartered Trogon, Selva Negra Reserve, Nicaragua

Trogons are one of if not my favorite group of birds and my living room here has one wall of my bird photos, most being trogons. The rare Resplendent Quetzal is actually a Trogon, just the most colorful and different of them all. My collection is growing! 🙂

For those interested in the bird locations, it was a little surprising that we did not see a trogon in El Jaguar though I probably shot more total birds there. It is higher in the mountains and in theory could have a quetzal and other trogons, but we saw none there. 
In my Costa Rica Birds photo gallery I have only 3 Trogons plus the Resplendent Quetzal photos, which really makes it 4. And on my 2013-14 holidays tour of Panama I saw 4 Trogons but no quetzal, and we were still calling the gartered violaceous at that time. And here I’ve added 3 in Nicaragua. All total counting the Quetzal, I’ve photographed 9 different species of trogons in Central America and did not see any when in the Brazilian Amazon. 
See Wikipedia on Trogons where they say there are 39 species around the world with the most being in the neotropics (24) and 12 of those in Asia. The Costa Rica bird book lists 9 and Nicaragua’s 7. 

Posted on

Last Night in Nicaragua – Tired & Just One Photo

I’m exhausted from 6 days in the jungle with no internet or much electricity, seeing and photographing more birds than I expected for an absolutely wonderful week! I’m in Managua tonight (Tuesday) and fly back to San Jose in the morning. Expect a lot of Nicaragua photos during the next couple of weeks! 🙂

Crimson-collared Tanager, El Jaguar Reserva, Nicaragua  (Standing on a coffee plant!)

This is my favorite shot of the whole 8 days in Nicaragua and totally untouched or cropped! Straight out of the camera. As we walked along one side of a coffee field we stopped to see a smaller bird across the way in a tree. This guy flew down and landed about 7 feet from me on this coffee plant. A true blessing! And I’ve now fallen in love with another Central American country!  🙂

J.M. Barrie

“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird
Posted on

Too Much Seen to Report it All!

Today’s Volcano Mombucho has many more photos but I’m settling for the orchid growing near the top! Yesterday’s boating trip had about 20 different species of birds photographed and I’m settling on just the Limpkin, my first to see or photograph in the wild! Plus one of the monkeys we saw on an island. And at dinner tonight more Holy Week pageantry. Tomorrow after breakfast I leave on my birding tour, so in the rainforests the next 6 days. And MAY NOT HAVE INTERNET MUCH OF THE NEXT WEEK.

Orchid growing wild on Volcan Mombucho
Limpkin camouflaged in tree on Lake Nicaragua
Monkey eating apple on an island in Lake Nicaragua
Tonight’s Semana Santa pageantry in addition to a carnival at the church.
Again with the large volunteer brass band playing and parading with the above through streets.

It’s an awesome place!
Nicaragua!

Nuestras experiencias más encantadoras son las más breves; es mejor que no sean comunes . . .
Posted on

Nature Air Travel to Nicaragua

View of Cathedral from Iglesia La Merced bell tower across from my hotel
I immediately got into the colonial beauty of this old town.
My Nature Air plane for 11 of us from San Jose to Managua
Views from a small plane are spectacular! Farms, mountains and Lake Nicaragua.

Posted on

First Night in Granada is Memorable!

La Merced Church is across the street from my Hotel La Merced and I watched this during my open air dinner,
Semana Santa (Holy Week) has pageantry several days and I’m thankful to begin my tour of Nicaragua with this!

From Wikipedia: 

A common feature in Spain is the almost general usage of the nazareno or penitential robe for some of the participants in the processions. This garment consists in a tunic, a hood with conical tip (capirote) used to conceal the face of the wearer, and sometimes a cloak. The exact colors and forms of these robes depend on the particular procession. The robes were widely used in the medieval period for penitents, who could demonstrate their penance while still masking their identity. These nazarenos carry processional candles or rough-hewn wooden crosses, may walk the city streets barefoot, and, in some places may carry shackles and chains on their feet as penance. In some areas, sections of the participants wear dress freely inspired by the uniforms of the Roman Legion.[1]

I will share more about the trip and other activities tomorrow. 

Posted on

Night Hike Shots

Sorry, I meant to post this last night before I left for Nicaragua. The last post from Monteverde.

Sleeping Brown Jay
Monteverde, Costa Rica

Sleeping Orange-bellied Trogon
Monteverde, Costa Rica
Sleeping Keel-billed Toucan
Monteverde, Costa Rica

Sleeping Skipper Butterfly
Monteverde, Costa Rica
A Strange Cloud Forest Fruit Eaten Only by Bats
Monteverde, Costa Rica

It Was Dark! Night Hike!
Monteverde, Costa Rica

We saw many other creatures that I could not get usable photos of, like a Margay cat, two snakes, army ants, leaf-cutter ants, other insects, and some other birds including a spectacled owl.

Posted on

Other INSECTS at Monteverde

Golden Orb Spider

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Costa Rica

 

Unknown Insect

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica
At the entrance buildings

 

Walking-Leaf Katydid

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Costa Rica

 

Walking-Stick Insect

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Costa Rica

 

Unknown Insect

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Costa Rica

 

Leaf Cutter Ants

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Costa Rica

 

Butterfly Caterpillars in the Rainforest

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Monteverde, Costa Rica

There were of course many more insects seen and not photographed. Costa Rica has one of the largest selection of insect species in the world, more than all of the U.S. and Canada combined and yet it is the size of the state of West Virginia.

My Other Insects of Costa Rica  PHOTO GALLERY     OR   Costa Rica Butterflies

And I just finished the Monteverde Birding Club Trip 2016 TRIP PHOTO GALLERY

If we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land. Within a few months.    ~E. O. Wilson
Land of Great Species Diversity

 

 

Posted on

10 Things the USA Could Learn from Costa Rica

Here’s a neat little blog article by a younger writer, Joe Baur:

10 Things the USA Could Learn from Costa Rica  (click title to read)

Pura Vida!

And he didn’t even mention that we have no army and get along with all our neighbors and all other countries in the world. And no Republican Party! Though sorry to say there’s politics here, just not as evil as the states’.  🙂  But we will stick with a young writer’s ten reasons for now!

They are also just 10 of the many reasons I came to Costa Rica and expect to stay here the rest of my life! I have many other reasons like the natural world, etc. . . .

Anyway! Enjoy!