Category: Birds

Posted on

Soda y Mirador Cinchona

Early this morning I used my favorite driver, Walter, to take me on an hour and a half drive up the mountains near Poas Volcano (which will reopen by December if no more eruptions). I have been hearing about a little Soda (small family restaurant) for a long time that everyone says I must visit for the wide variety of birds at their feeders and one of the most beautiful waterfall vistas.

I was not disappointed! Here is a slideshow of some of what seen and you can go to my TRIPS Photo Gallery for a gallery of today’s trip, Soda y Mirador Cinchona that will give you larger and more photos to see of one more great place to visit in Costa Rica! Birds are presented in the order found in the book The Birds of Costa Rica, A Field Guide.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Posted on

Two Species Share Perching Space

Red-billed Pigeon

I watched these two at breakfast this morning as they perched together on that cable for the power lines. Maybe this dove and pigeon are role models that some North Americans need today. 🙂 Very different but happy together.

(Sorry, but I could not get a photo of them together with both in focus at my distance. They were like 6 to 10 inches apart but down the hill and across the street from me.)

White-winged Dove and Red-billed Pigeon are both common and plentiful here. Their name links are to online articles about each bird on the excellent Cornell Lab of Ornithology Neotropical Birds site. Also see these two and other tropical birds in my BIRDS Photo Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

 

Some tribes of birds will relieve and rear up the young and helpless, of their own and other tribes, when abandoned. 

~William Bartram

Posted on

Clay-colored Thrush or Yiqüirro

 

The National Bird of Costa Rica is known for singing in the rainy season in April and May, thus his honored position in Costa Rica, yet a simple bird. Seen here in my back garden, hiding behind a limb he thinks.

Change the world by being yourself. – Amy Poehler

Posted on

Retire Here on Less Than $30,000 a year!

One of the regular blogs I read is Christopher Howard’s Live in Costa Rica (he also does the best relocation tour) and his latest blog post quoted International Living Magazine on Costa Rica being one of the best places in the world to retire on less than $30,000 a year. Read his post or go to the online version of International Living and maybe find it there. And bear in mind that it is still true even with Costa Rica having the highest cost of living in Central America, but right now I don’t think you want to retire in any of the other Central American countries! (Panama being a sometimes exception.) I chose to retire in luxury in Costa Rica over sliding into retirement poverty in the U.S.

Description of 5 Locations in Costa Rica that Retirees Love in an International Living article.

Today’s photo is of a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, the most common in my garden and possibly all over Costa Rica or at least in many of the places I have visited. They are aggressive and chase other species of Hummingbirds away from feeders and even “their” garden sometimes. Thus I have mixed feelings about them!   🙂    ¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Isla Popa for the Snowy Cotinga

One afternoon we had a 2 hour boat ride around a smaller island called Popa. 
This is the only island in the Boca del Toro Archipelago to have the Snowy Cotinga.
We searched for over an hour before we finally found one of these semi-rare birds.
Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

For the birders among my readers, this is only my second time to see and photograph a Snowy Cotinga. The other time was Christmas before last at Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí.  


And everyone likes to see a toucan! This is now called the Yellow-throated Toucan
Popa is close enough to the mainland for toucans to fly to them.
Our island, Barsimanto, is not, thus no toucans!
Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

Brown Pelican 
 Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

Brown Pelican 
 Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

Being in the Atlantic Ocean with lots of islands and mainland nearby is pretty!
Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

I love the trees! 
 Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

I love the trees! 
 Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

I love the trees! 
 Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

And the houses and tourist cabins are interesting too! 
 Popa Island, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
I am now back home in Atenas, Costa Rica after a very long day getting back with rain and heavy traffic making it a slower drive and not back home until about 8:30 or 9:00 PM Wednesday night. Today, Thursday, was busy with laundry, grocery shopping, bank visit, and lots of text messages and emails to deal with. Friday I meet a young friend for lunch who wants to practice his English and I will practice my Spanish. And Saturday morning I will go to Alajuela to pick up another photo book that has arrived. I probably will be sharing more photos from Panama for another week. It was a good trip! 

And in between all the other things I will be back onto building my new website and maybe transferring this blog to it. 
Posted on

Early Birds 2

Blue Dacnis Female
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Passerini’s Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Palm Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Kiskadee
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Green-breasted Mango Hummingbird
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Tropical Kingbird
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Plain-colored Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

And my photo gallery:  Panama Birds
Posted on

Early Birds 1

I was going to do one post with the first or early birds photographed here on the lodge grounds, but with 14 already I’m dividing it into two posts of 7 each. Then we go to another island today and the mainland tomorrow for many more birds I hope! But with slow internet, 7 is enough for one post!

Red-lored Parrot
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Red-lored Parrot
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

There are also Mealy Parrots and Blue-headed Parrots here, but I have no photos of them yet. 

Lineated Woodpecker
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Black-cheeked Woodpecker
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Boat-billed Flycatcher
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

There is a slight difference between this flycatcher and the Kiskadee which I will show one of tomorrow. They are easy to confuse!

White-lined Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

The “white line” is on his shoulder and only seen when in flight. 

Blue-gray Tanager
Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, Bocas del Toro, Panama

Living slow in the jungles on an island in the Western Atlantic or Western Caribbean Sea. It is very hot and humid and you tire easily but it is a great place with lots of wildness, This afternoon we go to another island for a particular bird found only there, the Snowy Cotinga. Tomorrow we do the first of three trips to the mainland for birds. The two families running the lodge are very accomodating of us and our needs/desires. Cabins are very nice and the food is very good. We are experiencing a Panama version of pura vida!

TTranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge 

Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
Posted on

The flowers have to be sisters of the birds..!!

My favorite birding group here now is a Tico Facebook group called:  Asociacion Ornitologica de Costa Rica

The one photo I posted there from my Arenal trip was this Keel-billed Toucan that I also used on the cover of the book about Arenal Observatory.

Several comments were made but the most interesting was from Diego who said,

Las flores han de ser hermanas de las aves..!!

ENGLISH TRANSLATION: 
The flowers have to be sisters of the birds..!!

It is possibly and old saying or even a quote from some writer (though my Google search did not find an author), but I thought it so interesting and true especially with some of the many colorful birds here in Costa Rica and I appreciate Diego’s comment! 

Toucans are difficult to photograph even with the tower at Arenal putting me up on their level! But they certainly are a lot like flying flowers!   🙂


If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes. 
~Charles Lindbergh
Posted on

Last Day in this Paradise – Arenal Observatory

A sign in the lodge property that is my motto for travels all over Costa Rica.
Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Variable Seedeater male
 Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica

I tried again this morning and will again this afternoon and tomorrow morning, but have not found

my two target bird, Bare-necked Umbrella Bird and Yellow-eared Toucanet which I have a lousy dark photo of from Tenorio National Park, but I really want a good photo of one! Both birds are supposed to be here but you can never guarantee a find! As of Tuesday afternoon I do have photos of 27 different species of birds and 5 of those are new photo-finds for me! So not bad! They are:

4. Gray-capped Flycatcher  (with a fly in his mouth)
5. Piratic Flycatcher

Links are to my photo of that bird on this trip. 

And the big treat for today was monkeys! I went back to “The Nest” or observation tower at 4:00 PM and it was surrounded by both Howler Monkeys and a few Spider Monkeys, but I have 300 photos to go through and pick just a few for you in tomorrow’s post. So Expect monkeys tomorrow!   🙂
And now for tonight’s last sunset at Arenal for me: 
Sunset over Lake Arenal at Arenal Observatory Lodge, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!

And My Photo Gallery for this Trip is being added to daily while on the trip! 
There you can see all the birds together, etc. plus photos not on the blog.


Tomorrow morning at 11 AM I reluctantly leave Arenal for my return to Atenas. 
This is definitely one of my favorite getaway places, but then I have so many!