Category: Atenas

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2 “Rare” Birds in Neighborhood

At least “Merlin,” my eBird identifier says they are “rare” for this location, though I know there are manakins in Atenas and I have seen the grosbeak in nearby Alajuela, so I don’t think they are really that rare here! 🙂 They are a female Long-tailed Manakin (feature photo) and an immature or female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. And I believe the latter is an immature male because another poorer photo shows a touch of rose color coming on the breast and the females do not have that. NOTE: The name links above are to eBird descriptions. You can also see more of my photos of these in my bird GALLERIES: Long-tailed Manakin and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak galleries.

It was an overcast morning with no good light, thus the poor quality images when against the sky:

  • Long-tailed Manakin Female
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak Immature

Reusing, recycling, rethinking ~The Washington Post Article

¡Pura Vida!

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“Bully” Woodpecker?

The featured photo above is a Lineated Woodpecker pecking away on a woodpecker hole that I think was already there with him enlarging it. It’s uphill from my house yesterday morning, an overcast day not really good for photos. But I tried anyway. Then along comes the smaller Hoffman’s Woodpecker (below photos) making a big fuss with the bigger woodpecker. I’m guessing that the hole was maybe the smaller bird’s home and he was fussing at the bigger “bully” taking over his home. I don’t know that for sure, but he was sure making a lot of noise and ruffling his feathers threateningly while the larger bird just kept working, ignoring the smaller bird. So, does another bully take over?

Hoffman’s Woodpecker fussing at bigger Lineated Woodpecker.

“The smaller the creature, the bolder its spirit.”

― Suzy Kassem

See my galleries for both the Lineated Woodpecker and the Hoffman’s Woodpecker photographed all over Costa Rica with much better images than these! 🙂

The world’s rich need to cut their carbon footprint by a factor of 30 to slow climate change, U.N. warns !The Washington Post

¡Pura Vida!

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Central Park Open to COVID Quiet

Last week they took down all that yellow plastic crime-scene tape that surrounded the Atenas Central Park, but it is still mostly empty with no concerts or fiestas scheduled. There were a few old men on the opposite corner where they usually “hang out,” but that was all. And the colorful Marigolds that were planted on this corner that I shared earlier have been removed. Hmmm. And there has been no continued work on the park remodeling, probably because of a lack of tax money.

Atenas is still in the Pandemic Shutdown Mode with few people in Central Atenas on the above cloudy day and many shops closed, some permanently. A difficult year for many here and worldwide!

I feel safe walking to and through town with my mask (required by law here) and anyone else who is out is also wearing a mask and maintaining a 1.8 meter distance, also required by law here. It is a bit of trouble but at least we are not having the daily increases of cases and deaths like the USA! It is still beyond my understanding how so many people still support that stupid, lying, self-centered, racist Donald Trump who clearly is responsible for thousands of deaths he could have prevented and the equally evil Republican Party supporting him. God help America! At least one Republican expressed a little bit of common sense today on Trump’s refusal to concede the election:

“It’s just simply madness,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said. “The idea of supplanting the vote of the people with partisan legislators, is, is so completely out of our national character that it’s simply mad. Of course the president has the right to challenge results in court, to have recounts. But this effort to subvert the vote of the people is dangerous and destructive of the cause of democracy.”

~Washington Post, 10 December 2020

Thank God I live in Costa Rica!

¡Pura Vida!

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Country Lane Birds

I’ve been walking that route with only my cell phone as a camera and the other day missed a beautiful Squirrel Cuckoo bird in a tree that my big camera would have caught. Thus yesterday morning I went with my big camera and no cuckoo! But I did get rough shots of these four. The feature photo is a Great-tailed Grackle and the other 3 are labeled in the slideshow. It is not as good a place for birds as up the hill from my house, but I tried! 🙂

  • Great Kiskadee
  • White-winged Dove
  • Grayish Saltator
  • Great-tailed Grackle

See my BIRDS Galleries or my COUNTRY LANE Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

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Snips of My Garden

There may not be anything in my garden I haven’t already shared but I keep trying for some “New Looks” as I walk through it daily.

See My Garden Gallery or the bigger Flora & Forest Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

Costa Rica’s President Alvarado talks with President-elect Biden about the urgency of both the Pandemic and Climate Change. A Tico Times article. Thankfully we prioritize the important things here!

¡Pura Vida!

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Country Lane Flowers

I’ve featured the cana flower and the zinnias from this road and here are some more:

  • Bougainvillea
  • Daisies
  • Daisies
  • Hibiscus
  • Zinnas with Banded Peacock Butterfly

These photos are a part of my collection called “Country Lane” – Avenida 8 Photo Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

Costa Rica celebrates 72 years without an army, a Tico Times article.

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Pothole = Free Flowerpot?

Everywhere in the world governments are slow to fix potholes in roads. This Tico found an interesting way to reprimand our government here in Costa Rica. Just use the potholes for flowerpots! 🙂 I love it! In your face government people, “these potholes’ are in front of my house!” They are on the gravel extension of Avenida 8 in Atenas where I walk sometimes and find things to photograph. This is one of the more interesting photos to me. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

🙂

Also seen on that walk yesterday:

These 2 photos are a part of my collection called “Country Lane” – Avenida 8 Photo Gallery.

Washington Post Article: Pace of climate change shown in new report has humanity on ‘suicidal’ path, U.N. leader warns

¡Pura Vida!

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Artistry of Tree Limbs

Cows find shade here and . . .

the Cattle Egret roost in these limbs! 🙂

Trees

BY JOYCE KILMER


I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

All three trees were photographed by me at Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica. And if you like trees too, check out my Trees Photo Gallery which is a sub-gallery under Flora & Forest Gallery.

And PLANT TREES! They absorb carbon dioxide & give us oxygen to breathe!

¡Pura Vida!

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Village Church

Like the hills yesterday, I never tire of trying to get a better photo of the Atenas Central Catholic Church, especially from the Roca Verde hills, so here’s another one! 🙂 The official name (en español) and website link is Parroquia San Rafael Arcángel.

The cluster of palms in front of the church is the Central Park which has been closed since March because of the pandemic, as has the church for large crowds, just open for solo prayers and small groups distanced and masked. Costa Rica has taken the pandemic seriously with national mask and distancing required, no large gatherings and strict restaurant rules, though unfortunately many restaurants have closed permanently for a lack of business. A sad time for many people world-wide. But the central church is still a symbol of hope for many. And fortunately Costa Rica has fewer cases of COVID19 than any other Central American country.

And some trivia . . .

Most Catholic Churches face west so worshippers are facing east towards Jerusalem. I haven’t put a compass to it, but have been told that is the case here. In Costa Rica it is also tradition for most central parks to have the central church on the east side of the park and on the west side of the park, opposite the church, is a Banco Nacional, the main national bank in Costa Rica. That is the case in Atenas and Alajuela I know and in many other towns when I’ve thought to check. Hmmmm . . . is that elevating money? Sounds more like the U.S. 🙂

Well, maybe TMI – too much information! But I find it fascinating living in a culture that I did not grow up in and thus notice little things like these and I love living here! For more pix of just Atenas, see my Atenas Galleries and CR People, Fiestas & Arts (mostly Atenas).

“Let the villages of the future live in our imagination, so that we might one day come to live in them!” ~Mahatma Gandhi

¡Pura Vida!

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I Keep Shooting the Hills

I never get tired of photographing the hills across our little valley and just keep trying to make a different image or view of the same hills I see daily. I would prefer them without the cell phone towers, but the modern society would argue that they are absolutely necessary! 🙂 Debatable! 🙂

If you like hills too, you might also like my CR Vistas Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!