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Coffee Break = 6 Birds!

In the post “On the Road” I mentioned that on our way back from Maquenque we stopped for coffee at Cinchona, and even though in the middle of the day, I photographed 6 species of birds while drinking one cup of coffee (10-15 minutes) AND 2 of them were lifers! That’s new birds for me! The new ones were the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer and the Prong-billed Barbet. Every time I stop there I hope to get a shot of the Red-headed Barbet and after 3 stops, nada! But this time I got his uglier cousin. 🙂 CLICK to enlarge an image.

  • Prong-billed Barbet
  • Siver-throated Tanager
  • Blue-gray Tanager
  • Black-headed Saltator
  • Emerald Toucanet
  • Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer

See my Costa Rica BIRDS Gallery for many more birds!

And this view of San Fernando Waterfall is a bonus when stopping at Soda Cinchona! 🙂 And you can see all my Costa Rica Waterfalls in my CR Waterfalls Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

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Maquenque Butterflies

As common after trips, I’ve been overwhelmed with things to do since I returned from Maquenque Eco-Lodge and with so many bird photos to process (70+ species) it may be awhile before I share those, so here is a small collection of 7 species of butterflies. Every living thing loves Maquenque! 🙂 CLICK an image to enlarge.

  • Forest Giant Owl
  • White Peacock
  • Sara Heliconian
  • Sara Heliconian
  • Erato Heliconian or Postman
  • Blue-patched Eyemark
  • Common Green-eyed White
  • Smooth-banded Sister

It’s very tough for me to focus. I’m like: ‘Look, something shiny! No, focus. Oh, there goes a butterfly!’ ~Gabby Douglas

🙂

My Costa Rica Butterfly Gallery has more than 106 species now!

¡Pura Vida!

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On the Road Again

Walter usually drives me in one of his two vans but today was Monday and both personal cars and tourist vans with tags ending in 1 or 2 are not allowed on the road. Yes, it’s a coronavirus prevention tool, keeping more people off the roads and out of the towns. Well, he has 2 vans and both were disqualified, so he had to use his taxi today (no limit on taxis), meaning his driver Cristian had the day off, like it or not. Only 40 km of the road from south of Boca Tapada to the lodge is gravel, but you notice it more! 🙂

  • Downtown Boca Tapada
  • All Farm Land
  • Man with Machete & Dog
    Typical Roadside Sights
  • Pineapples the biggest cash crop in the area.
  • Fernando Waterfall at Cinchona
  • Sharing road with cows.
  • Our Taxi parked in front of “Jalapeno Central” Alajuela for Lunch.

¡Pura Vida!

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And a Birthday Dinner!

I got lots of attention all day yesterday but the biggie was dinner with a birthday cake and singing of Feliz Cumpleaños. Plus they decorated chair with flowers and gave me a bouquet of flowers to take back to my room in the tree tops! And I will eat more birthday cake today!

Bouquet taken back to my room.
Head Chef or Kitchen Manager posing with me.

¡Pura Vida!

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Kingfishers

There are 4 kinds of Kingfishers here at Maquenque and so far I’ve photographed 3 of those species. I’ve seen Green Kingfisher here before but not this week so far. Here’s the three species I’ve got with two shots of the Amazon because he looks different in each shot. CLICK image to enlarge.

  • Amazon Kingfisher
  • American Pygmy Kingfisher
  • Ringed Kingfisher
  • Amazon Kingfisher

See my Costa Rica Birds Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

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Honeycreepers

There are 4 species of Honeycreepers in Costa Rica and these three are easily seen all over the Maquenque Lodge & Reserve. Note the big difference in male and female of all three! CLICK image to enlarge.

  • Red-legged Honeycreeper Immature Male
  • Red-legged Honeycreeper Male & Female
  • Red-legged Honeycreeper Female
  • Shining Honeycreeper Male
  • Red-legged Honeycreeper Male
  • Green Honeycreeper Male
  • Green Honeycreeper Female

See my Costa Rica Birds Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

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Rainforest Fireworks

Instead of traditional 4th of July fireworks I am enjoying the colors of parrots and toucans this weekend. I’ve photographed over 65 species of birds so far, so still way behind on presenting them all and decided to show just the two categories most foreigners consider the most colorful here! Enjoy my tropical fireworks show as a slideshow of 10 photos.

Maquenque Parrots & Toucans

  • Scarlet Macaw
  • Keel-billed Toucan
  • Brown-hooded Parrot
  • Scarlet Macaw
  • Orange-chinned Parakeet
  • Yellow-throated Toucan
  • Mealy Parrot
  • Scarlet Macaw
  • Collared Aracari
  • Orange-chinned Parakeet

Happy 4th of July!

¡PuraVida!

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Mother & Child Visit Tree House

Not only did the mother Spider Monkey decide to eat some plant parts near my tree house but she brought her “toddler” who was more interested in playing than eating, and if that was not enough for the monkey mother, she was also pregnant – quite obviously! Here’s a few shots – just click to enlarge an image.

Watching things like this is just one of the reasons I choose a tree house here and they now have 8 tree houses along with their regular cabins on the lake. See their website at:

Maquenque Eco-Lodge website

Or see My 2019 Visit gallery

Or my Spider Monkey gallery

¡Pura Vida!

🙂

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A BLM Example in Nature

Today was my first “bird day” with what looks like will be around 40 species, but still not through processing nearly 2,000 photos! 🙂 So I will have to show the collection later and it looks like I could beat the 53 species I got here last year!

My interim post will be an interesting little oddity in nature. For whatever reason, the Giant Cowbird (a big blackbird) sometimes lay their eggs in the nest of the Montezuma Oropendola and the really good mother Oropendola hatches the egg and raises the child as her own (do the cowbirds know that?). I had heard about this but never seen it until today. At the rather ugly fruit feeder at the dining room I got this photo of a mother Oropendola feeding a juvenile (bigger than a baby) Giant Cowbird she evidently is raising it as her own child. Since the baby is in the blackbird family I somehow thought of the Black Lives Matter movement in the states and thought this might be considered a beautiful example in nature! Hope so! 🙂

Mother Montezuma Oropendola feeds a “baby” Giant Cowbird she is raising as her own child.

Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.

~Lao Tzu

And for you birders, I know it is a Giant Cowbird juvenile because he has red eyes, not obvious in my photo but in real life it is. No other blackbird has red eyes.

See my Costa Rica BIRDS Gallery for many more birds, though none from this trip are added yet.

¡Pura Vida!

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The “Tarzan” Tree House

Can you believe that the tree house they assigned me to this year is named “Tarzan?” And I love it! Like they knew the little boy Charlie wanted to be Tarzan! Why it even comes with grape vines (see outside views) though I will not be swinging on them! And I was welcomed to my room by a visiting Keel-billed Toucan! See photo below.

And I doubt that Tarzan had a King sized bed or screens and ceiling fans, but I’m sure glad I do! It is hot and humid here like where I grew up in south Arkansas near the Louisiana line – hotter and more humid than Atenas which is in the hills.

CLICK a photo to enlarge it.

Outside Views

Inside Views

Our 3 hour drive took 4 hours with a lot of trucks on the roads today and the gravel road portion of the drive was in pretty rough condition – what it costs to get to real wilderness! 🙂 And yes, we are all wearing masks here, Costa Rica is smart enough to require it and everyone working here is in the same family – cool! And so nice! I’m the only guest until Friday when there will be 8 to 10 other guests for the weekend.

“Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.” – Irving Wallace

¡Pura Vida!

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