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“How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.”
~John Burroughs
I have already done one post on dead leaves, titled: Beauty in Death about the final days of a Heliconia leaf in my garden with one of my favorite photos. Then the above quote of John Burroughs and some cool dead leaves at Playa Cativo Lodge motivated me to move on with another dead leaf post! 🙂
Continue reading ““How beautiful the leaves grow old.””
I included “coastal” because it is a little different from an inland rainforest like I was in in May at Chachagua Rainforest Lodge – both with lots of rain and streams & ponds but the ocean front has more severe weather and a global warming rising ocean that is washing away the land and the trees one row at a time as shown in one of these photos. Further into the forest is dark and thicker trees and potentially more dangerous wildlife. I did not go too far! 🙂
Nine more photos follow . . .
Continue reading “Inside a Coastal Rainforest”
A strange combination! The last of my wildlife photos from Playa Cativo Lodge with Landscapes, Leaves and Flowers coming next! 🙂
And several more photos . . .
Continue reading “Reptiles & Crabs”
My nature experiences in a Playa Cativo Lodge this past week did include more than the birds & butterflies that I love to photograph! Here’s a few that I was able to “catch” in the camera and of course the biggies like Jaguar and Puma are there but seldom seen by us humans, even on night hikes! 🙂
DISCLAIMER/POSTPONEMENT: I did this post last night and couldn’t finish processing my photo-folders of Crabs and of Reptiles that I intended to include here, so now those two categories will come later in a separate post. 🙂
And more . . .
Continue reading “Cativo’s Other Wildlife”
Every morning has been free of rain in the rainforest so far with the usual afternoon and evening rainy season rains that are great for sleeping at night! 🙂
This morning I had switched my planned morning hike in the mountains after learning how steep the trail is to a boat trip up Esquinas River and the Mangrove Forest for birds and maybe other wildlife. The highlight ended up being a group of about 5 Bottlenose Dolphins which are a little different from the Spotted Dolphins I’ve seen at Drake Bay and Uvita. They are “friendly” and followed our boat part of the way back to the lodge. 🙂
And five more shots . . .
Continue reading “Bottle-nosed Dolphin”
This most common hummingbird in Costa Rica and the only species I’ve seen in my yard for 2 or 3 years now and this one is infrequent or the only one. I’ve not seen two together this year. I’m not sure what is happening with the humming birds, but I’m not seeing as many now, even though the visited reserves seem to have more, it is less than in earlier years.
And this particular one in my garden is extremely shy, staying in the shadows which makes it difficult to photograph and flying away as soon as he/she seems to be aware of me. This one was alone in my Nance tree the other morning at breakfast and later the others or the same one in different locations. The only species of hummingbird in my garden now.
That now makes 18 national symbols for Costa Rica! Read about why this one and what the other national symbols are in this Tico Times Article. And be sure to check out my collection of Blue Morpho photos in my Blue Morpho Gallery! Including this one below.
And you might also be interested in this article in Tico Times this week: Costa Rica Increases Forest Protection by Over 16 million Hectares
¡Pura Vida!
Three different bees that I have not tried to identify yet from my time at Guayabo Lodge, near Turrialba, Costa Rica through yesterday.
And for those who have written about my health, I went to Clinica Linea Vital for a checkup yesterday and an added visit to Santa Sophia Clinic for x-rays. Plus I got two shots and Rx’s for inflammation, swelling and something else she noted that will relieve my pains. So I do try to take care of myself, even if clumsy in my old age! 🙂
ON THE LODGE’S FARM . . .
AND . . .
Continue reading “Bees at Irazú & Guayabo Lodge”
Yep! I just went 6 days without blogging which is not my usual habit which is to write posts 3 or 4 days ahead then break from the routine while posts keep coming out. No health problems or catastrophes, “just tired of blogging.” But with another trip coming tomorrow, I’m in the mood and here’s a few nature photos made during this “down time.”
I’m still not getting many butterflies in my garden yet other than the fast-moving Yellows that never seem to land for a photo. But here’s two bees in my garden this morning:
I recently discovered Community Carbon Trees Costa Rica which employs rural poor people to plant trees on non-productive farm land where there used to be a forest and many such barren spots are coming back as forest. Check out the above website available in both English and Español to see the great work they are doing and how you can both come here and volunteer or donate money to plant and maintain trees for renewed forests!
You may not be aware that all the photos in my gallery (on SmugMug) are available for purchase as prints, wall art, and on other objects through SmugMug services (they do a great job!) PLUS my Bookstore on Blurb has my photo books available for sale. Because both sites use sub-contractors to print, they may seem a little pricy and thus I have kept my “profit” or “mark-up” down to just $1 on each item. Now I’ve decided to donate 100% of that to Community Carbon Trees (see link above) to plant trees on bare land that used to be forest. So now you know that if you buy a photo or photo book you are helping to plant trees and save our planet! Thank you! And if you don’t need a photo, why not go to their website and donate something to help plant trees? 🙂
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
― Nelson Henderson
¡Pura Vida!
And of course I have a CR Trees Gallery! 🙂