Category: Garden

Both my gardens and ones I visit

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My Christmas Treat

Tomorrow morning early I fly Sansa south to the Palmar Sur Airport south of Uvita and then back north by car to Uvita where I’m doing a repeat visit to the Hotel Cristal Ballena (Hotel site link) on a hill overlooking Uvita’s Whale-watching bay on the Pacific Coast (feature photo & one below). I will not be quite as active as I was on my last trip there: 2019-September 13-21–Cristal Ballena, Uvita (link to my trip gallery). The photos from then will show you what a wonderful place it is to just hang out at the hotel and hike in their private rainforest not to mention all the nearby sights! December-February is the time for Humpback Whales from South America to be there, so I might get to see & photo one! 🙂

I have an Ocean View Room!

And here’s just two of the wildlife I photographed from my room terrace last time . . .

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Bye to My Garden for a Few Days

The Yellow Bells have started blooming and maybe the Triquitraque will be when I return with two little blooms already. My stone indigenous guard will watch over all while I’m gone! 🙂 It is always a pleasure to return to my own garden, a different pleasure than the adventure of travel. I love both!

Yellow Bells blooming now.
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Wild Poinsettia Tree?

Or maybe just a big cousin? 🙂 I passed this tree walking home from town this morning and it certainly made me think of poinsettias, though you can see that the bloom is a little different from the typical Christmas flower – though similar! 🙂 Online blooms like these were labeled “Wild Poinsettia.” Either way, they are categorized as shrubs or small trees.

Wild Poinsettia Tree?
Wild Poinsettia Tree? (With a Yellow Bell Tree behind it!)

Merry Christmas!

My Flora & Forest Gallery.

My 2021 Christmas Photos Gallery

¡Pura Vida!

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Blue Grosbeak Female – A “Lifer!”

My cellphone App “Merlin” (from the eBird folks) tells me that this is a Blue Grosbeak Female (eBird description link) but it is not an exact match to the photos in my bird books or even online. It is similar to but larger than a female Blue-black Grassquit which in the past has never had that much black or rufous on the wings and the same for sparrows or juncos (which are otherwise similar). So my often experienced conundrum of identification continues, especially with “little brownish birds!” 🙂

I have posted these two photos on the Facebook Group “Cost Rica Bird ID” and I will add here any helpful results if received from that group – sometimes a knowledgeable person is very helpful there! 🙂 We will see what happens. 🙂

UPDATE: On the FB group Patrick O’Donnell, one of my past guides and the official guide for the Costa Rica Birding Club, answered my request with this:

Hi Charlie! Merlin is right, growing new feathers makes it look funny. Note the big bill and rufous wing bars.

~Patrick O’Donnell

So I’m hereby declaring it officially a Blue Grosbeak female! and a “lifer” for me! 🙂

Blue Grosbeak Female, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Cachicama or Carton Wasp Nest

The other morning after breakfast on my terrace I discovered this wasp nest on a limb of my Cecropia or Guarumo Tree. After a lengthy bit of research on the web I discovered this ID on the “What’s That Bug?” website. It’s a really interesting and well-built nest! I think it might be a type of the more generic “Paper Wasp.” The curls on top are just dead leaves from my Guarumo tree.

Cachicama or Carton Wasp Nest, Atenas, Costa Rica
Cachicama or Carton Wasp Nest, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And check out all My More Insects CR Gallery.