Category: Nature

My profession is to always find God in nature.

– Henry David Thoreau

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More Birds on My Tree & Little Theater Experience

See also my other posts of tree birds:  Animales Fantasticos,  Arbolitos de Pajaros and still one more coming!

LITTLE THEATER EXPERIENCE
For you guys back in the states who think I just live with the birds and have no social outlets, you couldn’t be more wrong! Sometimes I have too much going on to live the slow, simple life I’m here for. One group I belong to is expats that take charter bus trips to San Jose for cultural activities plus some local recreational activities. Last week we went to the San Jose Little Theatre Group for a very interesting little play titled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. It was about a teen boy with Asperger’s syndrome that was a little emotional to me since that was one of Juli’s problems. But I enjoyed it and our group of 40 filled the theater which we had to ourselves. It was a late afternoon private performance and then we went to an Argentina Steak House for a very good dinner before returning to Atenas. Thanks to Tony Phillips who puts these trips together!

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A Golden Leaf

Front Side

Back Side

I picked up this leaf along the side of the road walking home from the bus stop after a trip to Alajuela. It just attracted me, and I felt the need to photograph it with more than my cellphone. (I know, “Get a life Charlie.”) Living slow in Costa Rica, I now pause to “smell the roses” or enjoy the simple beauty of a leaf, its design, shape, colors (front & back totally different), textures, and what was simply pleasing to me. 
After getting it home and photographing it, I gave to my artist neighbor Anthony who painted the back side (lighter color) and pressed it on art paper to use as part of the background for one of his bird paintings. Neat, huh? Now I will pay more attention to leaves, for awhile anyway. 
For more leaves, shot in Tennessee, see my older Closeups gallery, scrolling down
Or if you want a more spiritual application, see my Gambia Journal Miracle Leaf Stories. 

For more leaves in Costa Rica browse through the tree and flower photos in my Flora & Forests gallery with a lot more of the cool leaves here in Costa Rica! It is a nature lover’s paradise in Costa Rica and my today’s find of a “golden leaf” is just a tiny sample of the simple pleasures I find here.

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Arbolitos de Pajaros

My “Little Christmas Tree” or Arbolitos de Navidad is actually a “Little Tree of Birds” or Arbolitos de Pajaros.  Here is a so-so cell-phone photo of the tree now that I have received the additional bird ornaments I ordered from Guatemala and Peru. I earlier showed you 4 of the ornaments I got here in Costa Rica and called them Animales Fantasticos. Click to see them again. Today I will show some of the ornaments made of gourds from both Guatemala and Peru. More close-ups later.

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Its a Jungle Out There!

From my kitchen looking across the DR/LR and terrace at another rain.
Our rainiest rainy season in years has everything growing. 

Step out my back door and the flower garden is 6-7 feet tall!

And the screen of little palms outside my office/guest room is growing too! 

Usually by December the “Dry Season” or our summer has begun, but it is raining again today and forecasts are for more. Its a good thing that I love the jungle!  🙂

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My New Toy: Macro Lens

Not the expensive one, just a simple Canon 100mm zoom, 1:28, Image Stabilizer (for hand-held) and auto focus. Here’s a few flowers with it and MY VERY FIRST HIBISCUS in my garden! I only recently got the plant which is slow-growing, but here’s the first bloom!

 

Hibiscus
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Once de Abril  (haven’t found an English name yet)
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Heliconia
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Plumbago
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Red Ginger
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

 

Porter Weed
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

I think I did okay on close-ups of flowers before with a telephoto lens from a distance, but this is suppose to be better! It has the capability of a 1:1 ratio if I get close enough. Insects will be more difficult because they scare off, so I’ll probably continue with my 300 mm for them. Though, note the little tiny ant on the Porter Weed above.  🙂 And it is so nice having flowers blooming year around!

My Flora & Forests photo gallery

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Trogon During Class

Gartered Trogon
in the Cecropia Tree beside my terrace
during Spanish Class Tuesday morning at my house.
Quick cell phone shot & he flew away.
I’ve traveled many miles to get a photo of this guy
and he finally comes to me when I’m without good camera.
🙂
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Trees Blooming Today

African Tulip Tree
Also called Flame of the Forest and Fountain Tree
At a neighbor’s house on the hill above me.
Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Yellow Bell Tree
I have many of these around my house & just starting to bloom.
Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

My photo gallery FLORA & FORESTS


Or more specifically MY HOME GARDENS

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Animales Fantasticos!

I saw the first Harry Potter prequel today, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Animales Fantasticos) and of course you find them in Costa Rica!  🙂

And I also picked up an old dead branch along the road, lightly sprayed with gold paint, and put it in a vase of rocks for my árbolito de navidad (little Christmas Tree) this year and will decorate it with hand-crafted artisan birds. Here’s 4 of the first ones added. There will be more Fantastic Beasts! 🙂

And yes, Costa Rica is into Christmas decorations and the whole celebration in a big way! Every store is heavily decorated and the malls have three story tall Christmas Trees. 


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Seeing Behind the Leaves

In the forest or my garden, one must look through tiny windows to see behind the leaves:

Blue-crowned Motmot at breakfast this morning
In Yellow Bell tree that will soon be blooming, Atenas, Costa Rica
As usual, I said “Oh fuey! He’s not in the open for a good shot!”
But this is a more common view! 

Tropical Kingbird (pretty sure, can’t see breast)
From my terrace, Atenas, Costa Rica

Maraca or Shampoo Ginger
In jungle of my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Heliconia behind Heliconia plants
My garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Red Ginger amongst the ginger leave
My garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Red Ginger amongst many plants
My garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Layers of Leaves
My garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Heliconia
Overshadowed in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Between the leaves in my garden
Atenas, Costa Rica
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Maybe My 2 Most Frequent Visitors

These two I see from my terrace every day and possibly more often than any other birds.

Rufous-naped Wren
Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
White-ringed Flycatcher
Seen at breakfast from my terrace, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Similar to the very common
Social Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee & Boat-billed Flycatcher.
But white on head makes a complete ring around his head
and Kiskadee & Boat-billed are noticeably larger with larger bills.

See also my BIRDS Photo Gallery