In a Forest by the Sea

I got here in more time than usual because of heavy traffic, maybe the many San Jose residents who escape to the coast for Christmas. 🙂 And as always the coast is hotter than the mild climate of Atenas! Fortunately my room was ready ahead of the official check-in time and I went straight to it in what they call the “Selvamar” section of rooms with each pathway of rooms named after a Latin American country. I’m in the Cuba section and love the room with a small outside patio and everything here is surrounded by tall trees, thus tonight’s photo from my room.

Hotel Punta Leona Selvamar rooms are all surrounded by trees!

I may share photos of my room and the Selvamar rooms area later which is all nestled into the forest surrounded by many tall trees. I think it is the best place to stay for a short visit to Punta Leona and I will tell about other lodging later.

I organized my room and then did a lot of walking and got hot and tired, so I utilized their free shuttle buses to get back to my room. 🙂

Tomorrow morning before breakfast, I take the morning bird walk and then after breakfast the butterfly tour! 🙂 My only other tour is a sloth walk on Thursday. The last time here I also went to Carara NP for birds but decided not to this time, nor the nearby Tarcoles River morning bird boat tour. Instead, I will explore the tidepools and the gigantic trees trail here instead. And later I will write an evaluation of Punta Leona (their website link) telling what I like and what I don’t like about it, but for now just sharing photos and maybe only one photo a day since the internet is a little slow here. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Northern Yellow Warbler

Another migrant from up north I think. The northern version males & females look like this while the “Resident Yellow Warbler” here has a female that is also the same while the resident male has a reddish-brown cap. In my gallery I just keep them all together in the Yellow Warbler Gallery. 🙂 And there I have only one photo of a resident male, seen on Rio Tarcoles.

Yellow Warbler, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Favorite “Other Wildlife” Photos 2025

More photos from outside Atenas in this category because I always see more wildlife at the parks, reserves and lodges than at home, which may be best. 🙂 And with less travel this year there were fewer exotic animals, but here’s a few that are pretty interesting 🙂 . . .

Red-mantled Dragonet, Tortuga Lodge, Tortuguero NP
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Squirrel Cuckoo

Not your every day bird but definitely one of my favorites, the Squirrel Cuckoo, Piaya cayana (my gallery link) is one I’ve seen in multiple locations across Costa Rica, just not frequently. See all those in the above-linked gallery or for my all-time favorite, a portrait of one who posed for me in the Cecropia tree back in 2017: Cuckoo Portrait. A metal print of it hangs in my living room here. 🙂 This one last Sunday was in a tree behind my house only about 40 seconds, so I had to act quick to get these shots before he flew off to a neighbor’s tree and out of sight.

There are 7 species of cuckoos in Costa Rica and I’ve seen and photographed only three, the other two being the Mangrove Cuckoo (in two locations) and the Lesser Ground Cuckoo in one location, (both names are linked to my galleries).

Squirrel Cuckoo, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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A Thrush Enjoys Leftovers! + Positive News

In the recent days of many creatures eating the ripe palm berries, a Chachalaca or a squirrel broke one of the berry limbs off and it fell to the ground. With many more on the tree, he/she stayed in the tree and the bottom of the pecking order, Clay-colored Thrush, enjoyed the berries off the dropped limb. Plenty for everyone! 🙂 And as I watched this epicurean delight I suddenly realized that these birds have no teeth to chew their food and thus swallow the berry whole! 🙂 I’m enjoying these observations of nature! Simple life in a simple country.

Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas. Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Tropical Kingbird

I seem to be seeing more of these this year and I thought this shot last week was particularly nice.

Tropical Kingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more of my Tropical Kingbird photos in the gallery: Tropical Kingbird,

¡Pura Vida!

Lesson’s Motmot

In some ways I’m glad the visits aren’t every day, so I can get excited and enjoy the occasional visits of a neighborhood Lessons Motmot, Momotus lessonii (my gallery link). It lives solely in Central American lowland forests and in Costa Rica more on the Pacific Slope than the Caribbean Slope, though it is seen in the some inland forests on the Caribbean side, while the similar but less-seen Turquoise-browed Motmot (my gallery link) lives only on the Pacific Slope. I have had both in my garden, but many more of the Lesson’s. The species name of “Motmot” comes from an early morning hooting like an owl that the motmots make. 🙂 In both photos he is in a Nance Tree in my garden.

Lesson’s Motmot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Palm Berries Pecking Order

That big bunch of green palm berries in my October 25 post turned red in November and multiple creatures began to eat with the Chachalacas and Boat-billed Flycatchers the most possessive. Below this introductory photo is a gallery showing the “pecking order” for these particular palm berries when I was out to see it. Note that I never saw the iguanas eating them (though they do eat the Nance Berries) but that doesn’t mean they didn’t partake, I just never got a photo. And they would possibly be some competition to the Chachalacas, though those birds stay in families or flocks outnumbering others, as well as being the largest. 🙂

I ranked the Boat-billed Flycatcher #2 for chasing away the thrush.
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Variegated Squirrel

There are four species of squirrels in Costa Rica but the largest population nation-wide is this Variegated Squirrel, Sciurus variegatoides (Ardilla Centroamericana en español) with the names linked to my photo gallery with shots from nation-wide. I think they are like squirrels everywhere, very hyperactive! 🙂 And though I have seen a solid black one and a mostly red one, most are variegated like this one in my garden.

Variegated Squirrel, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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