Banded Skipper

Banded Skipper
My Home Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
The gardener found it and came got me for the photo.
I have other shots of one inside my house.

 

Women’s March in Washington is also happening in Costa Rica Saturday in multiple locations. Respect for women is very important here and the new U.S. President’s attitude toward women is shocking to Costa Ricans! People still ask me “How can your country elect a man like that as president?” I have no good answer beyond my embarrassment and to say that I did not vote for him, nor did the majority of the voting citizens. But I’m glad I live in Costa Rica now! With a Republican congress and president the states will soon be in multiple wars and huge debt. I have a different idea of greatness.
See also my photo gallery for Butterflies & Moths 

Chachalacas at My Breakfast Table

Immature Gray-headed Chachalaca
Flying out of a Yellow-bell Tree in my gardens, Atenas, Costa Rica
Two Immature Gray-headed Chachalacas
Sitting in a Yellow-bell Tree in my gardens, Atenas, Costa Rica

Identification Explanations for the Birders Who Read This

When I first saw them I thought “Black Guan” which can be in this part of the country, but on closer examination, they do not have the red eyes and legs that all black guans have, nor the blue facial skin. I knew we had Chachalacas in Roca Verde, so I resigned myself to darker than usual Chachalacas and thought maybe Plain rather than Gray-headed, BUT, the book says Plain don’t live in this part of the country, only in Guanacaste. And my earlier photo of one in my garden (note how much lighter) fit the Gray-headed description and they live in the Central Valley. Plus some online investigation shows some juvenile Gray-headed Chachalacas to be very dark or black. Also the white tips on the tail feathers are only seen in the Gray-headed Chachalaca. Here’s another one at Rancho Naturalista  which is darker but not black. 
Whew! Identification can be a challenge sometimes and every species seem to have some exceptions!
See my photo gallery of BIRDS

Read about Gray-headed Chachalacas on NeotropicalBirds by Cornell University
Or a different kind of article on Wikipedia

A Visitor to My Terrace

Spiny-tailed Iguana
On My Terrace, Roca Verde Home, Atenas Costa Rica

This variety seems to be less common than the Green Iguana in most of Costa Rica, but I have seen this guy or his family members around the house, in neighbor’s tree, and going to and from the stream on the other side of our cow pasture. He was first heading in my backdoor, but turned and ran to the terrace when he saw me. They are basically harmless and never hurt people. Our little miniature dinosaurs!  See also my photo gallery with this and other Reptiles

And for travelers here the next 2 months:
  Bridge between Airport & San Jose Closed 6 Weeks for repairs and Widening says this article in Tico Times. That means if you fly here it will take you longer to get into San Jose during February+ but should not affect coming west toward Atenas very much beyond the usual airport traffic congestion. The closure begins 21 January.

And FYI:
Costa Rica Ranks 4th in English Proficiency in Latin America says article in the Costa Rica Star.

That is convenient for lazy Americans who are mono-lingual, but note that it would not hold true in little farm towns like Atenas or other non-tourist, non-city locations. So my advice to those considering retiring or living here is to learn Spanish! After all, don’t you expect immigrants to the U.S. to learn English?  🙂    Que necesitas para aprender español.

Summer Flowers

My Breakfast View this Morning
It is summer here, school is out for summer break & more flowers are blooming.
Jan-Feb are also the windy months, but at least the volcano has slowed issuing ash.

-o-

What Our Costa Rica President Says about Immigration, an article in Tico Times today.

You guys in the U.S. feel free to share this article with your new president-elect. The quick summary is “If you want to get through a border, you’ll be able to sooner or later.”    🙂    And read about how CR deals with the flow of Cubans en-route to the U.S. through Costa Rica and the Nicaraguans and Colombians who come here to stay. Personal Disclosure: My maid is a Nica and my haircuts are at a Colombino peluquería and nobody seems to have a problem with that here. Everyone is welcome in Costa Rica, even arrogant Americans. Though there’s already enough in Atenas, so I’m not issuing an invitation!  🙂

New Luxury Health Retreat in Atenas!

Yoga, Massages, Therapy and Detox are available in addition to
pools, hiking, birds, views, etc.

Expect to eat healthy and enjoy spectacular vistas.

It is known as a Yoga Retreat, maybe the best in Costa Rica, but available as hotel, other retreats, or just to relax if you are willing to pay $221+ per night for luxury rooms in the mountains above Atenas with gardens, walking trails, a natural stream with waterfalls, and many optional activities, some at extra cost. Breakfast is included with all room prices. I just became aware of this and sorry I did not know of it for earlier visitors, though it is fairly new, this year I think.

They are offering us residents a Christmas Dinner with wine and entertainment for just $61 which I might do if I weren’t already scheduled for my jungle adventure at Selva Verde Lodge on the Sarapiqui River! They are likewise offering us a New Years Eve Celebration for $75 including fireworks! Yeah, just about anything you guys in the states have, we can find here, for a price!  🙂

And it is also now another option you have to my free couch-bed or the several Mom & Pop B&Bs or simple hotels in Atenas. Note: We are NOT a tourist town! But a coffee farming town. Yet being in the center of Costa Rica makes it a great place to headquarter or travel out from or just start and stop your visit to Costa Rica here, 45 minutes from the airport or an hour from San Jose.

CHECK OUT THE NEW PLACE!
Or just look at their site’s photo gallery
The Retreat at Atenas

A Birds and the Bees Problem

A swarm of bees building a nest on neighbor’s carport ceiling.
Don’t know the name.
Cropped in closer on hundreds of bees and corner of hive.

These bees have taken over Anthony’s hummingbird feeders and he is looking for a solution to that problem. Let me know if you have one. Knocking down this nest did not do it.

His bees stay on his hummingbird feeders, thus no birds now!
I have no such problem since my hummingbirds eat from my flowers and there are enough flowers for both the birds and the bees!  🙂  My favorite bee in my garden is the Green Orchid Bee I think I may have shown on the blog before. 
Green Orchid Bee
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
The hummingbirds and bees don’t seem to fight over the flowers.

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!

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.

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!  🙂