Category: Places

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Full Moon on March 3

Yeah, I’m that far ahead on scheduling blog posts right now, but it won’t last. 🙂 That is one of my drivers, Alex, who picked me up at 4:30 am and decided to snap the full moon on his cell phone in front of my house, so I captured the scene on mine! 🙂 There was the possibility of a “Blood Moon” at about 2 am that date, but I was not motivated to get up any earlier than I already had to for this trip to the public geriatric hospital in San Jose for a fasting blood laboratory workup to prepare for my geriatric doctor visit on the 17th. Costa Rica’s free public healthcare system takes good care of me now!

Alex photographing the full moon at 4:30 am in front of my house in Atenas, Costa Rica, March 3, 2026.

I could have gotten a better photo of the moon with my Canon Camera and Tamron Zoom Lens, but was just not motivated that morning. And it was just a regular full moon that I’ve photographed before, not a “blood moon” at that time.

¡Pura Vida!

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Simple Nature as Art

The simple design of a dying Cecropia leaf.

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” — Claude Monet

See more in my GALLERY: Leaves & Nature Things! Which I consider as one of my “Photo Art Galleries.” 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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White-winged Doves

During this very windy time of the year (Jan-Mar) there simply are not many birds on my little hill, but in February I got photos of this pair of White-winged Doves (my gallery link) in the overlapping Nance Tree & Palms adjacent my terrace that I could photograph from my outdoor rocking chair. 🙂 This species is a little larger than some and seems to handle the wind okay, but others have simply disappeared to who knows where? And of course virtually no butterflies.

White-winged Doves, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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A wonderful thing — a tree!

Unidentified, bare-branched TREE on high banks of the stream adjacent the cow pasture in Roca Verde, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, seen here from my terrace through a telephoto lens.

“No matter how beautiful architecture men can make, they will never create such a wonderful thing as a tree.” ~Pier Luigi Nervi

¡Pura Vida!

And of course I have a Trees gallery!

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Yellow-faced Grassquit

I usually see this species out in the cow pasture grass, but here he is in one of my Nance Trees! See more of this seedeater species in my gallery: Yellow-faced Grassquit – Tiaris olivaceus. Just one shot from this sighting in the middle of March . . .

Yellow-faced Grassquit, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Squirrel Cuckoo

One of those semi-rare birds that I don’t see very often at home or on trips, though the most common of 8 different cuckoos in Costa Rica . This one was hiding in the shadows of a Nance Tree earlier in March, never showing the front of his/her bright B&W tail, thus no great photos like with the one that posed for me back in 2017. 🙂 But in nature photography you take what you get and try to make the best of it! 🙂 See my collection of Squirrel Cuckoos, the gallery! Just 3 shots here . . .

Squirrel Cuckoo, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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February Flowers

I’m rather late with my monthly flowers report, but that is because of all the photos from the 3 day trips with my Canadian friends. Below this one email photo is a gallery of a dozen shots. Click one to see it larger. Enjoy my tropical paradise!

Baby Orchid Tree Blooming
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Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Birding Gallery

The last of the three day trips that I participated in with my Canadian Friends was to the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve better known here for its Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel where we had breakfast after a couple of hours of birding. And the clouds never lifted or burned off the entire time we were there. Click the first page of that gallery below to access it or if you prefer an address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Birding-at-Villa-Blanca-Cloud-Forest-Reserve

CLICK THIS IMAGE OF THE GALLERY to go to it.

¡Pura Vida!

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Carara National Park Gallery ready

Because we went after the Rio Tarcoles trip, it was too late in day for many birds, I got only 2 species, but I did get 10 species of other wildlife including some interesting species like the Helmeted Iguana, stick moth caterpillar, etc. and one of my dark monkey shots is visible. Click the first page of gallery below to enter or if you prefer an address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Hiking-Carara-NP

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE to go to the gallery.

I earlier did a post on the Helmeted Iguana and one on the Stink Bug, two of the 10 “Other Wildlife” seen at Carara this time. See gallery.

And tomorrow I will hopefully have completed the gallery for our morning visit to Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve and Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel.

¡Pura Vida!