Category: Rainforest

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The Stately Crested Caracara

I photographed this beautiful bird along the road on our way to Rio Tres Amigos for our floating safari. The guides and drivers are all so good about stopping when a significant bird is seen. I would not have photographed this bird had we not stopped the van. The map on eBird shows this falcon type bird throughout the Americas, but more so in Central and South america.

Crested Caracara, near Rio Tres Amigos, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Crested Caracara, near Rio Tres Amigos, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica.

I was originally planning to do my post on Rio Tres Amigos today, but simply have too many photo of too many things to have them ready by today, plus this is a very full week with two medical appointments and tourist friends from the states stopping by!  🙂  So I may stick to individual birds, etc. for most of this week. But that Rio Tres Amigos was a great half-day trip that is going to make a super gallery when finished!

And oh yes, my Crested Caracara GALLERY!

¡Pura Vida!

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Lizard for Lunch!

WARNING! The photos in this post are graphic and could be considered gross, especially if you are a lizard or have close friends who are lizards!   🙂

I was waiting for my driver from Atenas to arrive at Maquenque for lunch and our return trip home when one of the lodge staff come running in, excitedly telling me that there was a Toucan in a tree in front of the restaurant eating a lizard. Of course I grabbed my camera and ran out for some photos which were difficult because of the poor light in the tree at almost 12 noon! But here’s 5 shots of the Yellow-throated Toucan with his captured lizard and the final shot of another toucan either stealing lizard meat from him or having it shared. I could not tell which.   🙂

Yellow-throated Toucan eating a lizard for lunch at Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.

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Siblings . . .

. . . at drastically different stages of development!  🙂  And so I guess all the eggs don’t hatch at the same time?! Four of us humans walked up to the nest where the mother was sitting and she just flew off! Hopefully to get food for that gaping mouth!  🙂

This is the nest of a Scarlet-rumped Tanager at Maquenque Ecolodge the other day. This is a nesting & hatching time for some near the end of the Dry Season These babies will grow up in the Rainy Season!

Baby Scarlet-rumped Tanager & Sibling still in the shell, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

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Tree Planting

The only way we are going to save the earth for future generation is by “rewilding” or creating “new” old growth forests of about 50% of the globe by planting more trees. Yesterday I did one tiny part of that by planting an Almond Tree here at Maquenque, where they hope to reintroduce the endangered Green Macaws that eat mostly almonds! And soon they will add nesting boxes to replace the big old trees with nesting holes, one of several reasons they are endangered. It will be a few years before my little baby Almond Tree will feed Macaws, but we have to plan for the future! And that is symbolized by Vicky’s (lodge manager’s) children standing with me in the second photo.

Plus Maquenque does have a few grown Almond Trees here already, “los almendros.” But very few macaws on the ground now, mostly flying overhead as in the third photo below. Plus, since they are located north-central, close to the continental divide, they can have both Green Macaws (Caribbean Slope which they are on) and some Scarlet Macaws (from  the Pacific Slope). The Scarlets evidently fly over the Continental Divide which is not high mountains here in the lowlands. Scarlet Macaws are not as endangered as the green but are near-endangered because of habitat loss.

Charlie Doggett with the baby Almond Tree he helped plant at Maquenque Ecolodge & Reserve, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica, April 13, 2023.

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Long-tailed Tyrant

Not a new bird for me but definitely in the best positions for photos! It was like he was posing for 3 or 4 of us photographers at breakfast this morning! ? You can read about them on eBird  – found from Guatemala south as far as Paraguay and from north to south in Costa Rica, though mostly on the Atlantic or Caribbean Slope in both Costa Rica & Panama. Here’s 4 shots I made this morning that I’m pleased with because I could get close enough. Usually I have to try and photograph from a great distance. Another beautiful and different bird found here. My GALLERY of them is linked at the bottom of this post.

Long-tailed Tyrant, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica.

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Correction & Addition to Lifer Post

Well, I shared last night’s post with yesterday morning’s guide, Antonio, and the one I called “Yellow-bellied Seedeater” is actually a “Morelet’s Seedeater” (similar, but the other is on the Pacific Slope and we are on the Atlantic Slope or called Caribbean Slope here.

PLUS I shared with Antonio an unidentified bird photo from yesterday and he identified it as an “Olive-crowned Yellowthroat” which is another new bird species for me, thus now 4 Lifers for yesterday’s morning bird walk!   🙂   That is really good for someone with more than 360 species in Costa Rica already recorded!   🙂

Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

And the correct identification of this one . . .

Morelet’s Seedeater, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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3 Lifers on the First Day!

In just a day and a half I’ve photographed 44 species of birds which continues Maquenque as my best birding place in Costa Rica! And to top it off, thanks to a very good birding guide this morning, I got photos of three lifers! That’s 3 birds seen for the first time in my life! Here’s photos of the three lifers and I may not get all of the others in the blog but will of course have them in my trip gallery!  🙂 The weirdest one first . . .

Olivaceous Piculet (a tiny woodpecker), Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
Common Pauraque, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

These three photos will be the start of three new bird galleries in my Costa Rica Birds Galleries, which is a good place to get acquainted with birds you can see in Costa Rica, whether you live here or you are coming for a visit. Check it out! And I’ve included where I photographed each bird plus three names: English, Spanish and the Latin Scientific Name!   🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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In My Rainforest Cabin

After a 3.5 hour drive up to Boca Tapada near the Nicaragua border on the San Carlos River, I crossed the river and got settled in my little rainforest “bungalow” on a small lake where I’ve already photographed more birds and other wildlife than I can count! But I will stay simple the first night and post only one photo, the back porch of my cabin overlooking the lake. Pura vida!   🙂

Back porch of my rainforest cabin at Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Since it is such a short post, you might want more information:

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“The Tarzan Effect” on Me

Amazon Kindle had a special on the electronic Tarzan books, all 10 of the original stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, for only 99¢ (1.08 with tax) and I grabbed them!  🙂  The early Tarzan movies had

CLICK cover image to see on Amazon.com.

a big effect on me as a child, while most of the later ones I did not consider as good and since books are almost always better than their movie counterparts, I decided for the first time in my life to read the original stories by the author. Glad I did!

I have finished the first three books and boy is it true that, in this case, the books are so much better than the old or new movies. It is hard to believe how cheesy some of those old movies were that I remember liking so much as a child!  🙂  You can watch most of the old Tarzan movies free online now. And the newer movies made up their own stories, ignoring the books!

Then last week I read a climate change article in The Washington Post that really “clicked” with me and merged with my book readings caused me to decide there was a definite “Tarzan Effect” on me in my childhood of Saturday matinee Tarzan movies and that motivated me to start writing again. I now have a new set of web pages under ABOUT on my website simply titled The Tarzan Effect. They share some of the ways I think Tarzan affected me for the better and at one point I even link to stories and essays on how he affected several other people including Jane Goodall who is reported to have said “I fell passionately in love with Tarzan — this glorious creature living out in the jungle doing all the things I wanted to do, and what did he do? He married the wrong Jane.”  ?

¡Pura Vida!

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The Layered Mexican Yellow

It’s the layers of yellow, white and brown that identify this butterfly more than the spots and their locations which I tend to focus on first. 🙂  This butterfly photographed in my garden is the Mexican Yellow, Eurema mexicana. I’ve seen him before at Arenal Butterfly Conservatory and at Xandari Resort. See all those shots in my Mexican Yellow Gallery.

Mexican Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And it looks different from other angles or light . . .

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