Still one of the most common birds in my garden is the Rufous-backed Wren, Campylorhynchus capistratus (my gallery link). These two shots were made in September in my garden . . .
¡Pura Vida!
Rufous-backed Wren
3 Year Old’s Birthday Party
This past Saturday I had the privilege of being invited as the only non-family member to my driver & friend’s daughter’s birthday party along with both sets of her grandparents, aunts, uncles & lots of cousins! I did not take my camera, but made a few rough shots with my cellphone. Below are just 3 shots with many more in my online GALLERY: Montserrat-3-Años-Feliz-de-Cumpleaños. All of the cousins and family reminded me of my childhood with many get-togethers with cousins & all.
All but two of the teenager cousins conveniently had to leave after lunch 🙂 thus none of them in the photos. And one of my blurry photos I used as the feature photo calling it my “Art Photo.” 🙂 Translation: Piñata Pandemonium, but guess that is obvious! 🙂
Variegated Squirrel
This is the species that lives in my garden and is the most common squirrel in Costa Rica (with 7 subspecies) and I see them in most places I visit here, including different colors. In my gallery you can see my photos of 3 other species as well as this most common one, each species in their own gallery 🙂 . . .
- Alfaro’s or Central American Pygmy Squirrel (just 1 photo from Curi-Cancha Reserve, Monteverde)
- Deppe’s Squirrel (3 photos, also at Curi-Cancha Reserve, Monteverde, my favorite reserve in Monteverde, where I also get the most species of birds in Monteverde!) 🙂
- Red-tailed Squirrel (the 2nd most numerous for me with a dozen photos from 7 different locations across Costa Rica on both slopes, though considered “non-native”.)
- Variegated Squirrel, (49 photos from 12 locations across Costa Rica, including both slopes and more than one subspecies or color-combinations.)
- The only two of these that are “native” to Costa Rica are Deppe’s and the Variegated. The other 2 are “introduced” or “migrants,” kind of like me! 🙂
Just this one photo here. Go to gallery for more.
¡Pura Vida!
Green Heron – All Weather Bird + Trump Stops Mail Service from Costa Rica
This water bird is familiar to most people in North America as he is found in all of the contiguous states and in southern Canada south through Central America and the Caribbean Islands and in the northern tier of South American countries, always on or near water. But I do see more of them down here than I did in Nashville! 🙂 You can see my collection of photos made here in Costa Rica at Green Heron Gallery (linked).
¡Pura Vida!
Trump Stops Mail from Costa Rica
The Costa Rica Post Office (Correos de Costa Rica) informed me earlier that they could no longer accept mail addressed to anywhere in the USA because of the unpredictable tariffs on all mail, including letters, with no way to charge us. Some other shipping services have also stopped sending to the U.S. like Aeropost & ARCR, though I can still receive packages from the States through Aeropost. The local Correos is now suggesting that you use the more expensive EMS, DHL, UPS or FedEx. Every day brings another reason that I’m glad I live here and not there! 🙂 The United States is being destroyed quicker than I thought they could. Below is copied from an email I received yesterday from ARCR . . .
Mail Service to USA and Canada has been Discontinued  According to a September 2, 2025, article in La Nacion, due to the duties that the Trump administration has imposed on imports from Costa Rica, los Correos has temporarily stopped accepting mail and packages addressed to anywhere in the United States or Canada. This includes letter mail. It has been reported that Aeropost is following suit. The status of other mail forwarding services is unknown at this time. Check with your mail forwarding service provider. |
When are Americans going to wise up and get rid of the worthless Republicans running (ruining) the United States?
A Tropical Waters Icon
The Anhinga, sometimes called “Snake Bird” because when swimming with his long neck out of the water he/she looks like a snake swimming. This bird is found in all of the tropical Americas on the water where it dives into the water to catch a fish and then afterwards sun-dries itself on a tree as in these two photos, one a male (all black) and one a female (with brown neck). See more of my photos from Costa Rica in the Anhinga Gallery (linked) with most seen on rivers, though also on lakes.
And yes, this makes three days that I have reverted back to my Tortuguero trip for photos. That is because I’ve had some “lean” days in my garden recently (doing posts a week or more ahead now) and I always have more that can be shared from places like Tortuguero! 🙂 Every national park and wildlife reserve here is a rich source of nature photos!
¡Pura Vida!
Tamandua Anteater
One of the many interesting things seen on my Jaguar Trail hike (Tortuguero) was a Northern Tamandua, a type of anteater. He was high in the many dark shady trees and thus very difficult to photograph, but here are 3 photographs that give you an idea of this larger than monkeys but smaller than an adult man, looking like he is wearing black coveralls or vest or suspenders! 🙂 You can see the few other photos I’ve made in other parts of Costa Rica of this interesting mammal in my gallery: Anteater, Northern Tamandua, Tamandua mexicana. This one lives throughout Central America from Southern Mexico to the northern edges of the Andes, though there is also another, larger, species of anteater in South America called “Giant Anteater.” Here’s 3 photos made on one of my hikes in Tortuguero National Park a week or so ago . . .
August Flowers Gallery
You email readers be sure to CLICK “READ MORE” to see the gallery of 10 flowers (not all) I photographed in August . . .
There were fewer than usual with both less sun and less rain this year.
Continue reading “August Flowers Gallery”Ironclad Beetle
This Zopherus jansoni (iNaturalist link) is one of multiple species of the Ironclad Beetle, this one found only in Central America and just photographed on my terrace. Here’s four shots from different angles . . .
Giant White
There are many Whites and some are easily confused, but this one seems to be the most common in my garden and you can see other photos of it in my Gallery: Giant White, Ganyra josephina. Here’s 2 photos (when possible, I always try to get a side view & top view) of the one in my garden 3 days ago . . .
Fiery Skipper
This is just one of the many looks of the Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus (my gallery link) as you can see in that gallery link. Just one shot here from my garden the other day . . .
¡Pura Vida!