Category: Uncategorized

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Green Ibis Pre-Rain Fishing

When on a boat on the Rio San Carlos and we saw these two Ibis, I first thought they were vultures, based on their perching stance and dark color, but they are Green Ibis which are not always green in color! 🙂 It was cloudy and about to rain and they were looking for some fish to eat. 🙂

If you look in my Green Ibis Gallery you can find some with a greenish hue, but many tend to be dark brown or near black with sometimes a reddish-brown hue. I don’t know why. If you look close, these seem to have a greenish hue on their necks and the base of their beaks, and that is all! 🙂 Here’s one shot. Go to the above gallery to see more.

Green Ibis, pre-rain fishing, Rio San Carlos, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Flash News: I have Covid!

All those 2+ years of rampant Covid in 2020-2021 and I never had it! (Though I had cancer which is worst!) 🙂

Well, I came back from my trip not feeling my best and it kept getting worse, aching all over like the flu, sore throat and coughing, runny nose, etc. I went to the public clinic ER and they thought I had Dengue Fever, but after two days of blood tests, they said “No, not dengue!” Then told me to take lots of fluids and rest. Not being satisfied with that, I went to my private clinic and Dra. Candy immediately got a Covid Test on me and it was positive. I have several meds to take and I’m quarantined for 5 days, clear again next Wednesday. It’s the bronchitis, coughing and phlegm that bother me the most. Tylenol takes care of the fever. Just be glad when it it gone! 🙂

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Giant Ceiba Borer

The Giant Ceiba Borer or Euchroma gigantea (iNaturalist link), is one of the larger borer beetles that inhabits the warm tropical lowland jungles of Central and South America from Mexico to Argentina. And quite a sight to see! 🙂

This was one of my very last photos this morning before leaving Maquenque Eco Lodge (lodge website) on one of the handrail posts going over the bridge/dam between the lake & lagoon. And just before beginning another adventurous road trip back to Atenas through pineapple fields, heavy traffic, clouds/fog, rain and winding mountain roads, arriving just barely in time for my appointment to receive a new dental bridge. 🙂

Giant Ceiba Borer, Euchroma-gigantea, Maquenque Eco Lodge and Reserve, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica

More to Read About this Insect . . .

¡Pura Vida!

Expect more reports about Maquenque during the next week of so. Plus another great Costa Rica Trip Gallery! 🙂

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3 Interesting Insects

These could all 3 go into my unidentified insects gallery, though I’m going to classify 2 as general types of wasps and the other a type of bee (I have all types of bees together in one gallery). There are so many insect species here and I only really work at identifying birds and butterflies and somewhat at dragonflies. 🙂 Here’s one photo of each of these 3 recent ones in my garden . . .

Unidentified Insect, Atenas, Costa rica (probably a type of wasp)
Continue reading “3 Interesting Insects”
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Villa Lapas

My second overnight trip after moving to Costa Rica nearly 10 years ago was to this locally-owned & operated lodge/hotel near the village of Tarcoles, less than an hour west of Atenas, Villa Lapas. I did not get many bird or other wildlife photos compared to later trips other places, but you can see what I got in my Trip Gallery: Villa Lapas, July 2015. The appeal then and now is that it is located next to Carara National Park, where, with a good guide (that I did not have then), you can photograph a lot of different bird species as you also can on the right Tarcoles River Boat Safari. Since then I’ve discovered lots of better lodges for birds and other nature photography (even in that area – see bottom of post), so why am I returning now? Because of a recent announcement about this little-known place with some rooms arranged as a “Colonial Spanish Jungle Village” becoming a Marriott Resort . . .

Villa Lapas set up as a “Colonial Jungle Village”
in the Transitional Forests of Carara National Park.
Continue reading “Villa Lapas”
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Cute – for a “Coyote!”

Those cute buggy eyes looking out at us doesn’t seem to fit his name of Coyote Cloudywing (Achalarus toxeus), another new species for me in my garden the other day. It was windy again and he didn’t stay on that vine long, so no other views as I prefer to make, but I kind of like this look! 🙂

Coyote Cloudywing, Atenas, Costa Rica

See some other interesting Skippers in their galleries.

¡Pura Vida!

Visiting or Moving to Costa Rica? Avoid Driving!

My personal advice is to not rent or buy a car! Driving can be terrible here! I’ve been here nearly 10 years now without a car and done fine! I walk a lot locally and use taxis or tour drivers and public buses for trips. (And occasionally fly Sansa Airlines for distant lodges.) The many expats here think they have to have a car or two plus as more Costa Ricans can afford cars (very expensive here!) they are helping to overload the very limited infrastructure for automobiles as are the increase in trucks servicing the growing population. See this article with a photo in Sunday’s Tico Times Online English Newspaper:

Gridlock and Delays Await Tourists Traveling Costa Rica’s Highways
https://ticotimes.net/2024/02/14/gridlock-and-delays-await-tourists-traveling-costa-ricas-highways

¡Pura Vida! (if not driving!) 🙂

Instead, use my friend Walter: Walter’s Taxis & Tours (506) 8873-4266

🙂

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Stately Female Quetzal

While the male is more “showy” with his very long two green feathers that really impress when he is flying (that I can never capture in the camera), the female is just as colorful and maybe more “stately” in my opinion. Only one shot here, but you can see my other photos in this trips “Trip Gallery Sub-gallery”: Resplendent Quetzal Female.

Resplendent Quetzal Female, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

And you who have visited the tropics might look at her tail and say that she looks like a Trogon – and you would be basically correct, in that the Quetzal is in the Trogon family, just a little more colorful and showy than most Trogons, though some of them are pretty colorful too! Just no long green feathers like the Quetzal Male.  :-)

Today is the day I leave San Gerardo de Dota to return to my home in Atenas, Alajuela Province, but I will continue sharing images from these beautiful mountains over the next week or so and be developing a new trip gallery, so keep reading! :-)

¡Pura Vida!

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Tanna Longtail

The five spots in that upper short white line on the wing is what makes this a Tanna instead of a Teleus, Brown or Plain Longtail. Otherwise, those four are very similar and often confused. These two were in my garden and are fairly common Skippers here.

Tanna Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Tanna Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See my Tanna Longtail Skipper GALLERY.

And for comparisons with Teleus, Plain & Brown Longtails, browse through all my SKIPPER GALLERIES to see those and many others! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!