This Morning in the Garden

White-winged Dove
In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

Blue-gray Tanager 
 In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

In My Garden, Atenas, Costa Rica

One of my favorite things to do is to sleep until I wake up, shower, eat a liesurely breakfast on my terrace admiring flowers and the visiting birds. So, after a busy, early, hard day hiking yesterday, I had one of my relaxed mornings today (23rd) and recorded part of it in the above photos. There were other birds and more flowers, but this is a good sample for today.

Enjoying Retirement in Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Tanagers at Sarapiquí

Summer Tanager
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Yellow-winged Tanager
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Blue-gray Tanager
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Palm Tanager
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Passerini’s Tanager
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Gray-headed Tanager
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

See also my Photo Gallery of Costa Rica Birds

Birds at Cerro Lodge

Cinnamon Hummingbird
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Turquoise-browed Motmot
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica
My first to see in Costa Rica, though I saw many in Nicaragua.

White-tipped Dove
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica
I almost called them Inca for the scaling, but white tips on tails ID them.

Warbler of Some Kind   (I’m pretty sure but hard to ID)
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Hoffman’s Woodpecker
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Blue-gray Tanager
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Boat-billed Flycatcher
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Several flycatchers look similar, but the bill and red cap ID this one.

Melodious BlackbirdCerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Very similar to Bronze Cowbird which has red eyes an this one doesn’t.
Only the Melodious Blackbird has everything black, eyes, bill, feet.
Cerro Lodge Entrance
Cerro Lodge, Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Last time I stayed down here it was at Villa Lapas which further off the highway,
closer to Tarcoles, & deeper in the forest, but services and facilities are similar.
This one is actually in the middle of an upscale housing development but with
plenty of land for privacy and lots of birds. The gate is like what the neighbors
have to enter their mansions. Good friendly service, views, birds and food.

I’m saving the birds photographed at Carara National Park for tomorrow since I got a lot at the lodge and the park was my last stop before going home. Some nice birds at the park this time! Better than my last trip there.

My 8 Tanagers in Nicaragua

Of course there are many more tanagers in Nicaragua, but this is what I photographed:

Golden-hooded Tanager, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Note in next photo how different the same bird can look!
Golden-hooded Tanager, Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua
I know it looks a little different, but is the same species as above.
Crimson-collared Tanager, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Yellow-winged Tanager, Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua
Summer Tanager, Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Selva Negra Mountain Resort, Nicaragua
Passerini’s Tanager, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Gray-headed Tanager, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Blue-gray Tanager, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Sorry for a repeat of the Crimson-collared Tanager, but this tanager collection wouldn’t be complete without it and it is my favorite shot of the whole trip as stated earlier! And apologies for some pretty poor photos here, but my bird collection is primary over photo quality.  🙂

I am really pleased with this collection of 8 different species of tanagers in Nicaragua since I only have 3 species in my Costa Rica Birds collection! Soon there will be a separate photo gallery of my Nicaragua birds and I’ll eventually do the same for Panama, Guatemala and Mexico.  A Central America collection!  🙂
Read About Tanagers on Wikipedia where you will learn it is the largest family of neotropical birds with about 240 or 12% of all our birds down here! Many are very colorful!

Blue-gray Tanager

Blue-gray Tanager in my Yellow Bells Tree
It is the fattest, bluest, and grayest I have seen of this species.

Singing for me! I’m surrounded by bird music all day!

If into birds, here’s a List of the Birds of Costa Rica (894) and of course they are not all big colorful toucans, macaws and parrots, but we have those too! This tanager was shot during lunch on a cloudy, gray, overcast day.

And oh yes, I forgot to tell you that a hummingbird got into my house the other day. I was so busy opening screens so he could get out that I didn’t get a photo before he flew away. They are occasional visitors in my garden, though not as many as the butterflies. And a some of the flower blooms are gone now for awhile, so it will be up and down. 

Two New Birds & Balcony Shots

This afternoon I photographed birds from my front balcony for the first time. Got two repeats, Great Kiskadee and Scarlet Tanager but also two new ones, Blue-gray Tanager (you can see in aviary at Nashville Zoo Unseen New World) and tried again to photograph one of the several flocks of parakeets that fly over very fast every afternoon. Nearly impossible to photograph, but here’s a fuzzy image!

Blue-gray Tanager at Hacienda La Jacaranda, Atenas, Costa Rica

Someday maybe a good photo of these regular flyovers.
Today I was given an old and worn (like me) leather & wood rocker for my balcony like some of the other residents have. Now I don’t have to take one of my other chairs out for morning coffee and some evening sits. It is on the front balcony which is larger. The back balcony is the second photo and is longer but narrow with bamboo next to it and lots of other trees closer, making it the better bird photo spot. Also have a clothes line there, but usually use the rack on front balcony for the afternoon sun. In Costa Rica an electric clothes dryer is a rarity. We have sunshine every day, even in the rainy season! 

Rocking Chair for the retired old man! My front balcony.

Back Balcony where most birds are photographed.

Today after Spanish Class I tried a different super market, Maxi-Pali, which is a longer walk but has some things The Coopeatenas doesn’t and has cheaper prices on a few items. They also stock some Walmart house brand products, so guess who probably owns them? It is kind of like it was in the states, I’ll now probably use both some, but the closest is the easiest, so we will see. Also ate at another new restaurant for me that does not have a web presence and I just wrote the first review on Trip Advisor, so nothing to link to now, but that link is to my list of reviews and Olivera will be up in a day or so. It is Pizza Olivera, on the square or Central Park and they deliver, so I will probably use the delivery when Kevin is here. It was very good pizza I thought. I got a personal size Supreme and a liter tropical juice drink for $5. I will return! Like most restaurants here, the dining area is covered open air with views of whatever, this time Central Park with old men on benches, children running and playing, and a teen rolling slowly by on a skate board. Just an ordinary little farming town with lots of happy people! 🙂  It is still fun to be here and to be walking everywhere!

And oh yes, this morning after class I said “yes” to my first volunteer opportunity. I will be helping at the gringo-sponsored Annual Chili Cookoff and fiesta as a fund-raiser for the local children’s home. Some 3,000 people are expected. Don’t know yet what I will do.
Tomorrow is bus to San Jose and my appointment at the U.S. Embassy – hopefully getting the last document needed for my residential application. Never a dull moment yet! But I’m resting tonight!
Blessings to all who take the time to read all my ramblings! I’ll work on making this shorter! Promise!