I just decided to share the birds from Maquenque in smaller doses and this is the three kinds of toucans we had at breakfast every morning: (1) Keel-billed Toucan, (2) Yellow-throated Toucan,and (3) Collared Aracari Toucan.I have hundreds of photos but only sharing 2 of each type! 🙂 Though I should note that the featured photo for this post is of three juvenile Collared Aracari, possibly siblings. Lots of baby birds around now. Click an image to enlarge:
It is Christmas Time here! The children and teens are out of school and out of uniforms as the seniors graduated yesterday and summer vacation has started. Happy sounds! Schools begin a new year in February.
The rains have stopped and the wind is blowing; dry season is here. Soon some businesses will close for two weeks or more and when I get to the beach 22 December it will be crowded with more Ticos than foreign tourists.
My gardener team said goodbye today, “Hasta proxima anos!” They will see me next year. Mid December until January is vacation time for many people and even more so a family time. The week between Christmas and New Years Atenas will look like a ghost town with little going on beyond the always open super mercados and farmacias. Peaceful too! I will be gone on my trip to Tambor Bay December 22-27 and reporting in daily right here on this blog! (If internet connection!)
And hoping you have the joy and tranquility of Costa Rica during your Christmas celebration!
Yellow-throated Toucan Dave & Dave’s Nature Pavilion, La Virgen, Costa Rica Former known as Chestnut-Mandibled and then Black-Mandibled Toucan A very common bird in Sarapiquí area including at Selva Verde Lodge.
Keel-billed Toucan Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica
Collared Aracari Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica
Keel-billed Toucan Flying Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica
There were more seen but just 15 with decent photographs and I will share more photos of the Great Green Macaw later with info on the Ara Project. Some of these birds like the above are only found on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.
Pale-billed Woodpecker
Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Cinnamon Woodpecker Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Chestnut-colored Woodpecker Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Keel-billed Toucan Kekoldi Bribri Indigenous Reserve, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
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Collared Aracari Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Common Black Hawk Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Photographed in tree next to my tent at Almonds & Corals.
Roadside Hawk Kekoldi Bribri Indigenous Reserve, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
One of the “New World Warblers” maybe Yellow Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Shining Honeycreeper Kekoldi Bribri Indigenous Reserve, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
Squirrel Cuckoo Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Variable Seedeater Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Turkey Vulture Kekoldi Bribri Indigenous Reserve, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
We also saw Kites, Hawks and Falcons flying high above, but no good photos.
Chestnut-backed Antbird Manzanillo, Costa Rica
By the entrance to my tent at Almonds & Corals
Note that he is eating an insect, worm or whatever?
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Black-mandibled Toucan
Photographed at the Ara Project and added after original post.
Manzanillo, Costa Rica
All of these birds were wild in the forests of Manzanillo or Kekoldi. I saw a few more in captivity at the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo but not included here. See that post.
And I have a BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY with many more species! And the new ones here will be added very soon!
For many reasons I decided to move all my Costa Rica photos into a new photo gallery outside my old PBase gallery which for now I will keep for “history” or pre-Costa Rica photos as is. After checking out several possibilities, I chose SmugMug.com as the host and I am working on a new gallery there that will be formatted more like a website I am calling:
Please be patient. It is a long way from finished since I have to upload and label each individual photo one at a time. But I think you will like it when finished! You can simply BROWSE as on any website, but also with a powerful search engine you can SEARCH for and bring up all photos for say one place name or one bird, etc. In the case of birds, they are listed alphabetically by the English name, but with SEARCH you can get a lot of other combinations.
The GALLERIES of photos are organized first in FOLDERS by subject or theme such as “Birds” or “Vistas.” In each gallery you can click the button SLIDESHOW for the best full screen viewing of those photos. Or PASS YOUR CURSOR OVER PHOTO FOR TITLE & LOCATION. Then at the bottom of each photo and top of each gallery is a button labeled BUY that takes you to a multitude of sizes and mediums to order a copy of the photo, from a regular 4×6 print or large wall hanger to a greeting card. Fun! ————–
Collared Aracari Toucan Eating Papaya in the village of Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Black-mandibled Toucan Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
Keel-billed Toucan At Park Headquarters Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
All photos by Charlie Doggett and copyrighted
It is late and I am tired as we got back home from Tortuguero at nearly dinner time and I had to water the gardens. I will add more photos from Tortuguero tomorrow and the following days. And I hope you are beginning to see why I like Tortuguero so much! 🙂 Pura Vida!
The Toucan by Shel Silverstein
Tell me who can Catch a toucan? Lou can.
Just how few can Ride the toucan? Two can.
What kind of goo can Stick you to the toucan? Glue can.
Who can write some More about the toucan? You can!
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan RESCATE ANIMAL zooave, La Garita, Costa Rica
Collared Aracari Toucan RESCATE ANIMAL zooave, La Garita, Costa Rica
Emerald Toucanet RESCATE ANIMAL zooave, La Garita, Costa Rica
Central American Spider Monkey RESCATE ANIMAL zooave, La Garita, Costa Rica
Great Curassow RESCATE ANIMAL zooave, La Garita, Costa Rica
Torch Ginger or Etlingera elatior RESCATE ANIMAL zooave, La Garita, Costa Rica
Well, there is so much more I could share. It was my second time at this little zoo, gardens, and animal rescue association. I really like it and think it a better (and less expensive) place to visit than La Paz for birds and gardens. Now, La Paz has hummingbirds not here and of course the beautiful 5 waterfalls, but it costs twice as much! And Zoo Ave is just 20 minutes from my house.
This was the next to last day for Kevin and I think he likes ZooAve almost as much as I do. Tomorrow will be some simple little local visits and Monday he flies home.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In 2020 this facility has been “rebranded” to eliminate the zoo concept and is now called Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center.
Another Species of Toucan, I photographed in 2010 in Braulio Carrillo Click photo to enlarge
POLICE BACKGROUND CHECK MARKED “NO RECORD” So one more needed document obtained today from Nashville Police pretty quickly and easily for $13. The Costa Rica officials will like the red ink rubber stamped declaration “No Record” below the colorful Metro Police logo. I’m good to go on that!
ONE-WAY FLIGHT SCHEDULED FOR CHRISTMAS EVE This was easy too and a free flight with air miles, except for tax I had to pay! And I decided on Christmas Eve to be there for the holiday and get away from what could be Christmas blues here. In Costa Rica everyone makes tamales for Christmas, a long time tradition! I’ll expect some! Plus I may get to see some colorful Catholic Church celebrations on Christmas! Plus I need to get rid of all by stuff before Christmas anyway, so Christmas Eve seemed to be the best time to leave with an empty house. And hey! I got great seats in front of the business class cabin on both flights! That is almost like first class (row 7 with bigger seat & more leg room). I will be flying in style through Miami on American Airlines. Another momentous Christmas for me!
LIMITED EXCESS LUGGAGE But the hope that I could take 6 to 8 suitcases to carry my beginning stuff, is not going to work out. There is a max of 5 suitcases, but the escalating cost may mean only taking two and shipping other stuff. 1st bag is $25, 2nd bag is $40, 3rd bag is $150, and the 4th & 5th bags will be $200 each! So much for a free flight! I’m hoping air freight will be cheaper and plan to start with quotes from DHL which was my shipper from The Gambia, but will compare with FedEx and maybe find a freight company that will send footlockers. UPS is not in C.R.
WAITING ON LAST DOCUMENT FROM SOCIAL SECURITY I will wait until next week before I try following up on their promised letter. Then I can stay focused on getting rid of stuff. So far, everything is falling together pretty quickly and easily.
