Calle Balsilla Birds

I must admit that I was more focused on butterflies than birds when we walked Calle Balsilla last week, plus we were later getting there which means fewer birds, but I did get these 4 bird species along with my 11 species of butterflies! 🙂

Inca Dove, Calle Balsilla, Atenas, Costa Rica

Interesting that the above dove is the only bird I photographed that was not totally black in color! 🙂

Continue reading “Calle Balsilla Birds”

Soropta Canal Birds

Just a sample of the many kinds of birds we saw and I photographed on the old Snyder Canal for Banana Boats now called Soropta Canal for the nearby beach it parallels near the little town of Changuinola, Panama. A rich diversity of plants and wildlife are there!

Yellow-headed Caracara
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama

Groove-billed Anis
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama

Purple Gallinule
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama

Roadside Hawk Juvenile
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama

Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama

Roseate Spoonbill
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama

Snowy Egret (in the rain)
Soropta Canal, Changuinola, Panama
Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama

Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo

Jaguar Rescue Center is located on the south side of Puerto Viejo,
not far from my hotel in Manzanillo. No Jaguars here! It got its name
from the first animal the founder actually rescued, a baby Jaguar whose
mother had been killed and would have died otherwise.
Photo on above entrance sign is of a one-eyed monkey.

Nice Little Cafe and Gift Shop at the entrance, but
not as big or as developed as Zoo Ave in La Garita!
And you can only visit on a schedule with a tour guide, so get times ahead!
On website: Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

NOTE: I am not repeating the photos of a Northern Tamandua Anteater and a Red-eyed Tree Frog that were shot here but shown in earlier posts. Click links to see again.

Brown Pelican with a broken wing
Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Unidentified Hawk, similar to Gray and Gray Lined,
but those are not in the Caribbean and our group was
too large for me to constantly ask the name of animals.
Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Baby Possums whose mother was killed. They will raise and try to
introduce back into the wild.
Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Groove-billed Ani
Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Keel-billed Toucan

Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth

Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Red-lored Parrot

Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Spectacled Caiman

Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

To learn more about Jaguar Rescue Center, click link for their website where you can read the history, find out when there are tours and how you can volunteer. It is operated mostly by volunteers!

And for more of my Costa Rica photos, see my gallery: Charlie Doggett’s COSTA RICA & SCROLL DOWN

Or more specifically my BIRDS PHOTO GALLERY   or

My  OTHER WILDLIFE PHOTO GALLERY

¡Pura Vida!

More Birds from Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge

Beyond the nursery birds shown yesterday I photographed 17 other species at Juan Venado!

Black-headed Trogon
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Black Vulture
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Great Egret
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
(See yesterday’s post for egrets in the nursery)
Great-tailed Grackle
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Green Heron
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Groove-billed Ani
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Hoffman’s Woodpecker
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Little Blue Heron
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Magnificent Frigate Bird Juvenile
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Mangrove Swallow
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Nicaraguan Grackle
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Oriole Nest
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Osprey
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Whimbrel
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
White Ibis
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Wilson’s Plover male
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Yellow Warbler, Resident Male
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
(The brown hood makes him a resident. Migrants are all yellow.)


And don’t miss my Nicaragua Birds photo gallery for 98 different species!

And remember that both my trips to Nicaragua were provided by Tours Nicaragua!  Check out what they offer! I’m very happy with them!

Groove-billed Ani

Groove-billed Ani, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Though fairly common and widespread all over Costa Rica, I haven’t seen many here. This was one of four in my yellow-bell tree just off my terrace. From a distance he can be confused with the Melodious Blackbird, but a closer look at the bill is the difference in these two all black birds with black eyes, the only two totally black. I made an out-of-focus photo of one at La Jacaranda last January, but this is a much better image. Also back then I called that one a Smooth-billed Ani which is almost the same, without the grooves on top bill which is also a little higher pitched. But they only appear in the South Pacific area of Costa Rica, so I renamed it there and in my online photo gallery of Costa Rica Birds. 

Cornell Lab Site on the Groove-billed Ani, an unusual bird

“Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?”   ~Rose Kennedy

Groove-billed Ani

Groove-billed Ani, Atenas, Costa Rica by Charlie Doggett

This is an exciting new spotting for me – my first to photograph and right off my balcony around 6:30 PM! At first I thought it was a Smooth-billed Ani, but now see the grooves + smooth-billed only appear in the South Pacific area of Costa Rica. So I came back in November and changed this name.