The light fog around this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird is maybe what provided a light purple background as a contrast to his bright green top – a nice compliment of colors! Nature as Art! 🙂
Hummingbird in the Fog
Hummingbird in Ficus Tree
The other day I caught a few shots of this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (the dominant and thus only species in my garden) in an unusual place for me, the dark shadows of the Higueron or Strangler Fig or Ficus Tree. I had to really work at lightening the shadows in these two shots but think the second one is particularly interesting because of how his head and neck are twisted around, unlike any photo yet of one of these, while this first shot is pretty traditional! 🙂
See more in my Rufous-tailed Hummingbird GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
Hummingbird on El Baston
It is the same species or only species of Hummingbird I have in my yard now, the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and maybe the most common species in Costa Rica. They are territorial, meaning if he claims my garden, he chases off other species of hummingbirds. You can see the many I’ve photographed all over Costa Rica in my Rufous-tailed GALLERY or read more about them on eBird. I like these shots because of the contrast with the bright red El Baston de Emperador or Torch Ginger. Here’s four shots . . .
“The Wind in the Trees”
“Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the trees.”
~Thomas Merton
With that, I renew an old adventure that will certainly become an even grander new adventure . . .
It was in October of 2018, the peak of the rainy season, that I first visited Esquinas Rainforest Lodge at La Gamba Research Station, Piedras Blancas National Park, north of Golfito, Puntarenas. It rained pretty hard every afternoon with the mornings and short spaces between rain full of wonderful birds to photograph! And the planned boat trip to Rio Coto Mangroves turned impossible with high winds and heavy rain on Golfo Dulce, but the ingenious boat captain took me back into the smaller Gulf of Golfito (shielded from heavy wind by trees) for some of my better bird shots in between downpours – an unplanned but excellent substitute for an always good mangrove tour! Making Lemonade from Lemons! 🙂 And how could you not in this incredible rainforest? See more photos from my first trip there & a video link below . . .
Continue reading ““The Wind in the Trees””Hummers & Honeycreepers
My last 4 species of birds from Arenal Observatory are in 5 photos because the Red-legged Honeycreeper male & female are so different, with only their legs matching! 🙂
Retire Here on Less Than $30,000 a year!
One of the regular blogs I read is Christopher Howard’s Live in Costa Rica (he also does the best relocation tour) and his latest blog post quoted International Living Magazine on Costa Rica being one of the best places in the world to retire on less than $30,000 a year. Read his post or go to the online version of International Living and maybe find it there. And bear in mind that it is still true even with Costa Rica having the highest cost of living in Central America, but right now I don’t think you want to retire in any of the other Central American countries! (Panama being a sometimes exception.) I chose to retire in luxury in Costa Rica over sliding into retirement poverty in the U.S.
Description of 5 Locations in Costa Rica that Retirees Love in an International Living article.
Today’s photo is of a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, the most common in my garden and possibly all over Costa Rica or at least in many of the places I have visited. They are aggressive and chase other species of Hummingbirds away from feeders and even “their” garden sometimes. Thus I have mixed feelings about them! 🙂 ¡Pura Vida!
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
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Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Waiting for his turn at the feeder in my garden
on a cloudy, rainy day in
Atenas, Costa Rica
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A family of these Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds have taken over my two feeders, meaning I watch them literally every morning at breakfast, nice, but . . . also meaning I do not see other varieties of hummingbirds like I used to. I do still get a wide variety of other kinds of birds in the trees.
See my Costa Rica Birds photo gallery.
Sports News:
- Costa Rica qualified for the International Futbol Event in Russia by tying Honduras last night.
- Costa Rica will have 522 persons running in the Chicago Marathon, 3rd largest group from Latin America after Mexico & Brazil and more than some European countries!
Who Rules the Roost? Rufous-tailed!
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| For 2 years I refused to have feeders, only flowers. But gave in when Anthony left me with this feeder. I do see more hummingbirds, but only one species now. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Like this juvenile Rufous-tailed, they do still eat from flowers, but not totally. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| The Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds dominate the feeder. I believe there is a large family of them that had many babies. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| This is an elder who may be in charge. Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| They even chase each other off the feeder or a “Pecking Order?” Atenas, Costa Rica |
I still have mixed emotions about using a feeder, though it does seem to keep more birds here year around. Not sure why I’m not seeing other species now which may be the work of the Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds chasing them off. I’ve thought about another feeder or two which most of the lodges I visit have even more of and many varieties of hummingbirds. We will see. I don’t like the extra work of boiling water and adding sugar every few days! 🙂 I’m lazy in retirement! And more feeders would mean more sugar water!
For many different birds, see my Birds Photo Galleries
Today I restart my Spanish blog titled ¡Aprendo Español en Atenas! for those who want to see me struggle with español. My teacher requested it!
Today I restart my Spanish blog titled ¡Aprendo Español en Atenas! for those who want to see me struggle with español. My teacher requested it!
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly in One Morning!
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird On Heliconia in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Yeh, it is unusual for a hummingbird to stay still very long, especially on a flower! Thanks Lord!
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| Bark Scorpion On my kitchen floor, Atenas, Costa Rica |
Both of these shots were made before breakfast this morning. The scorpion crawled out from under my electric dishwasher. You can see that on his tail and left hand he has collected some cobweb. 🙂 I just used the broom to sweep him outside off my deck or terrace. In 2 1/2 years here it is only the second scorpion I have seen, both in my kitchen. I am going to spray under my dishwasher, stove and frig, the best hiding places. Though, last night I opened two cardboard boxes of old genealogy books and that is also a good place for scorpions. Part of living in the jungle! 🙂
Check out my Birds photo gallery and my Other Insects photo gallery for more creature shots.
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba, Costa Rica Photo by Charlie Doggett |
These guys have been feeding a lot in my garden and at the hummingbird feeder I inherited from Anthony.
Watch One Feed on Porterweed Flowers – A VIDEO
You can see what it is like with this video another nature photographer (Steven Williams) here in Costa Rica posted on an Expat Facebook page. He calls it a Berylline Hummingbird, but I disagree. Those live mainly in Mexico with a few as far south as Honduras, still a long way from Costa Rica! I think it is a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird which is what we have a lot of in Costa Rica. Either way, this is how they feed in my garden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
See also my Costa Rica Birds photo gallery