Category: Birds

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Lesson’s Motmot

Another purely Central American bird is the Lesson’s Motmot, Momotus lessonii (my gallery link) is found from Southern Mexico down through Panama. There are different species of Motmots in South America and we also have another one called the Turquoise-browed Motmot (my gallery link to it). They are mostly seen in the shadows of a tree and thus difficult for good photos. Here’s a shot of the one in my next-door neighbor’s Cecropia Tree last Wednesday morning and there are many more in the above-linked gallery. Read more about them on eBird.

Lesson’s Motmot, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Birds of a feather? Flock together?

Well, in this case, two totally different “feathers” are flocking together or at least sharing the same tree in a neighbor’s yard on a hill above me. First time I have seen the Keel-billed Toucan and the Gray-headed Chachalaca sharing a perch tree. (Names are linked to my galleries of each species.)

My landlord “K” texted me to say he looked down (his house is above mine on the same hill) to tell me that there were two toucans in my Cecropia Tree. I went out with my camera and as I looked up the last one of the two flew off. But fortunately both flew up a different hill into someone else’s tree which they shared with a Gray-headed Chachalaca. 🙂

And thanks to my telephoto lens I managed to get this shot of friendly neighbors of different species about a hundred yards away! 🙂 Maybe it’s an object lesson for us humans! 🙂

Two Keel-billed Toucans and a Gray-headed Chachalaca, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Gray-headed Chachalaca

Regular noisy visitors all around my house that I haven’t been trying to photograph much recently. Interesting chicken-sized “chatterboxes.” 🙂 The Gray-headed Chachalaca, Ortalis cinereiceps (linked to my gallery). Here he is in my slowly dying Cecropia Tree that I will replace in another year or so.

Gray-headed Chachalaca, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain

The green mountains of Atenas, Costa Rica seen from my terrace.

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;

I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.

As the peach-blossom flows downstream and is gone into the unknown,

I have a world apart that is not among men.

~Li Bai, 8th Century Chinese Poet

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That is sort of my response to the U.S. election and what has been going on there for many years now. And as I finish my life retired in Costa Rica, I will continue, as long as able, to photograph and write about birds, butterflies and flowers! 🙂

The photo is of the green hills of Atenas, Costa Rica as seen from my terrace at breakfast.

¡Pura Vida!

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White-winged Dove

One of my “regulars” here is the White-winged Dove, Zenaida asiatica (my gallery link). They are found from the southern half of the United States on south as far as Columbia in South America.

And by the way, the morning I wrote this post (Wed), I had a young Kee-billed Toucan in my Cecropia Tree, the first I’ve seen for awhile, but I did not have my camera with me and as I pulled out my cell phone, he flew away. But hopefully I will start getting toucan photos again! 🙂

White-winged Dove, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Lineated Woodpecker

I always like this one better than the more common here Hoffman’s or Black-cheeked Woodpeckers. And maybe that is because this one reminds me more of Woody Woodpecker. 🙂 And Woody is special in many ways, one being that he was born the same year as me, 1940. 🙂 But enough of that! The Lineated Woodpecker, Dryocopus lineatus (linked to my gallery), is a tropical forest bird found in both the lowlands and foothills (where I live) of Central & South America. In my gallery you can see that I’ve photographed him on both slopes of Costa Rica in many locations. Read about him on eBird.

Lineated Woodpecker, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush

The national bird of Costa Rica was thought by the indigenous people to sing in the rainy season at the end of the dry season, late April or May. It is the Clay-colored Thrush, Turdus grayi (my gallery link) and is found from South Texas throughout Central America and in Columbia. There are always Yigüirros in my garden. Read about on eBird.

Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!