Category: Birds

Posted on

Canivet’s Emerald

I almost had this one labeled as a Garden Emerald that can be found only in a few limited areas of Costa Rica and Panama, because the iNat AI said it was a Garden Emerald (very similar to Canivet’s), but the same day I posted it on iNaturalistCR, two serious birders corrected me because of both location and the length and shape of the tail. 🙂 So I corrected it there and in my gallery, not getting the “Lifer” that I thought I had! 🙂 Note that this is a male, all green, while the female has a white front and white eyebrow. You can see both in my gallery, Canivet’s Emerald.

Garden Emerald, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Scrub Euphonia

My only other time to see this bird was in January of this year, also in my garden. eBird says they live from Mexico to Costa Rica but only in Northwest Costa Rica and I am in more of West Central Costa Rica. Maybe their habitat is expanding south! 🙂 Notice the big difference in the male and female, fairly typical of all Euphonias. See all my photos in the gallery  Scrub Euphonia – Euphonia affinis (linked).

Scrub Euphonia, female, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Scrub Euphonia, male, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Southern House Wren

This Southern House Wren (my gallery link) looks pretty much like the Northern House Wren found in the United State to me, but they say there are many subspecies of both, as the scientists get into genetic details! 🙂 This one is found from Mexico south through all of Central America and most of South America. You can of course read about it on eBird or on iNaturalistCR.

Southern House Wren, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Jetpack still hasn’t fixed whatever is keeping my posts from being emailed when scheduled ahead, so I have to publish them manually to get the emailed version and my mornings are usually pretty busy, thus, as today, it is noon before I got around to it.

Posted on

Blue-black Grassquit

This is one of two or three different ” seed eater type” birds that I see around my house, especially in the cow pasture across the street where this one is. See more of my photos of this species in my gallery Blue-black Grassquit (linked) where the last two images were made on my first trip to Costa Rica in 2009. Or read about them on eBird or on iNaturalist.

Blue-black Grassquit, Roca Verde Cow Pasture, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Shot was made from my terrace zooming in on the fence across the street. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Maquenque Trip Gallery Done!

Wow! Not easy and not quick! I always have a lot of photos to process from Maquenque Lodge and here are the ones that I chose to keep in the appropriate sub-galleries. Click the image of gallery below to go there or use this address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2026-07-2-7-Maquenque-Lodge-Boca-Tapada

CLICK IMAGE OF GALLERY to go there.

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Roadside Hawk

This time at Maquenque I saw only one hawk and it is one of the more common in Costa Rica, the Roadside Hawk (my gallery link).

Roadside Hawk, Maquenque Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Roadside Hawk, Maquenque Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Yellow Tyrannulet

This pretty little bird was photographed from the back porch of my cabin and when I put three shots from this sighting in my gallery Yellow Tyrannulet (linked), I found that the only two shots already in that gallery were made in the same tree two years earlier from the back porch of that same cabin of a more mature bird. 🙂 So Maquenque is the only place I’ve ever seen it.

Yellow Tyrannulet, Maquenque Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

I finally processed all the bird photos from my 2026 Maquenque Trip linked at: BIRDS (43 species alphabetically) with one “Lifer” (1st time seen), the Yellow-olive Flatbill.

Posted on

“Like water off a duck’s back . . .”

That familiar idiom was seen literally during the several rains of my visit to Maquenque Lodge in early July, shown here in photos of a Muscovy Duck in the rain (link to my gallery). But I guess I could also use the phrase as the idiom it is known for when I read about the idiotic president and Republican politicians of the United States while living a more relaxed life in the nature and beauty of a tropical paradise country with no army, no wars, no enemies and no national hatred or fears . Pura vida! Trump affects me like water off a duck’s back! 🙂 (Though I do sometimes mourn for what is happening to my country of birth and shake my head in disbelief.)

Muscovy Duck, Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Trip BIRDS Gallery Finished

I finally processed all the bird photos from my 2026 Maquenque Trip linked at:

BIRDS (43 species alphabetically) with one “Lifer” (1st time seen), the Yellow-olive Flatbill.

And yes, on previous trips I had 61 and 62 species, but I’m an old man now plus it rained every day this trip, so considering that, 43 was not a bad number. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Groove-billed Ani

This striking bird is seen occasionally in my garden, but Maquenque Ecolodge is still my #1 place to see and photograph the Groove-billed Ani (my gallery link) and in more interesting situations including a photo of a family of 8 Groove-billed Anis lined up together on a fence! 🙂

And yes, there is a Smooth-billed Ani (my gallery link) that books say is seen only along the South Pacific Coast where the Groove-billed is not usually seen but I have a shot from the South Caribbean from where others have posted photos on iNaturalist, plus iNat shows some reported in the Northern Central Valley hills. They are still more rare than the Groove-billed which is literally seen all over Costa Rica up to 1,500 feet altitude. 🙂

Groove-billed Ani, Maquenque Lodge, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Green Ibis

Maquenque ranks up there with Tortuguero on seeing and photographing the Green Ibis, though this time I was not able to get a close as before plus the cloudy/rainy weather made them look darker or nearly black, but they are always dark as you can see in my gallery: Green Ibis (linked). Just 2 shots here with more in the gallery. And though they all have a green tint, it is difficult to get that green to show up in a photo.

Green Ibis, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!