Category: Birds

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Two Nights at Xandari

This little visit to a favorite nature place nearby was scheduled for May 25 and had to be postponed at the last minute because of a sick stomach. I re-introduced Xandari in that May 25 blog post Two Nights at Xandari (linked) within which are links to my 7 other trips there including for one birthday and one Christmas celebration. It is my 3rd best butterfly location (for the number of species) after my Garden and Hotel Banana Azul in Caribe Sur.

In that post I did not link the hotel’s website because they emphasize things like their Spa and pools rather than nature, but if curious, here is the link: https://www.xandari.com/Resort-Spa-costarica-overview.php

Garden Art, Xandari

It was started and first operated by a Frank Lloyd Wright Style Architect and his Art Teacher wife who continued to teach in a special artist pavilion there. The contemporary rooms are decorated with art and sculptures from her and her students as are the gardens with sculptures. A large forest on a mountain north of the city of Alajuela (my provincial capital) with two major waterfalls, a farm, garden and forest trails and of course their Spa and a great restaurant! In their lobby is the only public library of Charlie Doggett photo books! 🙂 They are one of several nature-centered tourist locations in Costa Rica that I have bonded with and I’m always welcomed as a VIP guest with chocolate-covered strawberries and a room upgrade if I want it. Though their “small” rooms are much larger than most other hotel rooms and I’m sure some people retreat there just for their great rooms not to mention 3 pools or the trails for me! 🙂 Whoever bought it from them made it a part of the Xandari chain of exotic hotels out of India. Thus lots of international visitors here! 🙂

Looking out from one of several different rooms I’ve had at Xandari.

Like with most trips, I will probably do posts at night for the next two or three nights, then get back to my usual morning posts. Being able to visit special nature places like this is just one part of my Pura Vida retirement experience in Costa Rica and this is my first overnight trip this year! With 3 more planned for the rest of this year, to 3 of my other favorite places here! So it will be a very good year as I turn 86 next month at Maquenque Eco Lodge! 🙂 Stay tuned for more nature adventures!

¡Pura Vida!

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Blue-vented Hummingbird

This is my other “non-Rufous-tailed” hummingbird from the one shared yesterday and actually the first species of hummingbird that I photographed just 3 days after moving into this house back in 2015. (Bad photo but good memory!) 🙂 As today’s featured photo shows, it has a rich, deep blue tail that helps it to stand out among other birds. See more of my photos of this special hummingbird in the gallery: Blue-vented Hummingbird. And almost all have been photographed in my garden, though maybe my favorite of this species was photographed at Xandari in 2018! 🙂

Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Blue-vented Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

14,000 Views!

That is how many views my blog & website got during the month of May according to the Jetpack program on my site. That is a lot! THANK YOU for reading my blog/website and the related and linked Gallery! It makes my retirement activities seem more important to have that many people looking at my photos! 🙂

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Canivet’s Emerald & Porterweed

This Canivet’s Emerald (my gallery link) is one of the 3 hummingbirds in my garden, with Blue-vented being the other one secondary to the Rufous-tailed who thinks he owns the garden and when I fill the feeders, hogs them and chases off other hummingbirds (the Canivet’s & Blue-vented), but these other two have easier access to my large number of Porter Weeds, officially called Blue Porterweed, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (Wikipedia link). They are in the verbena family and are the most popular flower here for both hummingbirds and butterflies. And they are not all blue! 🙂

Canivet’s Emerald, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Blue Porterweed, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica And yeah, they’re not all blue but that’s the name in English! Or Cola del Toro en español

¡Pura Vida!

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Two Nights at Xandari

Blue-vented Hummingbird at Xandari Costa Rica

Starting today, I will spend a couple of days at Xandari Nature Resort on the outskirts of the city of Alajuela, our provincial capital. It is not exactly cheap, so two nights is enough for one of my top 3 or 4 butterfly locations while I hope they have less wind there than we do in Atenas, less than an hour away. We will see! Oops! I just had to cancel because of a sick stomach and asked if they could move my special price to another date. Hope so! Though not suppose to make changes on pre-paid specials. 🙂 Well, they did make the change to June 8-10, same reservation, just two week later and hopefully with a healthier old man! They told me that I was a special guest and they were happy to postpone the reservation. 🙂

Garden Art, Xandari Costa Rica

Here’s links to the “trip galleries” of my earlier visits to Xandari, in a resort chain with headquarters in India, adding to the exotic nature of the place with waterfalls, forest trails, birds & butterflies and some of the best flower gardens in the country, plus a small farm for their restaurant. A cool place on a hilltop overlooking downtown Alajuela and the San Jose Airport from a lush tropical forest.

Southern Guava Skipper, Xandari Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Almost Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture, Xandari Costa Rica
Sunset Xandari Costa Rica

I’ll start posting photo reports tonight, Now that will be the night of June 8! 🙂

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Great Kiskadee

One of the more common birds seen in my garden has always been the Great Kiskadee (linked to my gallery) and here are 2 shots of this tropical bird common all over Costa Rica.

Great Kiskadee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Great Kiskadee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Yigüirro Work Satisfaction

The rainy season here is believed by many to have been “sung in” by the Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush. Rain usually starts around the middle of May, while this year it started in early May. And sure enough, the Clay-colored Thrush sang almost constantly throughout April and the rains started the first week of May! I think this image of a Yigüirro in one of my Nance Trees has that look of a “job well done!” 🙂 And it continues to rain almost every afternoon.

Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

See more photos of this National Bird of Costa Rica in my gallery: Clay-colored Thrush.

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Yellow-faced Grassquit

Looks over the grass (where they feed) from a neighbor’s fence. See more of this interesting bird in my Yellow-faced Grassquit Gallery. They are plentiful in the cow pasture across the street. Grass seeds are their favorite food.

Yellow-faced Grassquit, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Blue-vented Hummingbird

This little guy with the bright blue tail was the first hummingbird I photographed in this house, in a neighbor’s Mimosa Tree, back in 2015! He now hangs out a lot in my Porter Weeds and is similar to the Rufous Tails that are dominant in my garden, but is more colorful. Blue vs Rufous (rusty-brown)! 🙂 See more in my gallery: Blue-vented Hummingbird.

Blue-vented Hummingbird appears to wear white socks in this pix! 🙂

Continue reading “Blue-vented Hummingbird”
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Singing in the Rains

The Yigüirro (CR Spanish name) or Clay-colored Thrush (Common English name) became the national bird of Costa Rica because early residents gave it credit for the beginning of Rainy Season in May, since they seem to be singing constantly during April before the rains start. Two shots from my garden a few days ago or see more from over the years in the gallery: Clay-colored Thrush or Yigüirro

Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Rufous-backed Wren

One of the more common and often seen birds in my garden is found in Costa Rica Rica only on the Pacific Slope and mostly Northern and Central Pacific, while otherwise it is found only from Mexico to Costa Rica also only on the Pacific Slope, but fairly common in those areas. It is a boisterous or noisy, chattering wren mostly on the ground and in low shrubs and trees. I see almost every day and thus don’t often bother to photograph. See more photos in my Rufous-backed Wren Gallery. When I first came to Costa Rica he was called the Rufous-naped Wren, but like too many birds has had his name changed during my 11 years here.

Rufous-backed Wren, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!