Category: Trees

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Inca Dove

I’m glad that one of my favorite Doves was still around in September, even though this is not a great photo! 🙂 See more and better photos in my GALLERY: Inca Dove, Columbina inca.

Inca Dove, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Preparing this post two weeks and a day earlier I have decided that it will be the last of my photos made in September and tomorrow I will start posting only October photos! 🙂 And the October ones will most likely overlap into November. 🙂 I’m thankful to live so close to so much nature to keep my attention and bring me joy in my creative outlet. Share my posts and tell your friends about my nature photography obsession, this blog, and my unique photo gallery! ¡Pura vida! Retired in Costa Rica!

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Boat-billed Flycatcher

At first I had these two photos lumped in with the Great Kiskadees, but eBird’s AI helped me realized that they have bigger bills and are shaped slightly different as Boat-billed Flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua  (linked to my gallery). Not as frequent but the last few in my gallery are from my garden. One photo . . .

Boat-billed Flycatcher, in my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Blue-gray Tanager

One of several birds that I’m seeing more of now, the Blue-gray Tanager, Thraupis episcopus (my gallery link) lives all over Central America and the northern half of South America and is found literally everywhere in Costa Rica except the highest altitudes. He is similar to the grayish-green Palm Tanager and I have a lot of photos in the above linked gallery. Pictured here in my garden.

Blue-gray Tanager, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Variegated Squirrel

This is the species that lives in my garden and is the most common squirrel in Costa Rica (with 7 subspecies) and I see them in most places I visit here, including different colors. In my gallery you can see my photos of 3 other species as well as this most common one, each species in their own gallery 🙂 . . .

  • Alfaro’s or Central American Pygmy Squirrel (just 1 photo from Curi-Cancha Reserve, Monteverde)
  • Deppe’s Squirrel (3 photos, also at Curi-Cancha Reserve, Monteverde, my favorite reserve in Monteverde, where I also get the most species of birds in Monteverde!) 🙂
  • Red-tailed Squirrel (the 2nd most numerous for me with a dozen photos from 7 different locations across Costa Rica on both slopes, though considered “non-native”.)
  • Variegated Squirrel, (49 photos from 12 locations across Costa Rica, including both slopes and more than one subspecies or color-combinations.)
  • The only two of these that are “native” to Costa Rica are Deppe’s and the Variegated. The other 2 are “introduced” or “migrants,” kind of like me! 🙂

Just this one photo here. Go to gallery for more.

Variegated Squirrel, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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A Tropical Waters Icon

The Anhinga, sometimes called “Snake Bird” because when swimming with his long neck out of the water he/she looks like a snake swimming. This bird is found in all of the tropical Americas on the water where it dives into the water to catch a fish and then afterwards sun-dries itself on a tree as in these two photos, one a male (all black) and one a female (with brown neck). See more of my photos from Costa Rica in the Anhinga Gallery (linked) with most seen on rivers, though also on lakes.

Female Anhinga, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
Male Anhinga, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica

And yes, this makes three days that I have reverted back to my Tortuguero trip for photos. That is because I’ve had some “lean” days in my garden recently (doing posts a week or more ahead now) and I always have more that can be shared from places like Tortuguero! 🙂 Every national park and wildlife reserve here is a rich source of nature photos!

¡Pura Vida!

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“The Woods”

In and/or near Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, seen from a Sansa airplane.

More than 25% of Costa Rica’s forests and land is protected by the government in official National Parks, Wildlife Refuges and Biological Reserves. On top of that there are many “private reserves” that some people say brings the protected percentage closer to 30% but no data on that. And according to Google’s AI:

“With over 615 wildlife species per 10,000 sq km, Costa Rica sits atop of the list as the most bio-diverse region of the world.”

–Google

¡Pura Vida!

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Great Kiskadee

One of the old regulars in my garden seems to always make a good picture, the Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus (my gallery link) and is almost always here! Found from Mexico to South America. Here’s one on the powerline.

Great Kiskadee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

And the most common hummingbird in my garden is this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl (my gallery link). Fairly common from Mexico to northern South America at multiple altitudes.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!