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A couple of White-winged Doves were hiding in the Strangler Fig Tree the other day – meaning that any shot I made would show part of them behind leaves or limbs. But still they are an active part of my home environment! 🙂 See some much better photos in my White-winged Dove Gallery. They are the most frequent doves/pigeons in my garden with maybe Inca Doves second.
¡Pura Vida!
This handsome Tropical Kingbird – Tyrannus melancholicus (linked to my gallery for them) is another special bird seen all over South and Central America. I photographed this one while he waited in line for some of those palm berries shown yesterday in my garden. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
These berries on one of the very tall palms in my garden are shown here feeding a Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus (my gallery link) while other Kiskadees and Yigüirros wait their turn on a limb of my nearby Cecropia tree (though occasionally there were 2 or 3 birds on this cluster at the same time). 🙂 Those two species and a few flycatchers have now just about stripped all the berries off this tree. And though butterflies have caught my interest more lately, and there are more of them, I still watch and photograph the few birds that come to my garden, mostly Doves, Kiskadees and Yigüirros (Clay-colored Thrush). Here’s just the one photo of this species found in Central & South America . . .
¡Pura Vida!
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.
– Lord George Gordon Byron, 1813
9 more photos below . . .
Continue reading “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods”
Another new butterfly species for me, seen in June in my Cecropia Tree, the Tailed Cecropian, Historis acheronta (my gallery with 3 shots). A less seen species found from South Texas to Brazil and you can see other photos submitted on butterfliesandmoths. The great variety of butterflies here just continues to keep me searching! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Most mornings at Maquenque I walked from my cabin to breakfast around the Lagoon, through two little forests, and a corner of the farm looking for birds. One morning I saw this juvenile, young or immature Gray Hawk perched in a tree long enough for me to get several shots and in okay light! To see the different looks of Gray Hawks, go to my Gray Hawk Gallery with shots from several areas of Costa Rica. I did see a more mature Gray Hawk on another day, but in the shadows and my photo is not good enough to share here though in my gallery.
¡Pura vida!
It was a last minute thought to snap shots of some of the big trees in the rainforest and I didn’t get many or take the long hike to the “biggest” tree in their reserve, but this gives you an idea and you can see all five big tree shots in Maquenque ’24 Trees Gallery that will soon be a part of this Trip Gallery. Or see my bigger Trees of CR gallery.
¡Pura Vida!
This trip I got photos of 4 species of parrots as shown in the 4 photos below with each followed by a link to my CR Birds Gallery for that species. Though I’ve never gotten all 8 on one visit there, the other 4 I’ve previously photographed at Maquenque are both Macaws: Scarlet & Green, the Mealy Parrot, and the Crimson-fronted Parakeet. Here’s one photo for the email notice and the other three follow online.
The Giant Ceiba Borer or Euchroma gigantea (iNaturalist link), is one of the larger borer beetles that inhabits the warm tropical lowland jungles of Central and South America from Mexico to Argentina. And quite a sight to see! 🙂
This was one of my very last photos this morning before leaving Maquenque Eco Lodge (lodge website) on one of the handrail posts going over the bridge/dam between the lake & lagoon. And just before beginning another adventurous road trip back to Atenas through pineapple fields, heavy traffic, clouds/fog, rain and winding mountain roads, arriving just barely in time for my appointment to receive a new dental bridge. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Expect more reports about Maquenque during the next week of so. Plus another great Costa Rica Trip Gallery! 🙂
As I finished my quesadilla lunch today, I stepped out of the dining room to a tropical Guaba Tree where a couple of Spider Monkeys were eating both fruit & leaves for their lunch! 🙂 Here’s just one photo. You can see more photos of this wiry guy in my Central American Spider Monkey Gallery. And oh yes, only “new world monkeys” (Central & South America) have prehensile tails and can hang in a tree like this fellow with all hands and feet free! Nada in Africa and Asia! 🙂
Part of the fun of living Retired in Costa Rica!
¡Pura Vida!