Rufous-tailed Hummingbird feeding on a Red Button Ginger Flower (Costus woodsonii) that grows wild only in Costa Rica, Panama & Colombia! 🙂
Because of some pains that make walking difficult, I’m limiting myself to short walks down the beach road (one lane, dirt) and of course the hotel gardens instead of longer hikes in the nearby national park and separate wildlife refuge. I’m up to 15 species of birds now, just right here! And I don’t know how many butterflies because I haven’t processed those photos from today, but know that I got some new ones again! One of the beach road joys is watching wild hummingbirds – they are all wild, including those in my garden at home! 🙂 And like at home, the Rufous-tailed seems to be the dominant hummingbird here too! 🙂 Here’s just two shots for now and more will be in the trip gallery later.
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird feeding on a Red Button Ginger Flower (Costus woodsonii) that grows wild only in Costa Rica, Panama & Colombia! 🙂
I have recently been scanning the trunk and larger limbs of my Cecropia Tree and the big palm, looking for one of the several species of Crackers which almost always land on trees where they are well-disguised. And sure enough, yesterday morning one came to my Cecropia Tree – This one a Gray Cracker – Hamadryas februa (linked to my gallery). This is my second Gray Cracker with the other one seen at Hacienda Guachipelin, Rincón de la Vieja NP.
In my Brushfoots Galleries you will find that I have photographed 6 different species of Crackers, most at Xandari Resort in Alajuela, but two in my garden, one at Danta Corcovado Lodge and one in a reserve in Nicaragua.
Gray Cracker, My Garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
And yeah, I know, it is more brown than gray, but that is the way it is with several of these “official” names! 🙂 Though on butterfliesandmoths you can see that some or more gray. My six different species of CRACKERS in the above linked Brushfoots Galleries are . . .
Red Cracker
Gray Cracker
Variable Cracker
Orange Cracker
Glaucous Cracker
Guatemalan Cracker
¡Pura Vida!
About this Week’s Blog Posts
In the morning I’m flying to Limón Province for five nights at my best butterfly hotel, Hotel Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca where I walk the sandy beach road for a large variety of butterflies. I usually go in early or mid-September, so I’m hoping there are still a lot of butterflies there the first week of October! 🙂 STARTING TOMORROW, BLOG POSTS WILL BE DONE AT NIGHT for the next 6 days. All from Limón Province, Caribe Sur. I always include a visit to Gandoca Manzanillo Refugio and one to Cahuita NP, both of which are very good for both birds and butterflies! And sometimes other nature spots, but at 84 I’m slowing down and walking with a cane, so maybe not as much this time! 🙂
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.
White-winged Doves, in my Higueron Ficus Tree, Atenas, Costa Rica
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. 🙂
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 . . .
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.
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! 🙂
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.
Immature Gray Hawk, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
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.
Big Tree, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
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.
Red-lored Parrot, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Costa Rica
