After breakfast, Spanish Class, and some reading I decided to walk through my garden with the camera at a little after 9 AM. For a long time the birds have been scarce and the butterflies up and down, but in about 20 minutes this morning I photographed 2 birds and 7 different butterflies all fluttering through my gardens and trying to avoid me and my camera. All nine photos are in a slide show at the bottom of the post with the featured photo at top being a Southern Broken-Dash Skipper and the photo below a Yellow-rimmed Skipper. The garden was alive this morning! 🙂
When I saw what the photos looked like printed on plain paper, I decided that I could not let my photos go out looking that bad. The other book is no longer available in my Bookstore, replaced by this more expensive book printed on Premium Lustre Gloss Photo Paper for a totally different visual experience! Generally the public does not buy any of my photo books, but rather I order them to give to the lodges or to individuals as gifts. But just in case someone orders one, I want my simple photos to look their best! 🙂 And yes, you pay for it! 🙂
From my “Merriam-Webster Word of the Day” email today:
resilience – noun | rih-ZIL-yunss
the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress
an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
And this is the effort or goal of my body right now, much longer after the radiation treatment than I expected, as my trip the last week of July showed.
For the rest of the year I have only 2 trips, both very relaxing places that I have already explored, so I plan to truly “take it easy” in September on the Caribbean or Atlantic Coast of Costa Rica in maybe my most relaxed hotel here, Banana Azul. I have reserved “The Howler Suite,” like a tree house on the second floor with a large private deck overlooking the forest and the beach where I plan to hangout more this time, with my “hikes” limited to beach walks and I may even use room service for some meals in my room and use the in-room Jacuzzi this time! 🙂 I was “too busy” the last time there! 🙂 Maybe read two books this time!
Christmas week I’m back on the Pacific side at another favorite hotel, Cristal Ballena in Uvita, overlooking the bay of whales and the “Whale’s Tail Beach” (feature photo at top) along with a lot of birds right outside my room and with even better food! As much as I love where I live, I function better with a change of scenery every couple of months or so. And I believe both these places will help me immensely with my continued efforts of “Resilience” after cancer! 🙂
Two Trees beachside at Banana Azul Caribe say “resilience” to me. And “Feature Photo” at top is a Pacific View at Cristal Ballena, Uvita.
“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.”
Though I was not fully recovered from my cancer treatment, was low on energy & strength, and simply an 81 years old man with weak knees, I still got shots of 18 species of birds while at Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge, Matapolo, Costa Rica last week. With better health and strength for more hiking, I’m sure I would have gotten more species photographed. Notice that about half of these were photographed off the lodge property and that is because my guide knew that birds are easier to photograph from an open road than in the dense rainforest. But even then, half of these were photographed on lodge property! 🙂
Spectacled Owl on Manakin Trail, Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge.
That’s one sample photo, now go below to the full post and gallery of 18 bird species, two of which I include both male & female because they are so different . . .
If you are anywhere near my age you may remember a childhood game where, usually boys, would claim a high-spot in the land or an object as “The Mountain” and one boy stand on it, declaring himself “King of the Mountain.” And though there may have been rules, it was usually brute strength that made you ‘king.”
Yellow-headed Caracara on top of tree being attacked by a Fiery-billed Aracari.
That is exactly what was going on between this Yellow-headed Caracara and Fiery-billed Aracari. In this photo (overcast day & bad light) the Aracari is diving at the Caracara with his much bigger bill. And though the Aracari took over the top perch of the tree at one point, the Yellow-headed Caracara came back with his much stronger claws or talons (much like a Hawk’s) and remained the dominant “King on the Mountain!” 🙂
Though not one of my highest bird count locations, even on the Osa, I did get photos of 18 species of birds and will do a post later today or tomorrow featuring them with just one shot of each. And if I go there again, I’ll make sure I’m healthier and able to actively search for more birds! 🙂
Feeling tired is a common experience. It can be caused by disrupted sleep habits, a change in routine, or the appearance of stressors in your life. No matter the reason, tiredness can push us to our limits emotionally and mentally. In some cases, extreme tiredness sets in. This is called exhaustion.
~https://www.webmd.com/
Or in my case, I think I was just doing more physically than my healing body was ready for. When I finally got home Wednesday night, after a delayed flight and 7 days of hiking up and down hills through the rainforest, I collapsed in my bed and slept for 11 hours! Of course I had errands to run yesterday and then today I’ve just chilled, not leaving the house, with laundry my most strenuous activity. 🙂
Tree on the Creek Trail, Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge
I still recommend Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge, but now add the disclaimer that it is an “active place for healthy people” that requires a lot of walking just to and from your cabin, not to mention all the trails and other activities, etc. My cellphone said I walked more than 14,500 steps one day – which normally is very good! But I was not healthy enough for that, not fully recovered from cancer treatment. But I will be soon! And by the September trip to the Caribe, I expect to be my normal active self, enjoying more walks wherever I am. 🙂 Pura vida!
“If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.”
― Hal Borland
And oh yes, more photos yet to come from this trip!
There are four species of monkeys in Costa Rica and the Osa Peninsula is one of the few places you can find all four species. Monday in my “People Watching?” Post I included a photo of a Central American Spider Monkey along with an owl photo, both seemed to be watching me as much I was them! 🙂 Click either link above to see that Spider Monkey. And below are my photos from here of the other 3 species found in Costa Rica: Mantled Howler Monkey, White-faced Capuchin Monkey and the small Squirrel Monkey (featured photo) . . .
That’s what this Spectacled Owl and Spider Monkey seemed to be doing on my solo hike on the Manikin Trail this morning! And I consider myself fortunate to have gotten this shot of an elusive owl! Monkeys are everywhere, but not the owls. I probably would not have seen him except that when I walked under his tree, he flew to another tree about 30 meters away and I then had him in focus! 🙂 In contrast, the monkey swung around right above me as if trying to get my attention! 🙂
Spectacled Owl
Central American Spider Monkey
Some links and some shots of the trail both of these guys were on . . .
This morning I hiked up on the Titi Trail to try and find the Great Tinamou eggs another guest had photographed yesterday. FYI, the male Tinamou sits on the eggs, and when I got close he fluttered his wings loudly and flew towards me then up into a nearby tree, scaring me to death. 🙂 I suspect he was trying to scare me away from the nest, but rather he just showed me where it was. 🙂
They are about turkey-sized birds (fewer feathers) and semi-flightless. The nest was only about 6 feet off the trail at the base of a Traveling Palm. The sad thing was that there were only 3 eggs for me to photograph today and yesterday my fellow-traveler had photographed 5 in the same spot. Some animal probably had 2 Tinamou eggs for breakfast this morning. I did not get a photo of the adult that scared me, but I have some poor photos of one I made in the near-dark at Maquenque Lodge earlier in my Great Tinamou Gallery. To which I will add these two photos.
Tinamou Nest at base of a Traveling Palm, Titi Trail, Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge.
A little more than twice the size of a chicken egg – Tinamou Nest
I got here in time to dump my stuff in my cabin before a delicious lunch that I was able to eat all of! Yay! 🙂 It’s overcast with some scattered showers but I explored the trails a little and scheduled 4 activities this week with the rest of time exploring on my own! And the 4? Well, boring old-man activities compared to some available here: Morning & Afternoon Birding hikes in 2 totally different locations, a sunset/night hike looking for night creatures, and a morning Primary Rainforest 3-hour conservation hike. The rest of the week is photographing a lot, resting, and finally eating real food for a week! My radiation taste is not totally gone, but greatly improved and I’m eating just about everything now! 🙂
My thatched-roof open-air hut with a cool breeze off the Pacific now! 🙂
The Pacific Ocean View from my room porch on an overcast day.
I’ve seen a Crested Caracara (on the road here), and here: lots of Scarlet Macaws, lots of little birds not identified and a family of Spider Monkeys, all by my thatched roof cabin. And I’m looking forward to happy hour snacks before a great dinner. There are about 25 tourists in this lodge (from all over the world including children), which is not bad with Covid still raging around the globe! And it is a 45 minute drive (fording streams) from the primitive landing strip in Puerto Jiménez to the lodge or if you must, an 8-hour+ drive from the San Jose Airport.
The “Boa Bar” at Bosque Del Cabo Rainforest Lodge . . .
Your nightly report from the rainforest will be uploaded each afternoon from the above poolside location! And oh yes, the internet connection is great (at least today!).
