Category: Wildlife

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Lifer Bird Just 3 Blocks from Home!

It makes 379 species of birds photographed in Costa Rica and with that many it is becoming rare to find a new species anywhere, especially so close to home. Hotel Colinas del Sol is just about three or four blocks from my house and while my BC Canadian friends were visiting in January I was over there 2 or 3 times. One of those times when I had my camera, Margaret noticed first this Blue & White Swallow, Pygochelidon cyanoleuca (eBird link), on the wall of a carport by one of the houses they rent out. It was overcast, no good light, and thus not a good photo, but useful to say that I added one more species to my collection! 🙂 AND NOTE that this is a South American bird that gets no further north than Costa Rica! 🙂 There are so many birds here that you never know what you will see next or where! And though my CR bird count will continue to grow much slower than in those early years here, I believe it will continue to grow with who-knows-what coming next! 🙂

Blue & White Swallow, Hotel Colinas del Sol, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
I tried to lighten the shadows of above pix so the blue would show, but it’s grainy! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

And oh yeah, if you are interested in swallows. there are three others that I see here with the Mangrove being the most common. See those in their photo galleries at:

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Wall Crab Spider

The fairly common Wall Crab Spider, Selenops mexicanus is not poisonous to humans (a bite can cause allergies in some people) and does not normally bite humans anyway. Like all spiders, he is a part of the total ecology of the world and I generally leave them alone in my house just like my geckos! I don’t always photograph when seen in my house, but did this one and online discovered his identification. For those in Costa Rica, the Spanish Common Name is “Araña de Pared” which translated to English is simply “Wall Spider.” I tend to photograph spiders more when outdoors or in a forest, thus I have a few photos of different spiders (about 20 species) in my Spiders gallery. Always interesting even if scary looking! 🙂 And remember, most are not poisonous!

Wall Crab Spider, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Gray-headed Chachalaca

The only “regular” (almost daily) large (Turkey-sized) bird in my garden is the Gray-headed Chachalaca, Ortalis cinereiceps (eBird link) which is found only in the southern parts of Central America or from Honduras to Columbia. When a whole flock of them swoop into one of my trees they are sort of “pests” because of their constant chatter. But lately it has only been 2 to 4 at a time which is less noise and more interesting to watch. See my many photos of this unique bird in my Chachalaca Gallery. Just one shot here.

Gray-headed Chachalaca, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Red-billed Pigeon

This colorful, purpleish, dove-like bird is not as common in my garden as the White-winged Dove, but I like him just as much! He is the Red-billed Pigeon, Patagioenas flavirostris (linked to eBird) and found only from Costa Rica to Mexico. Just one more of the many birds unique to this part of the world! The best place to go birding! 🙂

Red-billed Pigeon, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Tropical Greenstreak

This is not the most common of the Hairstreak Butterflies, but I have seen it 3 other times before these two in my garden the other day. These photos of two different individuals show the variations in shades of green they can have. And yes, there are other species of green hairstreaks that are different in design from this one and their IDs are also not based on the shade of green which seems to vary in all the green ones.

Tropical Greenstreak, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Tropical Greenstreak, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See my Tropical Greenstreak, Cyanophrys herodotus Gallery for more photos and more shades of green! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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My Iguana Neighbor . . .

The Black Spiny-tailed Iguana,  Ctenosaura similis (my gallery link) is called “Garrobo” in Spanish and lives only on the Pacific Slope, which is also where I live. Here’s just two shots from one recently in my garden (living there or nearby) and the only neighbor I have who walks on my roof! 🙂 See more of this interesting fellow in the above-linked gallery.

And what about the Green Iguana? Well, he lives on both slopes, but I’ve not seen one in Atenas, I see many in the Caribe.

Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

My Favorite Quote Today . . .

“Hitching the evangelical wagon to Donald Trump has meant unhitching it from the life and teachings of Jesus. It’s a bad trade.” –Peter Wehner, Writer, The Atlantic

Thanks to Ellie for sharing that article in The Atlantic! It is at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/01/evangelicals-trump/681450/?gift=qFEJ9LdWpG_UQ02zpyrhX2xpGq7ImcdmeknHDgHmMlk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

And a Related Bible Verse . . .

From last night’s devotional . . .

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy. Colossians 2:8

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Yellow Warbler

I used to see a lot more of these but that was back when I saw a lot more of all birds than now. It is the Yellow Warbler, Setophaga petechia (eBird link) which is found in all of the lowlands of Costa Rica but be aware that some books are now separating the American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva) and the Mangrove Warbler (Setophaga petechia) which is the one that is a resident of Costa Rica while the American are migrants from the north and also here. The Mangrove Warbler is best known to birders as the one whose male has a chestnut red head. The females seem to be identical. You can see both in my Gallery of Yellow Warblers. And eBird has kept them together as I do in my gallery. Here’s 3 shots from my garden . . .

Yellow Warbler, my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Tropical Checkered Skipper

This was seen just outside Roca Verde along 8th Avenue in Barrio Boqueron, though I’ve seen several in my garden in the past. It is the Tropical Checkered-Skipper, Burnsius oileus (my gallery link). I’m seeing fewer butterflies now and, if like last year, that will continue until sometime in May when the butterflies seem to start multiplying again here, with my highest past butterfly counts being in May-September.

Tropical Checkered-Skipper, Burnsius oileus, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Wading Shorebirds

One fun thing about going to the coast is seeing some of the many types of wading shorebirds. Below the email version pix is a slide show of 6 different shorebirds from the recent trip to the mouth of the Tarcoles River. And the mouth of a river is one of the best places to see birds because of the larger variety of food possibilities there plus the usual mangroves!

Black-necked Stilt
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