Category: Wildlife

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Old Enough to Read Fairytales

The WingFeather Saga

You may not know that my favorite kind of books or stories are the ones written partly for children or maybe it is “the young at heart!” JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and JK Rowling. I was about to start re-reading Tolkien (the most difficult of the above) when through the sharing of friends in the Goodreads club/blog I discovered The WingFeather Saga (link to author’s description of the books). They are children’s books in this general fantasy/adventure style of the above three mentioned authors, with it quickly obvious that the author, Andrew Peterson, admires CS Lewis the most and would like to create a Narnia.

The 4 Books of The Wingfeather Saga

My Review of Sorts . . .

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Mid-Morning Flutters

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! 🙂

Yellow-rimmed Skipper
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REVISED BOOK: Bosque del Cabo

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! 🙂

You may see a Free Preview of every page at this address or by clicking the cover image below: https://www.blurb.com/b/10815951-bosque-del-cabo

Click book cover above for Free Preview.

¡Pura Vida!

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Photo Gallery of Bosque del Cabo Trip

As much as I hate to omit it, I was not well during my week on the Osa Peninsula, still tired or low on energy with limited taste due to 7 weeks of radiation treatment and not my usual “gung ho” self! I chose to not talk about how I felt and I still got a lot of photos, and some are pretty good in spite of my limited mobility on the trails (I fell twice). You can find my efforts in the Photo Gallery, under Costa Rica TRIPS, or click the seascape image below or this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2021-07-22-28-Bosque-del-Cabo-Osa-Peninsula

Click Image to See My GALLERY: Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge 2021.

“Climb up on some hill at sunrise.  Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.”

~Robb Sagendorph

¡Pura Vida!

🙂

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White-nosed Coati

Definitely the most seen animal at Bosque del Cabo and maybe all over Costa Rica, this tropical cousin to the raccoon (and there is a Crab-eating Raccoon here also) was seen scurrying around the lodge facilities and in the rainforest along all the trails. He digs in the ground looking for grub worms and other little goodies to eat. 🙂

White-nosed Coati

And this was the only mammal other than the monkeys already shown that I got photos of, though I saw a Peccary and a Tamandua Anteater (bad photo). I was surprised to not see any Agoutis and had hoped to see a Tayra. Check out these 5 shots in the below gallery . . .

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Unique Insects

I didn’t actively search for insects on this trip, but as in any rainforest you can’t help but notice some unique ones! Here’s three:

  • Unidentified with some kind of ants on a Heliconia flower.
  • A rarely resting Blue Morpho Butterfly in closed -wings camouflage.
  • Golden Orb Spider on back of bar stool in the “Internet Lounge.”

¡Pura Vida!

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A Variety of Birds in the Osa Rainforest

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 . . .

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“King on the Mountain?”

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! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

See my Yellow-headed Caracara Gallery.

See my Fiery-billed Aracari Gallery.

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The Other 3 Monkey Species

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) . . .

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People Watching?

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 . . .

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