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“There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”
― A Hat Full of Sky
¡Pura Vida!
“Breakfast Sunrise”
Feature Photo by Charlie Doggett
This Longhorn Beetle was shot earlier this month on my terrace and I haven’t identified the exact type yet, but whatever he’s called, I like to share all the neat creatures we have here! 🙂
When birds burp, it must taste like bugs. ~Bill Watterson
¡Pura Vida!
🙂
And remember, I have TWO INSECT GALLERIES: Butterflies (100+) and all other bugs in More Insects (66+). Enjoy my bugs! 🙂
Margaret, the lady birder from Canada who was in a nearby casita for one month, did most of her birding right here in Roca Verde, including uphill above my casita and on Calle Nueva, the country lane alongside Roca Verde. (She also walked to other neighborhoods in town and had a few trips away, including to Rancho Naturalista & the Tarcoles River.)
But her finding so many birds here got me back into more birding where I live and beyond my own garden where I have no feeders now which has reduced the numbers. Friday morning I spent an hour walking up and down the hill above my house with the result of the following photos of vistas and birds.
Not bad for less than a 200 meter walk from my house! And I know I have already shared similar views and birds on this blog before, but each new time in the viewfinder is a little bit different perspective, a different light, a different pose or action of the bird, and a new joy for me! No new bird species this time, though the immature Blue-black Grassquit was my first immature version of that species! Notice how different she looks from her mother or some other adult female Blue-black Grassquit in photos above. 🙂 I loved the walk and will keep doing it occasionally!
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
“I love walking because it clears your mind, enriches the soul, takes away stress and opens up your eyes to a whole new world .” – Claudette Dudley
See also Walking Calle Nueva Atenas, the country lane alongside Roca Verde or . . .
Walking Atenas – emphasizing flowers in this small farming town in Central Costa Rica
¡Pura Vida!
There are literally thousands of species of centipedes in Costa Rica, thus the name “Tractor” is dubious but the closest match I could find online for this centipede on my terrace today.
It is interesting to note that centipedes don’t have 100 legs or feet as the name implies and neither do millipedes have a thousand. 🙂 Centipedes have two pair of legs per body section and they stick out to the side like those in this photo, while a millipede looks more like a worm with his legs (one pair per section) barely showing and he is a slower mover than a centipede plus burrows into the ground. There are thousands of species of each here and I wonder if all the species even have names? Regardless, they are interesting to watch!
The centipede was happy quite,
Until the toad in fun
Asked him which leg went after which,
Which drove him into such a pitch
He lay distracted in a ditch,
Considering how to run.
~Author Unknown
¡Pura Vida!
See my photo collection of Millipedes in Costa Rica with this appearing to be my first centipede photo. Or if you really like funny-looking tiny creatures, check out my whole More Insects gallery which is separate from my butterflies gallery. Our world is full of so many interesting creatures! 🙂 And I love my constant exploration of nature in my retirement in Costa Rica!
For the last two weeks I have been adding the Spanish name after the English name on each of my 337 Costa Rica Bird Galleries, one bird at a time! My source was the fairly new book Aves de Costa Rica, Guia de Campo by Garrigues and Dean which is available only in bookstores and lodges here in Costa Rica, while the English version, Birds of Costa Rica is available on Amazon.com as well. This Spanish version is a translation of this older English version, Second Edition and is my first printed source of Spanish names for the birds here in Costa Rica. Nicaragua had one first that is bilingual! 🙂
I should add that for my English bird information I now use the more up-to-date Princeton Field Guide to Birds of Central America. My online source of birding information is Cornell’s eBird and Neotropical Birds websites. But even they do not have the Spanish names added to their articles. Wikipedia does but it is not specific to Costa Rica like the above book and my web gallery and I’m not sure of their sources.
Needless to say, this makes my web gallery of Costa Rica Birds one of the best online and the only one I know of that is bilingual, though I only have photos of 337 species out of over 900 here – so a long way to go! 🙂
“The presence of a single bird can change everything for one who appreciates them.”
―
¡Pura Vida!
A flower on a walk to town that gave me a smile!
¡Pura Vida!
And for more flowers go to my Flora & Forest Gallery. Colorful Costa Rica!
Is that a word? 🙂 Well, anyway, I finished my week of Spanish Language Immersion and can say that it was very good or helpful! The most effective language immersion class/living is when one does it for two months straight or longer, then you are more or less fluent, people tell me. If I had my move to Costa Rica to do over, I would have scheduled the first two months in language immersion, but I didn’t – so I will keep up my plodding along here in Atenas with a tutor two hours a week along with relating to locals in Spanish and I may go back to Heredia for some more one week experiences in the future. We will see. It is not as expensive as my birding trips but nor is it as much fun! 🙂
The featured photo is from my breakfast table back home in Atenas this morning (got in last night) with that pretty pink-blooming tree on the horizon. It is always good to “get back home” after a trip. And in a lesser sense, I still have a type of language immersion living in Atenas, just not in my house! Though I guess I could talk to myself in Spanish! 🙂 I use only Spanish here with taxistas, at the supermercado, mostly in restaurants & other business and with my tutor – so not bad – but still not quite like the full immersion of this past week.
I recommend the experience and really liked the folks at Tico Lingo which I recommend, though I can’t compare it to any of the many other such programs here or in other countries. My uncle and some friends had good experiences at a similar program in Antigua, Guatemala while I have known others to do it in various places in Mexico – thus there are many opportunities if you are interested! And remember that living in a local home that speaks only Spanish is maybe just as important as the several hours of class work in the school. 🙂 AND using the language when you leave! 🙂 And I just now found one website that compares 18 such schools mostly geared to youth also wanting a beach experience and it doesn’t even include Tico Lingo, but if interested check out: Language Schools. My relocation tour stopped at two of these schools for quick introductions and there are more than these!
Speaking in Spanish with other students was also helpful. I was at a lower level than the one group class during my week, thus I had a solo class or 3 hours of personal tutoring each morning which was definitely best for me, but I did go out to lunch with some others and practiced with them a little, though it’s too easy to relapse into English with other Americans! 🙂
And of course I have a “Trip Gallery” of photos from this week, titled:
2020 February 22-28 — Heredia for Spanish Immersion
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”
~Ludwig Wittgenstein
¡Pura Vida!
One of the things Heredia is know for is The Toucan Rescue Ranch, which is actually in a suburb, San Isidro de Heredia, which like so many other such places in Costa Rica was started not too long ago by someone dedicated to wildlife, and all the animals that recuperate from injuries or whatever to a level of independence are released into the wild.
After class today I had a quick lunch of something other than the rice and beans I’ve been having here 3 times a day and took a taxi to the rescue ranch for a pre-scheduled “Educational Walk” at 1:30 that lasted until nearly 3:30 and my taxi was waiting on me when finished. Plus a funny thing about the tour, there were 14 people on it with 5 of us from Atenas! Two retiree couples from Atenas were there, plus me. I have met both couples in the past but don’t really know them – another one of those “small world” kind of things! 🙂
And of course I have a “Trip Gallery” of photos from this week, titled:
2020 February 22-28 — Heredia for Spanish Immersion
¡Pura Vida!
My mornings are spent at Tico Lingo Language School where I am not up to speed with the classroom of students in their 20’s for 4 hours a day so they placed me with a private tutor for 3 hours a day which of course is better for me. The featured photo is of my Professora Ana. Below are more photos of the house converted into a school and where I spend my mornings this week. It is a trial week for me to see if this kind of immersion language study will work for me. If so I will continue more later.
They are all tourist souvenir art work, and yes, if it were me I would stretch those fabrics tight and mount them level, but that is not my job! And the high school and college kids who are most of their customers couldn’t care less! 🙂
Today after class I went to lunch at a different Soda for another Casado with one of the 20-somethings in the other class (to where he wanted to go) and he treated me! He acted amazed that an 80 year old was doing this. So? He ate fast and took an Uber to see his Costa Rican girlfriend called a “Novia” here. I walked around downtown again today and stopped for an ice cream cone, then walked back to my student boarding house where I make this post! 🙂 Tomorrow is a bigger treat as I go to Toucan Rescue Ranch in the afternoon.
And of course I have a “Trip Gallery” of photos from this week, titled:
2020 February 22-28 — Heredia for Spanish Immersion
¡Pura Vida!
FYI: Costa Rica Is The Second Best Destination In The World For Foreign Investment In Tourism
Our trip to the river Thursday yielded more species of birds than any other of my now 9 trips on the Tarcoles River! I got photos of 35 species and know we saw several others, but I only count my photos! 🙂 And this was in less than 2 hours on the river! A good place for birding!
It has been a difficult and rushed job to get the photos ready to post while also getting ready for my trip Sunday to Heredia for Spanish Immersion! I’m only including one shot of each bird in this post, but for more of each bird plus crocs, other wildlife, and other photos, see my “TRIP GALLERY” 2020 Feb 20, Rio Tarcoles Birding Trip for more photos!
CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT
“TRIP GALLERY” 2020 Feb 20, Rio Tarcoles Birding Trip
¡Pura Vida!