Category: National Parks & Wildlife Reserves

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Trails & Trees

One of the many wonderful things about Hotel Savegre is the huge piece of property it sits on in a mixture of primary and secondary forest – the “secondary” parts being where early farmers cleared land that has now been “re-forested” as has a large portion of Costa Rica as farming methods have improved and are becoming less destructive of the natural environment. The guide in some of the photos is Marino Chacon, a son of the man and woman who pioneered this first hotel/lodge in the truly amazing hills of San Gerardo de Dota. His parents are pictured on one of the trail signs included below in my two collections. CLICK image in first gallery to enlarge, which you can’t do in the second one as a slideshow.

TRAILS at Hotel Savegre

  • Both a sign & a Paper Trail Map
  • Zoomed in on Map
  • Most are on Hills
  • Some Level Paths
  • “Rock Hop” or Wade Streams
  • 4X4 Road to all Trails
  • Marino
  • Trail Named for Founders: “The Pioneers”
Many Trails at Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota

TREES at Hotel Savegre

And I have my “Trip Gallery” finished at 2021 January, San Gerardo de Dota Hotel Savegre.

¡Pura Vida!

Nurtured by Nature

How one person found relief from the pandemic and politics in nature:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/12/28/isolation-pandemic-caused-her-form-new-intense-relationship-nature-she-was-hardly-alone/?arc404=true

¡Pura Vida!

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Hotel Savegre Butterflies

Well . . . only three! Though I saw many more, most never stopped for a photo, especially those dratted Yellows! 🙂 The Mexican Silverspot never let me see his top but Orange Mapwing did let me get both a side-view and top-view, just not both in good focus. 🙂 And then right before making this post, I decided to make a second, more zoomed-in version of some of these photos for a closer look, where you can see more details on the more drastically cropped versions, such as in the feature photo of the Orange Mapwing (butterfliesandmoths.org Link) found only in Central America.

The Painted White (Wikipedia Link), was my first sighting of this butterfly, found from Mexico south to Paraguay. In my butterfly galleries you can see that it is similar to other Whites. And the Mexican Silverspot (butterfliesandmoths.org Link) is found from Brazil north through Mexico with strays in New Mexico & Texas and also a first time photographed. All were identified with my trusty book A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America and reconfirmed online with different sites.

  • Orange Mapwing
  • Orange Mapwing
  • Orange Mapwing
  • Orange Mapwing
  • Painted White
  • Painted White
  • Mexican Silverspot
  • Mexican Silverspot
Butterflies photographed at Hotel Savegre & Batsú Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica.

Because I’ve seen it before, I had a gallery for the Orange Mapwing with 2 other photos from El Silencio Lodge, Bajo del Toro Amarillo. The Painted White was a first-time sighting and thus only this one photo in that gallery for now and the Mexican Silverspot is also new this trip but I have 3 photos in it. If you like butterflies, I have 126+ species now in my Butterflies of Costa Rica Gallery, one of the largest, if not the largest, photo gallery of Costa Rica Butterflies on the internet. 🙂

I have my “Trip Gallery” finished at 2021 January, San Gerardo de Dota Hotel Savegre.

¡Pura Vida!

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Stripe-tailed Hummingbird

This mountains or foothills hummingbird is found in all of Central America and Mexico. But in Costa Rica & Western Panama there is another almost identical bird called the Black-bellied Hummingbird. Now, the belly is not fully shown in this photo, but doesn’t appear to be black even though there is black on the face, as both can have. Though only the stripe-tailed has the little white post-ocular spot, thus with all things considered, I’m claiming this as a Stripe-tailed Hummingbird (link to eBird article). 🙂

My Stripe-tailed Gallery also has a couple of shots of one in Monteverde.

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (23 species)

¡Pura Vida!

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Scintillant Hummingbird

This mountain hummingbird has a “near-twin” looking almost identical, the Volcano Hummingbird at a higher altitude, but theoretically both are possible at San Gerardo de Dota, sort of on the border of both. But my guide and eBird Merlin software both called my photos the Scintillant Hummingbird (eBird article link). And again this bird is endemic to or found only in the mountains of Costa Rica and Western Panama. My only other time to see this one was this past September at El Silencio Lodge, Bajo del Toro Amarillo, Alajuela Province. Both sightings are shown in My Scintillant Gallery. Here’s the ones from Hotel Savegre last week – CLICK to enlarge:

Scintillant Hummingbird, Batsú Gardens, Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (23 species) or total

Costa Rica Birds Gallery (350 species)

¡Pura Vida!

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White-throated Mountain-Gem

This third of my mountain hummingbirds found only in Costa Rica and Western Panama was a “Lifer” (1st time seen) observation this trip. Learn more on the eBird article for White-throated Mountain-gem. My gallery has only these two photos since it is new to me. As always, CLICK an image to see larger:

  • White-throated Mountain-gem
  • White-throated Mountain-gem
Photographed at Batsú Gardens near Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (23 species)

¡Pura Vida!

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Talamanca Hummingbird

The second in my featured mountain hummingbirds is the Talamanca Hummingbird (eBird article) as one I’ve seen in 2 other locations and of course have a Talamanca Hummingbird Gallery! 🙂 The name “Talamanca” is the name of the major mountain range through the center of Costa Rica where this bird lives only in Costa Rica and the western edge of Panama.

Talamanca Hummingbird at Batsú Gardens near Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota.

¡Pura Vida!

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (23 species)

Costa Rica Leaders Celebrate Biden Inauguration

There have been at least 3 contacts now including the initial congratulations. Here’s more in this Tico Times online article in English: ‘Multilateralism is back!’ How Costa Rica’s leaders celebrated U.S. inauguration

¡Pura Vida!

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Lesser Violetear

I am down to the hummingbirds in my photos from San Gerardo de Dota, the most difficult to identify for me. But I am sure of this first one, Lesser Violetear (eBird Description) and like many of our mountain birds, found only in the mountains of Costa Rica and Western Panama with a former name of “Green Violetear.” (“They” are always changing names which is frustrating for us birders!) There is a larger version of this bird called the “Mexican Violetear” found only in the countries north of us. There is also a Brown Violetear found all across Central America, but less seen by me.

Unlike most hummingbirds, this one’s “ears” actually stick out a little and are very purple or violet. Here’s a few shots from the Batsú Gardens across the road from Hotel Savegre. The hotel no longer uses any feeders of any kinds with only natural plants to attract birds in the forest and gardens, thus some birds are easier to see across the road. 🙂 Though I did get two other hummingbirds in the hotel gardens.

  • Lesser Violetear
  • Lesser Violetear
  • Lesser Violetear
  • Lesser Violetear
Photos made at the Batsú Gardens near Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota.

In my Costa Rica Birds Gallery are two related sub-galleries:

Brown Violetear (only 1 photo now)

Lesser Violetear (several shots from Monteverde & San Gerardo de Dota)

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (23 species)

¡Pura Vida!

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Black Guan

This turkey-sized wild bird is found only in the highlands of Costa Rica and Western Panama. My Black Guan Gallery has other photos from the highlands of Monteverde, Costa Rica. This guan is also a relative of the more widely spread Crested Guan and Great Curassow (links to my galleries also) found in the foothills and lowlands of all Central America and northern South America. And in the same general family of the almost pest bird in my neighborhood, the Gray-headed Chachalaca, a smaller, chicken-sized bird.

There is also a Highland Guan which I saw only once in Nicaragua. They all live north of Costa Rica. All guans are arboreal as well as feeding on the ground. I have heard Ticos call guans “turkeys” more as an English slang name or loose translation of the Spanish name “Pava.” In Spanish, the first three guans I listed above with galleries are Pava Negra, Pava Crestada and Pavón Grande with my neighborhood Chachalaca in Spanish called Chachalaca Cabecigris . Birding in Costa Rica – Pura vida!

In San Gerardo de Dota I saw Black Guans only from a distance while waiting for the Quetzales. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

See my big BIRDS Gallery including other countries or . . .

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (23 species)

🙂

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Collared Redstart

A tiny bird sometimes difficult to see in a thick Cloud Forest even with the bright colors, found only above 1,500 meters in the highlands of Costa Rica and across the border in Western Panama. I’ve seen and photographed only 2 other times, once in San Gerardo de Dota at the Trogon Lodge and later on a Monteverde trip in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. You can see those photos (better) in my Collared Redstart Gallery to which I will eventually add these. CLICK an image below to enlarge:

  • Collared Redstart
  • Collared Redstart
  • Collared Redstart
Above photos made on the Robles Trail at Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota.

This trip’s Hotel Savegre BIRDS Gallery (22 species)

I’m home now with a lot of “catching up to do” as always after a trip and part of that will be sharing more photos from this trip! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!