Other Animals on this Nicaragua Trip

Raccoon
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Mexican Porcupine
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Green Iguana
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Golden Orb Spider
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Paper Wasp Nest
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Monarch Butterfly
Lost Canyon Nature Preserve, Nicaragua

Gray Cracker Butterfly
Lost Canyon Nature Preserve, Nicaragua

Adelpha Iphiclus Butterfly
Lost Canyon Nature Preserve, Nicaragua

Well, I’m not posting as often and haven’t even finished telling about my second trip to Nicaragua! Just been too busy and too tired late at night. I’ve also spent a lot of time trying to all my paperwork correct, in Spanish, for the Caja application interview tomorrow. Actually, I’m on standby for a no-show or vacant time slot tomorrow with my firm appointment the following Friday, the 15th. Be glad to get that behind me. And to be insured again!

And don’t miss my Nicaragua Birds photo gallery for 98 different species!

And remember that both my trips to Nicaragua were provided by Tours Nicaragua!  Check out what they offer! I’m happy with them!

Birds at Lost Canyon Nature Reserve

Red-winged Blackbird
Enroute to Lost Canyon Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Eastern Meadowlark
Enroute to Lost Canyon Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

White-lored Gnatcatcher
Lost Canyon Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Long-billed Starthroat
Lost Canyon Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Altimira Oriole (male & female)
Lost Canyon Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Lost Canyon Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Lost Canyon is just getting started with the owner’s house built and trails created. Cabins will come
eventually. We didn’t see as many birds here, but it was middle of day and we hiked to top of the little mountain with several vistas enroute which I will show in a later post. I think birding will be better at the bottom of the hill and around the farms or down the dirt road.

The Director of Lost Canyon is Richard Leonardi, email him at info@lost-canyon.org or check out their website at http://lost-canyon.org/


 See more Nicaragua birds I have photographed in my Nicaragua Birds  photo gallery. Nearly 100 different species of birds!

And note that both of my wonderful birding trips to Nicaragua were executed by the excellent Tours Nicaragua! Check out their offers!

More Birds from Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge

Beyond the nursery birds shown yesterday I photographed 17 other species at Juan Venado!

Black-headed Trogon
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Black Vulture
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Great Egret
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
(See yesterday’s post for egrets in the nursery)
Great-tailed Grackle
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Green Heron
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Groove-billed Ani
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Hoffman’s Woodpecker
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Little Blue Heron
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Magnificent Frigate Bird Juvenile
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Mangrove Swallow
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Nicaraguan Grackle
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Oriole Nest
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Osprey
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Whimbrel
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
White Ibis
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua

Wilson’s Plover male
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
Yellow Warbler, Resident Male
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
(The brown hood makes him a resident. Migrants are all yellow.)


And don’t miss my Nicaragua Birds photo gallery for 98 different species!

And remember that both my trips to Nicaragua were provided by Tours Nicaragua!  Check out what they offer! I’m very happy with them!

Visiting a BIRD NURSERY

Now I truly begin my report on the two day visit to Nicaragua in two nature reserves.  In Juan Venado Refuge my boat tip included visiting what we called a “Rookery” in South Florida, a collection of tree islands where hundreds if not thousands of birds build nests, lay eggs, and raise their young until they can fly. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! He looks just like daddy!   🙂

Little Blue Heron chick
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Little Blue Heron Momma near the above nest
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua
Great Egret Nests on one of the mangrove islands
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua
The majority of the nests were Great Egrets, but other birds mixed with them.

Great Egret Nests are very close together! 
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Great Egret mother and chicks
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Great Egret Chicks (the closeup you wanted to see)
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua
Boat-billed Heron & Chick
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Boat-billed Heron Juvenile Learning to Fly
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Tiger Heron Chick
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Anhinga Chick  (we saw Momma nearby, the only Anhingas seen)
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Leon, Nicaragua

Wow! I’m having fun! There are so many neat places like this for short and brief trips and this is just the beginning of bird photos from these two days. There will be many more the next few days and some other animals and interesting sights too! So much to see!

Eyes that see do not grow old.
~Nicaraguan Proverb


And don’t miss my Nicaragua Birds photo gallery for 98 different species!

And remember that both my trips to Nicaragua were provided by Tours Nicaragua!  Check out what they offer! I’m happy with them!

Questions about renewing visa every 90 days

As I stated earlier this trip was primarily to renew my visa in Costa Rica. I get occasional letters from people considering a move to Costa Rica with questions of all kinds. Well, just today, a regular reader of this blog asked the following questions about getting the visa renewed every 90 days. The questions are in blue and my answers in black. Maybe you have had the same questions? These photos are not from this week’s trip, but a group trip I did December 30, 2015. This week’s trip was solo and much more than just getting a visa! This week in two days I birded in two reserves and photographed colonial churches in Leon. A lot more fun than just a border run! But both give you the 90 day visa needed:

Has the 90 day visa situation worked okay for you? 
One of several “Visa Run” groups I was a part of – at border.
It has worked fine for me for a year and a half now, but I’m kind of hoping today’s is the last visa I have to get as I am completing residency requirements and will then be able to get a CR Driver License. I do not have a car but rent one occasionally, mainly for birding trips. You have to have residency before you can get a Costa Rica Driver License, so I have to use my Tennessee Driver License which requires a current Visa. Once my residency was in process I could have lived here without renewing the visa, but could not drive (legally). It is interesting to note that there are actually a lot of expats who, for whatever reasons, do not want to fool with residency application red tape and elect to be permanent tourists, living here legally on tourist visas. There have been rumors about the government “putting a stop to that,” but since it brings money into the country I doubt they will. If we could just get a Tico Trump for president of Costa Rica, he would put a stop to these damn yankees! 🙂  Fortunately, Ticos love Americans and Canadians and are all very welcoming of us and all foreigners, all races and all religions. 

A reasonable wait in line coming out of Nicaragua.
How many times have you had to leave and return? I think this week was number 6. The first 4 times I used a local tour operator who organizes “Visa Runs” for local expats. We left at 5 AM, stopping for breakfast and then in Liberia for the exit tax certificate. At the Nicaragua border town of Penas Blanca we cross over and then turn around and come back. About $25-$30 of border fees plus tipping a local Nica expediter. We payed the tour guy $150 for the drive, technical assistance and two meals enroute. It was a 12-14 hour day with some good fellowship, but I got tired of that and for two times now I have made it into birding trips.  

Did you ever have any problems returning (as some online sources say you are at the mercy of the agent and the agent doesn’t have to let you back in for a full 90 days). I’ve heard of that and agents do have that power, but it has never happened to me (or anyone in our groups). Well, one time a lady was given 30 days and our tour leader went back and talked to the agent and he changed it to 90 days. I always get 90 days. Now you do have to show proof that you can leave the Costa Rica within the 90 days and that is easy by purchasing an open-ended bus ticket at the border for just $25. It is good for 12 months.  

I also read that you cannot depart to the same country two times in a row. Not true. It is funny to hear rumors like that and wonder how they get started. 🙂 I just departed Nicaragua 6 times in a row with 90-day visas every time. I go there because it is closer from Atenas than Panama or other country further away. If I have to do it again, I plan to go to Panama next time, which I will do anyway at some point. Birding is very good in several spots along the canal which I have done, but I haven’t been to northern Panama yet or seen Boco Toro which is mainly snorkeling I think, but sea birds I’m sure. 

Many of the “Snowbirds” only stay here 3 months or if longer take one trip out. And there are Americans with a lot of family who go home to the states every 3 months or so, which gives you the visas. So there are many angles, but if you are really going to make it your retirement home, I recommend getting residency. It will make life here easier. And of course I already have a bank account with debit card, have my SS check deposited here, attend a local church, joined clubs and made friends; all of which makes it more like home. 

***

I’m back home from the Nicaragua trip but too busy to process photos, so this little break in my photo blog by answering questions. And remember that the SEARCH box top right will help you find answers like this somewhere in my blog! 

Resident Male Yellow Warbler

Resident Male Yellow Warbler
Juan Venado Wildlife Refuge, Nicaragua
The one that migrates north has a yellow head, only the resident has red-brown.

My computer has no more space for me to download more photos from my camera. So I have a problem to solve before I post more. 🙂

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
My Garden in Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
My Garden in Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica

This is another “first” bird for me which I saw today in a Yellow Bell Tree by my terrace. I had to share it first! Tomorrow I will explain why I went a week without a post. Then some more catch up!

Living in One of 10 Most Peaceful Countries in the World

While my former home continues to become one of the most violent, gun-slinging places in the world it is nice to live in one of the most peaceful countries! Read this article on the blog of the guy who led the relocation tour I took before moving here:  Living in One of Most Peaceful Countries

Yeah, sometimes it is embarrassing to be an American, though so far not as bad as those days in Gambia when Bush was president. But if you guys elect Trump I may go for citizenship here and renounce my American citizenship. Hope not!  🙂

Smashed Fer-de-Lance in My Street

The markings are very similar to a deadly Fer de Lance snake. Not positive.
On a walk through the neighborhood we saw this on street in front of my house.

Thought you would like this post the day after my”Al fresco Living” post!   🙂

Panic over a snake does not help anyone. Generally they are more afraid of people than we are of them is my belief. This is only the 4th snake I have seen anywhere in Costa Rica in 18 months! And I have been in several national parks where they are known to be more common. Common sense caution is my preferred way to react to something like this. So far no problem! Hope never! And if one ever does get in my house I will be asking the landlord for a screen door on my garden door.  🙂