Category: Travel

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Rufous-collared Sparrow

To me, every bird is a work of art and thus I try to make each photo of one a work of art, though I do have some ugly photos just to document seeing a species! :-) This common Rufous-collared Sparrow was seen a lot at Hotel Savegre this trip and I have a trip gallery of Rufous-collared Sparrows that will soon become a part of the Trip Gallery for this 2023 time at Savegre. And of course in my big birds gallery there’s a larger Rufous-collared Sparrow GALLERY with birds from this and other mountain lodges and even one at a hotel in San Jose and it includes my very first photo of this species from my 2009 trip to this same hotel (then a smaller mountain lodge) which is interesting, of a mother feeding her chick a worm, if you don’t consider that gross! :-) And you can read about this tropical bird on eBird. It is found only in Central and South America. The scientific name is Zonotrichia capensis.

A mature or older adult Rufous-collared Sparrow while the feature photo is of a younger bird,
Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

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Flame-colored Tanager

Indigenous to Central America, this colorful Tanager is found only in the mountains of Mexico to Panama, from 1000m up to the timberline, on both slopes, Pacific & Caribbean. Read about him (red-orange) and her (yellow) on eBird. And you can see all my photos of this species in my Flame-colored Tanager GALLERY. I’ve seen them only in San Gerardo de Dota (3 locations) on the Pacific Slope and at El Silencio Lodge in Bajos del Toro on the Caribbean Slope. Here’s one male and one female photo . . .

Adult Female Flame-colored Tanager, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica
Immature or Juvenile Male Flame-colored Tanager, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica — A Mature Adult is in the Feature Photo at top of online Post.

¡Pura Vida!

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The Acorn Woodpecker

This distinctive little woodpecker is one I have seen only one other time, in 2015, and it too was in San Gerardo de Dota, that time at Mariam’s Cabinas, now called Quetzals Cabinas. You can see that shot and all my decent ones this year from Savegre in my Acorn Woodpecker GALLERY. It is found only in the mountains above 1500m, from California south through Central America to Columbia.

Acorn Woodpecker, Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Butterflies at Savegre

With 6 species, it is not my highest yield lodge for butterflies, but I did get 3 new species! They are: Lotus Ruby-eye – Perichares lotus, the Tailed Sulphur – Phoebis neocypris AND the Zabulon Skipper – Poanes zabulon with the other 3 repeats for me and mostly more colorful! :-) For the first time I got a Monarch and the Monarch Caterpillar on the same bush! That caterpillar is not shown here because I categorized him with “Other Wildlife.” :-) Here’s one photo of each of the 6 species presented alphabetically or you can see more in my developing Trip Gallery, Butterfly Sub-Gallery. Here’s one pix each of the 6 species seen:

Cloudless Sulphur, Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Butterflies at Savegre”
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Savegre Mirador

The Spanish word “Mirador” is translated to English as a lookout point, vantage point or viewpoint to see a “vista” which in several languages is a view or sight. With a 2.5 km hike up the hill or a 4×4 jeep ride from the Hotel Savegre you can see the hills on the other side of the Savegre River that runs through the hotel property. After our hike through the cloud forest, we saw the views and then like sissies, rode back down the mountain in the jeep! :-) I did walk it the last time I was there! :-) Here’s five photos below or see them in the gallery: Savegre Mirador.

Savegre Mirador, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Savegre Mirador”
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Thank You for 2023!

I am immensely grateful for each and every one of you who read my blog regularly, occasionally or just look at the photos! My site host reports more that 2,000+ “hits” online at my website/blog every month! 🙂 And that doesn’t count many of the 500+ subscribers who only look at the email version nor most of the 650 Facebook Friends who look at the one feature photo without clicking the the link to the post! 

I also appreciate the hundreds of comments left on the posts monthly and many “contacts” or messages through my contact page or by email. Just yesterday I responded to a man in England with questions about photographing wildlife at Esquinas Rainforest Lodge and a friend in the States commented with a meaningful Bible verse about my post yesterday on hugging the 800 year old tree. Nature is fun! :-) And you who read or just look at the pictures are the ones who make it fun for me! :-) THANKS! Keep reading or looking at the pix! And click the gallery links for more pix!

As usual, I’m ending the year with 12 photos from this year, equaling one per month but not literally from each month, since some months have weaker or fewer photos. Nor are these necessarily my top 12 favorite photos from this year, but are representative 2023 photos from “Retired in Costa Rica” this year, with birds and butterflies obviously being two favorite subjects again! :-) One shot here for the email version and eleven more online with a quick click below of “Read More”!

Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Thank You for 2023!”
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“Hug a Tree!”

After the jeep ride up the mountain (yesterday’s post) going past the mirador (Spanish for a vista overlook platform), we stopped at the trailhead for multiple trails. Me and the 3-generation Tico family chose the shorter trail through the forest down to the Savegre Mirador. Just one experience here, so be sure to see the others in the Hiking the Pioneers Trail Photo GALLERY.

An 800 Year Old Tree says “Hug Me!”
A Mother & Child Hug the 800 year old Tree.

And for more pix on the trails at Savegre, click the linked blog post below titled “Trails and Trees” where Marino Chacón (a different son of the founder than this year) took me on a longer trails hike for the early morning bird hike back in January 2021, just the 2 of us.

¡Pura Vida!

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4×4 Jeep Up the Mountain

Of course many choose to hike all the way up to several different trails and the Mirador (vista platform) which I did last time here, but I chose the jeep ride up and down this time with just a short nature trail which I will tell about tomorrow. Here’s one shot of the jeep we road up in with its dog co-pilot! :-) I road with a 3-generation Tico family on vacation there, a 3 or 4 year old boy, his parents and grandparents. The two weeks either side of Christmas are vacation time for most government employees and many big companies not involved in retail sales of course! :-) Thus half or more of the people at the hotel were Ticos. The rest were tourists from the States, Canada, Australia, and all over Europe. Another charming thing about traveling about Costa Rica! :-)

The jeep we road up and down the mountain in with it’s dog co-pilot. 🙂

See some other photos in my gallery: 4×4 Jeep Ride up the Mountain. And tomorrow some photos from our hike on the Pioneers Trail!

¡Pura Vida!

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Mexican Silverspot

I’ve seen this cool butterfly in only two places, here and at Guayabo Lodge near Turrialba. It is found from Texas to Brazil. Since I’m limiting myself to one photo per post from this location, see the other shots in my Mexican Silverspot GALLERY plus my earlier shots.

Mexican Silverspot, Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica.

See shots from other places on butterfliesandmoths.org. And oh yeah, I did not get a good Quetzal shot yesterday morning, so I’m trying again this morning. Wildlife does not usually pose for photographers! :-)

¡Pura Vida!

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Tennessee Warbler in Costa Rica

Yeh! He’s a regular “Snow Bird” who migrates down here from my former state and others every winter. I hiked down the road to Batsu Gardens yesterday for Christmas Eve and my 9th Anniversary in Costa Rica. This Tennessee Warbler was just one of many birds I photographed, meaning I have lots of photos to process. But today’s focus is on the “Christmas Quetzal” as I was scheduled for the 5:15 am “Quetzal Tour” on Christmas Morning with one of the hotel guides. Maybe a report on that tomorrow morning! :-)

Tennessee Warbler, Batsu Gardens, San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Merry Christmas!