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He was showing an interest in one of my dried up flowers in the garden the other day and I have not found a name for him yet – just another interesting creation of God!
“Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of that unit — the cosmos?”
― A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf
¡Pura Vida!
See my “Other Insects” Gallery for more fun bugs.
This is one of several birds I saw at breakfast this morning including a Lineated Woodpecker, Blue-gray Tanager, Clay-colored Thrush, White-winged Dove and some unidentified flyers. But this is the only one I got a photo of and my second time to see this species here. One of my guide books says they come as breeding visitors Feb to Oct. It is a sparrow-sized bird very much like the Red-eyed Vireo which is less common here.
I saw the other one March 28 on Calle Nueva with not as good a photo, but you can see it in my Yellow-Green Vireo gallery. Or read about them on eBird with a map showing where they are found. Happy birding!
“Not humans, but birds often witness the most beautiful mornings in this world!”
―
¡Pura Vida!
P.S.
And oh yes, if I haven’t said yet, “Rainy Season” or “winter” (my favorite time of year) is well under way here with rain or showers every afternoon. I love it! Cooler, fresher air and so much greener! My garden loves it too! 🙂
Come join one of the guides at Selva Verde Lodge on a typical night hike in their Sarapiqui Private Reserve. Since people have not been able to visit them live, they put this”virtual night hike” on their YouTube Channel. One of the guides shows you the kinds of things I get to see live when I go on such night hikes at this and other lodges in Costa Rica. It is real and typical except for the short time of only 3 minutes! In real life there is more walking between the animals seen! 🙂
Featured image is from my Red-eyed Tree Frog Gallery and another night hike somewhere else (Danta Corcovado).
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And here’s the same guide on a DAYTIME TOUR of Selva Verde, Just be aware that in an hour or more tour you see a lot more wildlife than in these little 3 minute videos! But both are a taste of what I regularly see and photograph in my retirement in Costa Rica:
¡Pura Vida!
The World Economic Forum lauded Costa Rica for their handling of Coronavirus Pandemic. See why in this short video:
¡Pura Vida!
Not only are we required to wash our hands before entering the supermarket, but they have a sign from the Ministry of Health showing us how! 🙂 But hey! We don’t have thousands dying from COVID19 in Costa Rica!
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ~Benjamin Franklin
¡Pura Vida!
Costa Rica has the lowest COVID19 death rate (0.86%) in Latin America! See the statistics in the “Live in Costa Rica” blog report:
I was impressed by this little article in The Washington Post today:
The garden has lessons for us in this quarantine, if we are willing to stop and listen
Photo above in my garden today.
My Gallery Flora & Forest
¡Pura Vida!
Sure! I photograph ALL BIRDS, anywhere I find them, and many zoos are great places for birds, with some you will never get to see in the wild!
One of my many “quarantine projects” is getting my old “pre-Costa Rica” photos in my online gallery where I can see, use or reference them. One of the biggest galleries I am now working on is the gazillion photos I made at Nashville Zoo, my favorite zoo in the whole world!
And my first sub-gallery for Nashville Zoo is of course BIRDS! Today (Monday) I just finished my Nashville Zoo BIRDS gallery with 65 different species and a few of my favorite photos from Nashville days. About 6 of those are “wild” birds that just flew in for the ponds, trees, etc. Just be aware that these are older photos made between 2004 & 2014 and some birds may not still be there and of course there are new animals there I’ve never seen! 🙂
That got me thinking about the birds I’ve seen and photographed at other zoos, so today (Monday) I created a new page for my big BIRDS gallery: Links to BIRDS in ZOOS with literally hundreds of bird photos from around the world and 40 zoos! Only a few birds in each zoo, none comparing to my Nashville Zoo collection, but a lot of birds and fun to collect! Staying busy at home! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
The Health Ministry on Monday presented Costa Rica’s plan for a gradual reopening.
Beginning May 16, Costa Rica will further ease coronavirus restrictions and allow limited visitation at beaches and national parks. If the epidemiological curve permits, more measures will be lifted in June and beyond.
Here is Costa Rica’s timeline for reopening, as presented Monday by the Health Ministry.
* All plans beyond the measures announced for May 16-31 are tentative and may be changed if Costa Rica experiences a surge in cases.
The Health Ministry announced a series of “golden rules” that should be observed by all residents of Costa Rica.
Starting on May 18, the following daytime vehicular restrictions will be enforced between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.:
A total vehicular restriction — with a few exceptions — will be enforced nationwide every weeknight from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following morning.
The weekend driving restrictions will continue between the hours of 5 a.m. and 7 p.m.:
A total vehicular restriction — with a few exceptions — will be enforced nationwide every Saturday and Sunday night from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following morning.
Thankful to live in Costa Rica with common sense national leadership! ~CD
¡Pura Vida!
Or “Tree Trunks in the Rain!” which sounds like it could be a song or poem in addition to one of my “Nature as Art” experiments. I was sitting on my terrace watching it rain when I got the inspiration to photograph the wet tree trunks during the rain – and yes, they do look different when wet.
You could do this anywhere in the world with many different kinds of trees, so give yourself a “quarantine break” for a little creativity – try it!
This is the kind of thing I really expected to do more of in retirement and in this blog – so maybe I will now! 🙂
And oh yes! The rainy season has started! Good rains two days in a row! (Saturday & Sunday) My favorite time of year! And it is made even better because tourists don’t like to come when it’s raining! More peaceful! 🙂
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” ― Martin Luther
¡Pura Vida!
See also my gallery: Flora & Forest
More than a week ago I cellphone-snapped a shot of this funny-looking flying bug in a drop of water on my bathroom counter. He was gone the next morning, either flown away or eaten by one of my many geckos.
Retirement in Costa Rica does include living with bugs and this year’s “pre-rainy season” seems to have included more than usual for me, especially flying insects around the lights at night. I sometimes just never turn on the light in my bedroom at night to avoid being bothered by flying insects when in bed. 🙂
We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. ~Bill Vaughan
🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See my photo galleries: More Insects – OR – the separate Butterflies gallery. Insects are truly amazing!