Tag: Atenas

Posted on

Cinnamon-bellied Saltator

This Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, Saltator grandis (eBird link) was for years called the “Grayish Saltator” but was one of many birds that have had their names changed during my ten years of birding here in Costa Rica, which is sometimes confusing, but it keeps you on your toes! 🙂 It is strictly a “Central American + Mexico bird” (Mexico is “officially” part of North America). According to eBird I have now observed 14 of this species in Costa Rica which you can see in my GALLERY: Cinnamon-bellied Saltator. I got this shot in the shadows (hindering photo quality) during my “sitting bird expedition” the other evening in my yard. He is semi-common here, plus I’ve observed him in four other locations around Costa Rica. The cinnamon belly is seldom seen (like in only one shot in my gallery). 🙂

Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Backyard Gray Hawk

On what I call the back side of my little house, I sat in a chair Wednesday evening for 20 or 30 minutes, scanning the hill behind my house and photographed several birds with this Gray Hawk, Buteo plagiatus (eBird link) being my prize of that birding sit! 🙂 And see the other Gray Hawks I’ve photographed here in my Gray Hawk Gallery. This hawk is found from Costa Rica north through Mexico to the Southwestern U.S. along the Mexican border, mostly a Central American bird.

Gray Hawk, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Backyard Gray Hawk”
Posted on

Flame Vine

My Flame Vine is finally blooming, at least in spots. In the past it covered my back wall and bloomed in January, like everything is different this year! But even with fewer flowers and later, it is still one of my favorites! 🙂 “Flame Vine” is the most common English name, while in Costa Rica Spanish, it is called “Triquitraque” and the scientific name is “Pyrostegia venusta.” 🙂

Flame Vine or Triquitraque, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Yigüirro

is the Costa Rican Spanish name for the English-named Clay-colored Thrush. (my gallery link) This is the bird that gently wakes me up each morning singing, and, as tradition has it, he/she is singing in the rains for the beginning of our winter or rainy season in May.

Yigüirro or Clay-colored Thrush, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Frangipani

The flowers of the Frangipani – Plumeria rubra (Wikipedia link) in a neighbor’s yard that I snapped from my driveway. This flowering plant is native to Central America but has been cultivated in other tropical areas around the world now. We even had some in The Gambia when I lived there back in 1999-2002! 🙂

Frangipani – Plumeria rubra, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more flowers in my Flora & Forest Galleries.

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Where are all the butterflies?

“The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind” (apologies to Bob Dylan)

Some large Yellows are flying up in the tree limbs and other smaller yellows, whites and skippers I’ve seen down lower without ever stopping for a photo! 🙂 But Friday I did manage to get a couple of shots of this Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus polydamas (my gallery link) quickly stopping by both the Porter Weed (below) and the Plumbago (above), one of the few who land on that sticky flower! (Maybe the ‘sticky’ keeps him from blowing away!?) 🙂 And though that answer is not as philosophical as Bob Dylan’s, there simply will not be many butterflies until this wind quits blowing! 🙂

Polydamas Swallowtail on a Porter Weed flower, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Where are all the butterflies?”
Posted on

Canivet’s Emerald

Another “uncommon” bird found only in Central America from Eastern Mexico to Western Costa Rica, the Canivet’s Emerald, Cynanthus canivetii (eBird link) with some of my other earlier garden shots in my Canivet’s Emerald Gallery. I mostly get females (white chest) while in my first year I had a male (green chest). And for my Costa Rica readers, this species appears only on the Pacific Slope, while in Mexico to Honduras it is only on the Caribbean Slope. 🙂 Here’s three shots from yesterday in my garden . . .

Canivet’s Emerald Hummingbird, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Canivet’s Emerald”
Posted on

Chachalacas!

A small group of young Gray-headed Chachalacas, Ortalis cinereiceps (linked to eBird) landed in my trees yesterday and did a lot of chattering before flying on elsewhere. The wind doesn’t seem to bother larger birds as much as the smaller ones. And this bird lives only between Guatemala and Columbia! Here’s 3 different views . . .

Gray-headed Chachalaca, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Chachalacas!”
Posted on

Reflected Sunrise

The sun rises in the east behind other mountains that are behind the one that my house is on the west side of. 🙂 Simply put, I cannot see much of a sunrise from my house or terrace that faces W/NW where the vista of little mountains I often share are located. But when I am not sleeping late, I can get out on my terrace and get what I call a “reflected sunrise” on those hills in the W/NW. This past week I’ve been sleeping as late as I could to help cure my sick stomach which is now finally well! (I think!) But these two early morning “reflected sunrise” shots were made earlier in March. The feature photo at top is a panorama of three shots on my Canon 750D and this shot below for email version was a quick snap on my cheap Samsung Cellphone! 🙂

Reflected Sunrise in the NW hills of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica – Cellphone shot.
Continue reading “Reflected Sunrise”