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This was seen just outside Roca Verde along 8th Avenue in Barrio Boqueron, though I’ve seen several in my garden in the past. It is the Tropical Checkered-Skipper, Burnsius oileus (my gallery link). I’m seeing fewer butterflies now and, if like last year, that will continue until sometime in May when the butterflies seem to start multiplying again here, with my highest past butterfly counts being in May-September.
¡Pura Vida!
One fun thing about going to the coast is seeing some of the many types of wading shorebirds. Below the email version pix is a slide show of 6 different shorebirds from the recent trip to the mouth of the Tarcoles River. And the mouth of a river is one of the best places to see birds because of the larger variety of food possibilities there plus the usual mangroves!
The humble banana plant flower, seen here along the shores of Rio Tarcoles but also found all over Costa Rica in lowlands and rainforests.
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
See also my gallery: FLORA & FOREST Costa Rica
As a nickname, that might be considered sacrilegious by some people, but the nickname has a long history of this lizard walking on water and most everyone knows the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter not having the faith to follow him without sinking. In Costa Rica there are three species of basilisks and they all “walk on water” (actually run very fast) as we saw this one pictured here do 🙂 . . .
That’s our fun biology lesson for today! And I apologize for not remembering that I did a similar post back in October. Just blame it on my dementia! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
is a common bird on both coasts and way up some of the rivers. And is the case most of the time for me, this one has no spots. You can look at my Spotted Sandpiper Gallery to see some with spots which is seasonal. Just one photo here that I liked from last week’s visit to Rio Tarcoles . . .
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
Sometimes you see the world different from a boat on water and this was the case while on Rio Tarcoles last week. Below one photo for the email version is a slideshow of 6 shots from the river.
. . . are one of the reasons a lot of tourists take boat trips on the Tarcoles River, though my priority is always the birds and why I choose this particular boat company (Jungle Crocodile Safari) which focuses on the birds more than any other and does not feed the crocodiles chickens like some boats do (which is illegal). BUT, the crocs are interesting and I usually make a few photos of them. 🙂
Here are just two photos from this trip, the feature photo at top being the face of a very old “grandpa croc.” They can live up to 80 years! (Old like me!) 🙂 While the other photo of the total croc is of a young adult or adolescent. In this Trip Gallery, which is now completed, I have 7 croc shots from this trip in a sub-gallery simply named “Crocodiles.” Or if you’re really into crocs, check out my Costa Rica American Crocodile GALLERY with croc photos from 8 different locations all over CR, though more from Tarcoles River which is the closest location to me. 🙂
And in “The Trip Gallery,” I also have photos of 26 bird species, White-faced Capuchin Monkeys, Basilisk Lizards, landscapes, other nature and even a photo of our group of 6 Canadians with a family from Denmark we shared the boat with! Exploring Costa Rica is always international! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
At 7:30 this morning I’m scheduled for “Needle Surgery” to get a bit of the spot or growth from one of the lymph nodes in my neck for a biopsy. I will go back in February for a report and to schedule any further action if needed. The doctor doubts that it is cancer, but he wants to be sure. The public health system here is huge and taking great care of me while creating a large database of all my health tests, surgeries, medications, and reports in the single system for any of my other doctors to see and be aware of. It is an amazing system! It even sends both me and my driver text message reminders of all appointments! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona
Yesterday I shared photos of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and today the other 4 herons I photographed last week on Rio Tarcoles. A very good birding river! 🙂
One of the many water birds you find in rivers and mangroves near the coast is the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Nyctanassa violacea (eBird link) that you can see with his Yoga-like pose drying his wings. 🙂 Of course I have more photos from all over Costa Rica in my Yellow-crowned Night Heron Gallery. And here’s 3 shots from Tarcoles River this past week . . .
We saw many Scarlet Macaws on Rio Tarcoles but none where we could get a good picture, but as we were leaving the village of Tarcoles on our way to Punta Leona, we saw this one along the side of the road and thus it is my only photo of one this trip! But I have a lot more photos in my Scarlet Macaw Gallery. 🙂
This Scarlet Macaw lives mostly on the Pacific Slope of Costa Rica with a few going over the continental divide to the Atlantic or Caribbean Slope. They are listed as “threatened” and are decreasing in numbers because of habitat loss, but not listed as “endangered” yet like the Great Green Macaw which lives only on the Caribbean Slope. There are Ara Projects for both species working to save them in the wild. In Limón Province at Manzanillo there is the AraManzanillo (Green Macaw Project) and for this Scarlet Macaw there is on Nicoya Peninsula the Macaw Recovery Network which is working to preserve this beautiful parrot. Both programs use nesting boxes in the wild because there are not as many old trees left with natural holes for nests. I’ve seen these nesting boxes at both Hotel Punta Leona and at Tambor Tropical Resort. They work! with lots of macaws nesting in both places. And Maquenque Eco Lodge is adding nesting boxes and planting almond trees (favorite food of macaws). In fact, I planted one of the almond trees the last time I was there! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
See the Day Trip Gallery: 2025 January 7 — Rio Tarcoles & Punta Leona