South Caribe Birds This Year

Some trips I put more energy into getting many more bird photos, this year in South Caribe was more relaxed and slower, focusing a little more on culture and people, but here are my 10 birds and 1 nest photos representing 8 species with 3 having both male and female photos. My one “lifer” or first-time seen bird was the Gray-necked Wood-Rail.

Birds are still my first passion, but tomorrow I will share the “Other Animals” seen here this year including one of my better sloth photos shot near the hotel, as were most of the birds. I saw a few water birds from a distance but not as many as usually seen here. And I’m very pleased with my new Tamron 60mm lense which has really helped to zoom in on more birds!

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The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.

~Carly Simon

See my TRIP Photo Gallery:   2018 Caribe South, Puerto Viejo  for many other kinds of photos from this fun trip and for more on the South Caribe see these other past trip galleries:

¡Pura Vida!

Other Photos (non-bird) from Tarcoles River

Scenic Tarcoles River
Tarcoles, Costa Rica
Scenic Tarcoles River near it’s Mouth into the Pacific Ocean
Tarcoles, Costa Rica

Jungle Crocodile Safari boat
Tarcoles, Costa Rica

American Crocodile
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Paper Wasp Nest
Tarcoles River Costa Rica

Hopefully you saw all the bird photos on the last two days’ posts! Also of interest may be:

Trip Photo Gallery: 2017-07-29- Tarcoles River

All of my photo galleries on Birds       or just Costa Rica Birds

And the boat tour company we used: Jungle Crocodile Safari

Pura Vida from Costa Rica!

~Charlie

Mama Dove Abandons Nest in Strong Winds

I don’t know for sure if the mother Inca Dove abandoned the nest or something happened to her, but by this morning she was gone and two eggs had rolled out of nest down the spine of the palm frond, with at least one egg cracked. An animal that would eat her would probably also eat the eggs and an iguana may eat the eggs yet.  61 mph winds could have done it!

Inca Dove on Nest
She sat on this for about 3 days in terribly fierce winds, palm fronds like sails!

Empty Nest this Morning
Was the wind too much? Did something happen to her? I never saw a mate
and wondered where Daddy bird was!

Eggs Rolled down Palm Frond & Cracked
I’m so sorry to miss the birth of two Inca Doves & Sorry for the Mom!
I have no way to save them and doubt they could be.

Poor Choice of Nest Tree
The nest is in this small palm surrounded by red/yellow crotons below my deck.
Nest in lower of two fronds on the left, tiny gray spot halfway up.

Check out our Weather and note that right now the wind is at 42 mph with gusts to 61 mph. The poor bird never had a chance! January-February is the usual windy time, but last year was never with as strong a wind as we’ve had this year. and it is still blowing strong into March, but hopefully dying down soon! Then a couple of months of windless, hot, dry days before the rain starts, May-Oct.

Read more about Inca Doves at Cornell’s All About Birds

My Birds Photo Gallery

POSTSCRIPT: Before dark I checked the palm again and both eggs were gone, maybe by wind or maybe by an animal.

PS again: Today I finished my Income Tax with only one call to the TurboTax help desk!  🙂  The problem was not with the form but getting past their security into my file online. It seems that I had two accounts with them with two different user names and passwords and I was mixing them up. Crazy! But done now!

Nesting on a Palm Frond

Nesting Inca Dove
On palm frond of small palm in my yard, Atenas, Costa Rica

Honestly I don’t see how it can last very long with all the heavy winds we have been having, but birds can be tenacious! We will see. I have much more stable trees you could have used!

Insects at Sarapiquí

One of the Sulphur Butterflies
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Banded Peacock Butterfly
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

One of the Tigerwings or Isabella’s Heliconian
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

One of the 11,000 Grasshoppers
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

One of the Leaf Insects, like Walking Leaf Katydid
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Cicada Shell
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

Termite Nest
Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiquí, Chilamate, Costa Rica

See also my photo galleries of BUTTERFLIES  or  OTHER INSECTS

Wednesday with The Lehning’s!

The Lehning’s and Charlie at El Restaurante La Carreta, Atenas, Costa Rica

Finally I get a photo of Tim & Joan Lehning with children Hank, Maggie and David plus me included thanks to our friendly waiter at La Carreta. Tonight, Wednesday Dinner in town at one of my favorite restaurants. 

This morning they did not have breakfast at their hotel (long story) and so I met them at El Balcon del Cafe in town for breakfast at another favorite cafe. Then we walked for about two hours through town seeing what life is like in a small coffee farming town including Joan finding a couple of items she needed at my pharmacy, Don Juan Farmacia. We walked by shops, through the central farmer’s market, bus station, by two schools two parks, through a Catholic Church and on to my house. There my friend Michael had lunch just about ready where we feasted on catered Tico Mexican food: Aztec Soup, Quesadillas, cheese sticks, chicken sticks, nachos, chips and salsas, and assorted drinks. It was fun and I think they like my house and my new cook! And gardens!
Just for their arrival today, my neighbor and artist friend Anthony Jeroski finished the bird nest for my garden that lovingly holds the glass egg created by another artist friend in Nashville, Kevin Hunter. It goes well with the bird sculpture at the opposite end of the same garden. Is my garden developing a theme?
After the kids got a little swim in before the afternoon rain, they rested and met me at La Carreta for dinner and the group photo. Then we walked a block over for ice cream at POPS. A fun and tasty Wednesday with the Lehning’s! It was a joy to have them stop by after their Machu Pichu and Costa Rica surfing trips! Tomorrow morning their taxi picks them up at 4 for the trip to airport and return to Nashville. Thanks for the visit guys!  It was great fun having you! Another good memory in Costa Rica!
Pura Vida!

Carara National Park Insects

I started going through over 600 photos made in the park, and though disappointed in not many birds, I discovered I had too many photos for one post. So here’s 4 insects! Mammals tomorrow!

Owl Butterfly, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Helicopter Damselfly, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Helicopter Damselfly in tree showing color better.
Carara National Park, Costa Rica

Red-tailed Dragonfly, Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Check out my better photo of one at Corcovado National Park in 09.
Termite Nest, Carara National Park, Costa Rica

Of course we saw lots of ants, including the leaf-cutter ants and many other flying insects, but these are my only usable photos. Maybe mammals tomorrow and then a day for plants with one really cool fungus! Rain-forests are so so much fun to visit, even when I don’t get many bird photos!

Newly discovered wasp named after Costa Rica President! Cool huh!?

And remember, I now have PHOTO GALLERIES for my



Endangered forests are being slaughtered for toilet paper.~Daphne Zuniga