The other day I caught a few shots of this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (the dominant and thus only species in my garden) in an unusual place for me, the dark shadows of the Higueron or Strangler Fig or Ficus Tree. I had to really work at lightening the shadows in these two shots but think the second one is particularly interesting because of how his head and neck are twisted around, unlike any photo yet of one of these, while this first shot is pretty traditional! 🙂
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Costa RicaRufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Costa Rica
It is the same species or only species of Hummingbird I have in my yard now, the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and maybe the most common species in Costa Rica. They are territorial, meaning if he claims my garden, he chases off other species of hummingbirds. You can see the many I’ve photographed all over Costa Rica in my Rufous-tailed GALLERY or read more about them on eBird. I like these shots because of the contrast with the bright red El Baston de Emperador or Torch Ginger. Here’s four shots . . .
It was in October of 2018, the peak of the rainy season, that I first visited Esquinas Rainforest Lodge at La Gamba Research Station, Piedras Blancas National Park, north of Golfito, Puntarenas. It rained pretty hard every afternoon with the mornings and short spaces between rain full of wonderful birds to photograph! And the planned boat trip to Rio Coto Mangroves turned impossible with high winds and heavy rain on Golfo Dulce, but the ingenious boat captain took me back into the smaller Gulf of Golfito (shielded from heavy wind by trees) for some of my better bird shots in between downpours – an unplanned but excellent substitute for an always good mangrove tour! Making Lemonade from Lemons! 🙂 And how could you not in this incredible rainforest? See more photos from my first trip there & a video link below . . .
My last 4 species of birds from Arenal Observatory are in 5 photos because the Red-legged Honeycreeper male & female are so different, with only their legs matching! 🙂
One of the regular blogs I read is Christopher Howard’s Live in Costa Rica (he also does the best relocation tour) and his latest blog post quoted International Living Magazine on Costa Rica being one of the best places in the world to retire on less than $30,000 a year.Read his post or go to the online version of International Living and maybe find it there. And bear in mind that it is still true even with Costa Rica having the highest cost of living in Central America, but right now I don’t think you want to retire in any of the other Central American countries! (Panama being a sometimes exception.) I chose to retire in luxury in Costa Rica over sliding into retirement poverty in the U.S.
Today’s photo is of a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, the most common in my garden and possibly all over Costa Rica or at least in many of the places I have visited. They are aggressive and chase other species of Hummingbirds away from feeders and even “their” garden sometimes. Thus I have mixed feelings about them! 🙂 ¡Pura Vida!
A family of these Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds have taken over my two feeders, meaning I watch them literally every morning at breakfast, nice, but . . . also meaning I do not see other varieties of hummingbirds like I used to. I do still get a wide variety of other kinds of birds in the trees.
Costa Rica qualified for the International Futbol Event in Russia by tying Honduras last night.
Costa Rica will have 522 persons running in the Chicago Marathon, 3rd largest group from Latin America after Mexico & Brazil and more than some European countries!
For 2 years I refused to have feeders, only flowers. But gave in when Anthony left me with this feeder. I do see more hummingbirds, but only one species now. Atenas, Costa Rica
Like this juvenile Rufous-tailed, they do still eat from flowers, but not totally. Atenas, Costa Rica
The Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds dominate the feeder. I believe there is a large family of them that had many babies. Atenas, Costa Rica
This is an elder who may be in charge. Atenas, Costa Rica
They even chase each other off the feeder or a “Pecking Order?” Atenas, Costa Rica
I still have mixed emotions about using a feeder, though it does seem to keep more birds here year around. Not sure why I’m not seeing other species now which may be the work of the Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds chasing them off. I’ve thought about another feeder or two which most of the lodges I visit have even more of and many varieties of hummingbirds. We will see. I don’t like the extra work of boiling water and adding sugar every few days! 🙂 I’m lazy in retirement! And more feeders would mean more sugar water!
For many different birds, see myBirds Photo Galleries Today I restart my Spanish blog titled ¡Aprendo Español en Atenas! for those who want to see me struggle with español. My teacher requested it!
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
On Heliconia in my garden, Atenas, Costa Rica
Yeh, it is unusual for a hummingbird to stay still very long, especially on a flower! Thanks Lord!
Bark Scorpion
On my kitchen floor, Atenas, Costa Rica
Both of these shots were made before breakfast this morning. The scorpion crawled out from under my electric dishwasher. You can see that on his tail and left hand he has collected some cobweb. 🙂 I just used the broom to sweep him outside off my deck or terrace. In 2 1/2 years here it is only the second scorpion I have seen, both in my kitchen. I am going to spray under my dishwasher, stove and frig, the best hiding places. Though, last night I opened two cardboard boxes of old genealogy books and that is also a good place for scorpions. Part of living in the jungle! 🙂
Check out my Birds photo gallery and my Other Insectsphoto gallery for more creature shots.
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba, Costa Rica Photo by Charlie Doggett
These guys have been feeding a lot in my garden and at the hummingbird feeder I inherited from Anthony.
Watch One Feed on Porterweed Flowers – A VIDEO
You can see what it is like with this video another nature photographer (Steven Williams) here in Costa Rica posted on an Expat Facebook page. He calls it a Berylline Hummingbird, but I disagree. Those live mainly in Mexico with a few as far south as Honduras, still a long way from Costa Rica! I think it is a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird which is what we have a lot of in Costa Rica. Either way, this is how they feed in my garden:
Green-breasted Mango Hummingbird female Sarapiquí, Costa Rica
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird Sarapiquí, Costa Rica
Maybe a Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer Sarapiquí, Costa Rica
Maybe a Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer Sarapiquí, Costa Rica
Some of these were shot at the Selva Verde Lodge, some at Dave & Dave’s Nature Park, and possibly one at La Selva. I did not indicate exact location when uploading. Sorry.
Also note that when I say “Sarapiquí” I am referring to a region that has become a popular birding Sarapiquí River and Highway 4 (Ruta 4) down through and south of the bigger, main town of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí where the boat docks are. Near there is the La Selva Biological Research Station and the large Braulio Carrillo National Park. This is the first of the Caribbean lowlands after the mountain range. There are many competing lodges, but I had read very good things about Selva Verde and now glad I chose it. Hard to imagine better birding anywhere. Though I understand that some other hotels have more luxurious rooms and even air conditioning. Selva Verde has a few rooms with a/c in the main building near the highway if you absolutely require it. The ceiling fan was fine for me. location and somewhat for adventure sports and tourism in general. It is not a town but an area running from the little town of La Virgen in the west (closer to the mountains I drove through) along the
An additional note for people not familiar with Costa Rica, there are two towns named Puerto Viejo and those who want to avoid confusion use the “full names” or Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí for this area’s main town, and on the Caribbean Coast south of the port city of Limon is the more popular beach town of Puerto Viejo de Limon (in Limon Province) or sometimes call Puerto Viejo Talamanca as it is at the foot of the Talamanca Mountains near where the Bribri indigenous people live. I like both areas and birding is good and different in each. It will take years to explore all the nature spots in this beautiful country! And I will try! 🙂
