For the last several weeks, I have been scouting, qualifying, gathering, hauling, storing, and devouring my fill of mangos—a wonderful fruit. After weeks of plenty, alas, the season is ending, and we are down to our freezer reserve of our last six mangos.



Every day we are treated by hummers at our feeder.



It varies, but just about every week or two we are visited by monkeys of some species or another. Here is a shot of a white-faced monkey



Sometimes they come alone and sometimes the whole family hangs out leaping and swinging. Much to Jack’s dismay, often around dawn we hear the booming voice of a male howler monkey giving us a wake-up call. Here is a short clip of a typical howler hoot.



Quite often, a stroll or a walk brings out the coatamundis and agoutis going about their business.





For a day or two each spring, we see great blue herons hanging out in out trees by the water before they head out for their next destination



We have a few cats in our neighborhood that like to harass our pup, Jackson.



Speaking of Jack, here is shot of him on duty and one with his best buddy, Toby.





That’s it for now.

It’s a great time to be in Costa Rica!

Tags: Nature Photography, Pet Photography, Wildlife Photography, Bird Photography

 

We have been in the Dry Season and have had month after month of warm sunshine, gentle breezes, and dry weather…and no mosquitoes. Just gorgeous. Yes, a little warm now and then—this is the tropics!

From our peaceful (calm but not quiet) patio there is a constant purr of the river, and every now and then, the sounds and movements of critters.

Here is a good-looking Hoffman’s woodpecker, a sophisticated monkey, a trump-colored lizard, a giant crab spider on the hunt, and a patient hawk awaiting some action.








 


Here is a curious coatimundi exploring our deck, a palm tanager ready for flight, a playful squirrel, and a bare-throat heron on the prowl for lunch.









Here is an almost tame motmot being fed lunch by Jan. Now is mating season and this summer tanager is becoming more vibrant every day.





Having nothing to do with mating season, here is Toby charging his batteries for another walk.



Here is a pic of a colorful store that we frequent when looking for the perfect gift.



Of course no matter what the season, things would be out of balance without one of Jan’s flower displays.



Now we welcome the Rainy Season.

It’s a great time to be in Costa Rica!
 

Tags: Atenas, Wildlife Photography, Bird Photography, Pet Photography, Nature Photography

 Our good friend Donna flew down for a few days and we started off with a bang, taking an overnight trip to Pierella Ecological Gardens. We made the two-hour trip in four-and-a-half hours (remember, this is Costa Rica), in time for a hearty lunch and a small parade of show off birds.
 
Just a beautiful place with nature abundant in all shapes and sizes.
 
For two half-days we shared a very knowledgeable tour guide with another visitor.



Here is a walking stick and poison dart frog to start things off.





Lots of birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Here are a spectacled owl and a red-crowned woodpecker. 





Several howler monkeys (I guess he’s a male) kept an eye on us.



All of this was wonderful, but what I found most captivating was the butterflies. Here is an orange spot butterfly, a malachite butterfly, a blue common morpho butterfly, a tropical blue wave butterfly, a wearable butterfly, and Donna with a hitchhiker. Finally, even my camera lens proved attractive to one of these beauties.


 












I highly recommend adding this stop to your must-see visits when touring the country.
 
It’s a great time to be in Costa Rica!

Tags: Pierella Ecological Gardens, Wildlife Photography, Nature Photography

Blog Title Explanation
My guess is that some of you have, or have in the past, been inflicted with the felt need (maybe your duty as a citizen) to stay top of all things political. I was infected with this malady for years.

During my morning walks, I would listen to multiple news shows, getting more depressed with each step. On “good” mornings I would become skeptical, disheartened, and ornery. On “bad” mornings…(you get the gist).

So out of desperation, I decided to drop the drama and build up the beautiful…leaning on classical Classics and throwing in other fun tunes. For example, this morning, I listened to some Bocelli, a little Bach, a touch of Vivaldi, and then threw in Bonnie Raitt, Bad Bunny, Sting, and ending with the Spinners belting out their classic, “Rubber Band Man.” It is hard not to be pumped after juicy fruit that sweet!

Listen here and see how you feel.

Old Friends
We had old friends dating back to our volunteer days come visit us, and we had a great time enjoying the family! The weather cooperated, and they got a taste of the country, but most importantly we had the chance to reconnect. One trip we took together was to the Recate Wildlife Refuge that has a huge critter assortment.



Anniversary Time
We have been here already a year! For us, it has been a great move. Here are just a few of the things we like:

Gorgeous scenery all over the place.



Most people are very nice and very helpful.

Wonderful food. For example, great beans, eggs, bananas, and much more. Lots of excellent pizza here. Jan has mastered pizza delivery and has a telephone relationship with three pizzerias.

Cool critters most places you look.



Shifting Seasons
Costa Rica has two seasons, the Rainy Season and the Non-Rainy Season (well, technically it is the Dry Season). The Rainy Season is nice: less traffic, a little less expensive, and you can watch vegetation grow several feet in one day (well it seems that way). However, we are ready for a change, the Rainy Season officially ends November 30. We are already seeing creatures return that we have not seen for weeks or months.

Here is a male and female scarlet tanager.





Here are some handsome butterflies.



Here is one of my favorite butterflies, the malachite butterfly.



And here is a butterfly threesome: dirce beauties on each end with Blomfiild’s beauty in the middle!



The changing season has had a major impact on our backyard feeding stations. We are seeing old friends returning after several months and newbies now and then. A pair of motmots have taken over ownership and are awaiting Jan’s feeding long before sunrise. They eat fruit from her hands and from me now and then.



It’s a great time to be in Costa Rica!

Here is a test to start things off…can you find the stony butterfly in this photo?


 
For many of us (including me) it takes a while…what a master magician!
 
Speaking of butterflies, here are other beauties to view in order: One-spotted prepona, another one-spotted prepona,  dirce butterfly, gray cracker butterfly, red postman butterfly, split-banded owl butterfly.
 












Just to add a little variety to this blog on butterflies, here are some plants from our deck; not great growth so far but fingers crossed.
 


Almost every day after their park walk, we perform a ritual with windows down and excitement up. We drive to the top of a nearby hill searching for Jack’s Lizard. This reptile lives in a tube that exits by the road and comes out to see Jack on about half of our trips. Tell me you have more excitement than these two.


  
We are fortunate to see this bird pretty much every day. 


  
Here are other good-looking birds: the Hoffmann's woodpecker, the plain-capped starthroat, and the rufous-tailed hummingbird.







Finally, after scouting critters all day, here is our handsome Toby taking a rest.
 


See you next time. Pura vida!

Tags: Atenas, Wildlife Photography, Nature Photography, butterfly photography, Bird Photography, Pet Photography