For the Birds

Costa Rica is for the birds - but we like it that way.

I've considered myself a birder for a long time. Since the age of six, birds have helped draw my attention to the natural world, and the mysteries of life on planet Earth.

I remember tracking pheasant across the white fields of winter. 

Flushing them into flight just to feel that explosion of feathers, 
and see the jewel-like flash of gold, burgundy, and green.

I remember being completely stunned by my first Pileated Woodpecker.
How could such a thing exist? 
I felt like God had singled me out and showed it to me.

I remember the elegant Northern Loon riding low in the water.
His ululating call piercing the long summer twilight of the Minnesota lake country.

Twice in my life I have been startled by feuding Ruby Crowned Kinglets. 
Miniature fury locked in territorial combat, plummeting straight to the ground in front of me.

It might sound odd, but Starr and I love bird watching because of electric moments like these.

So we are very content to realize that we share the jungles, beaches, and mountain ridges of Central America with 900 species of birds. 

Finer neighbors exist nowhere.

Birders like us try to make a pilgrimage to CR at least once in their lifetime. They come to visit places that are literally in sight of our front gate.

Realizing our tardiness, we finally took our first expertly guided bird walk with Alison and the San Vito Bird Club last weekend.  We really enjoyed it.

Here are some photos (not mine) so you can get a good look at some of the awesome species we've seen in the last few weeks.

 

 

Bay Headed Tanager.
Very shy. Loves ripe bananas.

Blue Crowned Motmot. Hoots softly.
Mates for life. Sits still as Buddha. 
(when Buddha is sitting still)

Blue Grey Tanager.
Everywhere. Another banana lover.

Collared Trogon.
Very shy woodland bird. Very bold design and color.

Montezuma Oropendola. Huge, raucous, and clown-like. 
Nest is a 4 foot long hanging pouch.
(As one would expect of a clown)

Fiery Billed Aricari. Impossibly showy bird. 
Moves through the forest in a loose-knit flock.
(or a stretch-knit frock)

Gray Headed Chachalaca. Large loud bird.
We only heard them in Ecuador, but have seen them all over Costa Rica.

Green Honeycreeper. Unmistakable and striking. 
Will do gymnastics to reach a ripe banana. 
(I wonder what he'd do for a Cracker Jack?)

Keel Billed Toucan. A real front-heavy silhouette in flight.
The markings make the bill seem even larger.
(like Alaska airline's tailfin Eskimo, Avianca needs a toucan fuselage)

Laughing Falcon. Eats snakes almost exclusively. 
Hunts in pairs, calling "gua-co" back and forth, 
until falling into a chorus of crazy laughter.
(... with us)

Passerini's Tanager.
With his shockingly fluorescent red-orange safety rump.
(rarely rear-ended, though records are sketchy)

Swallow Tailed Kite.
Snow white head. Soars effortlessly along ridge tops.

Violet Sabrewing.
At 6 inches, our largest hummingbird. Loves heliconia nectar.
(... with a beer chaser)

Turkey Vulture. The garbage man of the jungle and pasture lands.
Sometimes soars with dozens of birds in a tornado formation a thousand feet high.
(dangerous only if you live in a trailer house)

White Crowned Parrot.
Large green and blue bird. A bit rare.
(you might say medium-rare ;-)

Scaled Pigeon. We saw one from behind this morning 
and could not find anything like it in the bird book.
Later I asked Pepe, described how it flew away, and he knew it instantly.

Happiness is - trying out a really good pair of binoculars.

Coffee after the bird walk at the Wilson Botanical Gardens.

Alison & Carla total up the count.

Thinking about the next bird walk.

The Many Layers of Paradise

Do you ever wonder if Jeff and I are telling the full story of life in so-called Paradise?  To be honest, there may be more to the story that we keep to ourselves.

For example:
Here's a romantic picture of Jeff in his new office: In the background are stately tropical black walnut trees mixed in with other tropical hardwoods.  The hills in the background give a wonderful dimension to the panoramic view.  As he sits at the hardwood table in the shade on the veranda, working on business-consultant-work things, the outdoor temperature reaches up to about 85 degrees and tropical birds continually call out to one another as they dash from tree to tree.

What a way to retire!  What a way to travel!  Livin' the Life!

Oh yeah, there's a bit more to the story that the photograph and the carefully selective writing has left out:

The reason that he's on the veranda is because the house is an OVEN.  The living room has two HUGE skylights that act as solar magnifiers, creating exactly perfect circumstances for a solar dehydrator - but it's our house.  Our only hope for it to cool down is when the tropical afternoon rains begin and dissipate much of the heat. 

So he had to carry that exceptionally heavy hardwood table outside and deal with the glare on his computer screen in order to be able to get any work done.  And in spite of wearing a hat and applying bug repellent, he ended up with a new batch of bites to nurse.  Although when he works indoors he also risks getting bitten up because the huge sliding glass doors - that provide such a nice view - don't have screens on them.  If the doors are kept closed during the day, we totally cook.  If the doors are kept open during the day, the mosquitoes invite themselves in.

And that lovely hillside adjacent to us?  There's a huge rock quarry on it.  From sunrise to sunset trucks and rocks are tumbling, dropping, and rolling in a low grade, never-ending crash-rumble.

Yes, the place is BEAUTIFUL.  However the experience of surviving in a tropical climate is multi-layered.

The expats that survive and thrive in the tropics are a tough lot.  I admire them and am proud to be counted as one.

A vintage coffee hopper, pickers dump their sacks into the hopper, truck drives under, chute opens.

Remember riding in the back of pick-ups in the '50's?

Glamour shot.

All bets are off unless you figure out a way to stay fit and functional . . .  Rip 60: never leave home without it.

. . .  fit, functional, and funny.

Josey tells us the story of his cacao finca: Chocorica: 11 acres with a Tico home - $172,000. Interested?

True "Criollo" type red cacao pods. Some say they're the best.

Portrait of a cacao fanatic.

This is Casa Botania, Kata and Pepe's unique B&B in San Vito.

The evening sun goes down at Casa Botania.

"I deserve this".

The misty "neblina" clouds hug the forested slopes.

Haven't I met you somewhere?

Starr checks her notes in the Casa Botania dining room.

Pepe and Kata are wonderful hosts.

Buffet breakfast and Belgian crepes from the kitchen.

Let me in!

Gail used her retirement to develop the 17 acre Cantaros botanical garden and gift shop where she sells indigenous crafts.

Jesus loves me. This I know.

Gail shows off her solar clothes dryer. Actually I think husband Harry might have had something to do with it.

In all probability, the most elegant Eucalyptus on earth.

The Cantaros area has been inhabited for over 30 years by archeologists.
Human habitation started about 3,500 years before that.

The picturesque highland village of San Vito de Coto Brus was founded in 1951 by Italian coffee grower, Vito Sansonetti.

Cecilia, daughter of Vito, sitting on the founder's fender.

Picnic and picture day for the founding families.

Camila's a good girl, and a skilled watchdog.

I think he likes me.

These lovely docile beasts do the work of 20 men.

The oxen drag the logs up steep muddy slopes. The men turn them into lumber.

Another layer of Paradise.

Remember:  All that glitters is not Gold - although it IS the experience of a lifetime and we wouldn't do it any differently.