The first photo is a blue-grey tanager. They're very common here and a little larger than a sparrow. Really pretty birds when you see them up close. Next is a pair of inca dove. They're really neat little birds that don't move until you almost step on them. This pair has been hanging out on the roof of our garage.

While I was shooting them, this guys motorcycle stalled out on him. He's a door dash/food delivery guy. When covid was a thing, San Jose was shut down so people began to order food online and have it delivered. That sudden need for delivered food created a very large business for getting food delivered at home. Now, there are motorcycles everywhere that look like this guy, or they'll have a big cooler above the rear tire. Traffic is really bad and very crowded, but a motorcycle is cheap and can weave through traffic. They're often nuisances that disregard traffic etiquette (sort of like bicyclists in any urban area).

I shot that one through the metal grates on my garage door. People in this town live in cages like zoo animals or your pet hamster. Sneak thieves and burglars are common. Usually petty crimes to raise drug money. You don't want to be the only house on the block to not have security bars around your house/windows, etc.

Street crime, getting held up, etc. is pretty uncommon in my part of town and there aren't any problems with trouble making thugs. My part of town is a pretty nice place to live, but it ain't cheap.

We went to the coast earlier this week. It's really pretty country, but very humid and hot once you're in the jungle. The beach is fabulous!


A fiery billed aracari


He's gonna snag those on something, eventually!




The ocean colors are really vivid. The national park is nearby these houses.
edit for context

Amazing bird pic!
Were you down in Manuel Antonio?

Thanks! It's hard to get good photos of them as they're usually in shadows and behind cover.

Yep, Manuel Antonio.

There were some sloths hanging around down there. They were difficult to get photos of. They would move away once tourists started gawking at them. I found a couple in the trees the tour guides failed to locate and got a few bad pics of them. They're neat to have around!



This is a clay colored robin, the national bird of Costa Rica. They're everywhere.



A hawk hanging out in the park across the street. It ate a young hummingbird in its nest a couple months ago.

We spent the weekend at an Air BnB house up in the mountains. Costa Rica has a large mountain chain running through the middle of the nation. The higher elevations are really lush and are a combination of tropical hardwoods, pine and cedar. The cedar looks very much like western juniper. If you're a plant/animal person that enjoys learn about different ecosystems, this country is awesome.

We didn't do much but relax and enjoy the gigantic enclosed porch while the mountain was engulfed in fog, clouds and rain. It was great trip. Near this cabin is another that's adjacent to a small river stocked with trout. We're going to stay there soon and I'll try my hand at Costa Rican trout. Here's a few birds from the trip.

A male long tailed silky winged flycatcher. They're really aggressive at catching bugs in the air and are fun to watch.





A very wet flame colored tanager



A tiny hummingbird. There are about 52 hummingbird species here! I saw a violet saberwing. Very cool hummingbird. Look them up! I don't know what this one is yet.



I need to start posting more than just birds. Lots to photograph down here. The people are the most interesting part of anyplace I'll ever visit so I need to practice getting shots of them.

There have been a bunch of crimson fronted parrakeets hanging around eating the fruit from a nearby tree. They're hard to get photos of because they're always in the tops of trees. The fruit has brought them down low and they cooperated today.





Also, there was a monarch butterfly ( I think) hanging around today.

Beautiful - have you been able to see any blue morpho butterflies in the wild yet? We saw some down at a waterfall base and it was amazing

Yep! There were some down in Manuel Antonio National Park. Just outside of town (San Jose), there is is little park that has a butterfly house that you can walk around in. Those butterflies would come and land on you. Beautiful butterflies. I got some good photos of that trip.

I finally got a decent shot of the orange chinned parakeets that are always flying around. They don't come down from the tree tops very often. I think they're drawn to all the fruit in the trees that's now available. Almost every tree down here is producing fruit. The nearby park is loaded with mango trees!

It's been a long time between posts! I've been too busy to get out of town and travel. We finally took some time to see more of Costa Rica. Here's a few shots. I'll stick to wildlife for now and post some more animals later. This country is worth spending a lot of time in.

Time is flying by down here. It's hard to imagine fall is well underway back home. It's in the 70's and rain almost every afternoon. Back in August, we had lunch at a lodge deep in the mountains. There was an old lady there whose family has owned the land for over 70 years. The wood quail know her voice and like the grain she feeds them so they come out of the forest when she calls to them. They also have a spot set up for viewing hummingbirds and other bird species. Beautiful country! There are too many beautiful places to see in Costa Rica and way to little time to see them.

what's your camera setup?

I'm using an Olympus OM De mkIII. The lens for these pics is the 40-150mm f2.8. It's a micro 4/3 sensor so it's the focal equivalent of an 80-300mm full frame lens/ camera. I really like that lens.

Absolutely gorgeous country. And your photography REALLY does it justice.
Thank you for sharing them.

Thanks! I need to post more of this country. It's unreal here. Last weekend I went on a rafting/ zip line tour just over the mountains on the Caribbean side. The mountain pass we crossed took us near Poas volcano. The little town where we ate breakfast was right at 6k feet in the heart of some of the best coffee farms in the world and where they also grow the best strawberries I've ever eaten. Watermelons and honey are also really good here.

Totally agree it is special. I feel blessed I got to spend a whole summer there in college, and stayed in several towns spanning both coasts, remarkable place.