John and I have always enjoyed nature, that is one
reason we chose the southern zone on a mountain. City life is not
for us, rural living fits us best.
The following pictures are not taken
from stock photos. These White-headed Capuchin Monkeys live on a nearby mountain; if they live here I haven't seen them yet. On our mountain we have Howler
monkeys, often right in our yard. The males make the strangest
sound, hence their name. We have pictures in past blogs of the
Howlers.
Toucans call out with a loud unusual
call, signaling to us to search for them. They are a very large
bird with an equally hefty bill. There are two types, the one
pictured is common to this area, the Chestnut-mandibled. One recent day Aldemar spotted
the other type, Keel-billed, that is not common here. It is a little smaller with
a multi-colored bill. One of my birding buddies was
extremely excited to hear a “visiting” Keel-billed toucan was spotted here in Serenity.
As birds migrate “birders” often spot unusual types flying
through. I am not yet well versed enough on Costa Rican birds to
know a resident bird from a visiting one but I am learning.
Cusingas (called Aracai in English) are
the small relative to the Toucan. We have a water apple tree next to
the house which has brought Cusingas visiting morning and afternoons
along with many other types of birds and squirrels. It is common to have 6 Cusingas at a time in the tree, just outside our windows!
The Bobo (called Motmot in English) is
a fairly large gorgeous bird.
We have one that lives in our yard and the jungle tree line. It was very
exciting to discover it the first time just sitting on a branch
seemingly posing for us.
The Guaco (called Laughing Falcon in
English) also signals to us by its call. It gets it name of Laughing
Falcon, and in Spanish Guaco, because of its strange call. One day I
spotted one from the veranda on a nearby branch with a coral snake in
its strong beak. It had already swallowed the head and was sucking
the remainder up like a string of spaghetti. It sucked down that
whole snake and sat on the branch for the longest time because it was
so full.
This snake came up on our porch railing
during a hard rain. It sat there all day long, preferring our
railing to the soggy rain soaked ground. It was a harmless type and
since it didn't bother us, we didn't bother it; other than John
repeatedly taking its picture while I am in the house looking on the
internet to check if it was poisonous. I am calling out to John,
“please stay away from it until I can find out more about it,
please stop getting so close!”, as he gets closer and closer to it.
Men! It turned out to be a harmless snake but still...
No need to write me and explain these aren't wildlife! But I just had to show you what we find as entertainment on this mountain. We all came out to see the oxen till a new garden for neighbors, Mike and Di Gill. This is what you get when you want a garden tilled instead of a machine. The farmers who brought them up our mountain walked them for miles to get here, the men and oxen worked and then walked back home. All for $15.00!
Come to visit Costa Rica!! The mountain views, beaches, waterfalls, rivers and wildlife are amazing!!
The Ticos are pretty great too!
