Reader “Siggy in Costa Rica” (his posting handle), sent us these photos from his eponymous country; his notes are indented.
These are Red-legged Honeycreepers [Cyanerpes cyaneus], one female and 3 males, helping themselves to some bananas on my patio. [JAC: note the extreme sexual dimorphism!]
And a closeup of a male.
A Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) stretching its wings:
A Rufous Nightjar (Caprimulgus rufus) [JAC: can you spot it?]:
And finally, an amblypigid, or whip scorpion [JAC: these, like spiders, are arachnids], that needed a to be escorted out of the house.
Thanks for sharing!! Great photos!! Nice regarding ‘escort’….
In case I give the wrong impression, I’m saving the past few RWP for a good opportunity.
Very pretty, including the amblypigid. They only drop in to snack on a cockroach, and then they will be out of your way. They will just be a moment.
That was my thought — if I were in Costa Rica an amblypygid or two would be very welcome in my house — particularly if it was overrun with roaches.
The Nightjar image had a little retouching done to it blurring the area around the bird a bit, in order to make it stand out. In the original it was actually kind of difficult to make out due to how well these birds blend in with the leaf litter. It’s fairly common to see their reflective eyes at night when they frequent open spaces like roads and driveways from which they make short flights to snatch flying insects out of the air. During the day they are nearly impossible to spot.
Nice ones. The whip scorpion might have been some of the inspiration for the creators of Alien.
Beautiful. Love nature and the parks.
This means sexual dimorphism explains the color difference in cardinals. I never put that together until now.
The last critter needs to be squished before it can make other litter critters.
But then the other critters that it eats will build a statue of you out of their feces. And build little churches behind your refridgerator where they worship you.
LOL!
Nah, they are harmless despite their sinister appearance. I didn’t want it crawling around on my bed, but it was more than welcome outside.
Sorry that should be little critters.
I especially like the night jar – amazing how hard they are to see, and that a bird that can fly feels safe enough on the ground to evolve this ability.
Kinda making my sparrows seem a little drab in comparison.
Great photos! It’s a treat to see birds and other critters from places I may never get to myself.
Being in the middle of a blizzard here right now, it is hard to imagine “…bananas on my patio”. Jealous. So, so, jealous.
Just plowed through the last four RWP – was a hit!… the beetle with the green tip was the favorite of the beetles.
Thanks, Siggy! Wonderful assortment!
Especially fun to see the whip scorpion! Last time I was in CR my son & I stayed in a rustic cabin at Rara Avis (http://www.rara-avis.com/) and a whip scorpion resided behind the little table between our two beds. We knew it was nocturnal and, though we also knew it was harmless, we sort of enjoyed the occasional frisson of catching it in action with our flashlights. I think if one of us had been brave enough, however, we would have preferred to have transported it to someplace a bit farther from our heads on our pillows… 😀