...and we're back!

That's right.  I had a hunch that things would get really busy while the bird group was here and I wasn't mistaken.  There were a lot of early mornings - waking up at 4:30 to make sure that coffee was ready - since birders need to be out the door by 5:30 in order to catch the full show.  Then there is all the meal planning and running around making sure things are where they should be... but enough of that.  I didn't want to get into the details.

I did want to say, however, that the trip went incredibly well.  It was an easy-going group and we all had a great time.  For me it was a great experience,  learning a lot of bird names, calls [although these I don't remember at all], colors and habits.  I managed to get some pretty good shots by sticking to my own made-up rules of photography:

1. Always have your camera

2. Use it

  

I think it's a good time to point out my frustrations with the limited formatting options in Blogger.  It could be that I'm a tyro, but it doesn't seem too easy to me to position pictures. 

The first photo is a black throated trogon, followed by a juvenile blue heron, if I'm not mistaken.  The sequence above is of a brown boobie, related to the more famous blue footed boobie of the Galapagos islands.  This was a rare spotting as boobies are normally found in pairs.

This is a white crested coquette that has been hanging out around this same spot for at least two months now.  It shows up every afternoon around 3 to 4 o'clock.  It's hard to tell from this perspective, but this bird isn't much larger than a bumble bee!  Someday we'll need a bigger lens for the camera.

Boat billed heron that we saw in the mangroves.

Parrot eating guava

Tiger heron on the way from the OBC to Puerto Jimenez

If the birds don't do it for you, we had a little added excitement this afternoon when we felt the effects of a 5.9 earthquake.  It was enough to shake the buildings here at the Osa Biodiversity Center, leaving the solar panels trembling and Edwin, one of the young construction workers who happened to be on the roof, yelping for joy.  Like I said, some just need more stimulation than all of the natural beauty that surrounds us here on the Osa Peninsula.  

It was funny; we were in the middle of the meeting and when we felt the first tremor, everybody paused, looked at each other, and got up and moved out of the building into the clearing.  We felt another wave while standing there.  After waiting a few minutes, we moved back inside and proceeded with our meeting.  

The next shakes were stronger however, and as the others rushed outside, I noticed two bottles of red wine perched on top of the refrigerator making their way for the edge.  Considering all options and consequences, I went for the wine.  It went well with dinner.