Saturday Night Live

Well....  not THE Saturday Night Live...  but our last Saturday night up here on the hill...  almost, but not quite in Ocotal... and about a mile or so from Coco.   I'm listening to Prairie Home Companion.  I tune in WOUB, my "local" station from Athens, Ohio.  I missed the whole first hour...  I forgot about Daylight Savings Time...  Costa Rica doesn't observe DST...  Ohio does.  Anyway...  I should have "turned it on" at 4pm...  didn't until 5pm.  Oh well....

Look what I got to hold...

This little lady was attacked by a big male monkey.  She was just a couple months old and gravely injured.  Mama was chased off by the male...  but baby was rescued.  Many stitches and a lot of rehab later, she is now nearly 6 months old.  She's already attracted a boyfriend, but he's probably a reject from a troupe and is looking for a companion.  He's too young to be sexually active and he's totally wild...  he hangs out high in the trees above the sanctuary and watches what goes on below.  Although the sanctuary's goal is that this little one returns to her natural life, it will be a sad day when she leaves.

I write that we are still "up on the hill"....

Here's Bill...  walking home from a trip to town.  I did not tilt the camera...  nor did I adjust the photo...  that's just how steep the hill is to get from the road up to our condo.  I stayed home that trip, so saw him heading home from our .... yard? driveway? gravel road?...  none of the above?  It's kind of hard to describe the front of our condo.

I've written a lot about the wildfires that we frequently see....  This is not a wildfire, but just the maintenance man getting rid of leaves and other debris from the trees....

This goes on all over town...  and along all the roads and lanes outside of town.  Usually they are watched and kept under control, but especially out in the more rural areas, they are started...  then walked away from.  The burned areas are actually very good fire breaks for more serious fires...  but if you're not used to them, it can feel kind of scary.  That stone retaining wall circles 3 sides of our unit of condos.  Those are cookie crumbs on the wall...  the magpie jays love anything they can carry off.

I saw the oddest thing yesterday morning....  two Ringed Kingfishers flew over as I was sitting outside having breakfast...  they landed in the tree about 50' or so up the hill from us.

We're not very close to any running water...  I have no idea what brought them this way.  But a 16" bird is hard to miss....  and at least one sat up there long enough for me to run in and get my camera.  Look at that huge head on that body!  And that massive bill...  yes, he's good at catching fish!

And so...  not only did I capture the Kingfisher...  but that Stripe-headed Sparrow came back...

Stayed around long enough for me to see exactly how he got his name.

We've been seeing the monkeys quite often...  they aren't as verbal in the mornings as they were a couple of months ago, but we've become familiar with the trees they are most likely to hang out in...

I am always thrilled to see them.  And you can just tell how thrilled they are to see me ;-)

Well, I've heard my hour of Prairie Home Companion..  next week this time we'll be back in Texas...  still in Central Time Zone, but in Daylight Savings Time...  so I may remember to tune in at the correct time.  But for now, it's

The End...

P.S.  We walked over to check on the baby goats this afternoon...  Mama and babies are all doing fine.  WhoooHooooo!

That's All For Today!