Traveling provides so many opportunities.  What is top on your priority list?   Many would say just taking in every moment, disconnect from our attachment to the internet and just breath!

For me, besides meeting people starting on an airplane to the front desk person in a hotel and anyone else that crosses my path, some of my happiest times are when I am outside with my camera especially when I have a focus, no pun intended. To be clear, as I go over my hundreds of photos, some are in focus better than others, I’m sad to say.

High on my list of experiences being in Costa Rica was seeing the local birds. I didn’t make it into the rain forest, no Toucans or Parrots, however, that did not prevent me from seeing some beautiful and interesting birds.

Let me introduce you to my “new friends” starting with the Great Kiskadee.This is a Black-cheeked Woodpecker in the Banana Tree.There were plenty of Turkey Vultures. They’re massive with beautiful wings.The White-winged Dove had the greatest eyes of any bird I saw. Are you thinking Stevie Nicks, right about now?Talk about a really interesting bird, check out the White-throated Magpie-Jay. The first two were taken on a walk along the beach.  The third one was taken on our bird tour about an hour from our resort.  There were many times, when try as I might, I couldn’t 100% identify these birds. This is a Magnificent Frigatebird and I don’t know what the other one is.

Shelley and I got on a “different” kind of bird and flew from San Jose to Guanacaste. This was an adventure all on its own with this 19 passenger plane.High on my list was going on a bird tour in the very early morning on our last full day in Guanacaste.  With our very capable guide Christhiam Carrillo and driver from Jacamar Tours we set out to see what we could see.

I’m featuring the birds we saw in this blog, but my next blog will focus on the incredible sightings that didn’t fly!

Here is a Squirrel Cuckoo.Christhiam asked me if I had any goals on this adventure and I told him I had never see an owl in its natural surroundings. He delivered, twice!  The first one is the sound asleep Tropical Screech Owl and the second is the sweet Pygmy Owl.Here are some of the other birds from this wonderful day.  Barred Antshrike.While there were lush areas of green there were also dry areas as well. The Double Striped Thicknee blends in with the ground.Lastly up in the trees were indescribable birds. This is a Black Headed Trogon.The Turquoise Browed Motmot, may be my favorite.This was an exceptional day and there is so much more to share from the great outdoors in Costa Rica.  Monkeys and Anteaters and Iguanas oh my!

Chillin’Don’t forget to tune-in to the Born To Talk Radio Show Monday, April 4th from 1-2 PT on #latalklive.com   Archived link will be availabe later in the afternoon.

My guests will be Nate Kaplan and Max Davis. We will be talking about #SeePolitical an ingenious animated way to explain politics minus a personal opinion.