Working my way across the USA to start a bicycle tour, but just published a small book about the Birds of Costa Rica for a very small region on the Pacific Coast. This books is a gift to my younger brother, William. This is NOT a rain forest book. Rather it is a Costa Rica drylands coastal bird book. The Birds of Las Catalinas is provided free for download, BUT is copyrighted. In other words, the book is free for your private use. Should you wish to let others know about the book, do NOT host the pdf on your web site, but link back to my Birds of Costa Rica web page.

Hosting the pdf on your own web site would be breaking the laws of the United States.

I took my last mountain bike ride along the trails overlooking the Pacfic Ocean this morning. Even though it was 5:30 am when I left, and dawn would not yet peek above the ridge for 20 minutes, the heat and humidity were oppressive. However upon reaching the trailhead at the end of my ride two new birds awaited … a Crested Caracara and a Cinnamon Hummingbird. I gathered some quick photos and departed to enjoy a cold shower. Oh yeah … it snowed yesterday in northeastern Minnesota!

Crested Caracara and a Cinnamon Hummingbird

I am also posting now images of three birds I photographed yesterday morning … a Great-crested Flycatcher, a White-Lored Gnatcatcher, and a pair of White-Fronted Parrots.

Towards the end of today’s mountain back ride over the Costa Rican Pacific Ocean hills I found a Streak-Backed Oriole in the process of building a nest. Orioles weave straw and grass on the very end of branches to create a 100% enclosed domicile!

My Canon Sx-60 takes photos at a rate of approximately 7 frames per second. Thus, you are looking at 2 seconds of nest building. This is one very active / busy bird!!! The first photograph is a close-up of the home building Streak-Backed Oriole. The other 13 images are the time lapse photos. (view a 47 second video of the same oriole building it’s nest)

Close-Up

Two Seconds of Nest Building